HayWired | Alex Keller

Hay Wired
by Alex Keller
pub: Mogzilla
cover: Rachel de Ste. Croix

All is not well in Little Wainesford. Ludwig has been helping his father with his inventions his whole life, but after a nasty incident with a harvester and the rejection of his latest creation it becomes obvious that his father's obsession with the war may have gone too far.

Haywired is billed as 11+ and given some of the ideas are quite dark that's probably fair. Actually it' wonderfully dark, enough to keep most adult readers entertained too. It doesn't have quite enough depth to the plot or characters to transition fully for adult readers, but for something quick and fun it's a good bit of twisted silliness.

For the target audience, the characters are varied and interesting and the adventure contains lots of good fun stuff and plenty of peril. The HELOT's are creepy as hell but somehow Jack is even scarier. I loved the Captain and there is a neat little name play with 'the monster' that pleased me. It's intelligently written, with plenty of wry humour that adds to it's adult readability.

HayWired is a fun fantasy adventure full of family secrets, a circus, pirates, steampunk machinery, dark twists and some excellent grimness. I look forward to the next one.