Review – Brothers Jetstream: Leviathan by Zig Zag Claybourne (Review)

leviathan Every once in a while, I’ll see a tweet or a Facebook post talking about a new author. Usually, I don’t pay too much mind to those. Much of it depends on the source and the rest on how much social media fatigue I’m feeling. One such day in May, my good friend Dave Robison recommended this fellow named Zig Zag Claybourne. Well, I don’t care how tired I am, I follow very nearly anyone Dave recommends. I’m glad I did. Because I read this book.

ADVENTURE… just got 35% cooler. Milo Jetstream. Ramses Jetstream. Coming to save the world one last damn time against the False Prophet Buford in the battle to save the Earth, preserve the soul, and make sure folks get home in one piece…

Secret cabals. Fae folk in Walmart. And the whale that was poured into the oceans when the world first cooled from creation.

Adventure doesn’t need a new name. It needs a vacation.

The Goods – Do you like Buckaroo Banzai? If you don’t, and it isn’t out of ignorance, then you can stop reading here. If you do, let me say that without question (because I both picked up on it and confirmed with Double Z), this book was inspired by it and if you do, then again you might just stop reading here and skip down to the BUY ME links. If you’re still reading then you want more info.

The adventure and weirdness starts from the first few pages and rarely lets up. This book and everything in it are absurdly, ridiculously fun. That’s not everyone’s cup of tea. I get that. But angels who love sexy times, a group of stalwarts called the Battle Ready Bastards, sentient whales, vampires (who secretly run Hollywood), and Atlantidieans are begging you to read this. The universe he’s created are full of creatures and mythology that he has made his own and it is HUGE.

One of the things that I’m going to put in both The Goods and The Bads is this – you feel like you’ve been dropped into the middle of the most interesting, odd, and action packed series that you’ve run across. This is very much like The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. There is no prequel. There is a promised sequel. There is no primer. You have to figure out some things as the book motors along. Other things may well leave you scratching your head. In this sense, it also reminds me a little like Hitchhikers Guide.

The characters in this book are clever and interesting and as varied as you could possibly ask for. I love the rich soup of people that Double Z has created here. I end up caring more about some of the side characters than I do about the titular brothers, if for no other reason than they never felt like they were in danger. As forces of nature, who do have a human side, they were more iconic than the rest. Still, I loved them. The wit and banter between them made me laugh many, MANY times.

The Bads – If you haven’t gotten it by now, I love this book. Now, that’s not to say it doesn’t have flaws. As I mentioned, you are dropped in the middle of things, and Double Z doesn’t spell things out (very often). For me this is a good thing. It distracted only once or twice, but I kept going. Some people are not going to dig this.

There are a LOT of characters and a crap ton of stuff is going on. This leads to things getting muddy as hell in the third act. I kept going and the waters cleared and I was rewarded for my efforts. For the muddiness of the water I’m only dinging this a half star, because it remains so fun all the way through. It was that fun and adventure that kept the bog from being a slog.

Really that’s it. This book is a big hit with me. There is another book coming out. I don’t know when, but I will be keeping my peepers pealed.

I give this story four and a half out of five krakens.

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