Book Review: Return of the Griffin by J.C.M. Berne

Genre(s): Science fiction / Superheroes

Content warning: There are fight/combat scenes in this book, as well as a few involving torture that may be disturbing for some readers.

Six months after the end of Wistful Ascending, Rohan is still working as her tow chief (and saving treasure hunters who don’t heed the warnings about dangerous megafauna on Toth 3). His life has settled into a routine, until a ship arrives at Wistful from Earth. His home world is under attack by giant shark-like creatures with legs—land sharks.

The humans came seeking a different Hybrid, Hyperion, but Rohan is forced to tell them the terrible news that Hyperion is dead. So are the other Hybrids who left Earth with him—and Rohan is all they have left. The humans aren’t thrilled he’s their only hope for stopping the land sharks’ destruction. He didn’t exactly leave Earth on the best terms…

This was an insanely entertaining read. Rohan’s return to Earth was filled with various Powered humans (basically superheroes), some of which were recognizable from pop culture though acting under different names and with different backstories.

In line with book one, there was a lot of action, and not just with the shark monsters. There was a reappearance of the decipede a couple times as well, some fights with other powered humans, and one rather diabolical, ancient super-villain.

Rohan, in typical fashion, got beat up a lot, but he got the job done. He maintained his sense of humor, much like in book one, though he’s also grown as a character since the start of the series. He seems to have a better handle on his unusual temper, and is genuinely trying to do better as a person.

While Return of the Griffin is technically book two in the series, I think it reads well enough as a standalone too. It was a fun and light-hearted read, and it will be interesting to see where the story goes in book three.

Author website: jcmberne.com