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The Corpse-Rat King (Marius don Hellespont #1)

by Lee Battersby (Goodreads Author)

3.43 of 5 stars 3.43 · rating details · 156 ratings · 63 reviews

Marius don Hellespont and his apprentice, Gerd, are professional looters of battlefields. When they stumble upon the corpse of the King of Scorby and Gerd is killed, Marius is mistaken for the monarch by one of the dead soldiers and is transported down to the Kingdom of the Dead.

Just like the living citizens, the dead need a King — after all, the King is God’s representati...more

Mass Market Paperback, 410 pages

Published August 28th 2012 by Angry Robot (first published August 26th 2012)

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Sep 28, 2012 Dan Schwent rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: angry-robot, funny, 2012

When battlefield scavenger Marius mistakenly winds up in the Kingdom of the Dead, he's given a chance to win his life back. All he has to do is find them a king...

After a series of disappointing books, The Corpse-Rat King is just what I needed. Marius is from the
Cugel the Clever/Drake Douay/Rincewind school of loveable cowards and his quest had me smiling a great percentage of the time.

On the surface, the plot doesn't seem all that complicated, and it isn't. What makes the Corpse-Rat King such...more

45 likes · like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Elspeth rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: twenty-twelve, arc, kindle, meh, witty-banter, netgalley

When I finished this story last night, I contemplated what to write about in my review. The only thing that my cold riddled brain could come up with was this story is like a hot Scottish man reading a grocery list.

That is something I could listen to for hours, I am sure I am not alone in this.

Reading this book is a treat. The words, people, the words are oh so pretty.
Each sentence is a dessert more decadent than the last.

This is where I found I was looking for the forest among all the trees. Th...more

15 likes · like · see review

Mar 19, 2013 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Right, *this* is the book that you should compare to Scott Lynch.

Marius Helles is a thief, a liar, and currently hard up for cash. That's why he's picking over battlefield corpses for rings, gold teeth, and spare change, accompanied by his not-too-bright apprentice Gerd. Unfortunately, the remaining soldiers notice them. Ten minutes later, Gerd is disemboweled and Marius is... in the Land of the Dead.

Turns out the dead want something. They want a king. They send Marius back upstairs to beg, borr...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Claire rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: australian-spec-fic

Hey everyone, 4 stars is not an indictment on quality, it's just me knowing what Lee has in store for you all in upcoming works - so I have to save me a star!

So as not to go over synopses of the work, here's a quick meta on the Corpse Rat King.

So our hapless (and dead!) protagonist Maurius goes on a jaunt through the familiar epic fantasy landscape - but under the guiding and self-aware hand of Lee Battersby, all the familiar tropes are rigorously taken apart and held up for humour, and then slo...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Ori rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, humor, reviewed

I'm going to be completely honest and say that I didn't like this book for at least the first half of it. I don't mind admitting that I bought it on the strength of Juliet Marillier's review on the back of it. Marius was a thoroughly unlikable protagonist. He was selfish, amoral, seedy, and really the worst kind of weasel there was. I did like how clever he was, but it wasn't enough.

The only way I managed to slog through the first half was imagining him as Mark Sheppard, and surprisingly it work...more

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Sep 30, 2012 N rated it 3 of 5 stars

Lee Battersby is a talented writer. I've never read anything else he's written, but an Angry Robot rep convinced me to try The Corpse-Rat King.

The book is an interesting mix, starting with the very cover. The image is really neat -- I'm consistently impressed with AR's packaging. The title, on the other hand, leaves something to be desired.

Likewise, the story itself has its ups and downs. Battersby's prose is engaging and entertaining. Though many jokes fall flat, several more connect in uproar...more

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Sep 20, 2012 A.E. Marling added it

Only one way exists to make a self-interested robber of the dead more repulsive, and that's to turn him undead. Lee Battersby goes there in his dark fantasy The Corpse-Rat King. Readers interested in the grittier side of fantasy or Gothic horror may enjoy this story, as it offers up a seven-layer dip of mud, blood, wit, deception, decay, fear, and talking corpses.

In stealing a crown on the battlefield after a massacre, the protagonist is dragged to the underworld and charged by the dead citizen...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Burgoo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Marius don Hellespont is a liar, thief, pickpocket, corpse robber. He’s not a nice man. He’s given the task of finding a king by the angry dead. This is his story as he tries to escape this quest and the curse that the dead have laid upon him.

The Corpse-Rat King is exciting, horrific, and at times hilarious. Battersby does an excellent job embracing both the horror elements inherent in the story as well as the turning this quest into a series of comic misadventures.

There’s a sense of fairytale...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Melinda Le Baron rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, adventure

This book was outstanding! The author, Lee Battersby should be proud to have written such an amazing masterpiece of imagination, sarcasm and fantastic inventiveness. The tale kept my interest from start to fnish without a hitch. Battersby is an author to watch for great things to come. The narrator sets the tone for the novel, which is sarcastic - just like real life, or at least like the life of my friend and I. I enjoyed this book immensely. No matter what you thought was going to happen, you...more This book was outstanding! The author, Lee Battersby should be proud to have written such an amazing masterpiece of imagination, sarcasm and fantastic inventiveness. The tale kept my interest from start to fnish without a hitch. Battersby is an author to watch for great things to come. The narrator sets the tone for the novel, which is sarcastic - just like real life, or at least like the life of my friend and I. I enjoyed this book immensely. No matter what you thought was going to happen, you were wrong. The author took you on a quest wth Marius in the driver's seat to places unknown, peopled by exotic characters who you would never have guessed existed along the normal course of existance. What a ride!

