Review by Frank Plowright
Auguste de Riviere didn’t distinguish himself in the Crusades, and has returned home with a heavy conscience seeking redemption. We never quite learn why he’s chasing a sorcerer into the woods in the 14th century, but after an encounter with a mysterious woman when doing so he emerges in the 21st century. It turns out, though, that he’s been alive in other eras also, and never a person with a good reputation. We see him accompanied by that mysterious woman, Jane Foole, and it’s disclosed early to readers that she’s not someone to be trusted, yet for some reason Auguste does so.
There’s no accusing Cullen Bunn of not keeping the action going. In whatever era we see him, Ausguste is man in a hurry, frenetically rushing from one place to another slaying a few demons along the way with a sword that collapses, then reconstitutes. He’s haunted and driven, and Fran Galán invests the art with the necessary energy. Also not to be underestimated is the work Galán puts into defining so many different eras for a few pages at a time.
Bunn’s technique is to move the action so fast that neither Auguste nor the readers have any time to question what’s happening as there’s always another threat imminent. It’s a technique that only takes Knights Temporal so far, as no matter how skilled Galán is, there comes a time where patience wears thin, and it’s around midway through. That’s when it drops that Bunn has an answer, but it’s not going to manifest until the final pages, and we’re going to have to go through the rinse cycle a few more times.
When it finally arrives, the ending is clever in opening up further possibilities, but not good enough to warrant five chapters or £15. See recommendations for how good Bunn can be.
