There
is no doubt we are living in a second Golden Age of speculative fiction. The number of titles produced so high and
spread across such a variety of sub-genres, in fact, it’s impossible for anyone
to read all that comes available in science fiction and fantasy each month, let
alone year. Quantity not often equaling
quality, the bulk of new material is, unfortunately, superfluous. Where the majority of pulp from the 30s and
40s was lost to time, e-pulp of the current Golden Age is thus likely to go the
same direction.
This
is a long way of saying Daniel Polansky’s 2015 “The Builders” (Tor) is
e-pulp. It has color and punch, but so
quickly dissolves into nothing. Polanksy
himself calling the novella a “one-note
joke” derived from “adolescent
sensibilities,” his story of gun-slinging animals who get revenge on a
depraved city leader is as lite as speculative fiction gets.
Kung Fu Panda meets Mean Streets, “The Builders” features
Bonsoir the wisecracking French stoat, Boudica the doe-eyed sniper possum,
Cinnabar the quick-draw salamander, Barley the heavy-gunner badger, Gertrude mole,
and Elf the lame owl who team up under the cool, calm guidance of the Captain
(a disfigured mouse) to get their final revenge on evil Mephetic skunk. Bullets flying fast and furious against
hordes of rats and lackeys, the Garden will never be the same.
What
is the Garden? Well, that is a question
for Polansky, as well. As simple and
direct as plot and characters are, the setting is less so. The novella reads
like a comic book without backgrounds to the panels. Characters and dialogue bubbles occupy the
space, but almost nothing is added to provide a layer of atmosphere or mood
beyond—save the stabs at humor; “…well,
let’s just say creatures who voiced that misimpression tended not to do so ever
again. Creatures who voiced that
misimpression tended, generally speaking, not to do anything ever again.” Otherwise, the reader’s imagination has
trouble locating a story canvas. Mine
jumped from hints at Mexican deserts to glimpses of the backstreets of NYC, but
never found anything concrete to lock onto, leaving me to wonder, what is the
Garden? Comic books need a setting, just
like this novella.
We
can’t stop there, unfortunately; there are further issues with character and
backstory. The introduction of each of
the good guys is as classic as can be; dynamic mini-chapters are devoted to
each as they converge, which works very well.
In contrast, the baddies suddenly exist; a sentence here and a sentence
there in introduction. Thus, when the
inevitable showdown occurs, something is missing. The showdown precisely where tension exists
in stories of such caliber, baddies need to occupy the page as fully as the
goodies to complete the whole. Hurting
worse, the novella’s backstory, despite being the nexus for Captain and his
crew’s vendetta, is allowed to slowly peter out. Were it built up, it would have emphasized
the reader’s dislike of the baddies, in turn further heightening the
tension. Generally speaking, a good
setup paves the way to other successes.
But “The Builders’” lack thereof means by the time the climax arrives,
there is only partial interest. And the
prose, well, it could have used more bite implementing the storyteller’s voice
to likewise build interest, but I digress.
As
for the novella’s title, I don’t know to say except that I can think of a few
better—not perfect, but better.
“Captain’s Revenge,” “Tooth and Clawville,” “Vendetta in the Garden,” or
“Fedoras and Fangs” all do a better job of capturing the essence of the
material. Looking only at title, “The
Builders” could be an educational cartoon on Nick Jr.
In
the end, “The Builders” is at times a fun and funny gangster animal fantasy,
while at others stereotypical Hollywood crime figures superimposed on animals
spouting B-movie dialogue. It’s
finishable. Polansky puts plenty of fire
in pace and plot. But by and large, the
novella fits right in with the other e-pulp currently being pumped out by
mainstream genre publishing, which is too bad as there was potential for more.
Another 30-40 pages would have rounded out character, backstory, and setting,
and at least made a solid entry into the world of story attempted. For a significantly better example of how to
do warring rodents with richness and character, see Brian Jacques’ delightful Redwall series.
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