Review by Frank Plowright

Freetown has been an economic success story for a while since Jed Jenkins was given a formula that revolutionised transplant surgery. Rob Guillory’s sample spread pretty much brings you up to date on the basics. Now, though, everything’s falling to pieces as his former research partner Monica Thorne is revealed to be either possessed or hearing voices from beyond. She’s taken the technology and activated other more sinister aspects.

The Seed moves on a short time from Roots of All Evil. Many residents are still infected with the seed virus, and therefore susceptible to Thorne’s control, but her former assistant has devised a formula that slows the spread, and reduces that control. It’s not an ideal state of affairs, but at least enables Zeke and others to retain their own will.

Guillory pretty well set up everything for the finale in the previous volume, and it’s now just a case of playing it out. Yet for the first time in a series that’s moved at an unbelievable pace there’s a sense of marking time. The first couple of chapters here are nicely drawn and offer some entertaining interludes, but that’s all they are, whereas earlier volumes pushed relentlessly forward.

When the climax comes, though, it’s first rate. Expectations have been led toward the inevitable and Guillory pulls away from that logically and efficiently, surprising all the way.

In order to maintain a form of regular publication of batches of serialised issues there have been considerable gaps between the story arcs. While the current gap has been the longest to date, Guillory does intend to publish the final arc in 2024.