Review of Ink Calls to Ink by Nathan Crowder

A review by Dawn Vogel

Nathan Crowder’s newest book, Ink Calls to Ink (2015, CHBB Publishing), is a departure from the horror stories and super hero fiction he has written in the past. Fictional Personae, characters from many of the classics of literature, roam the streets of modern-day London. When new “Ficts” arrive on the scene, those who have been around for years find their world changing around them.

Ink Calls to Ink follows the stories of Juliet Capulet, the Steadfast Soldier who calls himself Franklin (from the Hans Christian Andersen story of the Steadfast Tin Soldier), and a Reader named Kate Malloy. When King Arthur arrives through the rift between the fictional world and the real world, he and his associates concoct a plan to bring other Ficts through to London. But Juliet, Franklin, and Kate, along with Judas Iscariot, Medea, and Don Quixote, realize that this plan is dangerous and must be stopped.

What follows is an exciting story of intrigue and adventure. While this book would probably be classed as urban fantasy by most booksellers, it is unlike any other urban fantasy novel I’ve read before. Only the barest hints of a romantic subplot enter the picture, and that not even until more than halfway through the book. It is a refreshing take on a genre that I often bypass.