CL Werner’s contribution to Aconyte Books’ Tales From the Crucible anthology is The Perfect Organism, which explores the warlike and scientific mindset of KeyForge’s martians. Convinced that they have created the ideal war machine, Elder Briilip unleashes the huge, artificially-engineered creature Number 647 into the desert of Nova Hellas, and pits it against the monster known as Tyrant. Briilip has a lot riding on Number 647’s success, especially with Elder Ghireen accompanying them as an official observer on behalf of the Prime Director, but watching the titanic clash from a safe distance, the martian scientist is utterly confident in their creation’s prowess.
This is vintage Werner, a slyly funny Kaiju-esque tale of battling monsters and mad scientists with the added bonus of an undercurrent of skaven-like scheming and nefarious plotting. KeyForge is a perfect setting for this sort of story, allowing Werner to have fun pulling in influences from all over the place and combining them into a single wild and deeply satisfying tale. It doesn’t take itself too seriously or try to be anything it’s not, but instead delivers action and entertainment in spades – think Pinky and the Brain with monsters and martians, and you won’t be too far off. Brilliant.
Click here for reviews of other KeyForge stories from this anthology.
