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Judges #1
JUDGES: The Avalanche
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 2033 A.D.
In a time of widespread poverty, inequality and political unrest, Special Prosecutor Eustace Fargo’s controversial new justice laws have come into effect.
Protests and violence meet the first Judges as they hit the street to enforce the Law; the cure, it’s clear, is far worse than the disease.
Is this a sign of things to come?
In a time of widespread poverty, inequality and political unrest, Special Prosecutor Eustace Fargo’s controversial new justice laws have come into effect.
Protests and violence meet the first Judges as they hit the street to enforce the Law; the cure, it’s clear, is far worse than the disease.
Is this a sign of things to come?
- GenresScience Fiction
232 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2018
13 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 29, 2021
Today let's talk about Judges. This time, though, we're not looking at the familiar world of Dredd and Mega-City 1. Today we're stepping back into the past, before the final days of liberty in 2070 where the Judges took control from the politicians, before the Cursed Earth and the mutants and the Mega-Cities themselves.
We're going back to the days of the first Judges as they try to establish their authority, dealing with civilians and police alike who aren't sure what to make of them or whether or not they're any better than the criminals they've been created to try and control. The transition hasn't been smooth, with increases in violence, political protest and even one very public suicide in protest.
This is the politically charged atmosphere we find ourselves mired within in the novel "Judges - The Avalanche" by Michael Carroll. This is a look at social change in microcosm. Rather than focusing on the country as a whole this is an intimate little story following a group of Judges in small-town America, investigating the death of one of their own as they attempt to work with both the local police and the population of the town. Added to this we have another plot regarding a supplier of an illegal drug called "TranceTrance" and while some of the Judges work to investigate this, the rest busy themselves with the death of their colleague.
"He didn’t know whether he was supposed to say goodbye to the Judge: no one knew the rules yet."
This was a book that left me with mixed feelings by the end of it. There was a lot it did right, but also some things that were...not so right. Looking at the positives, I enjoyed the interactions between the Judges and the local police, as well as the Governor, people who don't seem to quite grasp that the concept of "due process" has died a quiet death on a back road somewhere. Probably after resisting arrest by a Judge.
"There is no going back, no reset button that’s going to fix everything. The life that you know now is almost gone. There will be no more lawyers, or cops, or—in time—politicians. Just Judges."
I also liked seeing the descriptions of the original uniform which doesn't seem as stylized as the one in Dredd's time. No golden eagle on the shoulder yet, it's more like the Karl Urban Dredd uniform, designed firstly to protect rather than make the Judges stand out as a symbol of authority. Also rather than riding the independently mobile and intelligent "Lawmaster" bikes, we have the far more mundane "Lawranger" instead (Lawranger, Lawmaster, Lawgiver. Is their nightstick called the Lawthumper?).
But by the end of the book I was left wanting more, which is both good and bad. I wanted more of this world, I wanted more of the political and social changes surrounding the Judge system, I wanted more of what was going on outside of this one little town. I also, frankly, wanted more story. The boss of the TranceTrance factory is introduced early on in the story and it's intimated that he's not afraid of the Judges, and not afraid to do whatever it takes to ensure nothing stands in his way.
And his story just ends. Not even with a bang. Not even an on-camera whimper. It just ends and we don't even see the consequences, instead we get a sudden switcheroo with who our villain is that was so abrupt I had to go back and read it again just to make sure I hadn't missed something but no. No I hadn't. In the dying moments of the story our focus shifts so hard I nearly had cognitive whiplash. I understand why this particular series of events had to happen, but we suddenly go from our drug dealer bad guy to...well, I'll leave you to read it yourself and you can see. It reminded me of another author, Laurel K Hamilton, who has a very bad habit of setting up her villain, and then having their threat taken care of in two pages at the end of the book, or disposes of them off-camera. It's just such an anti-climax.
All this said, though, I would love to see more in this setting, more of the rest of the world, more of the political and social themes that help flesh out the Judges themselves. I know Michael Carroll has written other Judge books, I hope we get more following on from this one.
We're going back to the days of the first Judges as they try to establish their authority, dealing with civilians and police alike who aren't sure what to make of them or whether or not they're any better than the criminals they've been created to try and control. The transition hasn't been smooth, with increases in violence, political protest and even one very public suicide in protest.
This is the politically charged atmosphere we find ourselves mired within in the novel "Judges - The Avalanche" by Michael Carroll. This is a look at social change in microcosm. Rather than focusing on the country as a whole this is an intimate little story following a group of Judges in small-town America, investigating the death of one of their own as they attempt to work with both the local police and the population of the town. Added to this we have another plot regarding a supplier of an illegal drug called "TranceTrance" and while some of the Judges work to investigate this, the rest busy themselves with the death of their colleague.