THE PLOT: Marius and his apprentice Gerd are scavenging a battlefield after a battle, when they come upon the dead King of Scorby. Marius takes his crown and puts it in his shirt. A dead man mistaking Marius for the King, takes Marius down to the land of the dead after Gerd has been killed by a guard. The dead want to make Marius their King. When Marius shows them that they've made a mistake, they send him on a mission to find the dead a King which is where our story really starts rolling. There are: travel, sea voyages, murders, sharks attacks, cannibalism, prostitutes shocked, crooked poker games, bandits, dead men walking, skeletons speaking, plans in action, natives, mourning, Kings swimming with their horses, prisoners executed, Captains extorting, nobles cheating and Kingly bones escaping as well as so much more. This plot is sepentine in its' twists and turns. You will never know what will happen next. The plot is literally built, layer by layer - like a faux finish, at the end you have a beautiful result, but in the middle, you're not sure how it's going to turn out. That is exactly how this book is. Will Marius get the dead their King? Will they dismember him and send him to some Under Hell if he does not? Read the book and find out! I give this plot a 10/10

THE CHARACTERIZATION: The characterization was so fantastic it was a masterwork all by itself. As the narrator, we get to see all the characterization through Marius' eyes, which makes it that more fun to have each character described. His sarcastic wit is so polished that with few words he can sum up another character and you know just the type of person he is describing down to his dress, facial features, behaviours, flaws and everthing else. Marius himself is fully three dimensional and human and as a character, changes the most over the course of the novel than any other character - making a full 360 degree turn about in ideals, morals and prinicles, though the sarcasm remains intact - Thank God! There was no, one character that Batterby did not pay loving attention to through Marius' description which made the book a very rich reading experience. As a narrator, Marius added not only color, but his observations were spot on, that he raised the level of the book's tone from simply a 4 star book to a 5 star book, easily. He made all the difference. Marius made the book, simply put. If we weren't in Marius' brain throughout the book, the book would not have been the same. He was not only my favorite character in the novel, he is one of my favorite characters of all time. For characterization, I give this novel, a 10/10.

THE DIALOGUE: The Dialogue in this book was at one time hilarious, at an other is was sarcastic, at others, it was formal, depending on if a King were present. The dialogue fit the situation. As Marius took on and put off different faces and personalitites to fit different situations, his dialogue matched his faces. Some were humorous in the extreme. Other were obsequious. Other still were pompous. Whatever fit the bill. All were credible. As an example, he is knocking on coffins, to find a King to take back to the dead, but he must find one that is not ashes, so he knocks on each coffin he says " Hello you Majesty. Are you in there?" in his most servile voice. The responses are quite hysterical, as he got more than one. For Dialogue, I give this novel a 10/10

THE GORE SCORE: The Gore Score for this novel was not really difficult. While there are people dying and limbs and other bits flying, the focus in not on blood and guts at all. The most bloody part was at the front of the book when they are playing corpse-rats, picking over bodies on the battlefield, finding something that they can sell after the battle is over. For the Gore Score, I give this novel a 5/10.

THE IMAGERY: The Imagery in the book is quite excellent. As Marius and Gerd travel different continents - either together or separately, they are in what is likely to be somewhere analagous to our Middle Ages. The images that represent this time, the people and their clothing, the dress, and their housing is wonderfully described. There is one example where a dead King has combined with his dead horse on the bottom of the sea - they now share characteristics that make them both the same. Now picture this in you head. The King lets out a big Neigh and shakes his head underwater. He shakes his boney tail and gallops off down onto a sandy stretch of sea bottom, while Marius looks on and shakes his head thinking "How am I going to sell this guy as King of the Dead?" This is one of the images that just tickled me. For imagery, I give this novel 9/10.

THE PACING: From the minute you hit the first entence, it is like the shot rang out at a horse race - and they are off! You have started at top speed, so hold on because you are on the back of something that only knows how to run full out. Until you reach the finish line (which is the end of the the book), you will be hanging on for dear life, so just enjoy the ride, because the ride is over half the fun. When you get to the end, you know you've won by at least two lengths, because nobody could be close. It was too good of a ride for anyone to touch you, much less come close. Closing the novel, with sadness and an equal sense of triumph, you walk from the field a winner, having gone through the experinence with the sheer pleasure and enjoyment that you experienced over the last few hours. What can compare to that? Don't tell me. The pacing gets a 9/10.

THE ENDING: The ending of the book came as a big surprise to me. Never would I have guessed the ending in a month of Sundays. I thought he had it hammered halfway though the book, then it was just the case of getting the King back, but I was wrong. It wasn't the other King either. WOW! Who could believe it? Will it be any of them? Marius has to get one of them to work or his future is bleak. What will happen? Will Gerd actually help him? For the ending of the novel, I give it a 10/10.

THE UPSHOT: The upshot of this novel is that if I could give it 6 stars, I would do it in a heartbeat. This novel was outrageous, hysterical, imaginative, inventive and outstanding all mixed up into a masterwork of a novel. I recommend it to everyone who reads English on the planet. Yes, it is that good. Even if you don't like fantasy, the human interest story that runs through the book is interesting enough to hold you attention, while you forget about the reanimated bodies and the other things. Sideline them, don't make them the main focus - focus instead on Marius and his view of the world. Think of it as a historical novel with some quirks. That way when you are reading it, just think that the fantastical parts are things that just happened during that time and no longer happen now. That should get you through the novel in one piece. This novel is definitely worth the price of admission, and I would recommend to all of my friends and relatives along with everyone who has a pulse who reads English and any other language it will be translated into - just buy the book and read it. It is well worth it. Trust me....(less)

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Dec 27, 2012 Martin Livings rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Corpse-Rat King was a thoroughly enjoyable read, which is hardly surprising as it's come from Lee Battersby, one of Australia's best writers of short fiction. It's about damn time we had a novel from Lee, and this one doesn't disappoint. Some are saying it's similar to Terry Pratchett, but I personally think it has more of Harry Harrison's DNA thread through it, particularly his Stainless Steel Rat novels. They share the concept of a reluctant anti-hero who operates on the wrong side of the...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Colleen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I picked this book up on a whim when I was at B&N recently. I mention this because this isn't something that happens all that often these days, to be honest. I'm rather loathe to pay full price for a book, especially one I know nothing about outside of the blurb, and I tend to get most of my books from the library these days. But this caught my attention and then held on... though, technically, the second book did that, as I saw that one first, in the new release section, and then backtracke...more I picked this book up on a whim when I was at B&N recently. I mention this because this isn't something that happens all that often these days, to be honest. I'm rather loathe to pay full price for a book, especially one I know nothing about outside of the blurb, and I tend to get most of my books from the library these days. But this caught my attention and then held on... though, technically, the second book did that, as I saw that one first, in the new release section, and then backtracked to the first book. And I must admit that the blurb for the first book didn't hook me nearly as much, so it's a good thing I saw the second first...

