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Dead Kings
Dead Kings | Steve Orlando, Matthew Dow Smith
2 posts | 2 read
Sasha never saw his younger brother...until the secret police made him disappear. Sasha Vasnetsov left Thrice-Nine--the dirty folklore world that limps along in the wreckage of a Technomagic War--thirty years ago and never looked back. But word that the secret police have sent his brother Gena to a work camp for the socially degenerate drags him back, with a promise to free Gena and return him to their mother before her fiftieth birthday. The only problem? Sasha isn't a fraction of the tough guy he tries to be, so if he's going to break back into Thrice-Nine...he'll need help. Sasha's only hope is Maria Kamenaya, a former Technomagic Warrior with hundreds of enemy kills to her name, betrayed by the country that made her when her honor conflicted with their agenda. Thrice-Nine took Sasha's brother, and it took Maria's heart. This quest is how they get both of those things back, in the steaming, lawless land of decapitated states...the land of DEAD KINGS. Like True Grit set in the world of Final Fantasy, DEAD KINGS is unrelenting with its passion and thrills, massive in scale and unflinching as it peers into the underside of the obligations that drive us all: to family and country. It's a classic Wild West revenge cast against a haunting, awe-inspiring vision of a future where we've mortally wounded the world, and the prisoners are the only ones left to run the penitentiary. Written by Steve Orlando (Batman/Shadow, Crude, Midnighter, Virgil) and drawn by Matthew Dow Smith (October Girl, Suicide Squad, X-Files) DEAD KINGS continues Orlando's in-depth exploration of retribution in all its dark, complex forms. Having burst forth from the restrictions of the modern world's flesh and bone, Orlando and Smith create a whole new world of iron-and-oil fantasy, paths walked by a redemption-fueled older brother and the abandoned, rusted out, vindictive tool of a bygone war that protects him--this is us AFTER the World Wars of Mechs and Magic, broken hearts and busted fists included, a world you would ONLY find at AfterShock!
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Easytiger
Dead Kings | Steve Orlando, Matthew Dow Smith
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A story of twins in Russia post war. One is gay and taken to a camp for “degenerates” like himself.
His brother struggles to lead a peaceful life because he looks like his gay brother, creating the rift between them. There is also a strong female character AKA Stone Mary who looks like Gillian Anderson lol. She fought in the war and is also a misfit to the society. She has her own demons she‘s fighting and helps Sasha rescue his brother. 4/5 ⭐️

LibrarianRyan In a way, the mech suit had me thinking of Edge of Tomorrow (Live Die Repeat, or All you need is kill (take your pick of title, they are all three the same thing). 5y
Easytiger @LibrarianRyan I loved that manga! And the movie was decent too. I mostly just love Emily Blunt lol but I enjoyed those titles completely 5y
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LibrarianRyan
Dead Kings | Steve Orlando, Matthew Dow Smith
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Bailedbailed

2* The story takes place in an post apocalyptic Russia that at once feels futuristic with its combat suits, metal bot wars, and hovering mechanical horses and historic for its concentration camps for gays. This story was hard to read for 2 reasons: so many words and names are in Russian and I reading a digital galley with pages of missing text. As it is for this review it‘s a 2 star DNF.

LibrarianRyan I tried posting this from the desk top like 9 times between yesterday and today and kept getting an error. But it posts by app. @Litsy 5y
Easytiger It was pretty confusing honestly. Did you think Mary looked like Gillian Anderson from x files. To me she did and I wonder if that‘s what kept me reading lol 5y
LibrarianRyan @Easytiger Yes she did. This was another galley with missing word problems. I was able to get most of it, but I hit a point I didn't care. Maybe too many exploding ball references for my taste. I liked the idea of the story. Kind of a mix of Stalin isms, and modern gender/sexuality controversies. 5y
LibrarianRyan By any chance have you read the tagged book. I need to read read it so I can read the sequel, but I remember loving it. (but i am a space opera destruction loving type of lady). 5y
Easytiger @LibrarianRyan I have not, but that‘s kinda my genre too. I will read it ASAP, thanks for the new book 📖 5y
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