Callus & Crow

With a story that begins with a dystopian/western vibe, Callus & Crow becomes so much more than the initial chapters led me to believe. There are elements of fantasy; they’re vague insinuations at first, but as the book continues, they’re brought heavily to the forefront and play a significant role in the story.

Callus calls himself cursed; he’s something akin to a vampire (though that term is never used.) Crow winds up sharing his curse, though the exact details of how that came about are not discussed. Both characters are morally gray, and even though Crow struggles with the notion of what he’s becoming, it doesn’t deter him much.

Along their journey, they meet Laz and Silk, and later Crave. Laz is portrayed as an eccentric and sometimes mentally unstable old man at first, but every time he reappears, it’s pretty obvious something is about to go down. In his world, he’s termed a wraith, but he’s not the traditional variety. He either has a higher calling, or he’s some sort of harbinger of things to come—the trouble is, he often doesn’t make sense. Silk is a fierce swordswoman who carries the soul of her mother trapped in a silk scarf. Her mother’s story isn’t featured, but the scarf does seem to have a mind of its own. And Crave… He isn’t described in a lot of detail, but from what I gathered, he’s some sort of human-spider hybrid (not the pop culture variety, either—Crave has mandibles and distinctly predatory tendencies.)

This unusual mix of characters inhabits a world that feels lawless at times, yet follows a strict set of rules at others. Danger is the only constant, no matter the location. Between skirmishes with outlaws, escaping slavers, and a treacherous journey across an ocean riddled with kraken-like octotusks, there is plenty of action.

Callus & Crow is written as a series of journal entries, interspersed with personal letters, passages from books, and the occasional professional-style missive. The various elements don’t all appear to fit together at first, but by the end, everything relates to something else, and the whole picture is pretty clear. It was an unusual layout, but it works for this book.

And the way this one ended definitely paves the way for a second installment in the series. It’ll be interesting to see where the story goes from here.

D.B Rook’s debut novel is arguably one of the most overlooked indie releases of the past two years. It’s a tale of two souls brought together by chance, bonded by the gift of a curse, told via a series of short journal entries. The effect is a book that imprints in a very visual way, reminiscent of the darker graphic novels I enjoyed toward the end of the 90’s. It’s a journey; compelling yet ambiguous, simple in its action yet deep in its theming. There’s plenty here for fans of the post-apocalyptic, for lovers of the old American West, for those who are looking for a slightly different take on vampirism. But honestly, I think there’s something in this book for everyone. And I’m not just saying that because the author comes from Sheffield, even though I wear my bias vehemently, swigging from a bottle of Hendo’s* relish.

Callus & Crow by DB Rook
Reight** then; let’s have it. This is why you should read Callus & Crow right now:

You’ll not find much of the South Yorkshire dialect in this book. In fact, much of it is written in a Southern American style that I’m told (who am I to judge?) is very well done. I won’t disagree; I thoroughly enjoyed the characterization of the entire cast of characters, all of whom have their own charm and wit and are clearly distinguishable. But the first point I want to make is not one of vernacular—it’s one of character, it’s one of the characters: Crow.

Crow is, and I only noticed this later, the sort of protagonist that presents themselves to you as a blank slate, a character for whom most people would hold no ill judgment. He is a boy, living on a farm, without a mother, but other than that, and the fact that he is a good lad, there’s little more to say. He’s a character who leaves space for you to inhabit, with just enough there to make you want to step into his skin but not so much as to make you want to crawl back out of it. It’s really quite artfully done, and returning to his point of view creates a feeling of familiarity and comfort throughout the book. His journey is your journey; and yes, I know, that’s how all books are supposed to be, but with Crow, it just feels like it’s done better. It’s like he’s willingly getting out of your way so that you can enjoy the ride. And who doesn’t love a ride?

Now for the setting: This story takes place some time after the society as we know it now has collapsed. However, this is not your average Western. The seas seem to be infested with megafauna that attack ships and have made nautical travel near impossible. There are tribesmen, trolls, slave mines, wraiths with strange magic, there’s even a horseback chase scene with a literal shit-cannon. You’ll find no tumbleweed here, only fast-paced adventure from cover to cover.

I’m not one to divulge a lot of plot in my reviews. I will, however, touch on the shape of a thing. And the shape of this thing is not always obvious. I never once found this book predictable, yet I never grew tired of where it took me or felt like it was taking me nowhere at all. The destination just seemed hidden until I got there, and when I did, I realized that I was happy to keep being led, because I enjoyed the journey more than the destination. This is a setup for a series that could easily run into double digits, and I imagine I would come back for each installment. I didn’t want it to end. Rook’s prose is poetic yet cutting. His writing style makes you feel respected and welcome. He doesn’t waste your time, take you on tangents, dump a bunch of lore on you, or presume to tell you what you should care about. He just tells you a story.

Hell, I can’t wait for the next one.

* Hendo’s is short for Henderson’s Relish, which is obviously made in Sheffield.

** This is how we say “right” in Sheffield.

“It’s no surprise that there’s something very unsettling about burying your only friend in the ground while he continues to talk to you nonchalantly.”

Released in 2022, Callus & Crow is DB Rook’s debut novel and it was one of the entrants in this year’s SPFBOX competition which caught my eye. Callus & Crow makes most genre mash ups look like they’re playing it safe. Here we have Weird West meets vampires, with a pinch of Vikings, a generous splash of druids and lumbering trolls, a huge dollop of steampunk, a satirical swipe at the double-standards of religion and a side-dish of rebellion against soulless industrial revolution. Oh, sorry, I almost forgot – we also have unfathomable magic and mysterious eldritch horror lurking in the oceans straight out of the pages of HP Lovecraft. All of this adds a heady dose of spice to the literary pot and leaves the reader going, “What the hell did I just read?”

The story starts with the character of Callus (Cal) walking out of the heat of the desert in a world not dissimilar to the 1800s Wild West, where he meets young Ben Hoby and his father on their ranch. Events move quickly from that point. It soon becomes clear that Cal is a vampire and he has a special interest in Ben. I had a bit of an issue with what happens next, which isn’t really a spoiler as this all takes place within the first 10 pages. Ben is taken away from the ranch by Cal and, despite a brief protest, he quickly makes the decision to leave his old life and travel with his new companion, whilst at the same time suspecting Cal has killed his Pa. I felt this whole transition from the starting position of the characters to moving really quickly into the main story just needed more time, although some of this is explained later on.

If you’re left unsure at this point in the book my advice is to keep reading – because from then on the story grabs you by the throat and won’t let go for another 300 pages.

Ben adopts the name Crow (hence the title), soon forming a worryingly co-dependent relationship with Cal where the older man is part father figure, part cool older brother. Together they set out to explore a strange post-apocalyptic world, where suspicion and danger waits for them in every town. This is a grim, violent world but Rook’s writing is laced with dark gallows humour which helps lighten the tone and made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion.

Cal is seeking vengeance for the murder of his friend, Rev. Wilfred J Berkeley, which he blames on the Rev. Osset. However, Cal is in turn stalked by the frightening character of Crave and his posse, leaving the reader wondering exactly what Crave’s interest in Cal might be. Callus and Crow have various violent and somewhat random adventures in the first part of the novel, which never ceased to entertain.

My favourite character was Silk, who when we first meet her is accompanied by ‘Mother’, the soul of Silk’s actual mother, trapped in a sentient shawl she wears (yes, you read that correctly – it’s a superbly creepy idea, which Rook executes wonderfully). Captain Lazarus Badstock, an ageing sharpshooter, was also really well-written. I loved how Rook handled the fact Badstock is suffering from something akin to dementia but that didn’t stop him being a rounded, interesting and fully fleshed out character with his own goals and objectives.

People who know me know I’m a sucker when it comes to exploring the nature and meaning of religion. Rook handles this deftly in this novel as he describes the role religion plays in this fragmented world, some using its influence for good, such as Rev. Berkley or the Sisters of Shearn in Sanctuary, compared with the more self-serving and ambitious Father Osset and his followers. We also have the contrast with the older, primal beliefs of the druids providing a completely different perspective.

Despite its relatively short length, Callus & Crow is briming with ideas and has a huge amount of world to cram into its pages. As a consequence, the shift between the first and second halves of the novel is almost like reading two completely different books. We move from the Weird West setting of the opening into the mysterious industrialised land of Cthonica, which lies beyond the monster-filled ocean and is only accessible with the use of heavily armoured ships. During this journey alliances and motivations shift and change, taking things in an unexpected direction which completely re-energises the story and makes you re-evaluate everything you’ve read up until that point.

