"The Red Wolf Conspiracy" by Robert V.S. Redick (Del Rey)

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The Red Wolf Conspiracy
Robert V.S. Redick
464 pp. Del Rey. $26.00
Pub. Date: 4/28/2009
ISBN-13: 978-0345508836

Reviewed by Paul Stotts

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Conspiracies. Love them or hate them, they make for good drama. Whispering deep in the dark belly of the shadows, the sound of nefarious plots hatching, hissing into the world like a sibilant newborn. Secret meetings behind closed doors, far away from prying eyes, a cadre of conspirators, sweat pooling on their brows, plotting, scheming, dreaming of fulfilling some mysterious objective, bringing some crazy plan to fruition, getting their inner evil genius on and taking over the world. Dreaming like a three-year old fantasizes about road trips to Toys R’ Us and filling up a red convertible with a gaggle of Tickle-Me-Elmos.

Now place that conspiracy on a ship. And not just any ship, but a really big ship. The type of ship an aircraft carrier wants to be when it grows up, beefy and burly, a syringe filled with Stanozolol sticking out of its poop deck; a Carnival party ship built for Paul Bunyan, a sailing continent, a tectonic plate cruising under clear blue skies. The Titanic? It’d fit in the cargo hold. Along with its nemesis: the Iceberg. And still there’d be room to spare for an impromptu football game. So who’s the real King of the World now?

A ship with the population of a large city on board, some of them conspirators, some heroes, but most of them clueless. Like a Disney cruise liner, filled with oblivious camera-wielding tourists, covered in big happy grins, while Mickey and Goofy are scheming to take over the world, Steamboat-Willie-Gone-Bad style. And no one knows. Except for you. You know what they’re plotting, planning. Horrified, you fight back, to stop them, to protect the Happiest Cruise Liner on Earth. By putting a size 12 up some cartoon keister.

A monstrous ship. A deadly conspiracy afoot. Rampant paranoia. Sounds like the beginning of a wildly imaginative fantasy adventure, part Titanic, part Apocalypse Now, as re-imagined by Charles Dickens. It sounds like The Red Wolf Conspiracy, the debut offering from promising writer Robert V.S. Redick. An offering worthy of your attention.

Why? To begin with Redick’s novel is memorable and engaging, a reading experience that’ll stick with you long after you’ve finished. Like a happy fungus that affects your mind, filling it with bright and exciting colors, killer adventures and cool ideas. It’s both unique in structure and epic in plot. Consider how many other epic fantasies are set almost solely on a ship, the heroes scrambling to unravel a conspiracy, to uncover a mystery, each puzzle solved met by a new deeper enigma? It’s a short list, possibly singular. Definitely unique.

And there’s a level of depth to the proceedings—a largeness—beyond most epic fantasy. Intriguing subplots are stacked upon subplots, and the cast of characters nearly matches the enormity of the novel’s gargantuan ship, the Chathrand, making The Red Wolf Conspiracy a kitchen-sink type novel, one in which everything including the kitchen sink is thrown in, mixed together into something new, something forcefully creative. Something awe-inspiring.

While some of the elements work, some don’t. Sometimes it feels like too much, almost too creative, too fanciful, one idea too many. Like the story needs to be reigned in, tightened up, simplified. Smaller steps, instead of giant leaps. But the attempt is engaging. And appreciated. Redick undeniably aims for the fences here; calling his shot like Babe Ruth on the first page, writing with a flair and swagger. And a charming self-assurance. He aims extremely high, and is generally successful in fulfilling his ambitions.

The writing is top-notch throughout. Redick writes with a Dickensian flair: stylistic, powerful, and with a fair serving of melodrama. The young tarboy—and protagonist—Pazel Pathkendle easily connects with the reader, winning over your heart as he struggles with an ever-growing mountain of adversity, spirited and plucky in the face of each new challenge. He’s a character you’ll root for, and find yourself caring about. He’s the underdog, the waif, the bullied. But he never uses that as an excuse, always keeping his chin high, always trying to succeed.

There are a few characters in the book best described as talking animals, something I find annoying in fantasy as it comes off as cartoonish, childish and distracting. It’s great when your five years old watching Saturday morning cartoons; it’s out of place in an adult novel, though. And it’s distracting enough that connecting with these characters is difficult, causing me to glaze over during these parts, and interrupting the flow of an otherwise incredibly solid novel.

The Red Wolf Conspiracy is an extremely promising debut. Most of the issues I have with the book are quite minor, and arise mostly from the ambitious scope of the novel. It’s wildly creative, intelligent and powerfully written, filled with memorable characters and an engaging and intricate plot. It doesn’t always work, but I want to be there when it does for Redick. Because that book is going to be special. Which has me eagerly anticipating the sequel.

Final Grade: 82 out of 100

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