BenCave Novel Reviews

As promised long ago, I am going to do reviews of the 3 novels that I picked up over the recent holidays: Waking Nightmares by Christopher Golden and Transformers Exodus & Exiles by Alex Irvine.

Waking Nightmares is the 5th Novel in Christopher Golden's Shadow Saga which is his take on the ever-popular vampire mythos, combined with supernatural happenings. In brief, the one constant protagonist throughout the run: Peter Octavian, has to investigate weird happenings within a small New England of a sorcerous nature. The strength of all of Golden's novel works, whether it is his original stuff or in popular properties like Buffy, is the ability to build up a rich background/supporting cast. For the first 5-6 chapters, the mostly new characters in Nightmares are explored to the point where you can feel a true connection and understanding towards them. Then, like an insane rollercoaster ride, Golden ramps up the action and creepiness factor to 'high' on the dial as the horror intensifies. The only downsides to the novel are if you are a newcomer, then are facts about Octavian and some of his relationships in previous novels that are a little difficult to understand without reading some of his previous books in the series. For longtime followers of the Shadow Saga, the last 3 chapters are absolutely heartbreaking and gripping, making you wish that the 6th chapter was nearby to read ASAP. I recommend this book for lovers of the supernatural as an action escape from the more "soapy" rendition of the genre. Waking Nightmares definitely tilts towards the horror side.

I will admit that I hit Midtown Comics Pre-Christmas with Transformers Exodus nowhere on my radar. I went in to pick up a couple of graphic novels and when they were not in stock, it caught my eye. A congestion delay on the 7 train enabled my to go through the first 4 chapters and I have to be honest, Exodus truly felt like territory before the War that has been tread and retread constantly. Optimus as a librarian? Check. Megatron as a gladiator? Check. A class system whose decadence obscured serious problems until they reached a breaking point? Check. However, Irvine's great strength within his writing style was to add layers of depth to these Cybertronian facts/events with little tidbits that works to show these bots and their machinations. Alex Irvine must have read a lot of Transformers properties in preparation of this novel because I can see elements from the original Japanese series, the various American versions, and even the Bay movies. This book is almost a universal continuity fix for the various different incarnations and appeals to newcomers along with diehards.

Transformers Exiles continues almost right where Exodus leaves off with both factions of Cybertronians in space. The Autobots are searching for lost artifacts of power while the Decepticons are simply looking to brazenly wipe out the Autobots. This time, Irvine uses the 1986 animated movie for ideas involving characters and locales. I have to admit, the little Weird Al fan in me got a chuckle out of one planet's use in the second half of the novel while I also have to say, the creation of an ancestor to one of the most powerful types of transformers sub-factions will have longtime fans pondering ramifications and asking even more historical questions. The only part of this novel that had me scratching my head was the lack of use for the "pirates" introduced late within the story dynamic and no doubt will play a big part in a future third installment of Irvine's Cybertonian Struggle. After all, the More Than Meets The Eye robots have not found Earth by mistake yet....

So there you have it, 3 novels of the supernatural/science fiction genre and in my opinion, 3 winners to be read if you run across them in your local bookstore or online. Next up, reviews of Being Human, Lost Girl, and the Chuck finale. Thanks for reading all.....