It’s worth mentioning here the unusual style of this book. The writing is excellent but very episodic, so it feels like you’re reading a scattered set of discovered notes, letters, diaries and newspaper clippings you’ve stumbled across. There’s an element here where as the reader you have to do your homework and put everything together for yourself. The short scenes and chapters make this book very easy to pick up and put down. However, sometimes you get snippets where Rook is hinting at a wider world we never encounter in the main story – a bit like finding a jigsaw piece which doesn’t belong to the set you’re trying to assemble. On other occasions we get to explore the same event from the different perspectives of Cal and Crow, which is always really interesting and allows the reader to dive deeper into those aspects of the story. It’s a really unusual storytelling style but it was also refreshingly different and I liked the fact this took me outside my comfort zone.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, which defies easy classification. I think that’s fine and the unique approach is to be applauded. With Callus & Crow as his calling card, DB Rook has established himself as one of the most interesting and distinctive fantasy writers to emerge in the last couple of years. His style won’t appeal to everyone, but I’m firmly of the view if you don’t stand out from the crowd you’re not pushing the boundaries. DB Rook pushes all the boundaries and that’s a really good thing. Go check this one out.

I’m going to give you some helpful advice, friend. There’s one thing you can expect going into this story by D.B. Rook: you don’t know what the hell to expect. Let me tell you, I thought this was going to be a straightforward Weird Western based on the book’s cover and opening scene and it sure deviated away from that.

That deviation is what makes Callus & Crow one of 2023’s unmissable reads.

In an interview with Beard of Darkness Book Reviews, Rook recently talked about how he was writing a book that he’d want to read. This is an important point to keep in mind as it explains how C&C feels like a patchwork quilt of a novel, lovingly and skilfully stitched together. Albeit what’s being stitched together here are varying elements such as grimdark, weird west, Lovecraftian tentacle monsters, Rob Zombie-like splatterpunk … you know what, there are a few too many to list here.

So, in short, C&C is a wonderful chaos of a fantasy novel and a smorgasbord of the author’s favourite elements of fantasy. Rook just really goes for it and it works.

Two’s Company

The central duo, Callus and Crow forge a strong bond and quick. Linked by Cal’s curse, the need to feed on blood and to be consigned to death instead of sleep, there results an interesting concept of codependency at play. It’s like a father/son relationship except for the times when it ain’t. It’s vampiric … but it also isn’t. This book feels so familiar – it reminds us of what is so damn great about fantasy – but it’s also so subtly altered that it doesn’t use familiarity as a crutch.

Instead, C&C throws a wide variety of the weird and the wonderful over its pages. Rook brings an emporium of curiosities, none more so than the likes of Silk and Laz. Silk carries a piece of cloth possessed by the spirit of her deceased mother and fights with ferocity – a seriously novel and rare character concept. Laz is a sharpshooter with a bucket theory of life that gives the novel its philosophical outlet. They both help out Cal and Crow through countless sticky situations by dispensing sage advice or quite often shooting something. And the endearing thing about C&C is sometimes you don’t need an explanation for how these characters came to be, or why a situation goes south; you just need someone or something to get brained with a hatchet. That’s cool too. There’s just something deeply satisfying about Cal and Crow Bone Tomahawking their way through the Weird West and into the book’s bleak and oppressive grimdark second act.

Further supporting characters don’t stray too far from this weird hatchet formula too – Cal’s curse leads to a certain kind of life of violence and death that follows him wherever he goes, much like the carrion crows that accompany him in the opening chapters. Special mention to the Mariahs that appear later in the book, the guards of the evil secret society Callus and Crow happen upon after crossing the sea. They gave me really strong vibes of the Spire guards from Fable 2. I love anything that brings me back to a game like that. Then there’s the antagonistic Crave and his posse too, hunting down Callus for reasons I’m not going to spoil but acting suitably menacing and frightening along the way.

Rhyme and Reason

One of my favourite aspects of C&C was the dual narrative that often gives each of the titular pair’s own take on any given scene. Rook somehow manages to avoid repetitive writing while at times describing the same passage of events. It smacks of an author who trusts his protagonists to tell this story authentically but also his ability to make ‘em dance while doing so. I really liked seeing how Callus would burst onto a scene and interpret a situation in a completely different way to Crow and vice versa, which frequently delivers some outlandish consequences. Excerpts from journals, missives and the occasional side character inject plenty of intrigue to give context to the next twist C&C is about to take.

It’s the dual narrative approach that makes the last few moments of the story a particularly gut-wrenching read though. Daryl, if you’re reading this, I’m still devastated and I’m still mad at you.

A Wayward World

Callus & Crow definitely goes down as the most unique book I’ve read this year. I loved it. If you’re a fan of dual protagonists and want to know what would happen if you create a Weird West Grimdark mashup then you’ll get along nicely with this book.

If you want to hear more from D.B. Rook then allow me to direct you to his website: Home – DB Rook (dbrookbooks.com)