And I tell you all that as a way to set the scene. I went in knowing very little about these books, having never heard of them before I saw them in B&N, but expecting/hoping to be well amused because the blurb, at least for the second book, struck me as right up my alley.

And, hopefully, the second book will be a bit more so.

Not that I didn't enjoy the book, because I did. I liked Marius in all his awfulness, and enjoyed watching his growth as a character. I know some people had a hard time sympathizing with him, especially in the beginning, but I pretty much got him right from the start.

Gerd, on the other hand, irritated me as much as he irritated Marius - which might be one reason why I more easily related to Marius straight off - and I was glad to see Gerd develop into a more fleshed out character as well - no pun intended.

I liked the sardonic humor and wry wit, and I enjoyed the way he described things by sort of talking around them.

But there were times where my eyes just kept sliding off the page, where the fancy words and injections of humor didn't quite make up for the fact that things were moving at a snail's pace, that Marius' self-awareness was a bit belabored, and things just felt kind of off. And, aside from the whole snail's pace thing and whatnot, I couldn't quite tell you what was off about it... but, at times, I just couldn't focus on the words on the page as my mind wandered off to entertain itself or, conversely, as I began dozing off.

And I couldn't tell you why I seemed bored, at times... just that I was. Maybe it's 'cause, ultimately, it's a sort of standard quest story, and it was just meandering around too long.

But, anyway, things picked up a lot about half-way through, around when Marius meets up with the mad king, and I quite enjoyed the rest of it. You do have to go into it with a sense of humor about the absurd, because it is quite absurd with just one thing happening after another and piling on. The humor , I think, is definitely the saving grace of the story... and I look forward, in the follow-up, to more humor and, hopefully, some better pacing.

***

ETA: I did mention it in a status update but, for those who don't see that - there's a lot of casual cursing and stuff in this book. It's not something that bothers me at all, but I figured I'd mention it for those who don't like their books littered with f-bombs.

Battersby even sort of brings attention to it at one point, and references it as an amusing character quirk. ;)(less)

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Sep 30, 2012 Venetia Green rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wow. I've never come across a writer with such an amazing way with words. Battersby completely out-Pratchetts Pratchett. I wanted to give this book 6 out of 5 just for its hilarious and brilliant descriptions and one-liners.
Why then did I rate this book at 4, you may ask? Plot, pace and character. At first glance, there was nothing lacking here either. The plot is nicely convoluted and off-beat, there is plenty of forward-moving action, and the main character, Marius, is warped and engaging. Ho...more

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Sep 22, 2012 Tsana Dolichva rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Corpse Rat King is the debut novel from the prolific Australian short story writer Lee Battersby. Released at the end of August by Angry Robot, a copy of this novel was provided for review by the publisher.

My first impression, when I started reading The Corpse Rat King, was that it wasn't a book for me. It contains more toilet humour than I generally like (although I hasten to mention it's not what I'd call a comedy) and I didn't find the protagonist particularly sympathetic. And there weren...more The Corpse Rat King is the debut novel from the prolific Australian short story writer Lee Battersby. Released at the end of August by Angry Robot, a copy of this novel was provided for review by the publisher.

My first impression, when I started reading The Corpse Rat King, was that it wasn't a book for me. It contains more toilet humour than I generally like (although I hasten to mention it's not what I'd call a comedy) and I didn't find the protagonist particularly sympathetic. And there weren't any proper (more than a few scenes) female characters. However, I didn't find it badly written either so I pressed on and it picked up.

Marius is a scoundrel. The novel opens with him robbing corpses on a battlefield (hence the title) and treating his apprentice like an idiot. But when he steals the fallen king's crown then plays dead to avoid repercussions, the dead (in the more general sense than just of the battlefield) mistake him for the king and demand he rule over them. Panicked, he refuses and instead they charge him with the quest of finding them a replacement king. At first he tries to run away from this task but eventually he gets on with it.

I warmed to Marius when we learnt about his past. In the present, he starts out as a somewhat terrible person, but I gained sympathy for him when he started learning life lessons and coming to stark realisations. It was actually the introduction of his long-suffering sort-of-girlfriend which made me keep reading through to the end. She doesn't feature much in person, but I like that she became a driving force for his motivations once he realised he might not ever get to win her back.

The world building was fairly detailed. The actual setting was quite broad in terms of the variety of places mentioned (sometimes in passing). It seemed like Battersby had thought up a complete world, even though the action only took place in small parts of it. There's no map, but at times I found myself wanting one, not because it was integral to the main action, but because I was curious as to where the places mentioned in passing were. There was a tendency in Battersby's writing to go off on descriptive tangents to set a new scene, which also added to the world building, although I found they were perhaps a bit too numerous overall.

As I said at the start, this isn't a bad book, but it's not for me for reasons of content rather than style. I don't doubt that other people will enjoy it much more than I did and so I recommend it to anyone who thinks they might enjoy a book filled with walking corpses, excrement (in the most literal sense) and a quest.

3.5 / 5 stars

You can read more of my reviews on my blog, Tsana's Reads.(less)

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Sep 17, 2012 Mieneke rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, fantasy

One of the books signed out of last year's inaugural Angry Robot Open Door Month – and a book picked by Amanda Rutter, whose taste rarely leads me wrong – Lee Battersby's The Corpse-Rat King was always going to be of interest to me. Add to that the rather awesome cover and an interesting synopsis and you could be sure I would be along for the ride. Unfortunately, my ride wasn't as smooth as I could have wished. Partly this is completely due to my own head space: when I started this book I wasn't...more One of the books signed out of last year's inaugural Angry Robot Open Door Month – and a book picked by Amanda Rutter, whose taste rarely leads me wrong – Lee Battersby's The Corpse-Rat King was always going to be of interest to me. Add to that the rather awesome cover and an interesting synopsis and you could be sure I would be along for the ride. Unfortunately, my ride wasn't as smooth as I could have wished. Partly this is completely due to my own head space: when I started this book I wasn't in the best place to focus on reading due to personal circumstances. But partly it was due to the book itself: I had a hard time connecting to the main character and the middle of the book left me a bit muddled.

