Review by Ian Keogh

Barb is the youngest of the Bezerkers, the heroes who protect the people of Bailiwick from monsters, yet in her position as the only Bezerker remaining at large she’s realised some monsters aren’t as bad as they’re painted. With all the other Bezerkers captured and transformed by Witch Head, as seen in Book 1, Barb has put together a new team to sort things out.

She’s learned that the best way of dealing with Witch Head is consulting Franny Flame Fingers who can summon the Wise Witches. Unfortunately for Barb, Franny lives in the Monster City of Maug Horn, where no humans are allowed, with Jason Patterson helpfully providing a map of the terrors that await for the inside cover.

Dan Abdo begins with a neat reversal of the previous book. This time it’s the transformed Bezerkers providing the threat, and the monsters helping save the people. However, in order to avoid their leader coming across as too bad Abdo also includes a lengthy flashback about his first meeting with Barb, part of which is his explaining the Ghost Blade of the title.

The gold standard for comedy fantasy is the Dungeon series by Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim, which can dip into dark territory, so isn’t for youngsters, but Abdo shows equal imagination when it comes to the threats Barb faces. There’s also a similar absurd touch, which makes Barb’s adventures entirely unpredictable. Patterson also takes a leaf from Dungeon’s dense population of monsters when the cast arrive at Maug Horn, but keeps things simpler for an all-ages audience. As before the style is deliberately designed to resemble the manic drawings young readers themselves might create.

Problems have creative solutions, and this collection of fast moving comedy thrills is even better than the opening volume, which is setting the bar high for the conclusion in The Shadow Army, or The Battle for Bailiwick if you’re picking up the American edition.