Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter
October 22, 2015
What can I say about Brian P. Easton’s Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter trilogy which hasn’t already been said? I don’t know if there’s anything to say, really. If you take a gander on over at Amazon, the reviews are pretty fantastic. Throughout the series, a consistent four and a half out of five stars, with over two hundred reviews all told… that’s a lot of good shit what’s been said about the life and times of Sylvester Logan James, the titular werewolf hunter.
I will tell you I spent the last two weeks or so burning through the installments and marveling at how, from book to book, Brian Easton doesn’t lose a step or a pound of steam. The voice is eerily consistent, as if Easton isn’t writing this story, but transcribing it. That’s the kind of thing writers of series strive for, and I seethe with good-natured jealousy whenever I find it. (Mostly good-natured.) I’ll also tell you, I had intended to take a break between the novels to read something else, so as not to give myself werewolf hunter fatigue. Turns out, this didn’t work, as my thoughts kept turning back to the beautifully-written tale of this horrible man. Whatever else I was reading fell to the wayside and I opened up my copy of Heart of Scars, and then The Lineage.
Horrible man, right? Yes. Sylvester Logan James is the protagonist of the series, but he’s not always the hero. During the course of his long career, he runs into and across some very upstanding characters, fighting the same fight from different angles. Some of them, he assumes the worst of, and some of them he takes at face value for who they say they are. (Although, for one of these he has some pretty strong evidence from the spirit realm.) But make no mistake, even though he does things for good reasons, he doesn’t always do good thing.
Sylvester Logan James (hereafter referred to as SLJ) does good things, and he does some pretty goddamn horrible things. And not always in the name of the Feud. He is a machine that manufactures violence, especially in his youth. The need for it washes over him, bathing him in the blood of others, sometimes necessary, sometimes because he just needs to hurt people. And really, that’s the kind of person you need fighting a war of attrition against an evil, supernatural force.
At one point, SLJ has even allowed an evil spirit to take up residence inside him, just to be a better weapon. That’s not, you know, a normal thing. But he’s not in a normal fight, so as bad as it might be, it’s completely understandable within the context of his life.
One of the most endearing things about SLJ, even though he does horrible things in the name of the Feud, is that he knows his limitations as a flesh-and-blood man, but there comes a situation beyond him and… well, who else is going to do it? He heads face-first into set-ups and traps, knowing full well this might be the end times for SLJ, and yet he persists. It brings to mind a scene in the final Matrix movie, where Smith is pounding on Neo over and over, yelling at him, “Why do you persist?”
The answer for SLJ is the same as Neo’s, “Because I choose to.” And then he head-butts fate right in the nose.
So, I guess that’s another thing I can tell you about the series: it will keep you rooting for SLJ, even when you feel as if maybe you shouldn’t. Because he’s an implacable foe against that which is irredeemably evil, you have to urge him on through the compromises and through the depravity, through the despicable lows and the unimaginable highs. I’m on Team SLJ, for sure.
Another positive for the series as a whole is that, even though SLJ is a force to be reckoned with, he’s not the reason everything happens. He’s a means to an end, from time to time. If you’ve read some of Ian Fleming’s 007 books, SLJ is in the same boat as James Bond from time to time. A blunt instrument, a tool to bring the machinations of the larger foe to an end. Think about Goldfinger. Felix Leiter and the US Army take care of the big picture, while Bond quietly throttles Auric Goldfinger to death.
This is important, because the longer his career goes, the bigger the game becomes… to a point. He’s got the Feud, but while killing werewolves is his reason for being, there are a certain couple of werewolves he really, really wants a part of. Damn it, and now I can’t really say too much about my next point, because I don’t want any spoilers in this.
It’s goddamn big, though.
Let’s say, in the end, Sylvester Logan James and his exploits will have satisfied you, the reader. That much, I can promise you.
Now, Brian Easton has teased something from SLJ’s mentor, because Michael Winterfox was a motherfucker to reckoned with in his heyday, but I think I would be more interested in seeing the next generation of Monster Slayer. Surely, werewolves aren’t the only supernatural nasty to haunt the world of Man. And since his expertise is with the Beast, maybe SLJ isn’t the best person to teach how to kill vampires… but he’s sure as hell the best person to teach how to wage war against vampires, if that makes sense.
In any case, and I think I’ve drifted from my original point, the Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter is probably one of the best series I’ve ever read, and as sad as I am it’s finished, it’ll always be there to re-read when the time comes. The first entry is actually in my Top Ten list of novels, sharing shelf space with masterworks such as John Steakley’s Armor and John Gardner’s Grendel. If you’ve read these, you’ll see a trend there. If you haven’t read these, holy shit, why not?!
I’ll end this with a note of thanks to the author himself, Brian P. Easton, as he graciously allowed me to read the final installment, The Lineage, before it was published and was kind enough to allow me to offer a blurb/peer review, though I hesitate to call myself a peer. The man writes like a champion fights. So thank you, Brian, for that, and for bringing this series to the masses.
