A young man discovers a manuscript and so begins a bizarre tale that brings together his grandfather, every conspiracy theory you've ever heard about the royal family and the true story about where the power of Number 10 really lies. Readers of The Somnambulist may well recoginise the characters kept within a chalk circle in a cellar beneath Downing Street. With a gallery of vividly grotesque characters, a gleefully satiric take on modern life and a playful and highly literate style, this is an amazingly readable literary fantasy. In his sequel to the crazed Victoriana of The Somnambulist Jonathan Barnes brings his invention, reality, grotesquerie and curiosities bang-up-to-date.
Industry Reviews
"Strange, outrageous, and wonderful . There is much that is strange, magical, and darkly hilarious about this book . An original and monumentally inventive piece of work by a writer still in his 20s. Barnes seems to leave himself room for a sequel-a consummation devoutly to be wished." -- Washington Post
"The best fantasy novel of the year." -- Rocky Mountain News
"A fantastic novel." -- Denver Rocky Mountain News
"Nothing about Barnes's follow-up to The Somnabulist is predictable....The grotesque fantasy world is a riot." -- mX Brisbane (Australia)
"Unmatched life and verve." -- Washington Post Book World
"Marvelously imaginative." -- The Onion
"A wonderfully original concoction of grotesque humour and sparkling prose."--The Guardian
"If you only read one black comedy with the brains and labyrinthine twists of Vedantic hair-splitting, make it this one....a gripping yarn."--Chicago Sun-Times
"Strange, outrageous, and wonderful ... There is much that is strange, magical, and darkly hilarious about this book ... An original and monumentally inventive piece of work by a writer still in his 20s. Barnes seems to leave himself room for a sequel--a consummation devoutly to be wished."--Washington Post
"This promising debut subverts its 19th-century predecessors amusingly. Inventive and often witty. A cabinet crammed with curiosities."--The Observer
"The best fantasy novel of the year."--Rocky Mountain News
"Old school entertainment in the penny-dreadful tradition that almost succeeds in being as sublime as it is ridiculous."--Entertainment Weekly
"Magical, dark, beautifully odd-and utterly compelling-this is an astonishing debut."--Michael Marshall, author of The Intruders
"Sneaky, cheeky, and dark in the best possible way, Jonathan Barnes' massively entertaining "The Somnambulist" manages to make the familiar daringly unfamiliar. I enjoyed the heck out of this novel."--Jeff Vandermeer
"Marvelously imaginative."--The Onion
"Macabre wit and stylistic panache. Parliament should immediately pass a law requiring Barnes to write a sequel."--James Morrow, author of The Last Witchfinder and The Philosopher's Apprentice
"A fantastic novel."--Denver Rocky Mountain News
"Barnes's second novel, a compelling supernatural thriller, shows that his impressive debut, "The Somnambulist", was no fluke. ...Thanks to Barnes's evocative prose, readers will easily suspend disbelief. Those who enjoy the grafting of fantasy elements onto contemporary urban landscapes will be more than satisfied."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Unmatched life and verve."--Washington Post Book World
"Another remarkable outing, an infectious blend of wit, wonder, and the bizarre presented with remarkable style. This is literary fiction for the genre fiction set, or possibly the other way around...genuinely shocking and inventive."--San Antonio Express-News
"Kudos Barnes for another winner that is as funny as it is creepy, as thought provoking as it is entertaining."--Colorado Springs Independent
"Nothing about Barnes's follow-up to "The Somnabulist" is predictable....The grotesque fantasy world is a riot."--mX Brisbane (Australia)
"A comic extravaganza, deftly plotted, fiendishly clever, and wonderfully funny. . . . One of the classiest entertainments I've read."--Christopher Bram, author of Exiles in America