Episode 12: Love of Tales
Episode 11: Stand Together
Book Review – The Last Ritual
The Last Ritual by SA Sidor is Aconyte’s second novel set in the world of Arkham Horror. Much like The Wrath of N’kai, the last Ritual follows an already-familiar pattern: a brand-new protagonist, inhabiting a familiar setting, and running into well-established Arkham characters, who will play a greater or lesser role in the proceedings.
It’s worth noting from the outset, what a beautifully-crafted piece of work The Last Ritual is, in all senses. As a man with far too little shelf-space left in his house, I tend to read mostly on Kindle these days, but am seriously tempted to add a physical copy of this one to my shelves, for the gorgeous Art-Deco cover. Fortunately the craftsmanship doesn’t stop with the cover either: As with Wrath of N’Kai, the cover sets the tone for the book as a whole. Where Wrath was visceral, a struggle against a terrifying monster, The Last Ritual is a far more subtle, cerebral affair. The writer consistently undercuts the voice of the narrator until neither you nor he can be entirely sure about the events he has described for you, and something as major as the very existence of a prominent character can be called into question.
The Last Ritual begins and ends with another story, a short framing device set in an Arkham hotel, one year after the conclusion of the events in the main narrative. This framing story depicts the meeting of a young journalist, and the man who is to be our narrator, one Alden Oakes. Oakes’ comments to the reporter make it clear from the outset that there will be some kind of horrific conflagration at the hotel, from which Alden himself will emerge – prematurely aged and weakened – but which will claim the lives of many others.
So who is Alden Oakes? the protagonist of The Last Ritual is a young artist, born into idle wealth amongst the upper echelons of Arkham society. When the novel begins, he is sauntering his way fairly pointlessly around the south of France and the north of Spain, on a hunt for the artistic inspiration that is so far eluding him. Sidor’s depiction of an anglophone outsider travelling Mediterranean Europe captures the feel brilliantly, and put me at least as much in mind of Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia as it did the horrors of Arkham.
Things start to change for Alden encounters his old friend Preston Fairmont one day in the South of France, and is summoned back to Arkham to act as best-man at his wedding (to Alden’s own former fiancée of all people): this invitation from Preston sets Alden on a journey which seems destined to provide him with the artistic inspiration that he has sought for so long, but which may well come at the cost of his own sanity – and possibly the end of the world, but maybe that’s just his imagination?
I don’t want to spoil too much about the identity of the female lead in The Last Ritual, as the mystery which surrounds her is a key part of the unfolding narrative. Alden’s undulating course of doubt, realisation and confusion allows Sidor to portray a character who is strong and engaging, whilst keeping you slightly off-balance. I enjoyed the complexity of her character, and thought that the strength of her character was well-executed, the ultimate conclusion to her arc a satisfying, if deliberately ambiguous one. Virtually the last thing that Alden says about her will be an unanswered question.
Aside from Alden and his leading lady the other major character who drives much of the action of The Last Ritual, is Balthazarr. More fully, Juan Hugo Balthazzar, “the most shocking living painter in the world” and a self-declared genius. Balthazzar is a Spaniard whose work Alden has long admired from afar, and with whom he seems to repeatedly almost cross paths until he finally comes to Arkham, and becomes the defacto leader of an artists’ collective there. Whilst we see plenty of Balthazarr as the book continues, and he is clearly an imperious figure, clear on his own goals and methods, the unreliability of Alden’s own senses make it unclear whether he is the villain of the piece, or simply a charismatic figure whose image our narrator projects onto darker forces and those he cannot explain. Again, I was impressed by how skilfully Sidor walked this tightrope, portraying such a forceful character, at the same time as obfuscating his exact role in the grand design. The reader is kept constantly guessing for a long time, and only gradually is the truth allowed to become clear when the protagonists are in so deep that they see their doom rushing towards them with a crushing inevitability.
At the risk of a slight tangent, one element of The Last Ritual that I found a bit unusual (this may sound familiar to those who read my previous review of Wrath of N’Kai) was the way that existing Arkham Horror investigators are used. There is a fun little cameo at a party which felt nicely executed, but the two investigators who play bigger roles felt a little strange, especially Preston Fairmont.
As people already familiar with him from FFG’s board and card games will know, Preston’s subtitle is “the Millionaire” and he has usually functioned in games by either
- Paying other people to do things for him,
- Being very influential (due to being loaded), or
- Using his many material possessions to steady his mind after witnessing the horrors of the Mythos.
So far, so good. The thing I found weird about his appearance here though, was his apparent ignorance of the Mythos. Where we’re used to seeing Investigators crop up to butt heads with the machinations of the mythos, Preston here seems entirely oblivious to Eldritch Forces around him, focused more on his upcoming nuptials, and his patronage of a famous artist who has recently moved to Arkham. It’s a relatively minor issue, but part of me feels like an original character here rather than Preston would have served better: it would have made him more mysterious as a character and probably made me think differently about their probable fate (based on prior novels and my own assumptions, I don’t envisage any of Fantasy Flight’s 58 Investigators actually dying in any of this tie-in fiction). That said, if you have less of an obsessive relationship with the backstory of the various Arkham Files investigators, it’s unlikely to bother you and, ultimately, it is a minor quibble.
