For the next few weeks I’m going to review the novellas adapted from Roman and Anna Riva’s planned animated series, Opium Tales (which doubles as Roman’s Substack moniker and publication). I’ve followed Roman’s work for years, and it’s refreshing to see his active presence on Substack. When I found out he and his wife had a series of short novellas in print—and that they are all, save one, under $8.

According to the introduction of each volume, Roman and Anna sought, but failed to procure, funding for an animated series called Opium Tales. They hoped to call it Dark Tales, but the name was taken, so they leaned into the opium habits of early eighteenth-century Romantics and landed on Opium Tales. Since they still had all the rights to their stories, they decided to publish them as a series of novellas.

Here is the series—or, at least the volumes I purchased; if I’m missing one, please let me know, Roman (the following are Amazon Affiliate links; I receive a portion of any purchase made through these links, at no additional cost to you):

• Humpty Dumpty
• A Pirate’s Tale
• The Staff
• Son of an Incubus
• The Midnight Train
• Sophia and the Goblin King (the only volume that costs more than $8; it’s also the longest)

The entire series is (as of the time of writing) $46.94 before tax, so these are easy to scoop up in one fell swoop.

According to is introduction, Humpty Dumpty was the first installment in the series, and intended to be the pilot episode of the animated series. It is a dark fantasy rendering in the spirit of the Brothers Grimm, in which H. Dumpty is not a clumsy egg, but instead a brutish feudal lord with dark appetites.

The story shows that Humpty Dumpty is a brutal, corrupt, and wicked lord, one who kidnaps beautiful women to serve as his personal harem. He also brutalizes the peasantry and taxes them far beyond their means. He is feared and reviled.

Into the picture strides a mysterious Spaniard, a veteran of the Crusades. He is seeking his missing wife, and it seems she’s fallen into Dumpty’s clutches. Through his combat experience, he gains an audience with the corrupt fiend, setting up an epic showdown.

Those are the broad strokes of the story, which is redolent with adventure and heroism. The story is dark—it is not appropriate for young children—but that is fitting with the setting, a sort of fairy tale late medieval Europe.

The Rivas don’t dwell on elaborate descriptions of settings. These are pretty barebone, which is fitting for a fairy tale meant to be depicted as an animated episode. Indeed, I found the lack of extensive descriptions enhanced the experience: it clearly evoked the sort of ephemeral storytelling style of old fairy tales while also leaving a great deal to the reader’s imagination. I had a great time envisioning the different characters and settings in my head.

That’s not to say there’s no description, just don’t go into these books expecting four pages describing every nook and cranny and crenellation of Dumpty’s castle. The focus is on plot—getting the good guy to the bad guy, with a cast of colorful characters in between. For example, at one point the Spaniard—dubbed “Don Juan” by a couple of peasants at the local tavern—has to scrounge up money to meet up with a shady, backstreet magician. The magician is great—kind of pathetic, kind of greedy, but also genuinely interested in helping out our hero. He knows he’ll be better off with Dumpty out of the picture.

The writing style is very reflective of Roman’s style in his articles and notes. At times that can be a tad jarring, such as when a medieval peasant certainly uses an idiomatic expression more suited to the twenty-first century, but I found it rarely took me out of the story. The best way I can describe the style is if a very talented fifth grader wrote an awesome adventure story, then his cool uncle punched it up and added some swearing. I mean that as a compliment, because I think that style really fits the kind of story.

My overall takeaway: Humpty Dumpty is an action-packed throwback to classic dark fairytales. It doesn’t shy away from violence and profanity, giving it an almost pulp feel. The villain is monstrous; the hero is virtuous; his wife is faithful, even in the clutches of a desperate evil. It’s a style of storytelling that resonates because we all know stories like it, and we all want stories where the good guy is good, the bad guy is bad, and Good triumphs over Evil.

Roman and Anna deliver, and for seven bucks, it’s worth every penny.