“Destroy me then, O demon of the briny depths! But even in death will I hunt you, and through all eternity you will know neither rest nor escape from my wrath.”
Joe Bonadonna’s ‘The MechMen of Canis-9: A Three Against The Stars Adventure’ is an absolute delight. The book reminds me of black and white science fiction adventures from the 50s that we used to watch when we were swathed in diapers and chewing on chocolate chip cookies. This book is a limitless flight of the imagination, that pays homage to dozens of classic and pulp works of literature and film, mixes them together, shakes them up, and produces a new yet familiar final product.
The basic plot involves a crew of marines searching for a mad scientist on a mysterious planet and his hidden cache of technologically superior fighting robots. The robots are appropriately called ‘Gort’ (‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’), and only are referred to as MechMen at the very end. The journey of the marines has a ‘Heart of Darkness’ kind of feel, or maybe ‘Jason and the Argonauts’. I think Bonadonna has managed to tap into an undiluted stream of the archetypal river that buoys all literature.
This book is a joy, and you’ll be reminded of turning on the TV when you were 10 and simultaneously reminded of seeing dynamic films like ‘Avatar,’ or reading ‘Moby Dick.’ I’d love to see this movie made, but not with state of the art special effects. I’d like somebody like Terry Gilliam to grab hold of it and make a film that references pulp cinema, but with a modern take. Perhaps some stop motion animation? That would be fantastic.
The character interplay is good, and there is a ‘Three Musketeers’ kind of camaraderie, though not as present as in the first book in the series, ‘Three Against the Stars.’ If you’re a fan of the kind of science fiction that slips into fantasy, if you like everything from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ to ‘Star Wars,’ then this is the book for you. It’s a delightful flight of the imagination done with skill and literary prowess. This is a book that is very serious about having fun. Check out an excerpt below:
