Cinebook Ltd: Outlaws 2 - The Shores of Midaluss

 

Authors: Sylvain Runberg & Eric Chabbert
Age: 12 years and up
Size: 21.7 x 28.7 cm
Number of pages: 56 colour pages
Publication: March 2024

ISBN: 9781800441200 

£10.99 inc. VAT

https://www.cinebook.co.uk/outlaws-shores-midaluss-p-4545.html

The second volume of an Orbital spin-off.

Midaluss, on planet Drenn, is a sprawling seaside city where wealthy districts and alien slums co-exist, though violence is never far. That is where Kristina and her new partner, Zachary, have decided to start their new career as luxury vehicles thieves. But even as they must face fierce competition from other gangs, the tragic events that followed Kristina’s arrival on Drenn soon catch up to them, and blood – alien and Human – could soon flow freely again …

I like to go a little bit better than some other sites. If you search for this book online the cover image -whether on Amazon, review sites or sellers- are all of the rough draft cover which is a bit off-putting but it is used as either the sellers do not have copies of the book or are just lifting the cover from Cinebook's site. So here you go; a good, clean final cover.

Well....the way of thinking was that Kristina would somehow come good and turn around from a prospective life of crime.  However, at the end of this volume she literally jumps to the point of no going back.  And her brother, Caleb,  has earned an internship at the IDO (Interworld Diplomatic Office) and is going to be allowed to sit in on the interrogation of a senior corrupt official and sort through the evidence. It is while doing this that he finds an holoimage showing Kristina in an attack on a drug cartel.

Sylvain Runberg's pacing and dialogue cannot be faulted and he delivers story impact at just the right points.

As for Eric Chabbert's artwork; it has that old school Valerian feel to it but with a twist. The various aliens look believable and that is often something that can be off in certain books but not this one.  The space craft look good and the cityscapes and architecture look incredible. I assume, since no colourist is credited, that Chabbert does his own colour work and it makes his art pop.

I was not that keen on another "kid on the run possibly turning to crime" book even if set in the future but this one works.   I stand by my review of volume 1 which re-reading reminded me how much I enjoyed the first chapter.

Recommended but, please, buy from Cinebook direct!