Synopsis
Norylska Groans…
with the weight of her crimes. In a city where winter reigns amid the fires of industry and war, soot and snow conspire to conceal centuries of death and deception.
Norylska Groans…
and the weight of a leaden sky threatens to crush her people. Katyusha Leonova, desperate to restore her family name, takes a job with Norylska’s brutal police force. To support his family, Genndy Antonov finds bloody work with a local crime syndicate.
Norylska Groans…
with the weight of her dead. As bodies fall, the two discover a foul truth hidden beneath layers of deception and violence: Come the thaw, what was buried will be revealed.
Review
If you swap the robotics for a frosted, Russian inspired, and finely built but bleak city, Norylska Groans has a lot of Robocop about it!
Hear me out…
Norylska Groans is a (often very) dark tale about perspective. A magic system that allows the world to be seen and experienced through others’ eyes. Like the aforementioned 80s police cyborg, we, as readers, watch as characters come to terms with who they are as they spend time in the heads of those they are not.
Its a very human book, but the back drop of filth-addled snow, mafia-esque murderous families, slum life and a post-war political system rife with racism and resentment presents its deeper emotive content in ways both unique and visceral.
The frozen, filth-crusted alleys of Norylska are tied together by a bloody street mystery that drips into the eyes of Snyder and Fletcher’s emulated police department and entwines the local mob boss family while stumbling from post-war persistent head injuries.
At times this story is barbaric, disgusting, excessively violent and holds a smeared, cracked mirror up to our own reality without becoming preachy. The action, the wild ride, the relatable but also obvious fantasy world do a great job of keeping your hands in the carriage as you are whisked from one blood-soaked dilemma to another.
The gangland violence is played out by two main characters who, in turn, host others as they make use of the incredibly intriguing and inventive magic system. A system that suits the slums of Norylska, you won’t see fire balls and summoning in this world but layers of menacing and head twisting psychology that will creep inside your brain and lay eggs of conquest and bitter survival.
Roughly speaking, the two main characters are a down on his luck veteran forced into a life of mob crime. Gen would not be out of place if he staggered, bleeding and furious, into a David Gemmel novel. And Kat, a more complex and diverse character that gave me vibes of Trinity from the original Matrix at odds with her more simpering side as a spirit-crushed housewife who has forgotten she has a bite attack. Kat is complex and reflective and an absolute pleasure to watch from the safety of the pages.
This book is an absolute gem, albeit one I’ve had to anti-bac a couple of times before displaying. It’s a book that firmly smacked me on the wrist for not diving in a long time ago. The unique setting, the magic system, the human yet strangely 80s-tainted gang vibes and the tantalising glimpse (and I mean glimpse) of the megafauna outside the city make for one hell of a story.
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