Worlds collide...
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This 6th in Virgin's short-lived range of original Judge Dredd novels finds Mega-City One under threat from an alternate world where Dredd's counterpart is the insane despotic megolomaniac Chief Judge Dread. The parallel world scenario is a fairly standard SF concept, and as expected Dredd meets plenty of alternate versions of familiar characters, such as a rebel Cassandra Anderson, and a Judge Mean Machine Angel, but 'Dread Dominion' succeeds by not taking itself very seriously. Indeed, it's fair to say this book has it's tongue in cheek throughout, with Dredd saddled with a smart-talking computer, and Chief Judge Dread beset with the even more insane self-proclaimed god Caligula. The relentless humour can become a little wearying eventually, and the subplot of the SJS going rogue has become tired from overuse in successive Dredd novels, but all in all this is a very entertaining light-hearted romp. Personally I found Stephen Marley's earlier 'Dreddlocked' slightly superior in it's meshing of comedy and drama, but 'Dread Dominion' is still one of the better Judge Dredd novels. Good fun.
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A thrill ride at 100mph
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This isn't just the best of the Judge Dreed novels (and it's the best by far, the second being Dreddlocked, also by Stephen Marley), it is possibly the best black comedy SF thriller I have ever read. The pace is breathtaking and the situations and characters continuously inventive, leading up to a brilliant climax. If you don't believe me, just grab a copy and read the first few pages: you'll be knocked back on your heels - and I promise you the pace keeps up to the very end, never flagging. It's criminal that this book hasn't been reprinted (I had to hunt around for a second-hand copy). A must-read book
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