"He didn’t know whether he was supposed to say goodbye to the Judge: no one knew the rules yet."
This was a book that left me with mixed feelings by the end of it. There was a lot it did right, but also some things that were...not so right. Looking at the positives, I enjoyed the interactions between the Judges and the local police, as well as the Governor, people who don't seem to quite grasp that the concept of "due process" has died a quiet death on a back road somewhere. Probably after resisting arrest by a Judge.
"There is no going back, no reset button that’s going to fix everything. The life that you know now is almost gone. There will be no more lawyers, or cops, or—in time—politicians. Just Judges."
I also liked seeing the descriptions of the original uniform which doesn't seem as stylized as the one in Dredd's time. No golden eagle on the shoulder yet, it's more like the Karl Urban Dredd uniform, designed firstly to protect rather than make the Judges stand out as a symbol of authority. Also rather than riding the independently mobile and intelligent "Lawmaster" bikes, we have the far more mundane "Lawranger" instead (Lawranger, Lawmaster, Lawgiver. Is their nightstick called the Lawthumper?).
But by the end of the book I was left wanting more, which is both good and bad. I wanted more of this world, I wanted more of the political and social changes surrounding the Judge system, I wanted more of what was going on outside of this one little town. I also, frankly, wanted more story. The boss of the TranceTrance factory is introduced early on in the story and it's intimated that he's not afraid of the Judges, and not afraid to do whatever it takes to ensure nothing stands in his way.
And his story just ends. Not even with a bang. Not even an on-camera whimper. It just ends and we don't even see the consequences, instead we get a sudden switcheroo with who our villain is that was so abrupt I had to go back and read it again just to make sure I hadn't missed something but no. No I hadn't. In the dying moments of the story our focus shifts so hard I nearly had cognitive whiplash. I understand why this particular series of events had to happen, but we suddenly go from our drug dealer bad guy to...well, I'll leave you to read it yourself and you can see. It reminded me of another author, Laurel K Hamilton, who has a very bad habit of setting up her villain, and then having their threat taken care of in two pages at the end of the book, or disposes of them off-camera. It's just such an anti-climax.
All this said, though, I would love to see more in this setting, more of the rest of the world, more of the political and social themes that help flesh out the Judges themselves. I know Michael Carroll has written other Judge books, I hope we get more following on from this one.
May 30, 2018
This is set when the Judges are just being introduced into the USA. Judge Dredd started as satire, a 1970's/80's British exaggeration and extrapolation of where policing in the USA might go in massive cities that were too crowded for ordinary police to control. It started with there still being some ordinary police although they rapidly disappeared. The Judges were harsh but they applied the law. The background was futuristic and fantastic and the visual depictions often had their tongues firmly in their cheeks. They were set in a different world that no-one would mistake for contemporary America.
This story is well-written but is a very different beast. It is set in an America very similar to today and the Judges are being rapidly rolled out across the whole country, not just the dense urban areas. The Judges arrive in a small town with a reputation for viciousness rolling ahead of them. The police are unhappy to see them and several of the Judges go out of their way to antagonise them. It is very bleak and there are absolutely no heroes in this story. Everyone seems to do something that is wrong or disproportionate with the possible exception of a man who has a dead body thrown over his fence. Without artwork to distract and relying on the reader's own imagination based on today this is, as I say, well-written but very bleak. I would have liked to have one character I could like.
This story is well-written but is a very different beast. It is set in an America very similar to today and the Judges are being rapidly rolled out across the whole country, not just the dense urban areas. The Judges arrive in a small town with a reputation for viciousness rolling ahead of them. The police are unhappy to see them and several of the Judges go out of their way to antagonise them. It is very bleak and there are absolutely no heroes in this story. Everyone seems to do something that is wrong or disproportionate with the possible exception of a man who has a dead body thrown over his fence. Without artwork to distract and relying on the reader's own imagination based on today this is, as I say, well-written but very bleak. I would have liked to have one character I could like.
September 16, 2018
It's 2033 and America is sliding into chaos. Poverty is rampant and crime is on the rise. The response? The President has allowed for the creation of a force to tackle the crime head on. Deal with the crime, drive out the criminals and the communities will be able to heal. This new organisation is to have complete summary powers to enforce the law. Sometimes they might even dispense justice. To begin with they are being drawn from the best of the police and other law enforcement agencies, from the legal profession and from the military. They are not police. They are not the courts. They sit above both and have authority over both. They are the Judges.
