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Jul. 14th, 2009 01:04 pmI promised more comments on new Angry Robot books this week. Just two comments on two books. This is the first (and aren't I impressively good at stating the obvious?).
Nekropolis was not what I expected. I've got to stop expecting things, I think. I thought it would be dark fantasy or evil horror, but it's something quite different. It's an addictive kind of different: I started reading and couldn't stop. Not fine writing, but fun writing. Tongue-in-cheek and zombie-centred, Nekropolis is a noir story set in a place where humans are rare and probably on the menu.
Nekropolis is an overwhelmingly odd place. A zombie detective plays Virgil and leads us through it, his own life being a very intimate part of what we see. There are bunches of danger and swathes of trouble. There is whimsy; there is quest; there is heart; there is severe weirdness.
The misbegotten lovechild of Chandler and Baudelaire? No, that doesn't describe it. Chandler fits, but Baudelaire is not right. The drugs that Baudelaire took might fit, though. Maybe what it reminds me of is the Wizard of Oz written by Chandler and Anne Rice on Baudelairean drugs.
Tim Waggoner has invented a city that owes a debt to a great deal of literature, both high and low, and influences are easy to see but hard to summarise. For me, anyhow. I keep thinking "That reminds me of this," and "Oh, I like how he used that bit of vampire lore!" The book is a warped tribute to many stories and writers.
I don't have a fine, funny line to finish on. I want to contemplate the sub-genre that Nekropolis is part of. There is an increasing number of noir-ish dark fantasy around. Even Charmaine Harris' work fits. So, wile you think of a nice parting quip to end this post, I'll think about genre and sub-genre and why vampires are more often depicted as love interest than, say, fieldmice.
Nekropolis was not what I expected. I've got to stop expecting things, I think. I thought it would be dark fantasy or evil horror, but it's something quite different. It's an addictive kind of different: I started reading and couldn't stop. Not fine writing, but fun writing. Tongue-in-cheek and zombie-centred, Nekropolis is a noir story set in a place where humans are rare and probably on the menu.
Nekropolis is an overwhelmingly odd place. A zombie detective plays Virgil and leads us through it, his own life being a very intimate part of what we see. There are bunches of danger and swathes of trouble. There is whimsy; there is quest; there is heart; there is severe weirdness.
The misbegotten lovechild of Chandler and Baudelaire? No, that doesn't describe it. Chandler fits, but Baudelaire is not right. The drugs that Baudelaire took might fit, though. Maybe what it reminds me of is the Wizard of Oz written by Chandler and Anne Rice on Baudelairean drugs.
Tim Waggoner has invented a city that owes a debt to a great deal of literature, both high and low, and influences are easy to see but hard to summarise. For me, anyhow. I keep thinking "That reminds me of this," and "Oh, I like how he used that bit of vampire lore!" The book is a warped tribute to many stories and writers.
I don't have a fine, funny line to finish on. I want to contemplate the sub-genre that Nekropolis is part of. There is an increasing number of noir-ish dark fantasy around. Even Charmaine Harris' work fits. So, wile you think of a nice parting quip to end this post, I'll think about genre and sub-genre and why vampires are more often depicted as love interest than, say, fieldmice.