The Burning Isle Is a Grimdark Fantasy with Graphic Novel Flair

Perhaps credit goes to Panzo’s past as a Marvel Comics editor; The Burning Isle has storytelling style unique in prose but familiar to readers of graphic novels, stitching together sequences, with significant pieces of the action taking place off-panel, so to speak. As readers, it requires us to absorb the plot in a different mindset than a traditional sword-and-dagger fantasy narrative, and it’s a refreshing change of pacein a genre marked by familiar tropes.
The style serves to reinforce the perspective of Cassius, a powerful spellcaster just arrived in Scipio, a lawless island ruled by dueling warlords. Cassius’ motives remain murky for much of the novel, interspersed with scenes from his deliberately mysterious past. This is a character reluctant to divulge information about his true self, and his true intentions, and the narrative seems to revel in obscuring parcels of the plot to aid and abet him in this endeavor.
“A man has only three reasons for being anywhere: to right a wrong, to earn a coin, or because he is lost,” Panzo’s narrator offers. Which of those motives is behind Cassius’ arrival in this haven for criminals and exiles remains unclear until the closing chapters of this fast-paced, turbulent novel.
The turbulence arises from Cassius, who seems to be fueled by an unknown grudge, though the novel takes great pains to show how conflicted he is with the actions he must take to achieve his unknowable end goal. For every wrong he commits, he tries to make some small amends, to limit the damage or absolve himself of some guilt.
But then there is chaos and violence endemic to the scenery of Scipio. The city is largely a slum, fought over like scraps by two pseudo-feudal lords and their assorted criminal organizations. Bordering this unseemly metropolis are miles and miles of jungle, home to an enigmatic general and his army, the final piece of a begrudging triumvirate.
This three-headed hydra of power maintains a delicate balance, one tipped irretrievably with the arrival of our intensely powerful wild card of a mage. Trained on the Isle of Twelve, itself a mystery to be unfolded, Cassius quickly (and intentionally) draws the attention of Scipio’s powers that be with his impressive, often unwillingly violent displays of spellcasting. In this world, magic is a bloody business, and Cassius is a magician nonpareil.
For a city in which the prevailing modus operandi is turning a profit, this unreadable and intimidating newcomer is a match just looking for a spark. That tension thrums through the novel, a near cinematic work, intensely visual and unflaggingly propulsive. The Burning Isle performs high-wire storytelling that will leave you unmoored
The Burning Isle is available now.