The small town of St. Christopher has an unexpected visitor. A lone Judge has made her way into the town. The rest of her squad are expected tomorrow but she's come early to spend some time with her family. The next day Deacon and the rest of the Judges arrive, to start the investigation into her murder.
A swift moving look at the early, almost the very first days of the Judges. They didn't take over all of a sudden but gradually. But from the start they make it clear who they are, brutal and unforgiving. But at the moment they have to work with the existing organisations. For now.
A fun little story that fills in some lore for Dredd's world but not too much.
The small town of St. Christopher has an unexpected visitor. A lone Judge has made her way into the town. The rest of her squad are expected tomorrow but she's come early to spend some time with her family. The next day Deacon and the rest of the Judges arrive, to start the investigation into her murder.
A swift moving look at the early, almost the very first days of the Judges. They didn't take over all of a sudden but gradually. But from the start they make it clear who they are, brutal and unforgiving. But at the moment they have to work with the existing organisations. For now.
A fun little story that fills in some lore for Dredd's world but not too much.
June 26, 2018
The difference between Justice and Policing
This is another is the series of Judge Dredd shorts, this one being the first in a series about the very early days of the Justice Department, before the Judges had achieved total power.
The story is really very appropriate, given the current crisis of injustice and out-of-control policing in the US. Time and again we hear police sneering at the Judges, explaining that they might be criminals, but ‘you’ll never get a court of law to convict me’, or how it was better to imprison people you don’t like, not the guilty, because people like them were meant to decide things like that.
In contrast, though the Judges have not yet achieved the incorruptible perfection of Dredd, they cut through the bluster: they do not need trials, and they want justice, not satisfaction or vengeance. One of then says ‘I do not use the law, I make the law’. It’s still a long way to the absolute subservience of Dredd’s ‘I am the law’, but the first step on the road to redemption has been taken.
This is another is the series of Judge Dredd shorts, this one being the first in a series about the very early days of the Justice Department, before the Judges had achieved total power.
The story is really very appropriate, given the current crisis of injustice and out-of-control policing in the US. Time and again we hear police sneering at the Judges, explaining that they might be criminals, but ‘you’ll never get a court of law to convict me’, or how it was better to imprison people you don’t like, not the guilty, because people like them were meant to decide things like that.
In contrast, though the Judges have not yet achieved the incorruptible perfection of Dredd, they cut through the bluster: they do not need trials, and they want justice, not satisfaction or vengeance. One of then says ‘I do not use the law, I make the law’. It’s still a long way to the absolute subservience of Dredd’s ‘I am the law’, but the first step on the road to redemption has been taken.
June 12, 2019
This was a solid story, as I'd expect from the author. The title is a metaphor, which becomes clear during the story in an unobtrusive way.
I liked the world building elements, eg the Judges' bikes were referred to as Lawrangers rather than Lawmasters. That type of thing shows the gradual evolution of the concept, from what we have now to what we see in the comics.
The story presents some interesting dilemmas, particularly when it comes to lethal force. Were particular characters justified in their actions? I can see the appeal of the Judges (which is why I read this book) but I'm not sure that I agree with everything they do, and I'm pretty sure that was the author's intention.
The ending felt a bit abrupt. In fairness, that's partly because the last 20 pages of the book are an excerpt from another novel, so I'd assumed that there was another chapter still to come; on its own merits, it's not necessarily wrong.
I liked the world building elements, eg the Judges' bikes were referred to as Lawrangers rather than Lawmasters. That type of thing shows the gradual evolution of the concept, from what we have now to what we see in the comics.
The story presents some interesting dilemmas, particularly when it comes to lethal force. Were particular characters justified in their actions? I can see the appeal of the Judges (which is why I read this book) but I'm not sure that I agree with everything they do, and I'm pretty sure that was the author's intention.
The ending felt a bit abrupt. In fairness, that's partly because the last 20 pages of the book are an excerpt from another novel, so I'd assumed that there was another chapter still to come; on its own merits, it's not necessarily wrong.
July 8, 2018
A really exciting insight into the beginnings of the Mega City One justice system. Michael Carroll has really pushed the boat out to create a near future world that seems plausible yet bridges the gap to the world of Judge Dredd. He is a master of characterisation, and sets up characters you can really care about in just a few pages (in a few cases, only to snuff them out just as you are really getting to know them). As a novella, it's a relatively short work, but it really covers a lot of ground in that limited space, and really sets up a lot of things about the world of Judge Dredd that we take for granted.
I'm looking forward to more in this series!
I'm looking forward to more in this series!
April 6, 2019
Right from the prologue, I was hooked. Fairly short story, but Michael does a great job of capturing the initial chaos and push-back from the shift to the system that ultimately leads to Judge Dredd being cloned.