To start with that first complaint, Marius was a hard character to come to grips with. I usually have no problem connecting to less than morally virtuous, I got along great with Mark Lawrence's Jorg, so the fact that Marius is a bit of an unpleasant character to start with – sacrificing your less-than-talented apprentice so you can escape with your life is usually frowned upon in civilised circles – shouldn't have been a problem, but I found it hard to connect with him. It was hard to get a sense of him and it was only after about a third of the book that I suddenly noticed I did actually care what happened to Marius; he'd slowly gotten under my skin. And in fact, by the end of the book I was sad to say goodbye to Marius and was glad to learn there's more of his story to come in next year's The Marching Dead.

Some of Battersby's other characters, such as Marius' apprentice Gerd and Kings Nandus and Scorbus are far easier to like and especially in the latter half of the story the dialogues between the different characters and Marius had me snorting out loud. By the end of the book, both Marius and Gerd are changed beyond their obvious state of—shall we say animation? They've grown and changed their outlook on life, though bad habits are hard to break and Marius remains as devious as he starts out, planning another con to help him on his way to leaving the thief's life he's led since his teens.

After the rather spectacular beginning, the story hit a bit of a slump while Marius gets to grip with his new situation and his new assignment. In hindsight, the need for this section is clear, but while reading, this was where I got stuck when I first picked it up. There isn't that much wrong with this section, other than Marius going off and doing other things before getting back to what he needs to do. Compared to the beginning and the final third of the book, the middle bit felt somewhat slow and just wasn't as gripping to me. In contrast, the final hundred or so pages just fly by and are easily the strongest part of the novel. They show off Battersby's strengths: funny dialogue and fabulous, if somewhat creepy, descriptions—a cathedral built of bones? The Parisian Catacombs gave me the creeps, this would give me nightmares!

Despite my initial qualms about Marius and the book's slow middle, The Corpse-Rat King has left me wanting more. While Marius' main quest in this book – finding the dead a king – might have been filled, there are still some loose ends and the happy ever after or not, as it might turn out, for both Gerd and Marius is still waiting in the wings somewhere and I'm very curious to see how the author will get Marius, Gerd and the reader there. If you're looking for an interesting new voice in fantasy and an entertaining read, look no further than Lee Battersby and his debut The Corpse-Rat King.

This book was provided for review by the publisher.(less)

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Sep 20, 2012 Woodge rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

Marius don Hellespont and his sidekick, Gerd, are battlefield looters. But they run into trouble and Marius gets mistaken for a king and is brought to the underworld and told that he is now the king of the dead. It's not a job he wants and he needs to find a replacement. But first he's just going to try running away from the dead.

I got completely sucked into the story in the first hundred pages. I lost a bit of steam in the middle section of the book but I didn't lose interest. It's a bizarre s...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

What isn't intriguing about this title? Or the cover for that matter. The Corpse-Rat King is about a corpse rat, con man, and all around scuzzy guy with no redeeming qualities. He finds himself dead, and with the promise of life being restored, goes in pursuit of a king for the dead. Going in pursuit implies that he went right out and did what was asked of him. He did not. He ran, he hid and he connived, all of the things that he did best while he was truly alive. Some reviews say he did not evo...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Leah (The Pretty Good Gatsby) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, fantasy, for-review-netgalley, sci-fi-fantasy

http://theprettygoodgatsby.wordpress....

"Find us a king," the corpse called out.
"What? Why?"
"You stole his place. You are in our debt."

The Corpse-Rat King opens with a bang: Marius, a professional thief, and his assistant Gerd, are combing through a battlefield, looting whatever valuables they could find. Unfortunately, Marius comes upon the corpse of the King and quickly finds his life changed forever. Within minutes Gerd is brutally slain and Marius finds himself in the Kingdom of the Dead - m...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Experiment BL626 rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, netgalley, reviewed

This book bored me. It was off to a good start, exactly as how the blurb described, but then it got kinda confusing and then boring. By 1/3 of the book, I skimmed because the plot was going nowhere. By 1/2 of the book, I skimmed some more and faster with the goal to reach the end as fast possible while still getting the gist of the plot. That's how boring the book was.

When all the protagonist does is run and run futilely far away from his problems (in both the figurative and literal sense of the...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Bob Milne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-heroic

There is almost nothing better than looking forward to an upcoming release from a favourite author, getting a chance to give it an early read, and finding out that it not only lives up to all your expectations, but completely exceeds them. The satisfaction is almost immeasurable.

I say almost, because there is one thing that really is better - stumbling across an upcoming release from an author you've never read before, picking it up entirely on a whim, starting the read with absolutely nothing i...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Mihir rated it 3 of 5 stars

Full Review originally at Fantasy Book Critic

ANALYSIS: The Corpse Rat King is Lee Battersby’s debut and one, which intrigued me strongly with its blurb. The story seems to be a curious mix of dark humor and even darker shade of fantasy. In the end its an odd book to describe but not hard to review thankfully.

The story begins with Marius don Hellespont who is a person of considerably shaky morals. Currently looting a field of corpses along with his apprentice Gerd, Marius is almost done with hi...more
Full Review originally at Fantasy Book Critic

ANALYSIS: The Corpse Rat King is Lee Battersby’s debut and one, which intrigued me strongly with its blurb. The story seems to be a curious mix of dark humor and even darker shade of fantasy. In the end its an odd book to describe but not hard to review thankfully.

