Trojan

by Daniel Kraus, Laci (Illustrations)

In a world where mankind lives side by side with creatures of legend and myth, humanity turned out to be the real monsters, fearing, hating, and exploiting the race of magical Fey they once revered.

Into this twisted fairy tale world steps Nessa, a young woman harboring dark secrets and an even darker agenda—infiltrating the criminal underworld that stages Fey torture videos for streaming on the darkweb. TROJAN is a fantasy thriller full of wonder and horror in equal measure!



Once upon a time, we lived alongside Legends. Creatures of myth. Centaurs, fauns, gorgons, kelpies, gnomes, and more. They were spectacular. Majestic. Powerful. Peaceful. Pure. In comparison, we were ugly. Weak. Warmongering. Rotten. Is it any wonder we could not live alongside them any longer? After driving these Legends to the fringes of society, an uglier form of mythos takes shape in the form of rumors of live snuff shows for dark web high rollers. When a mysterious young woman, Nessa, enlists the help of a hacker to take a tour of the grisliest corners of the Dark Web, she sets in motion a war between those who peddle to mankind’s darkest fantasies and a world that transcends imagination. TROJAN is a fantasy thriller full of wonder and horror in equal measure.

100 pages, Paperback

Published July 18, 2023

About the author

“Kraus brings the rigor of a scientist and the sensibility of a poet.” – The New York Times

DANIEL KRAUS is a New York Times bestselling writer of novels, TV, and film. WHALEFALL received a front-cover rave in the New York Times Book Review, won the Alex Award, was an L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist, and was a Best Book of 2023 from NPR, the New York Times, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and more.

With Guillermo del Toro, he co-authored THE SHAPE OF WATER, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus co-authored TROLLHUNTERS, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. His also cowrote THE LIVING DEAD and PAY THE PIPER with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero.

Kraus’s THE DEATH AND LIFE OF ZEBULON FINCH was named one of Entertainment Weekly‘s Top 10 Books of the Year. Kraus has won the Bram Stoker Award, Scribe Award, two Odyssey Awards (for both ROTTERS and SCOWLER), and has appeared multiple times as Library Guild selections, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults, and more.

Kraus’s work has been translated into over 20 languages. Visit him at danielkraus.com.

Reviews

[Yodamom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Illustrations, interesting story, stand alone which was nice

[Rana Biswas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this gorgeous book. It exceeded all my expectations. Simply gorgeous and beautiful book. A near perfect story - a dark revenge thriller in a dystopian world - mixed with fantasy, horror, and dark web.

[47Time · Rating 2 out of 5]

So what do you do when you're part of a minority who wants to be accepted by regular society? You offer make a snuff film, but kill everyone who creates the damn things. All in plain view of everybody tuned in to the online stream and then everybody else who sees the films. Duh! So violence is the answer. Ok, got it!

Nessa is a young woman who enters the darkest part of town in search for something very specific. She gets accosted by Dirk who protects her from the seedy aspects in the area. She knows he is a hacker familiar with the dark web. Right when he dismisses her for her interest in snuff films, she reveals her real intentions: she wants to offer herself as a victim to Kaapo who creates the most popular and well-paid snuff films out there. She needs the money for her ailing mother. She reveals herself to be a faerie, the rarest Fae in existence, which would increase her earnings from the film that much more.

In reality, Nessa is trying to help other Fae like her who are forced to live on the streets, hated by regular humans. She keeps this information from Dirk who is already disgusted by what he has to do. He did bad deeds in the past for money and it got him rejected by everyone.

Nessa is really a Fury, a hellish creature who intends to kill Kaapo to save the Fae he features in his films and create awareness for the Fae in general. Nessa tries to free the prisoners, but they are killed by Kappo's security. She revels in killing Kaapo - who is also a Fae profiting from other Fae like humans do to themselves - and tearing down his organization. The assassins sent after Dirk turn out to be Nessa's two sister Furies. They let him live, but kill Kaapo's viewers.

In the wake of these events, the Fae aren't as hated any more. It doesn't really make sense, but hey, sure thing.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few issues were really good, mixing the dark side of the Internet with magic beings (fey). But the story didn't really seem to have a point and the last couple of issues weren't as good--the story kind of rushed the ending and not everything was very clear. The art was pretty good throughout, though not always easy to recognize which character was which (especially at the end). I'm generally a fan of pretty much anything Daniel Kraus writes, but this wasn't one of his better efforts.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

A grimly portrayed account of creature of legend existing in the present day as a hiding and persecuted minority. It's prettily drawn, and I appreciated the mythological references, although the characterisation felt thin. I think many fans of dark fantasy would enjoy the book, however.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy how devoid of humor these AWA titles are. Trojan, like all AWA titles, is well written, well drawn, and well executed.

[Justin Soderberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the Galactic Comics and Collectibles Book Club we read Trojan from New York Times bestselling author Daniel Kraus and artist Laci published by AWA Studios.

Once upon a time, we lived alongside Legends. Creatures of myth. Centaurs, fauns, gorgons, kelpies, gnomes, and more. They were spectacular. Majestic. Powerful. Peaceful. Pure. In comparison, we were ugly. Weak. Warmongering. Rotten. Is it any wonder we could not live alongside them any longer?

After driving these Legends to the fringes of society, an uglier form of mythos takes shape in the form of rumors of live snuff shows for dark web high rollers. When a mysterious young woman, Nessa, enlists the help of a hacker to take a tour of the grisliest corners of the Dark Web, she sets in motion a war between those who peddle to mankind’s darkest fantasies and a world that transcends imagination.

Daniel has an outstanding ability to author a great horror novel, his foray into comics was kicked-off with The Autumnal, an outstanding eight-issue miniseries from Vault Comics, and continued with Trojan.

The overall consensus from the Galactic Comic Book Club was that Trojan is a great concept and wonderfully illustrated. The group was glad to have read the trade paperback, but wish the four-issue miniseries was longer and more flushed out.

The artwork was key in this series, Laci killed the illustrations and really gave us something to experience. While another issue or two really would've made the series much better, the book was worth the read and recommended to anyone who is interested in fantasy horror comics.