false 2016005 8 "Be warned. This book has no literary merit whatsoever. Needless to say, I doubt you'll believe a word of it." Once the toast of good society in Victoria's England, the extraordinary conjurer Edward Moon no longer commands the respect or inspires the awe that he did in earlier times. Despite having previously unraveled more than sixty perplexing criminal puzzles (to the delight of a grateful London constabulary), he is considered something of an embarrassment these days. Still, each night without fail, he returns to the stage of his theatre to amaze his devoted, albeit dwindling audience with the same old astonishments; aided by his partner, the silent, hairless, hulking, surprisingly placid giant who, when stabbed, does not bleed . . . and who goes by but one appellation: The Somnambulist On a night of roiling mists and long shadows, in a corner of the city where only the most foolhardy will deign to tread, a rather disreputable actor meets his end in a most bizarre and terrible fashion. Baffled, the police turn once again in the direction of Edward Moon; who will always welcome such assignments as an escape from ennui. And, in fact, he leads the officers to a murderer rather quickly. Perhaps too quickly. For these are strange, strange times in England, with the strangest of sorts prowling London's dank underbelly: sinister circus performers, freakishly deformed prostitutes, sadistic grown killers in schoolboy attire, a human fly, a man who lives backwards. And nothing is precisely as it seems. Which should be no surprise to Moon, whose life and livelihood consists entirely of the illusionary, the unexpected, the seemingly impossible. Yet what is to follow will shatter his increasingly tenuous grasp on reality; as death follows death follows death in the dastardly pursuit of poetry, freedom, utopia . . . and Love, Love, Love, and Love. Remember the name Jonathan Barnes, for, with <i>The Somnambulist</i>, he has burst upon the literary scene with a breathtaking and brilliant, frightening and hilarious, dark invention that recalls Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, and Clive Barker at their grimly fantastical best . . . with more than a pinch of Carl Hiaasen-esque outrageousness stirred into the demonically delicious brew. Read on . . . and be astonished! 2274802 book 2007 The Somnambulist total:874|5:84|4:268|3:321|2:153|1:48| 874 2809 1543 292 2 13 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 26 20:32:02 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 08 11:50:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 9 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 13:03:50 -0700 2008 Tue May 06 13:27:13 -0700 2008
Regular readers know that I am a big fan of the unique subgenre known as "steampunk,"...more...]]> 4 11 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 01 14:42:30 -0700 2007 Wed Nov 14 15:10:54 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 4 false false Wed Apr 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 23 08:01:42 -0700 2008 Thu May 01 22:15:19 -0700 2008 dare you to read the first two pages and not want to finish the rest of the book.

Part Victorian murder mystery, part fantastical alternate history with a liberal dash of lexigraphical acrobatics The Somnambulist combines a labyrinthine plot with haunting characters and an unreliable na...more...]]> 5 4 false false Tue Jan 22 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 09 08:59:01 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 31 11:45:42 -0800 2008 The Somnambulist, chronicles the late Victorian-era adventures of a legendary magician-cum-detective Edward Moon and his mute, hulking, hairless sidekick, known only as the Somnambulist. The two investigate a series of bizarre murders, meet a cadre of eccentri...more...]]> 5 3 false false Wed Feb 06 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 05:06:18 -0800 2008 Tue Feb 12 05:07:10 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 3 false false Sat May 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 20 15:35:08 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 20 15:40:26 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false true Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 15 03:26:39 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 17 00:24:48 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 06 14:54:54 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 17 15:00:00 -0800 2007 more...]]> 1 3 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Feb 11 14:41:23 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 15:07:22 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Feb 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 27 10:35:50 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 13:42:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 3 false false Wed Jan 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 22 06:42:30 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 08:50:21 -0800 2009
I had high hopes for this story, being a fan of stories set in Victoriana, of Poe's and Doyle's mysteries, and of the strange and outre - but I ju...more...]]> 1 1 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 14 06:58:35 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 14 07:08:02 -0800 2008 Once and never again more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 12 19:48:18 -0700 2008 Mon May 12 20:04:29 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Fri Apr 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 05 16:37:38 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 03 14:27:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Apr 11 05:00:36 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 11 05:02:38 -0700 2008 The Somnambulist is a dark fantasy sort of mystery that takes place in turn-of-the-century Victorian England. It follow the adventures of Edward Moon, stage magician and part-time detective, and his loyal sidekick the Somnambulist. When a series of bizarre murders and strange disappearances starts...more...]]> 4 3 false false Wed Feb 13 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 09 08:59:32 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 19:01:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jan 31 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 21:33:13 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 00:39:46 -0800 2008
In the course of the...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Apr 06 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 31 16:23:30 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 06 17:51:45 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 2 false false Mon Apr 07 14:27:48 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 07:57:49 -0700 2008
The opening 100 pages or so a great, lots of intriguing characters, mysteries, supernatural goings-ons. But then, as the story progresses, it becomes more and more of a (if I may apply a literary term) clusterfuck. It's just a mess of idiocy, none of it particularly inte...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1349169