Goodreads Mobile | see what your friends are reading

Apr 08, 2008

Jessica rated it:

If a bunch of steam punk kids got trashed on alphabet soup and shooters one ill-advised night, this is the book their subsequent vomit would spell out in noodles the next morning. That being said, I didn't particularly hate it and I don't regret reading it, but I'm having a hard time recommending it.

The dust jacket is encrusted with compelling recommendations and comparisons to other favorite writers, but it was much more like being beaten about the head with books by Neil Gaiman, S More...

4 comments like (23 people liked it)

May 06, 2008

Jason rated it:

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

Regular readers know that I am a big fan of the unique subgenre known as "steampunk," but might not know what exactly steampunk is; and similarly, regular readers also know that one of the issues often tackled here at CCLaP is the difference between so-called "genre" pr More...

0 comments like (13 people liked it)

Nov 14, 2007

Peggy rated it:

I’ve been a reader all my life. I majored in English in college and grad school, and I’ve worked in bookstores since 1992, most of that as a buyer. I’m surrounded by books at home and work and I see new ones every day. It’s sometimes difficult to quantify why certain books speak to us; why we pick up this book, but not that one.

Other times, it’s not difficult at all:

Be warned. This book has no literary merit whatsoever. It is a lurid piece of nonsense, convoluted, implaus More...

1 comment like (18 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2010

Brad rated it:

I should never read the plaudits plastered on the cover of a book, nor those that litter the first few pages. I am invariably annoyed by what I find and occasionally even led astray. Luckily with John Barnes’ The Somnambulist, I was mostly faced with the former brand of upset.

According to the book company, Barnes’ style is a mix of Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Susannah Clarke and a little bit of Carl Hiassen. And maybe there is something to these comparisons, but mostly I think these na More...

1 comment like (10 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2011

± Colleen of the Crawling Chaos ± rated it:

2 1/2

Overall my impression of this book was 'meh'. It wasn't great... it wasn't horrible. It was just sort of there...

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 just couldn't find myself caring all that much about this story.

For one thing I don't recall ever wondering, when I read those other mystery stories, how the detective of the story got the reputation More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

May 01, 2008

Tara rated it:

I 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 narrator which coalesces into an unexpected crescendo no one could anticipate.

The Somnambulist is a bald, mute giant of man who when pierced with swords does not bleed. His almost constant c More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2008

Rick rated it:

Jonathan Barnes' brilliant debut novel, 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 eccentrics, and involve themselves in several strange incidents that culminate in a plot to destroy and remake London.

The unreliable, unnamed narrator, who frequently raves like a madman, issues a More...

5 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 20, 2008

Juushika rated it:

In Victorian London, aging magician and detective Edward Moon, accompanied by his assistant, a giant known only as the Somnambulist, are called in to investigate the most bizarre of murders. As Moon's investigation continues, he uncovers a plot against the state—a plot which, after long preparation and much waiting, is now only days from being put into action. The Somnambulist is set in a world not quite like our own, colored by steampunk and fantasy and populated by a cast of bizarre, slightly More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2008

Kit rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2007

Jenne rated it:

So, imagine that a magician/private detective, a time-traveler, a medium, a medium-debunker, a Scotland Yard inspector, a housekeeper, a bearded-lady of the evening, a shadowy government organization, a company called Love, a sinister "Oriental", a sideshow freak, a corpulent prisoner, a corrupt gaoler, two schoolboy hit-men, two vengeful mothers, the animated corpse of a famous poet, and a mysterious mute giant with a milk-drinking habit all run into each other in post-Victorian Londo More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2009

Rachel rated it:

A couple of rip-off Croup and Vandemar wannabes and the mention (i refuse to say allusion, because that would imply that it somehow honors or preserves the integrity of the original) of Samuel Taylor Coolridge doth not a similarity to Neil Gaiman make. The preposterous suggestion that this book was "a fantastic journey in the spirit of Neverwhere" duped me into buying this block of bound-together toilet tissue. I finished it out of a combination of devastating idleness (I was job-searc More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Mar 27, 2009