The Last Ritual wouldn’t really be an Arkham novel if events didn’t reach a suitably dramatic climax, and the readers are promised a mighty conflagration early on, which is duly delivered. Despite all this though, the story remains so much more than simply plot-driven, with Sidor’s characters all complex and engaging enough to drive the reader’s interest through the novel.
Overall, I thought The Last Ritual was a great read. Alden is an interesting, if somewhat aimless protagonist, and he provides a fascinating window into Eldritch activities that grow from unsettling to truly horrifying. Sidor deserves particular credit for this, as stories set in the Mythos can easily fall into an all-too-black-and-white situation where the reader knows that the mythos creatures and activities are real whilst the characters remain in “rational” denial. The Last Ritual achieves a lot in making things greyer for reader and characters alike. The characters are interesting, and the conclusion even manages to offer a resolution that is at least bittersweet, rather than as utterly calamitous for Alden as it seems likely to be.
Review based on an advance electronic copy of SA Sidor’s The Last Ritual, provided by Aconyte Books for review purposes.
Episode 10: Strength in Numbers
For those of you that would like more podcasters in your arkham as well as more arkham in your podcast, you can find the custom midnight masks cultist that James recently published here. Who knows, you may spot some other familiar faces!
Madness on the Airwaves
Farkham Nights 2020 is almost upon us, and The Card Game Cooperative has a surprise for you…
Madness grips the streets of Arkham. A new cult has come to this Massachusetts city, intent on driving the populace mad with their Eldritch Broadcasts!
Madness on the Airwaves, is a fan-made add-on by The Card Game Cooperative for fans of Arkham Horror the Card Game (and, in particular, for fans of Drawn to the Flame, Mythos Busters and The Card Game Cooperative Podcasts). It features a new Agenda 1b for the Midnight Masks Scenario, and a replacement deck of unique cultists for the Midnight Masks (and The Devourer Below if you’re playing in campaign mode). It should work with both the original version and the Return to…
We don’t want to spoil the surprise completely, but here’s a sneak peak of a few of the new Enemies that you might find yourself up against.
and these aren’t the only sinister types around. Prepare for a whole deck of new cultists from your favourite Arkham Horror podcasts*
Here’s a link to a printable version of the whole thing – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F-j01B7OGOsS-4AiQmibVpbFJd_HWdOH/view?usp=sharing
*Disclaimers. We don’t actually know who your favourite podcast is. Also, in case you hadn’t guessed, This expansion is in no way made or endorsed by Fantasy Flight Games. We don’t imagine they’ll object to you printing yourself a copy, but please don’t do anything stupid like trying to sell it!
Episode 9: Legions of HYDRA
In our next episode we will be discussing the first 11 heroes from wave one of marvel champions and to help us with that, you can fill in our handy survey by clicking here, we’ll be comparing the community’s opinion to the hosts so make sure to tune in to find out just how wrong you think we are!
Episode 8: Interrogation Room
Domino: Strays is the first in the new Marvel Heroines series from Aconyte books, written by Tristan Palmgren.
Up until now, Aconyte has been putting out titles that are set in worlds that started out as board/card games, where the only previous story content has been similar tie-in fiction. Moving to an IP which is known to millions globally as a comic series stretching back to the middle of the last century and probably the most successful film franchise in the world is a bold move. Did it work? Let’s find out!
Strays is a dark tale from the life of Mutant mercenary Neena Thurman, aka Domino. The book explores Domino’s origins (often unknown to even her), as well as a present-day run-in with a sinister cult. Domino’s comic-book story lines have often been at the gritty and disturbing end of the spectrum (last time I saw was in X-Force 2019 where she had been captured by a sinister organisation who had flayed half of her skin to use for cloning), and Palmgren really leans in to the darkness in their story. Anyone expecting the action-comedy vibe of the MCU is in for a shock when they encounter a thriller with some deeply psychological elements and, aside from the various mentions of Mutants, the overall vibe would feel a lot more at home alongside the Netflix Punisher or Jessica Jones series. Without wanting to go too far into spoilers, anyone who has had traumatic experiences with abusive, controlling relationships might want to go a little bit carefully as they decide to read this, as there’s definitely potential for being triggered here.
In terms of the wider Marvel continuity, the Aconyte Marvel titles seem to exist in their own universe but, for Strays at any rate, the starting point seems to be fairly close to the main 616 Universe. A lot of the supporting cast and themes share a lot with the 2018 Domino series, and 2019’s Domino: Hotshots, whilst the encounters with Project Armageddon and Domino’s family hark bark to the 2003 Domino series.Despite starting with so much familiar ground, Palmgren has produced a story that stands well on its own, taking the best of both worlds: there’s certainly no need to read the comics in order to enjoy Strays.
The story in Strays is carefully woven through three strands: the first narrating Domino’s childhood, the second recalling a botched mission six years ago, and the last one detailing a present-day rescue operation. Domino speaks directly to the reader, which can feel a bit confused at first, but gradually settles into a rhythm that gives you a nice insight into her frame of mind as well as her actions.
The story kicks off with Domino talking about her mother – an imperfectly remembered figure, clearly someone who was absent for much of Domino’s life. Domino tells you right at the start that her mother was a woman of anger and rage: a fanatic and a killer. With an opening like this, it’s no big surprise when, a bare chapter or two into the novel, Domino casually mentions that she had to kill her own mother! However, whilst Palmgren shows you the ending of that one little strand of the plot early on, the book is far more about the journey than the destination.
Whilst the middle strand of the story focuses around Domino’s search for her mother, it is preceded and followed by accounts of other sections of her life: the story of a miserable childhood in a research facility, followed by a slightly-less-miserable time as a teenager in a Chicago orphanage, under the care of over-worked Priest Father Boschelli. The third, “present day” strand involves Domino’s attempt to rescue a client’s grown-up children from a cult who have convinced them to lock themselves away from family and all other outsiders in the compound set up by the ‘father’ of the church. It’s no accident that each of the 3 time-lines has a “mother” or “father” figure in a key role, and Strays has a lot to say on the subjects of family and friendship, forcing Domino to really consider who she can trust, who she can rely on, and who is going to be able to forgive her for doing the things that need to be done.
It’s also worth thinking about the unique mutant power that makes Domino who she is: in layman’s terms, she can manipulate “luck” and alter probability, which has historically been used in a fairly vague way to do whatever the plot requires at that moment. Palmgrem does a good job with the unenviable task of trying to define these slippery qualities into something a little less nebulous. The end result is not only understandable for the reader, but it also enables an engaging narrative that undercuts the “it’ll be fine, somehow” vibe that can often creep into a Domino story.
Domino direct address to the reader provides a running commentary on how her luck is – or isn’t – able to help her in any given situation. One point she makes multiple times is that her luck might generally save her – at least in a life-or-death situation – but it certainly doesn’t care about anyone who isn’t Domino, a responsibility that falls entirely on Domino herself.
Whilst the characterisation of Domino herself is very well done, the supporting cast are a bit more variable. Father Boschelli, head of the orphanage where she lived as a teenager, provides some insightful moments (and is a lot more developed than his comic-book counterpart who only ever featured on a single page of a 2003 comic), but Inez Temple (Outlaw) and Rachel Leighton (Diamondback) feel a little underused, reduced to little more than Muscle and Tech-Support for a major mission.
The main saving grace as far as the supporting cast go, is the lack of knowledge that you need to have of all things Marvel to make sense of the plot in Strays. There’s a brief Black Widow Cameo, and Wolverine, Cable, Deadpool, and the Avengers are all name-checked, but provided you can grasp the basic concepts of Mutants (they exist, they have all sorts of powers, lots of people fear and/or hate them), then you aren’t going to be feeling too lost just because you didn’t have time to memorise a hundred or so back-issues of X-Force. Domino is primarily telling her own story and, to a lesser-extent those of her sisters-in-arms, and she tells you all you need to know about who they are to her, without burdening you with their place in the overall Marvel canon.
As the three strands of Domino’s story weave together, the result is something that is interesting, often compelling, a story that carefully keeps you on the hook whilst it segues off to another time-period, forcing you to read on, but fully knowing that by the time you return you’ll be just as reluctant to leave that plot-thread as you were in this.
My biggest relief when reading Strays, was that we get a satisfying ending. Domino is not Captain America, she is not here to be a paragon of selflessness and virtue, she is a mercenary with a traumatised past. In embracing that reality, Palmgren is able to really dig into the question of what it means to be a hero – not just making physical sacrifices, but showing Domino willing to sacrifice how she appears in the eyes of others, if that’s what it takes to finish the job.
Ultimately, the ending for Strays is a bittersweet one, and it feels fitting for the characters we’ve seen, and the stories we’ve watched unfold. Domino’s life as a sometimes mercenary, sometimes hero doesn’t allow for “happily ever afters,” but it shows a group of women making a difference, able to sleep at night, and move on to the next job.
This review was based on an advance digital copy of the book, given to me by Aconyte for the purposes of reviewing.
About Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media for over eighty years. Marvel utilizes its character franchises in entertainment, licensing, publishing, games, and digital media. For more information visit marvel.com. © 2020 MARVEL
About Us
The Card Game Cooperative is a podcast about Lord of the Rings the Card Game, Arkham Horror the Card Game, and Marvel Champions the Card Game, the 3 Co-operative LCGs by Fantasy Flight Games.
your hosts are James, Michael, Simon and Will, 4 gamers from in-and-around Nottingham, UK. You can find out more about us in our introductory episode, The Gathering.
We try to take a comparative look at the features of the different LCGs, and explore their commonalities as well as the things that make them unique. We’re all big fans of the themes behind the games, and want to make a cast that is accessible to casual players and dedicated fans alike.
You can contact us via Facebook, email us at tcgcoop@gmail.com or find us individually. James is on Discord as MightyJim#6786, Mike is on Reddit as Eric the Cleric. You can even join our own Discord Server (message us via one of the means above and we’ll send you an invite.)
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