Damien Larkin’s Motherland Climax is a genre-blending spectacle, merging alternative history, political intrigue, spy thriller, and science fiction with provocative, and at times brutal, satirical wit. The story is authored, in this alternative timeline, by Vladimir Vladimirovich Puting, and is set in a universe where the Rus Empire battles internal decay and external threats, this steam roller of a story centres around Viktor Petrov, an intense, hyper-masculine protagonist who spearheads the neo-Bolshevik revolution.
I’m struggling with just using hyper-masculine here, it doesn’t scratch the surface of Viktor’s deeply disturbing masculinity.
I’ve long admired Damien Larkin’s storytelling, particularly his engaging Big Red series, which featured mind bending time travel and punching Nazi’s on Mars! (what’s not to love there!); and this new novel further showcases his vivid imagination and narrative flair. Larkin expertly balances the grim seriousness of political upheaval and warfare with outlandish satire. Petrov, whose character dominates the narrative, is vividly drawn as ruthlessly ambitious, and driven equally by a desire for power and a distorted sense of patriotism. Petrov’s exploits, from brutal palace coups to single-handedly dismantling enemy strongholds in a futuristic mech suit, echo the pulp fiction heroics of early 20th-century adventure serials, intensified by Larkin’s often over-the-top yet compelling narrative style.
Some of the small descriptions throughout the work, are just so pure tongue in cheek preposterous, and hit so well, they elicit an audible groan from the reader. Which is just perfect.
The novel’s world-building is robust and convincing, depicting a fractured global landscape filled with familiar yet disturbingly skewed historical and geopolitical dynamics. The alternative historical context is both detailed and imaginative, allowing readers to immerse themselves in a world recognizably parallel yet starkly different from our own.
Larkin really has gone out on a limb here, and I’d love to see a non-satirical historical triller set with elements of this alternative universe. The fictional geopolitics and strategic machinations are presented with just enough plausibility to keep the reader invested, while the inclusion of advanced military technologies like the Phoenix Project’s mechs add gripping science-fiction layers.
I mean who does NOT love a gigantic flying, missile-firing, cannon-totting, killer robot!
Larkin’s use of satire is a deliberate, sharpened tool. Sometimes a scalpel honed for precision, sometimes an entrenching tool sharpened on the edge of rock before storming the next trench. His exaggerations heighten the absurdity of demagogues, and the blind faith often afforded to them, reflecting a world that is sometimes only barely removed from our own.
The surreal bravado of Petrov, the brazen rewrites of history, and the grotesque theatricality of political pageantry underscore a biting critique of the modern world’s flirtation with autocracy and personality cults.
In an age of rising authoritarianism, neofascism, and increasingly unchallenged demagoguery, satire becomes not just relevant but vital. Motherland Climax reminds us of the importance of fiction that confronts rather than conforms, that laughs even as it skewers. Authors must be free to express uncomfortable truths without constantly looking over their shoulder or diluting their message for pre-market filtration in the pursuit of the almighty buck. Literature that dares to question, to mock, and to exaggerate the grotesque truths of our time is vital to our cultural resistance.
Larkin embraces this duty with gusto.
So please do rush out and read Motherland Climax. It’s a provocative read that straddles the line between alternate history and satirical critique. It pushes hard and shines a torch into the dark recesses where the powerful, the power mad, and the plain old mad, vie for control of the world.
Damien Larkin offers a memorable journey through an imaginatively twisted political landscape, ensuring this book will resonate with fans of speculative and satirical fiction alike.
You can pre-order it here:
And after writing this review, I for one cannot wait for when the movie comes out, as I will enjoy sipping on my free drinks served by my robot butler, relaxing after the hovercar tour around the idyllic grounds of the Larkin mansion on Mars.
Paper Never Refused Ink! 
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