Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy by Sam J Miller

Publisher – Solaris

Published – Out Now

Price – £3.99 Kindle eBook

“Kid” Wolffe is an up-and-coming boxer in 1920s New York. An honest fighter’s got little chance at success on the mob-controlled circuit—until ambitious lieutenant “Hinky” Friedman starts making moves to take over her boss’s business, and sees a use for the kid.

Teitelstam is a struggling tattoo artist, whose natural talent for ink magic won’t amount to much without formal training. So he’s got no idea why Hinky would offer him ten times what he’s worth to come work for her.

But Hinky has a vision for a better world, and her high-stakes plan to make it reality requires both Wolffe’s fists and Teitelstam’s magic. What neither Wolffe nor Teitelstam expects is to fall in love; and in this world, love might be more dangerous than deadly magic or an underworld turf war…

Stories that play with history in fantasy can do several things. Reveal hidden sides that have been carefully omitted from the ‘proper’ history books or can push the boundaries of what we know actually happened. It is rare I get to read a story that does both and delivers a fine tale in the process. I am pleased to say reading Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy by Sam J Miller is a fascinating and highly impressive novella well worth your time.

New York 1929 the Wall Street Crash has yet to take place and life is hard for those who are not the rich and powerful. Gangsters seek opportunities for profit in many places while unions are under savage attack from the owners of businesses that see workers as no more than their property. Sol Wolffe was a promising boxer tricked in to working for one of the most corrupt boxing owners and crime bosses in the city. He fights only when told and his career has stalled at a very young age. Teitalstam is a runaway who now make a living making magical charms in the form of tattoos for sailors and anyone who can afford his simple work he lives a day at a time. However, the unusual ‘Hinky’ Friedman the only woman to enter the boxing world as an owner soon finds both Sol and Teiltalstam and decides these two need to work together. She sees in them a way to lift the art of magical tattoos to someone new and that could take the boxing world by storm while also may change the world in myriad other ways. Sol and his new artist though also find they have a natural attraction pulling them into something greater.

I absolutely loved this, and I speak as someone with zero interest in boxing, tattoos and magic systems. That Miller over the course of this story got me so invested in all three plus his amazing central characters with a fascinating glimpse of a world we don’t know much about made this a compelling read. Miller uses two different narrators. Sol who will become Kid Wolf the prizefighter is a tough man with we find from his chapters a sombre tale of betrayed love, family shame and a desire to prove himself. Teitalstam who will become Kraken Boy appears the physically weaker but with his knowledge of tattoos is doing enough work to attract the attention of several crime bosses and it is Hinky that sees the most protection. She forces the brainy and the brawny to learn to work together and the two soon see a working partnership for boxing where the charms can win the fight but also realise that they are both attracted to each other in the process; and delighted when they realise they can tell each other about it.

So story-wise we get what could have just been a standard young boxer involved with gangsters’ story of which there are so many but instead Miller expands this to both a fantasy story with the magic of tattoos being explained and also a love story between two men who in 1929 struggled with being seen as gay where it could destroy a career. Miller makes you understand the world of boxing and how for many young men it was seen as a way of escape as well as an artform but one riddled with crime and also racism. But the romance element is handled really well its not instalove there is a developed relationship as well as moments of tension as each is not wanting to tell the other about what they are feeling. The breaking down of walls and establishment of trust and love is really well handled and fuels the story – one of those cases where these two people need the other to be better and that is very key to this story’s final acts and as we care about these two in a very dangerous world where the stakes are to get higher the tension grows.

Now usually I hear magic system my eyes glaze over but this is an interesting story where the magic itself is key to the plot. The idea Miller has is there are various magical tattoo traditions across the world that have learned the right glyph can lead to power. A power both Hinky and a rival gang boss crave for their respective fighting teams to control New York. Hence, we get to see how Tietelstam becomes named Kraken Boy and Kid Wolf get a learning curve as to how magic could boost his fighting skills. And Miller could easily have just left it there and we would have a good historical fantasy story, but Hinky proves a much more interesting character than just a woman running a gang in the 1920s she has a plan and it connects to the wider economic struggles the workers are suffering. Miller beautifully plants some curveballs about what happened after this story that will make you do a double take on what you just read and hook you further into the story. I want you to be surprised but isn’t nice to see a bit of socialism in a story every now and then? Just like Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy there is a wider theme of working together gets the best results.

Wonderfully deep, emotionally powerful, and full of surprises I think Kid Wolf and Kraken Boy is a joyous adventure with quite a bit to say about the world and being human as well. A fine novella and worthy of more attention. Strongly recommended!