BY THE NAILS OF THE WARPRIEST by Nik Korpon

I’m finding myself in the gutter more often than I’d like.

In this brooding mash-up of noir and science fiction (I guess sorta like Blade Runner in that sense), a nameless former hero of a failed revolution known as The Struggle is now trying to keep food on the table by working as a memory thief, stealing memories of the time before the Struggle, and selling them to memory junkies that want a little inkling of happiness. But then the thief finds something in those memories that might be the key to discovering the truth behind his dead wife and son. 

This is an atmospheric, moody novella that is richly written, with author Nik Korpon constantly conjuring great imagery (The sky is a dome of pitted steel). I found myself re-reading passages constantly, just to soak it all up. This is the way dystopia should be written. It's depth of emotion, it's gloom, it's creativity, and it's portrait of a tortured soul resonated with me more than many books that are quadruple it's 60-page length. A must read for noir lovers, sci-fi readers, and dark fiction lovers in general.

We tell ourselves things can change, we can change. A long time ago, someone said that in order to change the future, you have to look at the past. I’ve held hundreds of pasts in my hands, and I don’t see a fucking thing.

GRADE: A-