Yo Ho and Bottle of Chibuzo
Review of Chibuzo: The Goblin Shark, Book 5 of Earths Final Chapter
Review by Tom Pahlow
Pirates are back on the high seas in Book 5 of Earths Final Chapter by GD Penman and illustrated by Sergei Kritzien. Explore more of what earth has become as you join the crew of The Goblin Shark as they encounter mysteries, betrayals and new crew members.
The four-person crew of the pirate ship, The Goblin Shark gets a new crew member in the mysterious Chibuzo. Follow along as Chibuzo gains a place on the crew in their search for treasure and riches.
One of my favourite things about this book was also the thing that has driven me mad since. Penman introduces us to so many concepts and secrets throughout the story. How did the Leviathans come to be? What is life like in Junktown? What is Lion City and does it truly exist? All of these mysteries are encountered by Chibuzo on his adventures with the crew of the Shark.
Each could be a book in and of itself and yet we only see what Chibuzo does, which is very little. It’s incredibly consistent with the story but my need to know and understand every mystery went crazy as tantalising titbits were dropped only to never appear again. Well done, Penman, you win this round.
One of the mysteries that does get explored in the book is the titular character, Chibuzo. An incredibly interesting character who entrance to the story running from giant lemurs is both humorous and a stark reminder of how dangerous earth is now. I have to hand it to Penman again as while I was reading it seemed that Chibuzo’s character had some inconsistencies. His behaviour at the beginning didn’t make sense with some of his actions later on. I was all set to make a comment in this review about this point when Penman managed to use it incredibly. I won’t spoil anything but know that there is a method to the madness.
I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t make a comment about poor old Rudolph, the Dolphin headed outcast and somehow First Mate of The Goblin Shark. Throughout the story, he seemed like a strange choice for First Mate, though I suppose as a captain you want someone brawny but definitely not smarter than you to be your trusted man on the crew. Again, I won't ruin anything, but the poor guy seems to go from one bad situation to another.
All in all, an incredibly crafted story of adventure, mystery and a man with a big ol eyeball in his torso. What more could you want.