_thom
Originally published at: http://darktomorrow.net/?p=781
October 22, 2015
What can I say about Brian P. Easton’s Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter trilogy which hasn’t already been said? I don’t know if there’s anything to say, really. If you take a gander on over at Amazon, the reviews are pretty fantastic. Throughout the series, a consistent four and a half out of five stars, with over two hundred reviews all told… that’s a lot of good shit what’s been said about the life and times of Sylvester Logan James, the titular werewolf hunter.
I will tell you I spent the last two weeks or so burning through the installments and marveling at how, from book to book, Brian Easton doesn’t lose a step or a pound of steam. The voice is eerily consistent, as if Easton isn’t writing this story, but transcribing it. That’s the kind of thing writers of series strive for, and I seethe with good-natured jealousy whenever I find it. (Mostly good-natured.) I’ll also tell you, I had intended to take a break between the novels to read something else, so as not to give myself werewolf hunter fatigue. Turns out, this didn’t work, as my thoughts kept turning back to the beautifully-written tale of this horrible man. Whatever else I was reading fell to the wayside and I opened up my copy of Heart of Scars, and then The Lineage.
Horrible man, right? Yes. Sylvester Logan James is the protagonist of the series, but he’s not always the hero. During the course of his long career, he runs into and across some very upstanding characters, fighting the same fight from different angles. Some of them, he assumes the worst of, and some of them he takes at face value for who they say they are. (Although, for one of these he has some pretty strong evidence from the spirit realm.) But make no mistake, even though he does things for good reasons, he doesn’t always do good thing.
Sylvester Logan James (hereafter referred to as SLJ) does good things, and he does some pretty goddamn horrible things. And not always in the name of the Feud. He is a machine that manufactures violence, especially in his youth. The need for it washes over him, bathing him in the blood of others, sometimes necessary, sometimes because he just needs to hurt people. And really, that’s the kind of person you need fighting a war of attrition against an evil, supernatural force.
At one point, SLJ has even allowed an evil spirit to take up residence inside him, just to be a better weapon. That’s not, you know, a normal thing. But he’s not in a normal fight, so as bad as it might be, it’s completely understandable within the context of his life.
One of the most endearing things about SLJ, even though he does horrible things in the name of the Feud, is that he knows his limitations as a flesh-and-blood man, but there comes a situation beyond him and… well, who else is going to do it? He heads face-first into set-ups and traps, knowing full well this might be the end times for SLJ, and yet he persists. It brings to mind a scene in the final Matrix movie, where Smith is pounding on Neo over and over, yelling at him, “Why do you persist?”
The answer for SLJ is the same as Neo’s, “Because I choose to.” And then he head-butts fate right in the nose.
So, I guess that’s another thing I can tell you about the series: it will keep you rooting for SLJ, even when you feel as if maybe you shouldn’t. Because he’s an implacable foe against that which is irredeemably evil, you have to urge him on through the compromises and through the depravity, through the despicable lows and the unimaginable highs. I’m on Team SLJ, for sure.
Another positive for the series as a whole is that, even though SLJ is a force to be reckoned with, he’s not the reason everything happens. He’s a means to an end, from time to time. If you’ve read some of Ian Fleming’s 007 books, SLJ is in the same boat as James Bond from time to time. A blunt instrument, a tool to bring the machinations of the larger foe to an end. Think about Goldfinger. Felix Leiter and the US Army take care of the big picture, while Bond quietly throttles Auric Goldfinger to death.
This is important, because the longer his career goes, the bigger the game becomes… to a point. He’s got the Feud, but while killing werewolves is his reason for being, there are a certain couple of werewolves he really, really wants a part of. Damn it, and now I can’t really say too much about my next point, because I don’t want any spoilers in this.
It’s goddamn big, though.
Let’s say, in the end, Sylvester Logan James and his exploits will have satisfied you, the reader. That much, I can promise you.
Now, Brian Easton has teased something from SLJ’s mentor, because Michael Winterfox was a motherfucker to reckoned with in his heyday, but I think I would be more interested in seeing the next generation of Monster Slayer. Surely, werewolves aren’t the only supernatural nasty to haunt the world of Man. And since his expertise is with the Beast, maybe SLJ isn’t the best person to teach how to kill vampires… but he’s sure as hell the best person to teach how to wage war against vampires, if that makes sense.
In any case, and I think I’ve drifted from my original point, the Autobiography of a Werewolf Hunter is probably one of the best series I’ve ever read, and as sad as I am it’s finished, it’ll always be there to re-read when the time comes. The first entry is actually in my Top Ten list of novels, sharing shelf space with masterworks such as John Steakley’s Armor and John Gardner’s Grendel. If you’ve read these, you’ll see a trend there. If you haven’t read these, holy shit, why not?!
I’ll end this with a note of thanks to the author himself, Brian P. Easton, as he graciously allowed me to read the final installment, The Lineage, before it was published and was kind enough to allow me to offer a blurb/peer review, though I hesitate to call myself a peer. The man writes like a champion fights. So thank you, Brian, for that, and for bringing this series to the masses.
_thom
Originally published at: http://darktomorrow.net/?p=781
