From the highly celebrated and award-winning authors Jeff Noon and Steve Beard comes Gogmagog, the first book in adventurous duology, perfect for fans of Mervyn Peake.
Gogmagog tells the story of an epic journey through the sixty-mile long ghost of a dragon. We travel by boat, a rickety steam launch captained by Cady Meade, a veteran taxi pilot on the river Nysis. In her heyday she carried people and goods from the thriving seaports of the estuary into Ludwich, the capital city. But that was years ago. Now she’s drunk, holed up in a rundown seaside resort, telling her bawdy tales for shots of rum. All that’s about to change, when two strangers seek her out, asking for transport, one of whom – a young girl – is very ill, and in great danger. The other, an artificial being of singular character, has secrets hidden inside his crystal skull. And …
From the highly celebrated and award-winning authors Jeff Noon and Steve Beard comes Gogmagog, the first book in adventurous duology, perfect for fans of Mervyn Peake.
Gogmagog tells the story of an epic journey through the sixty-mile long ghost of a dragon. We travel by boat, a rickety steam launch captained by Cady Meade, a veteran taxi pilot on the river Nysis. In her heyday she carried people and goods from the thriving seaports of the estuary into Ludwich, the capital city. But that was years ago. Now she’s drunk, holed up in a rundown seaside resort, telling her bawdy tales for shots of rum. All that’s about to change, when two strangers seek her out, asking for transport, one of whom – a young girl – is very ill, and in great danger. The other, an artificial being of singular character, has secrets hidden inside his crystal skull. And so begins the voyage of the Juniper.
The Nysis is unlike any other river. Mysteries unfold with each port of call. Not many can navigate these channels, not many know of its whirlpools and sandbanks, and of the ravenous creatures that lurk beneath the surface. Cady used to have the necessary knowledge, and the powers of spectral navigation. But her glory days are well behind her now.
I liked it - it's sheer weirdness (and wyrdness), the river trip, the characters...
My biggest criticism is probably the structure. It's very episodic and we learn little about the cultures our characters come from (except in may a specific episode/chapter) as they're all the only examples on page. There are also many time chapters end on a cliffhanger or other high tension point only for the next chapter to skip past the resolution and tell us in flashback undoing the built up tension.
I am torn about this right now. It was brilliant in parts. LOVE the atmosphere, the world building, the imagery, the characters... pretty much everything but the plot... and maybe also the pacing. Many chapter breaks that ended abruptly, and then the next chapter begins in a completely different place, after some time (and presumably events) passing. Yet the scope of the book is a day or two at most! So much happens! Yet, we don't get all that clear a picture of it all. The world is incredibly dense, but still not fully-formed, in my imagination. There is much left to mystery.
And the worst part. The almost inexcusable part... is that it does not end. Not even one little bit. There is no conclusion. Not even the hint of one. Maybe 10 or 15 pages from the end, I thought, geez there's a lot to wrap up. I …
I am torn about this right now. It was brilliant in parts. LOVE the atmosphere, the world building, the imagery, the characters... pretty much everything but the plot... and maybe also the pacing. Many chapter breaks that ended abruptly, and then the next chapter begins in a completely different place, after some time (and presumably events) passing. Yet the scope of the book is a day or two at most! So much happens! Yet, we don't get all that clear a picture of it all. The world is incredibly dense, but still not fully-formed, in my imagination. There is much left to mystery.
And the worst part. The almost inexcusable part... is that it does not end. Not even one little bit. There is no conclusion. Not even the hint of one. Maybe 10 or 15 pages from the end, I thought, geez there's a lot to wrap up. I only wondered which mysteries would be revealed, not whether there would be any at all! And yet... I didn't buy this until the sequel was released. So I have that to read now. I'll start it with trepidation. I'm already stealing myself for more of the same.
