The Bookwyrm's Review of The Dark Frontier Adventures: Dango by Jack Long

 

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Rating: 10/10 Stars

Synopsis

Dango, a retired half-elf army scout, sets out with his friends to start a quiet new life on The Dark Frontier. Maybe raise some tuskers, no more fighting. But fate has other plans.

Kidnapped by savage elves Dango must fight for survival, but escape is just the beginning of his trials as he finds himself embroiled in a struggle for dominance of the territory with the vicious Gradokk Gang.

Join Dango and his friends as they fight corrupt ranchers, murderous elves, and the mountains themselves.

Welcome to gritty and visceral chases, murders, pit fights, betrayals, battles, and redemption on The Dark Frontier with this volume of The Dark Frontier Adventures - DANGO!

Review

I have been trying to expand my genres for reviews lately, and decided to try some weird west. When I saw the cover for Dango, I thought it had the kind of vibe I was looking for, something off the beaten path. A lot of weird west is just cowboy stories with magic tacked on, making it seem like old west urban fantasy. Dango takes a different approach, taking some elements of the old west, but making wholesale additions and subtractions to the various lore and tropes to create a whole new type of weird west universe.

The world of Dango is an analog of our world in some ways. An overseas empire, much more unified than Europe was, has colonized the America analog, which was inhabited by its own natives, the natives being elves in this case, who are living in various tribes which react in various ways to the newcomers. This ranges from acceptance to kill them and eat their hearts. They've been pushed back to some untamed land the people of the empire refer to as Dark Frontier. Dark Frontier is a dangerous place, with wildly aggressive creatures aside from the elves, including killer yeti, giant cats and the mutant offspring of Yeti and elves called Greymen and various other dangers. Even the plants can be dangerous. It's a frontier with ranchers who raise Tuskers, giant boars who can be used for riding, labor and food, depending on the type. It's reminiscent of old west cattle barons, with some differences, like the fact there are no guns. It's still crossbows, swords and even the occasional spell, which is definitely different. The old west feel is certainly offset by the differences.

This is a world that Dango and his companions live in. Dango is the main protagonist, a part-elf recently discharged soldier who is heading west into the frontier in search of land and opportunities for himself and some other members of his unit, the Black Rock Irregulars. After a run in with some natives goes horribly wrong, Dango ends up barely alive, and is saved by his old buddy Chatty. This is really where Dango's story really takes off, as some of his actions while he heals have lasting consequences. Dango hates bullies, and his pushback against the son of a local rancher goes negative fast. It really shows some of Dango's great characteristics, such as his iron willpower, his snarky sense of humor, his sense of honor, determination to look out for underdogs, and his stone cold sense of vengeance. This is a man that his fellow soldiers and others learn to respect.

The secondary characters are excellent as well. Dango's fellow Black Rock Irregulars are a great group of characters. There are a variety of characters, from a giant former pit fighter named Thistle and his tiny companion, The Ting Ting, who's a loudmouth but is the motivation for Thistle. Their traumatic pasts have them on the constant lookout for drugs to numb their pain. There's Doc, their medic, who looks older than the hills but is still good in a fight and an excellent medic, and his nephew Lug, a large, basically gentle man who only speaks peoples names, and who can be dangerous if provoked. I mentioned Chatty before, and he does live up to his name, being the unit chatterbox. Finally, there is Dandelion, a martial artist from the other end of the empire who doesn't speak, but is death on two legs.

This group is joined by the ranchers on the Kipperson Ranch, which include Colonel Kipperson, a retired army colonel who is a legend on the frontier, and his daughter Kipper, who is a little crazy, but in some great ways. She definitely is tough when she needs to be, but has a heart of gold. Then there is Miss Ka'ne'ha, an elven medicine woman that basically runs the Kipperson household, and is their healer and seer. 

The villains could have been caricatures, but are done very well. The Gradokk Gang is led by Gradokk, a rich rancher with aspirations of running the frontier. He has two sons, Raekk, the gangs silent killer and enforcer, who has ice in his veins. Then there is his younger brother Bakkus, a big bully who is always happiest abusing those weaker than him, and who is the epitome of the expression "nobody asked you to think". It's crazy to see the way the groups interact, and force character growth in response to the actions and responses. It's just a great combination of protagonists and antagonists leading to an epic showdown.

There are so many elements that make this a great book. You can see the inspirations for various parts of the story and characters. But these inspirations are just that, and the story is never derivative. The characters are fantastic, and they go through some great character development as the story progresses. The setting is just so well done, and you are drawn into this at once familiar and strange world, and you can only hope to see more. I enjoyed this book so much, it has pushed me to start a Bookwyrm Speaks Book of the Year Award, so with that said, I'm happy to Announce that The Dark Frontier Adventures: Dango is the inaugural Bookwyrm Speaks Book of the Year.