The squirrel dropped down to the floor. “Tell me a story”, he said, “or I’ll cry”.

Pity was generally no more a motivator of the Captain than fear—but for whatever reason he started to speak then.

“Once there were two brothers”.

Two brothers, one kingdom, and two companies of animals whose hatred for one another has not dimmed over the intervening years since the war’s end. The Captain, a mouse in name only, if not in character, was on the losing end of the war, with one dead eye to show for it. That singularity of vision has allowed his focus to be consumed with revenge, and now the Captain has decided that it is high time he brought the old team together for a reckoning.

This two-hundred plus page novella is the adult version of those talking animal stories you read as a kid, with nary a cute or cuddly creature to behold. The animals that inhabit these pages are ones you would shy away from if you ran into them in a dimly lit wood, despite the size advantage of being a human. They are dastardly and they are deadly; efficient killers whose skills have not diminished over time. Their story is dark, to be sure, but also wildly entertaining.

Daniel Polansky has skillfully crafted a story of page-turning suspense, which injects timely humor, and builds an unexpected pathos for a group of very unlikable creatures.

Continue reading The Builders ~Daniel Polansky →