Two talented black youths living a slacker life in Edmonton, Canada, get mixed up in a current incarnation of an ancient struggle between good and evil. A marked feature of this novel is that both the two main characters and most of the other characters, not the least the henchmen of one of the bad guys, are fans, that is, they are very into comics, science fiction television series and other forms of popular culture (well, it is popular culture, after all). The plot itself is almost as ancient as the ancient mysteries to which it alludes, but the telling is contemporary (or then-current, as the novel is set in the mid-nineties). Note that the narrative style takes some tome to get used to, as the chapters are told by different characters, both main characters and supporting, in their distinctive voice. This means that one has to think a little about what actually happens, in addition to the narration. It was worth the effort, however, and it was also interesting to read a novel in a genre that is sometimes very 'white' in outlook, that was different in that regard.

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