Stefan rated it:

I finished this novel a couple of days ago and haven't written anything about it so far because, honestly, I can't think of anything relevant that hasn't been written before in other reviews. It's a very good novel, somewhere between historical fantasy and horror, with a dark, witty sense of humor and an interesting narrative style. It's set in Victorian London, but the city in the book falls somewhere between China Mieville's New Crobuzon and Neal Gaiman's "Neverwhere". (Although, More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Nov 14, 2008

John rated it:

I wanted to like this book so much, but I just couldn't do it. It had an interesting story about the city of London, and the world in general during the the late 1800's, yet it wasn't written very well. I tried so hard to enjoy it, but then I realized that I was pretty much just trying to finish it, as I was curious to how it ended. I liken it to watching a terrible movie at 3 in the morning. You pretty much now how it's going to end, and you know you should just turn it off and go to sleep, More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 12, 2008

Mark rated it:

Edward Moon, this book’s main protagonist, is a has-been stage magician and, until a bad bit of luck several years earlier that sullied his reputation, a renowned amateur detective whose skills and methods have an uncanny resemblance to Sherlock Holmes. The story is even set in Victorian England. The Somnambulist, for whom this book is named, actually has little to do with its overall plot. He is Moon’s assistant and friend, and an unusual fellow to say the least. Hairless, huge, strong, and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 03, 2009

Donna rated it:

I have to admit I kept reading this just out of curiosity of how it would all end. I mean, any book that has a bearded lady prostitute, a giant who can have swords driven right thru him without bleeding or even be hurt, is one that rouses my curiosity. The characters are definitely unlike any I had read about before, which also kept me going. I was disappointed in the main character, though. Edward Moon is supposedly a legend in his own time, renowned for solving murders. I know his prime w More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2008

Cherie rated it:

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 taking place throughout London, the Directorate turns to Moon to help them figure out what's going on. But as the investigation proceeds, and the cryptic messages from medium Madame Innocenti start More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 17, 2008

Brooke rated it:

When I read the "If you liked these , you will love The Somnambulist" list that Borders put together, I decided that Jonathan Barnes' debut would have to land on my "favorites" list. It was compared to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Neverwhere, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and The Prestige, some of my most favorite things ever. It was probably a mistake going into it with such high expectations, because although it was an excellent book, I felt disappointed after I More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 31, 2008

Stephanie rated it:

This is Jonathan Barnes’ first novel. Set in Victorian London, the story centers around a man named Edward Moon, a has-been conjurer. He has a mute side-kick named The Somnambulist. The mystery of the story is why two unrelated men have each fallen to their deaths.

In the course of the story we are introduced to a wide array of vivid characters, each with their own quirkiness. I will never forget some, such as the Prefects! :-)

I don’t understand why the book is titled “Th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 06, 2008

Amy rated it:

Today I finally finished The Somnabulist by Jonathan Barnes. If you liked The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon or Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold (which I think is the slightly better of the two novels reminiscent of one another), you would like this. It takes place in Victorian London and has many fantasy/ mystery elements (including time travel and assassins with names like "The Mongoose"). The book is exciting, sometimes a little tedious and best r More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 30, 2008

Eijomio23 rated it:

Ugh. Utter crap.

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 interesting. By the end, the main characters become lost in a crowd of Johnny-Come-Latelys that exert way too much influence over the story.

And what do we call them, boys and girls? Deus ex m More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2009

Jake rated it:

Astonishing. It's almost like an adult Alice in Wonderland in which you follow the protagonist through a dream world of grotesque characters. Completely engrossing; it reads fast but it's still written with an eloquence you might not be used to in a fantasy novel (for lack of a better description; it's very hard to fit into a genre).

