Fiction Reviews
Red Sonja: Consumed
(2024) Gail Simone, Orbit, £20, hrdbk, 376pp, ISBN 978-0-356-52060-5
As those readers of a certain age will know, Red Sonja debuted in issue 23 of the Marvel comic Conan the Barbarian and although she will no doubt be remembered as clad only in a skimpy chainmail bikini, she actually first appeared in a long-sleeved mail shirt and shorts. Rebooted (and resuited) by Gail Simone in 2013 the Hyrkanian hero has since shown up in various guises and spin-offs. Here, in her first novel, Simone returns to the character, setting her off on an adventure that returns ‘Sonjita’ to her origins, both geographical and temporal.
The book opens with Sonja on the run, having seduced an exiled Queen and stolen her golden amulet on behalf of The Falcon who, doubting our hero’s intentions, sets his Blood Man Sylus after her. Sylus is a psychopath who believes that when he kills his victims, he is given insight into their ‘hidden’ self. When he encounters Sonja in a crowded bar, however, he realises, first, that Sonja is no easy victim and second, that she actually has no hidden self, that she really is as she is found: a woman of great appetites, whether for food, drink, seΧ or fighting. For a character-led book, such attributes could make for a less than interesting story but Simone throws enough challenges Sonja’s way to more than keep the reader engaged.
And so much of the first part of the book is a tale of pursuit, with Queen Ysidra and the two remaining members of her ‘Wolf Pack’ seeking our hero and Stylus, in turn, on their trail. Along the way, Sonja and her loyal (and battle hardened) steed Sunder are captured by a Zamoran patrol and she is forced into gladiatorial combat. My immediate thought was ‘Woe betide the other gladiators!’ and of course Sonja dispatches her opponents brutally and, I have to say, perhaps rather too easily.
Interlaced through this narrative are two other threads. One adds an element of horror to the mix as Something From Below is attacking people in Sonja’s homeland (and the first time that element is introduced, I couldn’t help but feel that Simone must have been influenced by the film Tremors!). The other, related, but not in the way you might think, is that Hyrkania has been declared plague-ridden, with anyone fleeing into neighbouring lands put to death without mercy. Nevertheless, Aria and Dalen, two former members of the Hyrkanian ‘King’s Eye’ manage to evade the blockade on a mission to find the fabled hero who, they believe, will save their, and her, land.
Although they rescue her from captivity in the Zamoran arena, Sonja herself is not so keen on being cast as a saviour but is persuaded to return to her homeland (and also to join Aria and Dalen in a ménage a trois under the stars, as Simone highlights Sonja’s bisexuality, something she introduced in her comic book). And so, the stage gets set for the Big Showdown with the monsters ravaging Hyrkania and it is no spoiler to reveal who emerges triumphant, since we’re talking about Red Sonja, She Devil, after all!
Simone does an excellent job in pushing the story along and tying all the threads nicely together - including the secret behind the amulet that Sonja stole at the beginning. If I have a complaint it’s that some of the action is resolved in a way that is a little too pat and the dialogue in places is also just a bit flat. Nevertheless, even if there were no comic book back-story this could stand as a page-turner of a fantasy novel in its own right. I look forward to the next Red Sonja adventure but if Simone were to step outside the franchise and strike out on her own, I’d be keen to read whatever results from that as well.
Steven French
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