The Following review was contributed by: John Walsh

Roland Highlander Pandora lives in a bomb shelter meticulously prepared to repel spies and assassins, making sure he is armed with as much high-power weaponry as is available to him. Still, he is frequently the subject of assault: dark shadow warriors working for the CIA, a long drawn-out battle with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and even a life-and-death struggle with a giant peanut butter and jelly [jam] sandwich. Psychotic and paranoid, Roland occasionally finds solace with the chief of the Deferndorbots, Pinnacle Supreme, who is the physical manifestation of the lead character in a television cartoon series. Alas, poor Roland, he is persecuted not just by the state but by all that is legend in league against him for what he believes are his unorthodox and possibly dangerous ideas.

This is rather a curate’s egg of a book and, as the preceding paragraph will have shown, it is not going to be for everybody. Where it ultimately falls down is in the superficiality of Roland’s analysis of modern consumer society which is both provincial and inaccurate on occasions. Although Roland is mostly correct in his beliefs, he lacks the intellectual rigor necessary to create a coherent philosophy to link together his different targets. As a result, his views range almost at random from social democracy to socialism to libertarianism. Since this is a central part of the book, it is a flaw.

In approaching this book, I have conscious adopted DH Lawrence’s dictum to trust the tale rather than the teller. Nevertheless, the author provides an introductory note that is worth mentioning. In addition to claims made about the purpose of the book being an exploration of ideas ‘that most people have been conditioned for no good reason to retreat from,’ it also apologises for potential mistakes in editing: ‘There will be some their/they’re/there stuff, some comma errors, some its/it’s mistakes. Nothing major, just stupid meaningless errors that escape everybody on occasions.’ While it is certainly true that such mistakes may occasionally slip through, it is surely the job of the author to try to eliminate them because authors must take care of, respect and love their tools. If authors appear indifferent to the tools that create their work, then why should readers believe the final result is the best that can be produced?

On the whole, this is still an interesting book with some vivid imagery and the author shows promise of being capable of something more substantial. An example from the chapter entitled ‘Assassins in the Dark and Waffletime’ should enable prospective readers to determine whether this is something they will enjoy:

‘In the morning the shadow warrior was still being difficult so Roland just left it where it was. He felt a little strange sealing up the bomb shelter with the whirling gray mass in the centre of the room, but it couldn’t be helped. In accordance with the rules of code alpha, he dressed himself up like a bush and spent the next two hours creeping away from his secret entrance only abandoning the disguise after he had achieved the safety of the trees (p.93).’