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Book Review: Willful Child: Wrath of Betty


Willful Child: Wrath of Betty by Steven Erikson, Willful Child #2



And so we join the not-terribly-bright but exceedingly cock-sure Captain Hadrian Sawback and his motley crew on board the Starship Willful Child for a series of devil-may-care, near-calamitous and downright chaotic adventures through ‘the infinite vastness of interstellar space.'


The continuing adventures of the starship A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life-forms, to boldly blow the...

Last year Steven Erikson managed to surprise me with his new series devoted to his passion for Star Trek: Willful Child. Steven Erikson is of course most famous for his Malazan Empire which he created together with Ian C. Esslemont. I went in Willful Child expecting nothing and got everything in return. A cool space romp and a hell off an adventure. Back then it wasn't know if Willful Child would get a sequel or not. When this book fell on my doorstep I was overjoyed. Another crazy adventure for Hadrian Sawback and the crew of the  A.S.F. Willful Child.

After the tumultuous events of the first book, Hadrian finds himself in a precarious situation. Command isn't pleased with the actions of Hadrian and so they have send someone to keep a close eye on Hadrian and his motley crew to make sure that if Hadrian oversteps appropriate action can be undertaken. Captain Hans Olo from the Century Warbler and Rand Humblenot are there to keep a close eye on Hadrian. It shouldn't come as a surprise that not long after starting, Hadrian falls into what he does best. Get into trouble and showing off that he is the best in everything. All this, Hadrian's attitude and two other Captains who want to get rid of Hadrian for good, promises more than a lot of over the top action. 

This over the top bit is precisely where the strength in Wrath of Betty lies. It is incomparable with Steven Erikson's earlier works. The way that Steven Erikson writes is non stop action over the top. Hadrian is a real piece of work. Rude, sexist, doesn't know heads from tails, if you thought that Hadrian was a special case his crew is just like him. Weird and over the top.  

Now you might think that with writing such a romp of a story the coherency can be lost in between the pages. But this is exactly where Steven Erikson doesn't let the story falter. The good thing about Wrath of Betty is that it is written just like tv show with focusing on different parties and building up that edge of your seat suspense and laughter. 

Wrath of Betty is a great romp and an adventure in itself. If you are open to this sort of humor, you are definitively in for a good time.

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