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59th out of 257 books
—
446 voters
Pyrotechnicon
by
Adam Browne (Goodreads Author),
Keith Stevenson (Goodreads Author) , Stevenson, Keith
BY HIS NOSE YOU MAY KNOW HIM
Cyrano de Bergerac: lover, poet, inventor, swordsman — man of ferocious blade and pretty talent. Now it can be told: his final, most daring adventure — a fight to the death against the dread Master of Secrets, with the life of his beloved Roxane in the balance.
Buy hardback or ebook direct from the publisher http://www.coeurdelion.com.au
‘A rich d...more
Cyrano de Bergerac: lover, poet, inventor, swordsman — man of ferocious blade and pretty talent. Now it can be told: his final, most daring adventure — a fight to the death against the dread Master of Secrets, with the life of his beloved Roxane in the balance.
Buy hardback or ebook direct from the publisher http://www.coeurdelion.com.au
‘A rich d...more
Hardcover, 260 pages
Published
August 22nd 2012
by coeur de lion publishing
(first published August 22nd 212)
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I had the very great joy of beta-reading this novel just before it went to final print, and found it an utter delight: frothy, wildly inventive, and unendingly madcap, with a voice the recalls the best adventure writing of the period it purports to portray. It's a rich confection of a book, with moments that made me cry out in joyful recognition at regular intervals. Reading it was is like watching the bastard child of Voltaire and Dumas get smashed on muscat.
Browne is a unique voice, and a vas...more
Browne is a unique voice, and a vas...more
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Wow! Just wow!
This is such an amazingly well-crafted book, in all senses of the word. Adam Browne's 'Pyrotechnicon' is a tour de force, combining spectacular imagery with amazing word play and—in the first hard back edition at least—production values par excellence. I doff my hat with respect to Adam and the production team at coeur de lion for creating this little gem.
The book is subtitled as, 'being a true account of the Cyrano de Bergerac's further adventures among the states and empires of...more
This is such an amazingly well-crafted book, in all senses of the word. Adam Browne's 'Pyrotechnicon' is a tour de force, combining spectacular imagery with amazing word play and—in the first hard back edition at least—production values par excellence. I doff my hat with respect to Adam and the production team at coeur de lion for creating this little gem.
The book is subtitled as, 'being a true account of the Cyrano de Bergerac's further adventures among the states and empires of...more
Pyrotechnicon is the debut novel of Adam Browne, Aurealis Award winning short fiction author.
As the extended subtitle informs the reader, it’s the further adventurers of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Why does that name sound familiar? Perhaps you have stumbled upon the the performance of Gérard Depardieu in the 1990 film version of the play based on Cyrano’s life, or indeed the 2008 stage play featuring Kevin Kline. These dear readers are about the historical figure.
Browne’s work harks back to the writin...more
As the extended subtitle informs the reader, it’s the further adventurers of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Why does that name sound familiar? Perhaps you have stumbled upon the the performance of Gérard Depardieu in the 1990 film version of the play based on Cyrano’s life, or indeed the 2008 stage play featuring Kevin Kline. These dear readers are about the historical figure.
Browne’s work harks back to the writin...more
I'm an elitist author and I don't like other books. They either disappoint me or threaten me.
I like this book. It threatens me. In a good way.
Dynamic prose. Flowery yet bold and aware of itself and hence meta. And hence not flowery, but barbed.
Clever. There's actually a narrative here that doesn't bore me and in fact pulled me through a tunnel of inspiration, mourning, and admiration.
A contemporary Voltaire. Rosseau with an electric rictus grin.
Moravagine?
Strophe-prose. If you like language and...more
I like this book. It threatens me. In a good way.
Dynamic prose. Flowery yet bold and aware of itself and hence meta. And hence not flowery, but barbed.
Clever. There's actually a narrative here that doesn't bore me and in fact pulled me through a tunnel of inspiration, mourning, and admiration.
A contemporary Voltaire. Rosseau with an electric rictus grin.
Moravagine?
Strophe-prose. If you like language and...more
Adam Browne's debut novel is a wonderful reading experience. It is filled with rich, luscious prose--words to be savored, not consumed. It is a story of Cyrano de Bergerac's journey while rescuing his love Roxanne from the evil Master of Secrets. It is filled with impossible, colorful characters and scenery, the likes of which I've only encountered in a handful of movies: The Adventures of Baron Munchausen comes immediately to mind. Lantern-headed martians, houses made of birds, a trip across th...more
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Forget everything you thought you knew about science fiction/speculative fiction, history, science or reality. Cyrano de Bergerac, he of the enormous nose, blows all this to smithereens in this remarkable novel by Adam Browne. It genuinely beggars description. Browne's prose reaches heights that most full blooded supposed 'literary' novelists would sacrifice a limb to achieve, but he also manages to convey a rollicking yarn that entertains as well as blasting your normal world-view into bite siz...more
Pyrotechnicon is gloriously curious and curiously glorious. Full of winding, witty wordage that would woo any wordsmith. It rhymes as it rides the regal style of Adam Browne. Verbose is the verbage and vernacular viewed within this very book, so beware.
Cyrano could not have bested Adam Browne. In fact, I wonder if Cyrano sat on his shoulder speaking such solliques as such to my staunch new friend. It is a heady experience full of out of this universe beauty.
Carriages made of air, creatures with...more
Cyrano could not have bested Adam Browne. In fact, I wonder if Cyrano sat on his shoulder speaking such solliques as such to my staunch new friend. It is a heady experience full of out of this universe beauty.
Carriages made of air, creatures with...more
This is an audacious book. The prose is coruscating. It is not so much garnished with arresting images and gavottes of wordplay; not so much buried under a thick frosting of such stuff; as composed entirely of outlandish images and giddy whirls of words at play. Browne has not captured Cyrano de Bergerac - not exactly - but the Cyrano de Bergerac he conjures here reminds me of Lem's Ijon Tichy, which the Cyrano de Bergerac of Cyrano de Bergerac's novels also does, and which no other character in...more
Pyrotechnicon by Adam Browne is about, as the subtitle indicates, the further adventures of Cyrano de Bergerac among the states and empires of the stars. I've got to admit that the sum total of my knowledge of the character of Cyrano de Bergerac comes from watching the 80's romantic comedyRoxanne starring Steve Martin. Which is based on a play written in the late 1800s. Which bears almost no relationship to the life of the real de Bergerac in the mid 1600s. Who wrote proto-science fiction based...more
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