BLOODY BOOKS REVIEW: DIFFERENTLY MORPHOUS BY YAHTZEE CROSHAW

You know the drill. There's a secret organization that works in the shadows keeping the world safe from supernatural threats. There's a school of magical people that hone their powers.

However, this is a Yahtzee Croshaw book, so you know that a size ten is about to placed squarely in the buttocks of tradition.

DM (as I will name it through the review) is a book where Shoggoths (sorry...Fluidics)come to earth seeking sanctuary. The Ministry of Occultism, who have been hunting and killing such beings for decades, suddenly find themselves on the sharp end of a PR disaster as both the Political Correctness campaigners and a serial killer come for the newly arrived refuges.

Croshaw has created work in the past that can be both highly amusing, intensely irreverent and often extremely biting. Here, he moves into a new arena and focuses on the progressive nature of the world over the last decade. Some may say that he is lampooning political correctness, and he is, but the sights are squarely set on those who push back, those who want to be able to say the worlds of "the good old days" and not be lamped for it. He aims at not only the fair-weather side of political campaigning but also the inability for people on opposite sides of the spectrum to be able to discuss such things without it becoming an instant argument, whilst also showing that it's impossible to argue with someone who wants you and everyone that looks like you dead.

Into this mix comes a cast of characters that shine through the story. Each and every member of the cast are well rounded, have full agency and there's enough to make you think about where they were before the book started, and where they will go afterwards. Also, there is Diablery, a cartoon villain of a character that has so many hooks he could win a gold cup a week at a fishing contest. In a strong ensemble, Diablery shines like a mad star, but never at the expense of Elizabeth, or Victor, or even the absolutely amazing Anderson, a red faced bull of a fixer.

Absolutely recommended