cover image Major Karnage

Major Karnage

Gord Zajac, ChiZine (Diamond, dist.), $15.95 trade paper (337p) ISBN 9780981374666

In his debut novel, Zajac strives to satirize a host of familiar sf tropes but spends most of the story repeating the same punchlines. Major John Karneski (a.k.a. "Karnage"), a veteran of "The War," is wasting away in an insane asylum when the imminent threat of extraterrestrial invasion prompts him to escape and save the Earth. Once out, Karnage finds himself squaring off not only against scheming "squidbug" aliens, but also against pursuing agents of the Dabney Corporation, whose efforts to enforce world peace seem sinister. Zajac gives Karnage near-superhero powers, but the two most exercised seem to be his ability to talk scatalogically non-stop at high decibel levels and to recover from fade-to-black concussions that end most chapters. Running jokes, including a chatty "Sanity Patch" implant that verbally warns Karnage of his escalating violence levels in the heat of combat, grow increasingly tired with each repetition. (June)