**POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THIS & DEFINITE SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS**
In my review for Project Nemesis, I called it (among other good things) an excellent summer blockbuster. I hesitate to use the same term for Project Maigo, the sequel to Project Nemesis… if only because sequels have a bad reputation, and I don’t want you to think of Project Maigo as anything less than a 2nd masterpiece starring Jeremy Robinson’s contender for America’s Kaiju.
Without repeating a huge chunk of my Project Nemesis review (which I finished writing just minutes ago), this is an engaging story of how a small group of people try and protect the world from kaiju threats. Not “a” kaiju threat, as more kaiju appear courtesy of returning villain Lance Gordon. We see Jon Hudson and his team go against Gordon’s merry band of monstrosities as well as a government bureaucracy that starts growing complacent when a year passes without Nemesis reappearing. Add to that Gordon’s former associate Katsu Endo and his sister offering to work alongside them on behalf of the company partially responsible for Nemesis’ creation and it’s clear the situation escalated. That said, this book doesn’t lose the humor and humanity of the previous book. It’s still more than “monsters make smash” that’ll have you laugh while making you question morality alongside the characters. Basically, it’s a smart story with juvenile humor. An excellent combo.
That said, the humanity of the previous book is still intact. Unlike many sequels, Jon Hudson and Ashley Collins’ relationship hits a few hurdles but they remain a loving couple (I hate it when a sequel breaks a couple up just to put them back together in the sequel). Jon also has to deal with the connection that formed between himself and Nemesis/Maigo in the previous book, including how it looks to his superiors. Katsu is still an enigmatic quality. Even when he’s helping Jon and the FC-P, you never know if or when the other shoe drops, and he or his sister Alessi switch sides. We also the start of a mini-arc for Jon’s co-workers Watson and Cooper that’ll take us through the rest of the series.
We also get new characters Mark Hawkins, Avril Joliet, and Lilly… at least, they’re new if you never read Jeremy Robinson’s Island 731. Jeremy does a good job both introducing and reintroducing them for whoever needs it, despite only playing parts in the beginning and the end. Alessi is basically another Katsu without being a clone, if that makes sense. The novel does a good job introducing small differences for variety.
That leaves, as best as I can without going on forever, the main attractions. Nemesis is, again, a badass awesome yet thoughtful creature. We see more of the struggle between monster and girl who, like Jon, have to try and figure out their connection to him. It’s again a look in a kaiju’s psyche unlike Godzilla or Gamera. While that’s missing from the other five kaiju that appear in this novel, they make up for it by having different personalities and raising the stakes for everyone involved. Even the big bad of this and the last novel, Lance Gordon, is a three-dimensional character. It’s twisted but there is sympathy with him wanting a connection with Nemesis again while still keeping him an antagonist.
An equal part of this book’s success is the writing and world-building. They’re dense enough to paint a picture but quick and flowing enough to move the story quickly enough that it feels like you’re reading an action-packed movie. You can clearly see everything happening in your mind’s eye and you’re on the edge of your seat the whole time. I also give credit for how clearly Jeremy Robinson describes each kaiju. You get a clear idea what every creature looks like even without the illustrations at the end of the ebook (and missing from the audiobook so more kudos to Jeremy). That’s a strength all the books have but I’m noting it here since we have five new ones that still share characteristics with Nemesis.
As before, while it’s occasionally difficult to know when one character starts talking in a two-person conversation, Jeffrey Kafer expertly brings the characters to life. His narration of Jeremy Robinson’s words brings the story to life in a way not even a 1000-person strong film crew could equal.
Project Maigo succeeds where many sequels fall short: it continues the original’s story without undoing and/or repeating elements of it. It is a great read just like Project Nemesis and, really, like most of Jeremy Robinson’s novels. If Project Nemesis shows it’s possible to tell an action-packed, funny, and thoughtful story starring a giant beast, Project Maigo shows, in a talented writer’s hands, it’s not a one-off phenomenon.
Slight spoiler… the magic doesn’t end at two.