Showing results by publisher "Coronet" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Prepare to lose yourself in the heady, mythical expanse of the Vorrh. In B. Catling's twisting, poetic narrative, Bakelite robots lie broken - their hard shells cracked by human desire - and an inquisitive Cyclops waits for his keeper and guardian, growing in all directions. Beyond the colonial city of Essenwald lies the Vorrh, the forest which sucks souls and wipes minds.

Ruth lives in the heart of the city. Working, drinking, falling in love: the rhythm of her vivid and complicated life is set against a background hum of darkening news reports from which she deliberately turns away. When a new romance becomes claustrophobic, Ruth chooses to leave behind the failing relationship, but also her beloved friends and family, and travels to the other side of the world in pursuit of her dream life working with whales in New Zealand.

Melvin Burgess revolutionised children's literature with the infamous cult novels Junk and Doing It. In his first adult novel, Loki, he breathes new life into Norse myths. Starting with the Norse creation myths, the trickster god Loki takes the listener on a wild ride through Norse mythology, from the time the gods—the founders of Asgard—defeated races of monsters, and hurtling through famous stories, including Odin hanging himself on the World Tree, the theft of the corrupting gold ring and the murder of Baldr, the god of love and the Sun.

The Vorrh is a vast unmapped and very mysterious jungle in Africa. No one comes out of it in one piece. Survivors report strange, mind-bending phenomena and horrific monsters. It is rumoured that the Garden of Eden still exists somewhere in the middle of it. In The Erstwhile it transpires that some angels have escaped Eden and the Vorrh and are hiding in London, some in disguise as lunatics in Bedlam. It's also revealed that William Blake, a character in these novels, is interacting with these angels.

Earwig takes a rare day off, which he spends drinking by himself in Au Metro, a seedy bar full of drunks, dancers and eccentrics. It is St Martin's day, and in the evening, as crowds parade through the street carrying lanterns through the snow, he is drawn reluctantly into a conversation with a sinister stranger called Tyre. As a result Earwig accidentally maims a waitress with a broken bottle. He understands that on some level Tyre meant this to happen. Shortly afterwards a black cat is delivered to the flat, unasked for. 

From the author of the Vorrh Trilogy comes an epic odyssey following a group of mercenaries hired to deliver a church's ultimate power, a sacred oracle, as the decadence of carnival gives way to the gravity of lent and the mystic landscape grows ravenous - all set within a Bosch painting.

In the stunning conclusion to Brian Catling's Vorrh trilogy, the colonial city of Essenwald gives up all its secrets, as the ancient forest seeks to reclaim what has been taken from it. Those who have been enslaved shall be no longer, and two heroes once thought dead shall reemerge stronger than ever. A man will be split in two, and a young woman will rise to the height of her powers. Meanwhile, the threat of war looms over London. Germany is gearing up to begin the Blitz, and only Nicolas the Erstwhile senses the danger to come. Will he be able to save the man who saved him?

The Age of Anxiety is a great rock novel, but that is one of the less important things about it. The narrator is a brilliant creation - cultured, witty and unreliable. The novel captures the craziness of the music business and displays Pete Townshend's sly sense of humour and sharp ear for dialogue. First conceived as an opera, The Age of Anxiety deals with mythic and operatic themes including a maze, divine madness and long-lost children.