WITCHES' FOREST: The Adventures of Duan Surk
Mishio Fukazawa
TOKYOPOP
ISBN-10: 159532870X
ISBN-13: 9781595328700
328 pages

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Duan Surk, the hero of WITCHES' FOREST, is not at all happy. He's nothing more than a 16-year old adventurer, stuck as a piddly Level 2. His companion is a flying lizard (of course with a golden head of hair) named Check. Duan is starving, stumbling through a forest...yes, the Witches' Forest, which is the domain of two wild and crazy ladies with a vast collection of monsters to do their whim.

The two end up finding Olba, the big, burly and uber-handsome warrior who has to come to the rescue on more than one occasion. Olba wants to steal the witches' treasure. Princess Agnis, yet another encountered adventurer, has a major problem with the witches. Olba agrees to help her --- for a price --- and Duan just refuses to be left alone, mostly because he knows he'd never survive. And it's all downhill from there.

"Why Being Lost In The Forest Sucks." This is the title of the first chapter. Perhaps when opening the book, it would have done better to roll with it. Instead of a straightforward adventure fantasy or the standard epic tale, WITCHES' FOREST is really no more than a role-playing game or Yu-Gi-Oh card game gone awry and put down on paper.

Longtime readers of standard fantasy will cringe at the thought of characters referring to themselves as "Level 2" or any other such obvious game jargon. What works when taking up the adventure of Duan is a shift in interpretation. Instead of taking those things as sub-par writing and translation, the book completely sings when you turn it into a piece of satire.

When viewed as a mock-up of the fantasy gaming genre, WITCHES' FOREST becomes a lighthearted romp that will have you chuckling. Our heroes, for lack of a better term, are complete morons. And the witches aren't much brighter. Where else will you find a grand adventurer getting locked in a bathroom?

Should you choose to undertake this journey, be sure to leave all designs on epic grandeur at the door. Put on your bunny slippers, make some cocoa, and chuckle as a handful of dim bulbs endeavor to make the world brighter.

   --- Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard

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