PissWeakly Reviews: Ascendance / John Birmingham

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Ascendance / John Birmingham

Ascendance

(Dave Hooper vs The Monsters #3)

by John Birmingham

fantasy, humour

read in May 2018

rated 7/10: well worth reading

I start reading this book and think, Where is all the mindless violence? And why are we getting so many chapters from the "Monster" perspective? The Monster chapters, in fact, seem to be a bit less than exciting.

Then the book starts to pull itself together.

There is violence, just not so mindless... Well, for a chapter or two. By the end of the book the dead bodies -- and parts, and blood and squishy bits -- are piled so high that movement becomes difficult. All part of the fun of this series! As long as you see it as cartoonish violence: stomach churning but generally accepted as being socially acceptable.

After two previous books which focus on "The Dave", the Monster chapters seem out of place. Then they fall into place. They are also a large source of the humour of this book. Some of the human action is also funny, in a satirical way, but my liking for The Dave blunts the edge of some of the human humour.

Overall, this book is more than a continuation. It expands and builds on the war against the Monsters. It also shifts the style of conflict -- in a logical way -- so that the story is developing, rather than simply continuing.

The whole thing is nonsensical, violent fantasy. Underpinned by my liking of and sympathy and support for the main character. With a plot which grows.

This is escapist fantasy, with violence and humour. Yet it is much more than *mindless* escapist fantasy. If you want not-so-simple escapism, this book is well worth reading.