Book Reviews and More: Modo Ember's End - Arthur Slade and Christopher Steininger

Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Modo Ember's End - Arthur Slade and Christopher Steininger - A Mission Clockwork Graphic Novel

Modo Ember's End
Hunchback Assignments Graphic Novel
Mission Clockwork Graphic Novel
Arthur Slade (Author)
Christopher Steininger (Illustrator)
Orca Publishing
ISBN 9781459817210
ASIN B00QZGEN1U

This book is a stand alone graphic novel. It was written by Arthur Slade, and illustrated by Christopher Steininger. But it is based in the world of Arthur Slade's Hunchback Assignments, that series has been rebranded a few times now. First in Canada it was published as The Hunch Back Assignments, and there were four novels. Later it was rebranded as Modo: Mission Clockwork, and now it is currently being rebranded again as Mission Cloclwork. But no matter what it is called the 4 novels are great reads and this fifth story set after the novels and as a graphic novel is an excellent addition to Modo’s story. I read this book first back in 2014 when it came out as part of a kickstarted campaign. And have just reread it again.

Modo is such a great character. You cannot help but love him. And seeing Modo in this adventure fleshed out the images I had in my mind having read the novels about him. And this story is masterfully done. And the combinate of old west, steam punk, and spy story make for a very interesting read. Slade is one of the few authors I was reading almost 2 decades ago that I am still reading today. He writes an intriguing tale in this volume. And the illustrations by Christopher Steininger bring to life some of the most memorable characters that I have read in the last twenty years. Seeing Modo and Octavia at work in this book was very exciting.

I am thankful this book is being released to a wider market. The Modo books are wonderful stories for young readers, or those with an adventuresome heart. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has read any of the other Modo books, or who loves a great graphic novel.

Books by Arthur Slade:
The Dragonfly's Journey (1996)
John Diefenbaker: an Appointment with Destiny (2000)
Dust (2001)
Tribes (2002)
Monsterology (2005)
Villainology (2005)
Megiddo's Shadow (2006)
Jolted (2008)
Shades: 17 Startling Stories (2011)
Flickers (2016)
Crimson (2018)
Death by Airship (2019)
Mr. Universe (2021)

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