If you enjoy the comic strips from 2000AD then you will likely enjoy this as well. I was left satisfied with how the story wrapped up, but also found myself wanting more.
FYI: Initially there are three books in this series, listed below, but my hope is this is the first trilogy of many.
1) The Avalanche, by Michael Carroll
2) Lone Wolf by George Mann
3) When the Light Lay Still, by Charles J. Eskew
If you enjoy the comic strips from 2000AD then you will likely enjoy this as well. I was left satisfied with how the story wrapped up, but also found myself wanting more.
FYI: Initially there are three books in this series, listed below, but my hope is this is the first trilogy of many.
1) The Avalanche, by Michael Carroll
2) Lone Wolf by George Mann
3) When the Light Lay Still, by Charles J. Eskew
May 25, 2018
A brilliant opener to what I hope will be an oncoming series. Nice to see the early days of he Judge program, yes it's not the polished finished arrival we've grown up with over the past 40 years through the pages of 2000AD but it's an insight to a past long imagined before WWIII, before Booth, before there was a Mega City One and before Dredd.
June 3, 2018
Utter garbage
Big fan of the judges dredd and co ,story's good and bad,but this is a travesty of course this is the early days, but still with early judges obnoxious and arrogant as these it's just really really bad, deacon made a recent appearance in 200ad, hope he's better in that than in this rubbish
Big fan of the judges dredd and co ,story's good and bad,but this is a travesty of course this is the early days, but still with early judges obnoxious and arrogant as these it's just really really bad, deacon made a recent appearance in 200ad, hope he's better in that than in this rubbish
June 4, 2018
Pretty standard history but great world building
Anyone who’s a fan of Dredd’s world will love this book. There’s nothing amazing about the story itself but the world the author builds is so believable and intriguing that you could really imagine it taking hold in the US today. It provides a perfect bridge to that extraordinary world of Mega City One.
Anyone who’s a fan of Dredd’s world will love this book. There’s nothing amazing about the story itself but the world the author builds is so believable and intriguing that you could really imagine it taking hold in the US today. It provides a perfect bridge to that extraordinary world of Mega City One.
June 20, 2018
I loved this story. A great introduction to the background of the Dreddverse and dealing with many subtle issues that would arise from the transition of power from the legal system of today (or at least that in America) and that of the Judges. Looking forward to the others in this series to see how they develop.
March 5, 2019
Pretty darn good
I enjoyed this origins book. From the style we can see it will be one of many and I applaud that as I felt the story was a little rushed in places but still enjoyable
I enjoyed this origins book. From the style we can see it will be one of many and I applaud that as I felt the story was a little rushed in places but still enjoyable
June 1, 2018
In the beginning there was ... an idea
A first step into the back story of the world of judges. Not as nuanced as the 40 years of Judge Dredd before it. A little bit too simply drawn for my tastes but if you want a taste of the judges before mega city one, Tis grand.
A first step into the back story of the world of judges. Not as nuanced as the 40 years of Judge Dredd before it. A little bit too simply drawn for my tastes but if you want a taste of the judges before mega city one, Tis grand.
September 17, 2021
A highly readable and enjoyable novella that sets the tone and pace for this origin series for the world in the Judge Dredd comic. Recommended for those familiar with the source material. Not sure it has enough to tempt the layperson. 7/10
March 29, 2025
The dawn of Judges!
This book is perfect for any Judge Dredd fan. The early days of judges and the Justice Department. The integration of Judges over regular cops is told brilliantly.
This book is perfect for any Judge Dredd fan. The early days of judges and the Justice Department. The integration of Judges over regular cops is told brilliantly.
June 28, 2018
Not the best of his Judge books but still worth a read.
April 19, 2020
Michael Carroll excels once again
March 30, 2020
Michael Carroll is currently my favourite Judge Dredd prose author, having read some of these excellent short stories plus the Rico on Titan series. This is a sharply written and pacy prequel to the earliest days of Fargo's young Judges as they work uneasily side-by-side with traditional police departments in a small-town investigating the murder of one of their own.
The tension of the small-town cops and lawyers when up against a paramilitary force of judges whom they gradually recognise will replace them is excellently rendered, along with the classic whodunnit storyline, in Carroll's deft prose. One of the best in this series, still working my way through them!
The tension of the small-town cops and lawyers when up against a paramilitary force of judges whom they gradually recognise will replace them is excellently rendered, along with the classic whodunnit storyline, in Carroll's deft prose. One of the best in this series, still working my way through them!
June 29, 2018
Offers some interesting insight into the Judge Dredd backstory, but it ends really abruptly, with no more than a cursory resolution to the story.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews