Book Review - Miscreation by Stefan Jakubowski (Zygmunt Stanley)

Miscreation by Stefan Jakubowski
Published by Zygmuns Stanley
Paperback - 390 pages
Published July 2008
Personal copy of book

Blurb: There's life. There shouldn't be. 
Creator Brown has been at it again. But then what can you expect from someone who occasionally ignores the odd zero; especially as he happens to work in billions and trillions. But Brown is the least of the problems for the Chief Creator who has just been handed other disturbing news. 
The Anarchist is about to rise; from certain bits of wreckage. Serpens the self deluded self proclaimed tutu wearing Anarchist, banished from the Hall of Creators for certain improprieties and as punishment doomed to travel the Universe for all time in a claustrophobic meteorite with his meathead minions has, as luck would have it, crash-landed on Browns misaligned calamity. 
Time for a plan - something he's not very good at - to escape the planet and pursue his doubtful claim to be ruler of the Universe. But it is going to take time; a whole evolution of it. Enter man. To be precise Musca ''the explosion was nothing to do with me'' soot smeared idiot son of the very recently deceased Chieftain. He plans to take the survivors of a certain devastating incident to a mythical land called OHM - there's no place like it. 
Trouble is they don't want to go. Not with him anyway. Let the lunacy begin! 

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The strength in Jakubowski's humour is in his characters. As a fantasy-comedy, comparisons to Pratchett's Discworld series are to be expected. However, whereas Pratchett utilises satire to offload the funny, Jakubowski has created instantly funny and likeable characters. From the battle-shy idiot chieftain Musca to the deluded yet loyal shepherd Bootes, the inhabitants of the world of Apomas all have a funny spark to them. It is through these characters that Jakubowski pokes fun at both fantasy and science-fiction with a sense of eccentricity that has tones of Douglas Adams within.

The juxtaposition of the protagonists (Musca's band of adventurers) and antagonists (Serpens' small group of intergalactic demons) is done well, as is the contrast between the hapless hero and the malicious (soon to be) Master of the Universe. Again, Jakubowski has injected real personality into the characters, especially the slow-witted ogre Ophiuchus, who's sporadic drone of "Breathe." whenever his master flies off the handle is chuckle-worthy.

The focus on the humour seems to be at the detriment of the overall plot, however. Rather than a strong, cohesive narrative, the novel seems more a string of comical scenarios that have been pieced together. Whilst this doesn't take away from the overall enjoyment of the novel, it sometimes feels like there is too much going on as the reader is hurled between point A and point X and back again. To compare it to a TV show, it has the feel of a sketch show as opposed to a sit-com: still enjoyable, but sometimes lacking a fullness.

Miscreation is an enjoyable romp through what would otherwise be standard fantasy territory were it not for Jakubowski's unique style of humour. Fun and sometimes frantic, Miscreation tickles the funny bones but sometimes gets a bit lost along the way.