"Critters: Underdark"
by Allan Dotson
Published by YNWP
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$19.95
ISBN 9-781988-783437
How best to describe Regina writer,
artist and teacher Allan Dotson's monster-inspired graphic novel, Critters: Underdark … a 153-page,
10-years-in-the-making labour of love, and black and white demonstration of
great talent? An equally touching and humorous allegory for our socially-fractured
and racially- divisive times? A textual and artistic tour de force? Each of the
above applies, but at the heart of this fantasy's success is the creator's
unique imagination, his skill at storytelling, and his deft ability to create individuated
"monsters" - both visually and literarily - that readers of all ages will
quickly care about.
It's easy to suspend disbelief and get
wrapped up in the train-wrecked world of innocent Eddy - a pincered
"ettercap" who looks like a louse - and his first friend, the snaggle-toothed
monster Sally, who tells also-caged Eddy: "You're not alone. We're all
scared." Eddy's toddler-like diction is adorable, ie: "Is we all
getting' stuffs? Like weppins?" and "O nos! Thems gonna git us!"
Many things are "skeery".
In the first few pages we learn that
these creatures, captured along with several others by the dwarves at the
bidding of the medusa queen, Dread Lady Linnorm, both miss their mothers. The
train's taking a variety of critters "to the north to the wizards' market"
where they'll be sold to humans. Lady Linnorm's daughter, Lena, is watering the
imprisoned critters when the train crashes and releases Eddy, Sally, and
monsters of all kinds. The pair bond with strong Gronk - part cat, part dragon
- and journey toward "freedom," battling opponents and gathering
comrades along the way, including spidery Uriel, who's in the habit of saying
"Heehee," and ascertains that Lena, who's travelling with them, can
be both "slaver" and "one of [them]".
The mother-child relationship is explored
through Eddy, Sally and Lena. Sally's mother is a kindly swamp hag who taught
her daughter "how to cook and stuff". Lena's powerful mother is
desperate to find her. Eddy's mother will break your heart.
Dotson uses diction - and spectacular images;
even caves have character - for humour and to create individuality. Lady
Linnorm's minions speak with a Scottish brogue: "Thar be sum more o' tha
wee beasties!" Evil, elephant-trunked Slithirgaddy is amassing an army to
"follow [their] unsuspecting quarry deep into the stygian gloom of the
endless underdark". Lena and sharp-toothed Sally exchange barbs, ie:
Sally's superpower is the ability to turn invisible. Lena says: "That's
great, Sally, then we won't have to look at you."
Dotson teaches science and art at an
elementary school, and I can see how this novel would enthrall students and educators:
he's made it user-friendly for classrooms via a teachers' guide, available
online.
A longtime comic afficionado, sci-fi
and fantasy fan, and founding member of Regina's Valuable Comics collective,
Dotson also designs and publishes role-playing games. Critters: Underdark is his first novel, and the first volume in his
Critters Saga. Readers can next look forward to Wandering Monsters. I wonder if
foes Sally and Lena will become friends?
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL
BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM
__________
"Raymond Raindrop" and
"Swings & Things”
Written and illustrated by Eileen Munro
Published by Your Nickel’s Worth
Publishing
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$12.95
ISBN 9-781988-783444
I was introduced to the fun-filled
illustrations and down-home text of Saskatchewan artist Eileen Munro in 2014 via
her rural-themed alphabet book, ABC’s
Down on the Farm. Now, five years later, she's followed up with another
picture book, this time featuring two educational
stories: Raymond Raindrop and Swings & Things. Munro's cover advertises
"Facts and fun - 2 Books in 1" - it's a double treat for young
readers and story listeners, and an ingenious way for a writer using YNWP's
excellent publishing services to get the most bang for her buck.
As the title reveals, Raymond is a
raindrop, which Munro visually presents somewhat like a grey Hershey's Kiss
with simple facial features, three-fingered white hands and two black ovaline
feet. Raymond's character, however, is far from simple. "Shy and a little
bit proud," he "stayed by himself" while his fellow raindrops
"bounced and bubbled" together. Our watery protagonist notes that the
people on the land below him look worried re: the lack of rain for their crops.
