Monday, January 9, 2012

Goatboy - EBook Review - Welcome to Demos


Goatboy here again with a book review. I'm planning on doing these more as I read/watch tons of stuff and it would be great to review some things as a different way to stretch my blog as well as my own "ramblings". Today I want to review something I have a bit of a hand in with the EBook - "Welcome to Demos" by Jonathan Lister.

To give you an idea I was originally contacted by Jonathan about doing some art for the book. Of course everyone knows I do freelance art from time to time and I will get emails asking for help/design work/etc. I take these as they come and make sure to look for projects that I enjoy. I only have so much time available for extra work so I need to pick and choose. So when Jonathan sent me the script I read it with a skeptical slant.

And let me tell you that within the first few pages I was hooked. I am a big fan of "crime" stories. I also like things to be twisted with a bit of supernatural so this story hit me on all marks. This story hit those marks as it dealt with corruption in a world with Werewolves. Now think of these guys not as the blood thirsty killers but instead of regular Joes who have little bit more to worry about if they get mad. This real world element to the idea is one of the great things within the book. It isn't a "oh look I am wolfing out" it is instead a modern story dealing with corruption as well as family dynamics. Now of course the family dynamics is a bit more intense than the ones we are used to but they still revolve around issues we all have – growing up and finding out who we are.

I really liked how smart it felt as characters made decisions that made sense with the background given for them. It is always frustrating to read a story where the decisions a character makes are not character driven, but story driven instead. When I read a book I try to continue or build a background for each of the personalities talked about. I want to know their motivations and see their decision tree. This probably comes from me being an amateur comic book artist and always trying to work on personal stories. I didn't question any of the characters motivations - whether it was family, money, or justice.

Jonathan told me he is actively working on next story so I can't wait. The art I did for the story went with the idea that Werewolves are an everyday part of society. I wanted to incorporate something recent and decided that most likely the pack less Werewolves would join with the protestors. It was a fun project to work on and I can only hope I have a chance to draw something else for the next chapter in this story. So if you enjoy crime/nourish style books mixed with Werewolves give Welcome to Demos a shot.

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