THE METHADONE LIST: The Tome of the Undergates

I don't know that one could really say that any author or book is the "opposite" of any other author or book—but by contrast to A.S. Byatt's THE CHILDREN'S BOOK, a literary novel by an old master at the height of her craft…here's an epic fantasy by a young debut author—though equally crafty, it couldn't be much more different in either style or structure.

Sam Sykes's TOME OF THE UNDERGATES _is_ what's called "epic fantasy." It's not, however, anything like the classic "You know…boy/scroll/...