The story is about the importance of
working together. The prairie spirit of cooperation is equally as important
among the raindrops as it is has traditionally been among farming communities. On
each pair of facing pages Munro provides one fact about rain, ie: "Every
second, about 16 million tons of water evaporates from the Earth's surface and
falls back to the ground in the form of raindrops." It's a creative way to
teach youngsters, and as these facts are visually separated from the story
proper via a light blue text box, there's no confusing the two.
Swings
& Things is subtitled Everyday Pendulums and Pivots, and it features ponytailed
Henrietta, who "likes to swing," and "to find other things that
swing too". As with the first story, this short tale also includes
interesting and eclectic facts - about pendulums, spiders, monkeys, and more -
presented in textboxes.
We discover that Henrietta loves to see
the acrobats swing at the circus, and she aspires to become an acrobat one day.
On this page I learned that the stretchy leotard gymnasts - and others - wear
was named after the "French gymnast Jules Léotard,
who developed the art of trapeze". It's the kind of trivia you could slip
into a conversation at the next dinner party you attend, and then you can gift
your host or hostess with a copy of this delightful, colourful and
well-produced book, because we all have someone in our life who can use a
small, happy story.
Congratulations to Munro, who
"came from a family of storytellers who told tales that wove a path
through her imagination," for putting her own storytelling talents onto
the page for others to enjoy. Raymond Raindrop. Henrietta, in her red pinafore,
who loves things that swing. Two "simple stories for small
scientists," as is stated on the back cover. I wonder what kinds of
characters will spill from Munro's imagination in her next book, and what readers will learn along the way.
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL
BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM
"Finding Fortune"
by L.A. Belmontéz
Published by QueenPin Books, an imprint
of Garnet House Books
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$25.00
ISBN 9-781999-567606
It's astounding how frequently
completely disparate parts of one's life intersect. I recently booked a flight
to Colombia for early 2020, and recently received a review copy of L.A. Belmontéz's
telenovela-type novel, Finding Fortune, which is set, in part,
in Colombia. While reading I paid close attention to what I might learn about
Cartagena through the former prairie resident and debut-novelist's 399-page
debut title.
The book's main character, Las Vegas
resident Valerie Verlane, has authored a book titled The Princess Problem: From the Pea to Prosperity. Verlane comes
from money and much attention is given to clothing brands, vehicles, and other luxury-material
matters. She has her nose and breasts "done," and is the type who
"had never taken a bus and she never would". Verlane's told her
daughter that the girl's father is dead, and for all Verlane knows, Dmitri - the
worldly young lawyer-in-training who'd waltzed into her 24-year-old life in Los
Angeles - has in fact died.
The Canadian-born protagonist was
working in a high-end furniture store in Santa Monica when playboy Dmitri swept
her off her stilettos. After a few passionate dates, Dmitri, who was supposedly
going to Ecuador to surf with friends, went MIA. Though pregnant with Dmitri's
baby, Verlane foolishly wed Pedro, a Mexican con who stole her family's
inheritance. She "had punished
herself all those years after losing Dmitri by staying with Pedro," and in
that time "all ideas of self-identity has been erased through marriage and
motherhood".
After Verlane's lawyer manages to
reinstate the inheritance, the California-prep schooled Verlane - her
privileged education taught her things like never "to do anything that is
considered the maid's job" - becomes determined to "show [Dmitri]
what he'd been missing" in the troubled nine years that've passed. Verlane
finds Dmitri as easily as you can say "Google Search" … he's
registered for the "Third Annual Caribbean Master's Golf Tournament in
Cartagena". But first, she must
return to her former glory, and rebuild her self-esteem. How? Via shopping.
"One day I will have my yacht," she thinks. "Today I only want
clothes." She "put fear aside" and "handed over her
[credit] card, buying back as much self-esteem as she could carry".
Belmontéz is great at transitions, which
is something new writers often struggle with, and she proves her writing chops
with descriptions like this one, of a kitchen: " … almost smelling like a
home with the aroma of cocoa taking shape, gathering itself like a ghost before
dissipating into the rest of the house and out the windows."
I won't be seeing the same upscale
locations in Cartagena as Verlane - no resorts for me - but I do look forward
to seeing, from the plane, "the peninsula of Bocagrande curl up around the
city like a serpent's tale," and "churches casting long shadows over
cobblestone plazas in the late-day sun."
Finding
Fortune is a thick soap-opera in text, and the
kind of sun-soaked romp you just might be looking for in the heart of winter.
THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL
BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM
