A Review of Fenrik 1984

Dan the Destructor: Miami Vice Edition

Fellow Downstreamers, it’s been a while since I’ve checked out Barbarians of the Storm. Especially considering my last review in the series, Swords Against Bastards left off on a rather chaotic note. And it’s about time that I returned and found out what happened next in this franchise. Since then, if you’ve been following these books like I have, you would know that relationships have changed dramatically from where the series first started.

Above it all, however, I was continually asking myself how some of these characters would move forward. How would Rob Rimes continue this tale, while also keeping the narrative and new faces fresh in our imaginations?

Enter Fenrik 1984, a side quest of sorts in the greater BotS saga, one that deals with Fenrik as he’s transported to 1980’s Miami, FL. What follows is very much a fish-out-of-water story, as Fenrik is forced to find his place within our own world. Basically, this is the inverse of what we saw with Dan in book #1. And like Dan the Destructor, Rimes leans pretty heavily into the setting… for great effect!

This is still a time where shopping malls are all the blaze, Judas Priest is played frequently in record stores, televised wrestling is celebrated, and more than a few comparisons are made between Fenrik himself and the legendary Conan the Barbarian.

Needless to say that it’s quite a departure from what came before. It’s unabashed and not subtle in the least. It’s also a direction that I just so happen to enjoy greatly.

Now without spoiling much of what happens, Fenrik gets embroiled with a larger conspiracy upon meeting Gina, an undercover cop who’s investigating the local cartel problem. This group is led by a sinister man going by the name of Miranda. He’s mean, he’s imposing, and he’s certainly calling all the shots in town.

With this kind of change in tone, the story becomes something more of a crime drama, as Fenrik must use all of his brawns and brains and, well, brawns to combat this larger threat. Miranda and his men certainly don’t fuck around, as there are even a few scenes that are somewhat reminiscent of the classic Lethal Weapon movies - a rather obvious comparison among a slew of films Rimes has undoubtedly drawn from.

Fenrik 1984 doesn’t skirt around its influences; rather, it wears them proudly on its sleeve while also spinning them into its own unique flavor of fiction.

One aspect I was a massive fan of was the chemistry between Gina and Fenrik, as well as Bronson and Jackson - their two police partners. There’s a nice sense of camaraderie that sort of parallels the relationship between Dan and Fenrik in book #1. And on top of that, there’s a nice way that the story ties itself back into the greater chronology. As the name suggests, there is time travel involved within this book. But thankfully, what’s there stays remarkably simple for us readers to comprehend. And unlike some of my gripes with Swords Against Bastards, the story never meanders into bouncing between too many perspectives at once.

In other words, it stays simple.

Which is not to say that there is no depth in the narrative department. The villains have a lot more going on for them than it seems, and I really enjoyed seeing how their overall goals and motivations shifted and evolved as the story progressed. We are also given quite a bit of insight into Fenrik this time around (as one might expect), and it’s hard not to feel for the guy after what he’s been through.

With that being said, there were a couple places that caught my attention as minor flaws. My biggest gripe, subjectively speaking, is when a few of the side characters decided to change their names all of a sudden, nearly halfway through the book. This isn’t really much of a problem in its own right, but it does strike me as a bit of an odd choice, considering that we’re just starting to get accustomed to who’s who.

It’s also worth noting, for those who haven’t read any BotS novellas, that Rimes utilizes the present tense for delivering his stories. I don’t exactly have an issue with this myself, since I think he takes full advantage of it in both a stylistic and pacing sense. However, for those who detest books written in this style of voice, this is certainly something to keep in mind.

Now with that said, I have little hesitation in recommending this one. Especially after some of the issues I had with book #4, this was a most welcome return to form, and I had a lot of fun in the two-or-three days that I binge-read it.

This is an easy buy… no questions asked.

If you would like to learn more about Fenrik 1984 or Barbarians of the Storm, you can check it out on Amazon. Also, Rob Rimes has a Twitter page where he promotes both himself and other stellar creators.

Lastly, I was informed of a recent book discussion for Dan the Destructor on YouTube. If you are curious about that one, the link is here.