While involved in a dramatic hostage situation as a member of the Kansas City police force, Deedee Contreras witnesses a violent hostage situation, one which sees a member of the public’s head blown off by a grenade inserted into their mouth. That initial brutality sets the scene: cowering from the impact, Deedee emerges not into the same world, but into a viciously violent alternative reality, a world at war, where dragons, robots and entire streets soaked in blood are part of the fantastical furniture.

NEW WARRIORS OF ENDOS by Bryan Laurence is a vivid, short-form fantasy book that immediately stand out for its sheer levels of violence. From streets painted red with the blood of armies dragged slowly to their death, to huge fields of soldiers attached to crucifixes and then burnt by passing enemies, there are acts of vicious attack on almost every page. The text won’t appeal to many for that reason alone, but once readers get past the hostility, there’s plenty of colorful depth to be found. Contreras finds herself part of a small force made up of a soldier rescued from a crucifix and a bullet resistant robot, as she attempts to make her way to Soldier City – and a character she believes can help her back out of this universe – through various incredibly harsh environments. The new world is surreal, with many magical elements that seem to help Contreras along the way, a little like an ‘Alice Through The Looking Glass’ type adventure as seen through the lens of a filmmaker like Quentin Tarantino or Park Chan Wook.

Contreras’ environment unfolds with elements of shock and plenty of confusion, both wacky and brutal, quirky and surreal, a new shocking reality around every corner. As a short story, it’s vivid with imagination, a weird and wonderful journey with a rather obvious destination, littered with oddity along the road. The opening feels like walking a horror-inflicted path in search of a light at the end of the tunnel, and while the shock factor fades, that persistent aggression remains full on throughout and the ending feels a bit underwhelming. Despite this, there’s plenty here to like, not least the author’s striking imagination and the way the character’s staunch traits seem to travel between the differing realms. For all the gruesomeness, the text is also accessible but original and riddled with adrenaline. Squarely sitting at the crossroads of imaginative fantasy and war, it is a book for readers with a specific tastes.

Set in a vivid and darkly violent fantasy world, Bryan Laurence’s NEW WARRIORS OF ENDOS presents a imaginative journey through which readers follow a single main character’s brutal and surreal self discovery.

~James Hendicott for IndieReader