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 06, 2008

Elizabeth rated it:

After reading a review (in the Times, I think), I was excited to pick up this book, since Victorian crime novels--whether written in that time or simply set in that time--are my favorite mind-candy. I was disappointed in this book, which unravelled quickly, and was very predictable. I could see the connections between characters and events coming a mile away, and was not seduced enough by the language to keep my head in the game. If you love London, get this out from the library and read it o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 10, 2008

Margaret rated it:

A frustrating book in that it started strongly and then dissolved into a muddle about a third of the way through. The plot loosely hangs together, but (a) emphasis on "loosely," and (b) with no real underpinnings in logic or why we should care. Even fantasy (this book reads like a fantastic mystery or a mysterious fantasy - take your pick) needs logical, thought through in some detail and depth, underpinnings. Here, the plot and "purpose for being" of the book and the solu More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Bill rated it:

Readers who enjoy humor with their fantasy, and especially those who appreciate Victoriana and the occult, may find a new addition to their library in The Somnambulist, the debut novel by Jonathan Barnes. Billed as a parody of the penny dreadful, The Somnambulist is an enjoyable romp, filled with Neil Gaiman-like eccentrics and weird tidbits, a light tone, and just enough mystery and suspense to keep the reader's attention through the last page.

Barnes' protagonist is Edward Moon, a s More...

0 comments like

Feb 24, 2011

Paul rated it:

If you are looking for something totally different from you are now reading you may want to pick up a copy of "The Somnambulist". The book took me back to the days when I read Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley, and Bram Stoker.

The story takes place in 19th century London and pits a magician, Edward Moon, and his partner, "The Somnambulist", against a faction trying to change the world order. This faction is driven by the works and philosophy fo the dead Samuel Taylo More...

0 comments like

Jan 18, 2011

Nicholas rated it:

I have just closed the cover on Johnathan Barnes “The Somnambulist” and I find myself delightfully conflicted.

Either this book is the single best expansion of a genre by parody of, tweaking, teasing and generally robbing wholesale from that genre with the delighted earnestness of a child turned loose in a chocolate factory…

…or it was the worst Frankenstein’s monster of stitched together plagiarism ever perpetrated on the literary world at large.

The fact that it leav More...

0 comments like

Aug 14, 2010

Julie rated it:

The first paragraph reads "Be warned. This book has no literary merit whatsoever. It is a lurid piece of nonsense, convoluted, implausible, peopled by unconvincing characters, written in drearily pedestrian prose, frequently ridiculous and wilfully bizarre. Needless to say, I doubt you'll believe a word of it." The author is not being coy with this. Actually, scratch that, he's being cloyingly coy, but he's also (perhaps inadvertently) telling the absolute truth. No literary merit w More...

0 comments like

Jul 20, 2010

ICPL added it

From Chapter One: "Be warned. This book has no literary merit whatsoever. It is a lurid piece of nonsense, convoluted, implausible, peopled by unconvincing characters, written in drearily pedestrian prose, frequently ridiculous and willfully bizarre. Needless to say, I doubt you’ll believe a word of it "

It’s not THAT bad. The prose, for instance, is obviously pretty clever. Implausibility is an issue tho. Consider the opening murder–a ham actor being lured to a sumptuous r More...

0 comments like

Jun 09, 2010

Nick rated it:

Check out more reviews and SciFi/Fantasy fun at Lions and Men.

The Somnambulist, written by Jonathan Barnes, focuses on the exploits of an ex-stage magician and his loyal companion as they attempt to solve a murder mystery and protect London from destruction.

My review of The Somnambulist is going to end up being in two parts, because I felt very polar emotions while reading it. In terms of writing style, Barnes is an excellent narrator. However, I feel that his story as a More...

0 comments like

Apr 20, 2010

Alan rated it:

I may be swimming against the tide on this one, but I just didn't think it was very good. It is a first novel, to be sure, and should be forgiven some flaws on that basis, and in fact this book is competently written, with few of the infelicities at word, sentence and paragraph level that I'd have expected from a first-time author. But the plot is incoherent and disjointed even from the standpoint of its admittedly unreliable narrator... less like a book and more like a summer movie, whose plot More...

0 comments like