The story begins with Marius don Hellespont who is a person of considerably shaky morals. Currently looting a field of corpses along with his apprentice Gerd, Marius is almost done with his picking when Gerd mistakenly alerts the soldiers to their misbegotten activities. All things aside things turn horribly wrong and Marius end up in a place unknown to mankind. He is then offered a choice of sorts; to find a king for the dead as was promised in the holy books or die instantaneously and join the dead. Marius chooses to hold on to his soul and is set free with a chaperone. His onerous task being to find post haste a dead king or otherwise he might have to join the dead congregation rather unpleasantly as well as unwillingly.

This book is a very quirky one; the narrator of the tale is a vagrant, an outright liar, a petty pickpocket and an unscrupulous grave robber. His actions beginning from the start reveal not a single bone of integrity to him. Plus after being saddled with such a task, Marius’s sole intent is to fool his chaperone and alleviate his troubles by disappearing off somewhere where even the dead can’t find him. Thus Marius then leads the reader through a series of incidents as well travels to most of his previous haunts in trying to figure out a way to end his predicament. The humor showcased within the book is what can be considered its best shiny side as it is quite dark and funny thereby showcasing the quirky nature of the characters and the situations they get in.

Also the story is quite unpredictable, beginning in the middle of a battlefield and from then onwards to all the places its goes, it is like a fairytale but darker than any imagined by the Grimm brothers. Capricious and at times horrific, the story simply is very hard to pin down and can be simply described as weird. The plot while seeming very straightforward is anything but that. The author has some sharp twists lined up and from the beginning of the story the reader will be uncertain where the story is going next, what Marius will do eventually and how will it all end. This originality of the premise is what helps the story, as readers will be compelled to flip pages to see what happens next.

The only downside to this entire story (atleast for myself) was the narrator. I hardly felt any sympathy for him or any emotional connection and that perhaps robbed the fun of the story to a certain extent. He’s an insincere excuse of a human being and one who hardly inspires any confidence in his acquaintances. Perhaps that was the author’s intent of exploring the story through such a narrative voice and if that turns out to be the case then kudos to the author for nailing the voice down so precisely. Marius is exactly the person you wouldn’t want to be saddled with if your life depended on it.

The Corpse Rat King is an odd book but it is not a bad one. It promises a different sort of read and delivers exceptionally on its word. The Corpse Rat King seems to be a dark imaginative collaboration between Joe Abercrombie and Jesse Bullington but its not! Its Lee Battersby’s debut and one that will leave a mark on the reader’s mind, though it depends on the reader’s prerogative whether it will be a remarkable one or not.(less)

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Sep 14, 2012 Ryan Lawler rated it 3 of 5 stars

Weird, strange, and cynical with good doses of humour and charm. That's probably the best way I can describe this book.

When corpse-rat Marius is blackmailed by the undead to find them a new king, he runs hard and fast, hoping he can get far enough away and stay out of their reach. But things are not so simple for Marius, he has been cursed to take on the characteristics of the dead, and the only way to lift the curse is to complete his quest.

I liked this story - Battersby creates a lot of new i...more Weird, strange, and cynical with good doses of humour and charm. That's probably the best way I can describe this book.

When corpse-rat Marius is blackmailed by the undead to find them a new king, he runs hard and fast, hoping he can get far enough away and stay out of their reach. But things are not so simple for Marius, he has been cursed to take on the characteristics of the dead, and the only way to lift the curse is to complete his quest.

I liked this story - Battersby creates a lot of new ideas from some dark themes, but contrasts them against a lighthearted method of presentation. This story felt at times like a collection of short stories tied together with an overarching story arc, which was cool at times, but caused a lot disruption to the flow of the book. That overarching story arc played second fiddle to the short stories, which I think impacted on my overall satisfaction at the conclusion of this story. It felt like it was simply a means for telling these entertaining discrete events. And that might work for you.

Marius is a bit of a dick as a person, and his character arc is all about becoming less of a dick and taking responsibility for his actions. I did find myself sympathising with his plight, but the choices he makes in response to his plight makes him a less than endearing character. But he has a very cynical sense of humour which will likely resonate with a lot of people and make Marius more likeable / relateable.

The writing here is different, with Battersby using a mix of omniscient and third limited viewpoints to tell his story. Often when Battersby starts narrating in omnicient, he goes off on random tangents that do some neat world building in support of the plot, but feel like those cut scenes from Family Guy. The writing uses a lot of modern colloquialisms, which makes the story more accessible but at the cost of an authentic secondary world.

There are a lot of things to like in this debut novel from Battersby. If you are into weirdness and / or reprehensible knaves, I think you will get a real kick out of this story.(less)

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Jan 06, 2013 Sean Cummings rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is just a fun read that rollicks along after starting off with one of the most inventive openings I've read in a long, long time. The protagonist isn't entirely the most likable character at the start of the book, but he grows on you as he comes to terms with the nasty old problem of being dead.

The pacing clipped along nicely and the best part of the book for me was when Marius entered the Bone Chapel and the interaction with all of the dead Kings. There were several laugh out loud moments...more

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May 22, 2013 Liam rated it 3 of 5 stars

It took me a while to warm up to this book. I kind of hated it at first and put it down for a while before running out of things to read and deciding to finish it off. There was something about Marius that I just didn't like. I didn't care if bad things happened to him or if he succeeded or failed or really anything about the plot. I went so far as to delete the sequel off of my to read list.

The second time around I warmed up to it. I started to hate Marius less and I started to care about the...more

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Mar 03, 2013 Kio rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: recommended-by-friend, read-in-english

If you read the first chapter of this book, you'll probably be hooked -- it does have a very effective first chapter hook. But I would not actually recommend it.

It does a few things well. The characters are pretty decent, and although it's a kind of Odyssey, it's not the young man leaving his small village to get caught up in larger events or whatever that's such a common trope - in fact, the main character, a conman/scavenger/etc, exploits one such vulnerably naive character. And most chapters...more If you read the first chapter of this book, you'll probably be hooked -- it does have a very effective first chapter hook. But I would not actually recommend it.

It does a few things well. The characters are pretty decent, and although it's a kind of Odyssey, it's not the young man leaving his small village to get caught up in larger events or whatever that's such a common trope - in fact, the main character, a conman/scavenger/etc, exploits one such vulnerably naive character. And most chapters involve pretty significant developments and each time a new, different, and interesting thing - for the most part. While most books that have radical shifts each chapter either fall into a torpor further in or paint themselves into a corner, having to try and top their previous act each time... this one keeps a relatively even, managed pace.

But unfortunately it's got some problems. The lesser one is its grammar, specifically some of the metaphors/expressions and vocabulary/word choice. There was one particularly cryptic expression that I have no idea what it meant, and every single person I showed it to couldn't even begin to puzzle it out. The best some of them could come up with is that it sounded like a koan. And at times the author apparently just felt the need to use obscured words that haven't been in use since the 16th or 17th century (I checked). In one case it was just a synonym for "crap/shit". Ehhh.

Essentially it felt like the author was trying to impress us readers with his literary prowess, but in practice it just interferes with and gets in the way of the story.

The bigger problem, however, is that there are parts of it that are just gross. I mean it's one thing for a fantasy novel to say some baron has a 14 year old wife or what have you - it's another thing to portray that sexually, in detail. And there's a "spell" a witch casts that uses blood from the protagonist's scrotum as well as his semen. Among other things.

Sadly if not for those issues I think it could have been a pretty good book and I would have liked it. Instead, well, it grossed me out. If you don't think you will mind those issues, maybe you can give it try and you'll pretty well enjoy it.

But, not recommended.(less)

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Apr 29, 2013 Tim Martin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, fantasy, reviewed

So you are a con artist, a man who has liberated people from their money the length and breadth of your world, impersonating everyone from soldiers to chefs to courtiers, all to in order to make a fast coin or two. Kings, captains of ships and in the army, powerful merchants, lowly soldiers, barmaids, and pig farmers, gamblers and lords of crime, you’ve conned and (mostly) outwitted them all.

Can you con the dead?

That is the position that our protagonist finds himself in, one Marius don Hellespo...more So you are a con artist, a man who has liberated people from their money the length and breadth of your world, impersonating everyone from soldiers to chefs to courtiers, all to in order to make a fast coin or two. Kings, captains of ships and in the army, powerful merchants, lowly soldiers, barmaids, and pig farmers, gamblers and lords of crime, you’ve conned and (mostly) outwitted them all.

Can you con the dead?

That is the position that our protagonist finds himself in, one Marius don Hellespont (he prefers the last name Helles). Working as a corpse-rat with his too-new-and-too-slow-perhaps apprentice Gerd (until very recently a pig farmer), Marius had been working at impersonating a solider just well enough to get to the site of a major battlefield, loot a few of the fallen (working by his number one rule, only steal what you can swallow), and make his way to safety. A few coins, maybe some jewelry from the nobility that died in the battle, all while hopefully NOT being hung as a looter by either side.

To Marius’ surprise and delight, they come across the body of the slain king of Scorby. A major haul, the biggest possible find in a field of dead nobles. Also a body that is being actively searched for by his own men.

As so often happens in this book, things don’t go as planned. Gerd very quickly dies while next to the body and both he and Marius are dragged to the underworld by a corpse that surprisingly animates.

This presents a number of problems. Marius is not dead. The other dead, the real dead, can talk and move about. And they think Marius should fill the role of a king, something the dead desperately need and thought that they were getting. Marius, understandably surprised by the turn of events, manages to convince the dead to let him go and he promises – promises – to find them a king. The dead agree to this, sending him on his way minus his heartbeat and with the now dead but animated Gerd to accompany him on his travels.

Of course, given Marius’ history of looking out for number one, horror at the dead, and of always, always running from trouble, he ditches Gerd and runs. And runs. And RUNS. We get to see a fair percentage of this fantasy setting, of its rich merchant quarters, bustling cities, howling wildernesses, distant islands, of life on a sailing vessel, in remote villages, all while Marius avoids the dead underground and the relentless Gerd who simply will not stop tracking him. Along the way Marius meets a number of fascinating characters, some alive, some very much dead, including of course the one thing that could possibly, maybe, conceivably anchor Marius anywhere for any length of time, the love of his life, Keth.

Along the way Marius comes to the conclusion that he may be dead himself. He doesn’t need to breathe, eat, rest, and his skin looks horrid, frightening all sorts of people. However he FEELS alive and at times, times he cannot explain, can even pass for living among the living. Why is this? Marius along with the reader figures out the rules of undeath in the world, something that was quite interesting.

Overall I liked the book. Marius was endlessly interesting, with a witty, worldly view on everything around him, Gerd being the perfect straight man (when he was around). Some of the characters he encountered – my favorite was the mad king Nandus – were very vivid characters. At first it felt like there was almost too much history and backstory about the politics and nations of this novel’s setting but in the end, no, it was all relevant and very interesting. The places Marius and his sometime companions went to were well drawn and when there were action scenes they were well done. The book was also quite humorous at times, with droll descriptions of one predicament after another that Marius found himself in and his reactions to them.

Was Marius a likable character? Like with so many “villains” he doesn’t see himself as such. He does have a code of honor of sorts and maybe it was a little Dickensian but along the way Marius did develop more and more of a conscience (maybe being deprived of virtually everything has a way of focusing one’s thoughts). Likable or not, he was vivid and interesting and very detailed.

An original book, not like anything else out there. The way undead alone were handled was unique enough, but the book as a whole was something special I think.
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Apr 14, 2013 Elondel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Allow me to start this review with a quote from Will & Grace.

Grace: I’m not mad. And I’ll tell you why I’m mad. Because I’m not mad!
Will: You’re not making any sense.
Grace: Oh and all of a sudden you’re the vice-president of things that make sense?
Will: Why vice-president?
Grace: Because Leo’s president. Deal with it.

This particular piece of dialogue – out of an episode that is absolutely hilarious – is not only pretty witty (even more so when you hear it in the context of the whole episo...more Allow me to start this review with a quote from Will & Grace.

Grace: I’m not mad. And I’ll tell you why I’m mad. Because I’m not mad!
Will: You’re not making any sense.
Grace: Oh and all of a sudden you’re the vice-president of things that make sense?
Will: Why vice-president?
Grace: Because Leo’s president. Deal with it.

This particular piece of dialogue – out of an episode that is absolutely hilarious – is not only pretty witty (even more so when you hear it in the context of the whole episode, I promise you), but it actually fitted my feelings upon finishing Lee Battersby’s The Corpse-Rat King very well. The Corpse-Rat king didn’t make that much sense in certain places, but it’s the kind of not-making-sense that just takes the book up a notch and makes it better than it would have been if it all made perfect sense. Do I still make sense?

Marius don Hellespont is a corpse-rat, stealing from those who died on the battlefield. But when the king is killed, the dead mistake him for the king and take him to the underworld – or wherever they reside – cause the dead need a king. When he manages to get across that he’s actually not a king, the task is his to find the dead a new king. But Marius decides to run instead.
This is quite an accurate description of the main plotline, and thus of the first few chapters of the book. When Marius actually starts running from the dead, it get’s crazy really fast. The main plotline is always pulsing in the background of the novel, but what’s on the surface is at times completely weird. It’s like a pearl necklace; the main plotline is the string that keeps every single pearl of craziness together. The best part is, it actually works really well! In terms of craziness, there is a clear progressive line to be found here. At first, it’s all quite calm, but steady as a beating drum, Marius finds himself in the most impossible situations. Three scenes that really stood out to me were the cardgame, the sunken ship and the tomb of kings, with the latter two fighting for the top spot on my best-scene-of-the-book list. Whenever I say that there is a lot of craziness and not that much sense going on here, I mean that in the best of ways. I think the best comparison I can come up with, is the kind of craziness that’s going on in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. There, as well as in The Corpse-Rat King, the main character finds himself/herself in the most absurd of situations, but it’s those situations that make the book just great. On top of that, Lee Battersby flavoured his novel with an interesting take on the dead.
The plot might be good, but if there are no memorable characters to carry it, it won’t bring you all that far. Luckily, Marius is able to carry the plot and he does it with style. The way he was portrayed fitted the character of the corpse-rat really well and I liked him quite a lot. And even though his sidekick Gerd was absent quite a lot, I kind of liked him too, especially the chemistry between both of them was just fun to read about. There are a lot of other characters, but they only make a cameo for a few chapters, only to never be seen again. Normally, I would mind, but surprisingly I don’t mind at all when it comes to this novel. There’s something about Marius being alone – and running away from his quest – that worked really well here.
Another plus here is the writing. First of all, I felt like this book didn’t really took itself all to serious, which is a good thing. I always like it when a book isn’t pretending to be something more than it is and with The Corpse Rat-King, you get what you see. On top of that, Lee Battersby has a very nice and fluent way of writing, which made me able to breeze through the chapters whenever I had the time to read. Also, he was able to really bring across the voice and personality of Marius in a way I’d expected Marius to be.

Safe to say that, even though I bought this on a whim without knowing to much about it, I don’t regret reading it at all. If you’re into a light and hilariously fun and crazy read – and you’re not afraid of rotting flesh and talking corpses – I suggest you give this a try. I’m definitely looking forward to another novel from Lee Battersby’s pen.(less)

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Nov 25, 2012 Kate Sherrod rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: angry-robot

Is that a crown in your pocket, or are you just happy to come and rule us?

That's not a quote from this novel, but really? It totally could be.

Marius Helles makes his living robbing the corpses of soldiers who have fallen in battle, a practice he has refined to an art -- until he has no living to make at all. Tee hee. What happens is, he robs the wrong corpse -- that of a fallen king -- and is observed holding a crown by one of the recently dead, who misreads the situation and next thing Marius k...more Is that a crown in your pocket, or are you just happy to come and rule us?

That's not a quote from this novel, but really? It totally could be.

Marius Helles makes his living robbing the corpses of soldiers who have fallen in battle, a practice he has refined to an art -- until he has no living to make at all. Tee hee. What happens is, he robs the wrong corpse -- that of a fallen king -- and is observed holding a crown by one of the recently dead, who misreads the situation and next thing Marius knows, he's been sucked down to the world of the dead! Whom the gods are ignoring! Because, the dead think, they have no king! So they need a king! Marius has a crown, therefore he must be a king! So he can be their king! But of course, Marius doesn't want to be dead, even if he gets to be KING DEAD!

All of that sounds spoilery, but that's all just the first chapter of The Corpse-Rat King, in which the newly-dead Marius gets his mission: find the dead a king, or else. But like all good Heroes, Marius at first Refuses the Call, and runs away. As excuses for a tour of a funky fantasy world go, this is a highly original one.

Battersby, too, took some time making this more than just a generic fantasy world. There are a lot of nice touches, like a short discourse on a tradition of throwing corn dollies into the water at the beginning of an ocean voyage and the industry of dolly-making that has grown up around it, that, combined with Zombie Marius' antics, make this book a genuine pleasure to read.

There are some disturbingly funny moments, such as when Marius almost "rescues"* a drowned Mad King who is a dig-in-your ribs reference to Caligula (he even named his horse "Littleboot" which is roughly an English translation of "Caligula" -- the nickname bestowed on the beloved toddler son of the Roman commander Germanicus that stuck right on through the kid's rise to the imperial throne) and rides him like a horsey beneath the waves. Or when... but that would be spoilery. Eff off. But oh, how I giggled.

This is another novel that I started and let go by the wayside because of shiny things that came my way. This should not reflect on the book's quality, however. I'm just distractable that way. And though I had read many other things between the putting-aside and the taking-back-up-again (a span of three or four weeks), I did not have to refresh my memory as to what had been going on. And once I was reading it again, I kept on at a giddy pace, carried away by Battersby's wonderful world building (and cathedral building; the Cathedral of Bones licks the Iron Throne hollow as an enduring taunt/symbol of a founding ruler's conquests) and Marius' resourcefulness as he first runs away from and then embraces his quest, like every hero does.

The ending leaves room for a sequel, by the way. Hurrah for Mostly Dead Marius!

*For "rescue" read "spirits away so he can proceed to the land of the dead and become their king."(less)

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Nov 17, 2012 Hannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, ghosts, stand-alone

Marius de Hellespont is a liar, cheat, thief and witty charmer. A little like Jack Sparrow, he seems to always land on his feet no matter what ridiculous situation he ends up in. And trust me, he ends up in a number of bizarre and unexpected circumstances, and usually on the wrong end of the law or moral compass. Particularly because he is now dead. Marius' initial response to his situation and duty to find a new king was to run away, and it makes him seem as cowardly and pathetic as you would e...more Marius de Hellespont is a liar, cheat, thief and witty charmer. A little like Jack Sparrow, he seems to always land on his feet no matter what ridiculous situation he ends up in. And trust me, he ends up in a number of bizarre and unexpected circumstances, and usually on the wrong end of the law or moral compass. Particularly because he is now dead. Marius' initial response to his situation and duty to find a new king was to run away, and it makes him seem as cowardly and pathetic as you would expect a looter of the dead to be. Whilst his character developed and grew throughout the book, making Marius a just-about likable character, his daring, cunning and unreprehensible behaviour really made the story.

At first the writing tended towards the over descriptive, which sometimes slowed the plot down with its tangential diversions. But further into the book, the plot, dialogue and wit improved by bounds and had me chuckling away. In fact the story reminded me a little of the madcap adventures that befall Voltaire’s character Candide in his book of the same name. Both plots have a philosophical bent to them and involve a series of rather absurd adventures and mishaps.

Although some of the secondary characters could have benefitted from a little more fleshing out to avoid them feeling one dimensional, my favourite character was King Nandus, who had a slightly strange (and possibly inappropriate) affection for horses. Found in the underwater wreck of his groundbreaking ship, the skeletal form of Nandus unfortunately takes on a few too many horse-like qualities, which made the story both humorous and endearing. The fact that the poor man didn't even realise the truth of his situation made it all the more pitiful and comical.

Despite the darker themes of death, deception and looting, overall the story had an underlying moral and spiritual emphasis, as Marius very slowly started to see the error of his ways. I loved the rather maccabre idea of the dead needing a king to rule their deathly kingdom, and being able to extend their deathly grip into the mortal realm to get Marius and Gerd to find them a ruler. What on earth would their job be as a King of the Dead?

The Corpse-Rat King is an absurd and fantastical tale of a man about to learn the error of his ways the hard way.(less)

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Aug 28, 2012 sj rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: egalley, end-of-the-world-challenge

Originally posted at my blog.

One thing I didn't really take into consideration when I decided to take some time off after Puttin' the Blog in Balrog was the possibility of falling behind on my reviews. I woke up this morning thinking "Oh, hey! It's release day! Everyone can finally go buy Seven Wonders and Mockingbird !" This was immediately followed by the thought "Crapcrapcrap, I totally forgot to review The Corpse-Rat King, which is ALSO OUT TODAY!" What? These aren't the things you guys usu...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Stefan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, advance-reading-copy, fantasy, www-tor-com-review, far-beyond-reality-review

Marius dos Hellespont is a scoundrel of the worst sort: he’s an opportunistic liar, an occasional con-man, but maybe worst of all, he often makes a living as a “corpse-rat,” stealing valuables from soldiers’ dead bodies after recent battles. It’s grim (and highly illegal) work, but it’s been making Marius enough money to feed himself and even take on an apprentice. Everything changes when, one day after a major battle, he comes upon the corpse of an actual king and tries to steal the crown.

When...more

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About Lee Battersby

Lee Battersby is the multiple-award winning author of the novels 'The Corpse-Rat King' (Angry Robot 2012) and 'Marching Dead' (Angry Robot 2013) as well as over 70 short stories, many of which are collected in 'Through Soft Air' (Prime Books 2006). He has appeared in markets as diverse as Year's Best Fantasy & Horror Volume 20; Year's Best Australian F&SF; Year's Best Australian Fantasy &...more Lee Battersby is the multiple-award winning author of the novels 'The Corpse-Rat King' (Angry Robot 2012) and 'Marching Dead' (Angry Robot 2013) as well as over 70 short stories, many of which are collected in 'Through Soft Air' (Prime Books 2006). He has appeared in markets as diverse as Year's Best Fantasy & Horror Volume 20; Year's Best Australian F&SF; Year's Best Australian Fantasy & Horror vol. 3; and Dr Who: Destination Prague.

His work has been praised for its consistent attention to voice and narrative muscle, and has resulted in a number of awards including the Aurealis, Australian Shadows and Australian SF ‘Ditmar' gongs. He was the 6th Australian, and 1st Western Australian, winner in the international 'Writers of the Future' competition in 2001.

In 2007 he was a tutor at renowned international SF workshop Clarion South, where he learned to play Mafia and helped inspire at least one discussion of impact physics in unicorn-porn horror stories. He was editor of issue 4 of Midnight Echo and acted as judge for both the 2011 Aurealis awards and 2011 AHWA Flash/Short Fiction Competition. He was content creator for the Writing the SF Short Story course at the Australian Writers Marketplace Online and tutored the first run of the course in 2011.

Lee is represented by Richard Henshaw of the Richard Henshaw Group. If you'd like to offer him millions of dollars to run naked through the streets of your town, contact Richard and he'll sort out the contract.

Lee lives in Mandurah, Western Australia, with his wife, writer Lyn Battersby and an increasingly weird mob of kids. He is sadly obsessed with Lego, Nottingham Forest football club, dinosaurs and Daleks. He's been a stand-up comic, tennis coach, cartoonist, poet, and tax officer in previous times, and he currently works as Arts Officer for a local council, where he gets to play with artists all day. All in all, life is pretty good.

You can read more about him at his website. He also maintains a blog at The Battersblog, and will often wave back if you throw pebbles at his window.

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