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The Dead #1-5
The Dead
The Dead brings the story of what happens after you die. When Sam opens his eyes after dying, he expects to see clouds or hellfire. What he's faced with instead is "The House" -- a surreal and often dangerous afterlife of interconnected rooms. As Sam travels deeper into this new world, he finds the strange creators of these rooms aren't the only residents of The House. Here there be monsters, and if he isn't careful, Sam's stay will take a horrible turn.
194 pages, Paperback
First published May 27, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 21, 2015
First let me say this was a really fun book, with great artwork that just popped and added a solid foundation to the world of The House and its inhabitants. Actually, the art alone carries this to a 4-star rating in my mind.
The plot concerns The House, and kind of half way station in the Afterlife; and newcomer to the House Sam, who quickly finds work collecting bottles, which is a form of currency in the The House, as each is a distinct vintage crafted by the inhabitants of each unique room. I thought this was an interesting take on the usual House of Mystery trope of the deceased telling stories to earn their keep, but was a little disappointed that The Dead didn't explore the idea of the bottle too much. Instead the plot quickly shifts gear to Sam helping to hunt down creatures and other demons that plague this version of the Afterlife for a kind of zoo run by Devi, the information broker and bar owner at the center of the social activity at the House.
Backgrounds and world building are hinted at throughout The Dead - such as the Oldcoats - but never explored in depth either. Between this and the somewhat cliffhanger ending, I do hope and wonder if The Dead will be an ongoing series.
One more item of note: the extra material found in the back of the book, like newspaper clippings and notebook entries are a great touch that I hope any non-kickstarted copies will contain in the future.
The plot concerns The House, and kind of half way station in the Afterlife; and newcomer to the House Sam, who quickly finds work collecting bottles, which is a form of currency in the The House, as each is a distinct vintage crafted by the inhabitants of each unique room. I thought this was an interesting take on the usual House of Mystery trope of the deceased telling stories to earn their keep, but was a little disappointed that The Dead didn't explore the idea of the bottle too much. Instead the plot quickly shifts gear to Sam helping to hunt down creatures and other demons that plague this version of the Afterlife for a kind of zoo run by Devi, the information broker and bar owner at the center of the social activity at the House.
Backgrounds and world building are hinted at throughout The Dead - such as the Oldcoats - but never explored in depth either. Between this and the somewhat cliffhanger ending, I do hope and wonder if The Dead will be an ongoing series.
One more item of note: the extra material found in the back of the book, like newspaper clippings and notebook entries are a great touch that I hope any non-kickstarted copies will contain in the future.
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November 4, 2015Some interesting ideas and characters but the story jumps around a bit too quickly. Some characters, like the old coats, are thrown into the mix without any explanation as to the part they play or why they're there. I'm guessing Maddox didn't want to sacrifice plot movement for exposition, but a bit too much is left unexplained for my liking.
January 3, 2016
Definitely a good read. It's a unique setting and story with some great artwork to pair. If you want a more in depth review of my thoughts, you can check out the review I wrote for my blog: http://jyoungjuharris.com/2015/06/11/...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews