You would think that a man so vehemently allergic to origin stories might have trouble writing one, but you would be most wrong in the case of one Gregg Taylor. Taylor skillfully weaves together a fantastic adventure with long untold backstory, and the end result is The Mind Master, a superb addition to the Red Panda Universe.

The Mind Master is the second in the Tales of the Red Panda series of novels, which are, in turn, based on the wonderful audiodrama series The Red Panda Adventures. Both tell of the exploits of the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel, a pair of superheroes fighting to keep Toronto safe in the dark times of the Great Depression, and both are written with a great love and appreciation of both the audiodrama and the pulp genres. The Mind Master carries on the tradition with a strong plot, snappy dialog, and some of the best romantic banter this side of Metropolisville. It builds and improves on its predecessor, The Crime Cabal, with a far creepier villain and an even better finale.

Finally: most stories in the Red Panda Universe focus equally on our two superheroes, and if one is ever given the spotlight over the other, it's usually Kit. The Mind Master is a bit of a rarity, in that it is truly a "Red Panda" story; it's about his past, his problems, his rival. This is to its credit, I feel; the Red Panda, beloved though he may be, has always been almost as mysterious to listeners as he is to the bad guys. Now, 5 years after we've met him, it feels immensely satisfying to get to know more about him as a person, rather than just a hero.

The only bad part of the book? Getting to the end. The wait 'til the next one's going to be long indeed. ( )