Review: Recursion's End
Before the Great Flood the Federation had been in the midst of an investigation regarding a mass grave found several miles from the estate of Taba (current ruler of Avolon).
Shortly after she was brought in for questioning Taba prophesied about a great flood ending the unification of the world powers Avola, Phiede and Varset and come the next moon festival a series of explosions destroyed the dams and floodgates and much of the city was destroyed by the rising sea.
The wealthy people in the North East hills were largely unaffected while the surviving city folk either fled into the swamplands never to be seen again or were picked off by Taba's followers after they descended from the hills in the east.
The survivors unified and formed the Southern Union from the wreckage of their once-great city and have steadily increased in military strength year after year since the collapse. Due to the number of casualties from the flood and Taba's raids their population is a tiny fraction of that of Avolon, whose technological advancement has all but stagnated due to the information control needed to maintain a population of religious fanatics.
This is the story of the people responsible for the deconstruction of Azulu as a whole.
The people of Azulu are faun-like humanoids with pointed ears, sharp teeth, fetlock-jointed legs and feet like hands. The females are generally larger than the males.
Tessa and Nigel of the Southern Union work with refugees from Avolon, those who have escaped Taba's breeding camps. It seems the queen of Avalon has a very keen reproductive urge and has forced many different males to sire her children. Once they have served their purpose, the males are disposed of.
One of Taba's victims is Des, who escaped his final fate and now lives with a doctor called Maud. They live in poverty in Avolon, working for food as Des deals with the trauma of what happened to him.
Agatha is the leader of a group of near-feral girls imprisoned by Taba's followers in a 'Reparation Center'. She leads a breakout and the girls run, seeking shelter in a temple. Finding people imprisoned there, Agatha frees them and together they all reach the front line of a full-scale military battle. Taba herself is there, enjoying the spectacle. When she sees her former captives escaping she taunts them, but cannot stop them escaping. She unleashes a powerful energy weapon against the Southern Union forces.
The survivors reach a boat that takes them to an SU refugee centre. Safe and sound? Not exactly. Tessa and Nigel are called in to help communicate with the wild youngsters and, where possible, reunite them with their parents. Agatha has no reason to trust the Union, however, so it will be quite an uphill struggle for their benefactors.
Recursion's End by writer/artist Emma Groom is a densely-packed, solid story of war, fanaticism, oppression and survival. The people of Azulu, despite their appearance, are very human in terms of their behaviour and how they deal with the consequences of conflict. There is a high degree of physical violence and psychological drama, with some very dark moments in the narrative.
Groom's artwork is vivid and expressive, clearly conveying the characters' emotions in each look and gesture. She does not shy away from graphic scenes of brutality, which is a central element of the story.
Religious fervour is at the root of the fighting and, indeed, was the cause of the initial disaster that has turned a once-great land into a battle zone. The war has many fronts, not just physical hostilities but also the mental scars of abuse. Des is haunted by a demonic apparition, Agatha and her sisters are reduced almost to animals. The Southern Union is not a perfect haven, either; prejudice towards immigrants from Avolon is not hard to find.
You can retreat from the heat of battle, escape the carnage of the front line, but the violence does not stop just because the guns are silent. The repercussions of wartime atrocities are echoes that do not quickly fade away.
Recursion's End on Patreon
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