Book Review: DANGO: THE DARK FRONTIER ADVENTURES by Jack Long

DANGO: THE DARK FRONTIER ADVENTURES by Jack Long is a Weird West fantasy that takes a very interesting premise: what if a fantasy world wasn't an adaptation of Medieval Europe but was instead a version of the late 17th century to early 19th? Which if that sounds like it covers a long period of time, take note that most Medieval fantasy mixes up a good few hundred years of developments as well.

The premise is that the Empire across the ocean has begun colonizing the Dark Frontier, which is a continent equivalent to the Americas. Rather than indigenous humans, though, the land is populated by elves. It is also a land that is filled with yeti, giant cats, and, of course, dragons. The most important animal, though, is the Tusker that is a giant boar that can be ridden or used as food equally. Tuskers are raised on big ranches that are controlled by tusker barons and they wield a disproportionate influence.

The indigenous elves are people divided and feuding with the locals, though nothing particularly organized is happening to push them out of their land. It's more happening on an individual level and over a long stretch of time. The local tribesmen feud with individual tusker barons and this eventually attracts the military. It's an interesting take that has keeps things on a personal level and reminds the reader that the pushing out will happen over a course of centuries.

This isn't exactly a 1:1 recreation, though as the goal is to create a high fantasy frontier rather than to insert magic into a Western one. It also feels less "Wild West" and more "Wild East." If I were to draw a comparison, I'd say it’s closer to Natty Bumpo and Last of the Mohicans in terms of the frontier than the Wild West. The Dark Frontier is a little wilder and the forces of expansionism a little less enforced. Also, the fact the Empire is still in charge of the expansion versus locals. The locals also use crossbows over guns.

Our protagonist, Dango, is a half-elvish scout heading deeper into the Dark Frontier to find a life for himself. He's accompanied by an odd collection of people belonging to his old unit and soon find themselves in all manner of trouble. We don't get much insight into how being a half-elf effects Dango and racism is downplayed compared to many stories that use these kinds of analogs. This is more a rousing adventure type story that doesn't want to get into the darker elements of history.

I enjoyed the villains as well with the Graddok gang. They are a bunch of dimwits controlled by their father and up to the kind of no-good antics that cattle barons usually are in cowboy stories. It’s a violent and lawless sort of place with a high body count and enjoyable characters. There's some areas I think the book could have been improved on (I wanted to have much deeper descriptions on some of the world-building--but that's my thing) but there's an appendix in the back for lore junkies like myself.