The Doom Magnetic! Trilogy by William Pauley III

The references to Nintendo accessories being used as actual weapons felt tacked on and silly rather than clever or.well, bizarre. But something about it just didn't click for me. Being a huge fan of old-school games, not to mention a regular reader of Bizarro fiction titles, I wanted to like this book a lot more. Unfortunately, this felt like where the novel peaked. You remember that gray plastic pistol that came with the old 8-bit Nintendo consoles? Yeah, that's the one. We start with an opening scene where the brothers try to trick their business partner into a game of Russian Roulette using an overpowered 1984-era Nintendo zapper. This is a short synopsis without giving too many spoilers. After a car accident, Divey gets possessed by Vandenboom, leader of the Damned Dirt Devils, leading Reynold on a chase to get his brother back. Perfectly voiced by Connor Brannigan, he has a wonderful range of character voices and is fantastic at building atmosphere with his tone.Reynold and Divey Crunk run a 'brackfas burrito' truck, using a mystery source of meat. This wasn’t necessarily my favourite from this author, but still excellent. All of his books are reasonably short, but they fit in such a lot of action in the space, really entertaining reads. It made me laugh in places due to the absurdity of it all, but I like that about it, it’s unapologetically peculiar and fun. Horrifying, gory and a wild ride, this is a surreal, futuristic and dystopian tale with some amazing characters and a fast paced, compelling plot.

Of course, being William Pauley III I expected this to be weird as all hell off the bat and it was. He will find Mungden and The Purple Television if it’s the last thing he does.

Mungden has stolen an artefact known as The Purple Television from the Japanese Government and Qoser has been tasked with its return due to his unique skillset. Casting his eyes around - cueball and all, he begins asking the patrons of Crunchy Saloon if they know where Mungden is, only to be met with staunch silence. In search of a man named Mungden, Qoser and his troop of mopes enter a bar in the town of Chorizo, Nevada. Qoser is an assassin from planet Japan, capable of peeling flesh from bone and creating quenchless rips from one universe through to another, he thinks of this other universe as ‘The Doom Magnetic’.

The Doom Magnetic! Trilogy by William Pauley III