Review: crap nickname, kickass hero
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 22, 2014
The Guardian, Vol. 1 in the Guardian Interviews series, has got several things going for it. It's an immensely readable zombie story. Its main protagonist, Jaxon, is someone you can root for. I appreciate the offbeat storytelling device applied by Michael Clary. It's essentially some anonymous reporter recording a series of interviews with Jaxon and other core participants. These interviews form a cohesive, chronological flashback story that give us the origin of him what's called The General.I think we're all by now so used to these scientific-based zombie apocalypse yarns that it jars a bit when a supernatural 'splanation comes into play. No chemical spill. No governmentexperiments. No mutated pandemic. Clary infuses a Whedonesque twist into The Guardian. It's not that "In every generation there is a Chosen One," but that since the dawn of man there have been Guardians created by the universe to combat the eldritch dark forces.When a zombie infestation erupts in El Paso, Texas, the military promptly quarantines the city, abandoning 500,000 terrified residents to fend for themselves. One of the stranded locals is Jaxon, who starts out as this capable yet pretty ordinary gent. You're right away on board with Jaxon because he's sensible and he looks out for others but he doesn't frustrate you with panicked stupidity. As Jaxon and his friends survive one run-in after another with the walking dead, word of his exploits explodes over the Internet (the only form of communications left). That just-launched EPUI ("El Paso Under Attack") website must've cornered the market on hits in Texas. And when that 15-minute video of Jaxon's facing off against a horde of attacking zombies goes viral, fuggetaboutit.It's a page turning read because Michael Clary's storytelling is propulsive, the pace is breakneck, and his mythos-building makes for some gratifying moments. The relentless action beats are staged dynamically, with blood-and-guts prose that makes the grisly zombie-slaying vividly come to life in the reader's imagination. It helps that the zombies are the fast-moving, scream-at-the-top-of-their-lungs types. It's these quick rage monsters that present that daunting, incalculable aggression, and they scare the crap out of me.Mostly I prefer the hero or heroine to be these ordinary mortals because, let's face it, the horror elements are just more pronounced. But, occasionally, the purist in me takes a nap and I'm down with the good guy's packing a preternatural punch. During the narrative, Jaxon's Guardian abilities are triggered, and he instantly becomes even more of a beat-the-odds badasss. So it's the satisfaction in watching our super-powered guy mete out severe asskickings warring with the easing up of tension, that forfeiture of verisimilitude. You're not worried so much anymore about the main guy, but you do fret even more for his supporting cast.Jaxon is arrogant and c0ck-sure and occasionally rude, yeah, but he's likeable despite those traits and he risks himself above and beyond to save as many as he could. The interview format is really interesting. I like that the nameless reporter interviews not just Jaxon's close associates but his strongest detractors, as well, because Jaxon gets fleshed out even more. If I had nits to pick, it's that Jaxon's "General" nickname is lame, even though how he gets it isn't at all his fault. For some reason - maybe because that whiff of Buffy is too pronounced - it took me a while to settle into the supernatural backdrop, but once I did I was good to go. The Guardian is a hell of a read. It may even make you think more fondly of pit bulls (Jaxon has a vicious/loveable pit bull named Merrill). Me, I feel so damn thwarted right now because I can't get a hold of the sequels, The Regulators (Vol. 2) and Broken (Vol. 3). I just may have to stray from Amazon.***Edit 6.28.14***Okay, looks like the first sequelThe Regulators (The Guardian Interviews Book 2)is now available on Kindle. So, yay!