AND WE’RE BACK! It’s time to talk about my favourite guilty pleasure: The Fever Series. It’s like an awful car wreck, you really want to, but you just can’t look away.
Somehow I managed to miss the Fever graphic novel. I don’t know if this was a blessing or a curse. But I’ve read it now. My curiosity won.
Interestingly this book was difficult to track down. None of my usual places had any copies, Chapters, the Book Depository, even the library. I ended up ordering it used online. So now I own it. Forever.
How would the Fever world translate into a visual medium? I wasn’t exactly sure. Look at the Seelie Princes for example. In the book they’re described as being so beautiful that it’s impossible to put into words. If you can’t describe it… how would someone be able to draw it?
The very first thing I noticed about Fever Moon was the art. It’s a little over the top, which was to be expected. But in all honesty it wasn’t too bad. Certain shots of Mac have me questioning basic human anatomy (check out the Hawkeye Initiative or Escher Girls for other examples). Given the nature of this series it could have been well more graphic? There are a few moments where I found myself scratching my head, wondering why certain panels were needed in the book. Like some of the recaps of the series so far, including Mac’s rape by the UnSeelie Princes. Out of all the things to show. Did we really need to see that?
Fever Moon is advertised as an all new Mac and Barrons adventure. It has a stand alone feel to it. The antagonist in this book the Fear Dorcha is mentioned off hand a few times in Burned, but in no way is it really relevant to the overarching narrative of the series. Think of it as an extra side quest that you can choose to go on if you have an hour or so to kill.
The concept of the Fear Dorcha is actually kind of cool. He’s a fey that steals pieces of people’s faces to build his own. Once he’s constructed a face he’s able to live out his life as a human. Once his human body dies he’s back to square one and needs to start the entire process over. He’s old, alien and practically unkillable. The Fear Dorcha represents everything that I love about the Fever series. He’s a solid antagonist with a great backstory. Moning never fails to impress me with her fey creatures. It’s these monsters and their world that keeps me coming back to this series, even if I hate almost everything else. I’d love for Moning to release a reference book, listing all of them and where she got her ideas.
One of the things I was looking forward to was seeing what all the characters looked like. In her forward for Fever Moon, Moning talked about putting together a comprehensive guide to her world with creature descriptions, character descriptions and backgrounds. I always like to see how authors view their characters. But then this happened:
Wait, that’s what Barrons is supposed to look like? Huh. My version of him is completely different. My Mac was pretty spot on with the graphic novel Mac.
We follow Mac as she trails two new monster haunting Dublin. The book offers us some of the greatest hits of the Fever series, trying to work the Dreamy Guy, The MacHalo and Mac’s love of cars into the narrative. If you’re new to the Fever series these might not make sense to the reader, but if you know the world, it’s just a nod in your direction.
At about the halfway mark, I found myself wondering why the graphic novel seemed different, more enjoyable than the full length novels of the series. Then it hit me. Since it was a graphic novel, all of the writing had been reduced to sparse descriptions and snatches of dialogue. The reader wasn’t trapped by the constant babble of the narrator, or Moning’s descriptions of things. Instead you could just look at the art and get the idea.
Fever Moon is short, easy to read and harmless. The narrative many be a bit lacking but it’s still entertaining and probably one of my favourite books in the series. If you like the Fever novels and haven’t picked up Fever Moon than I suggest you give it a read. It’ll help tide you over until the next novel. Whenever that is…. (January 19th 2016)
Check out my reviews of Iced and Burned!
