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The Distance Travelled
“Brett A. Savory goes to Hell--not in a handbasket, but behind the wheel of a kickass El Camino--in this un-Divine Comedy. Slapstick, surreal, and definitely scorching, The Distance Travelled offers mirth and mayhem with (dare I say?) devilish glee, and on the far side of the heat is a moving meditation on the role of here in the hereafter. It's a wild and wonderful journey, so climb aboard...but look out for the flying pigs!” --Douglas E. Winter, author of Run “Two questions for Brett ‘What're you smoking?’ And ‘May we please all have some?’ The Distance Travelled is an ergot-spawned argot of a novel that nabs its readers for a ride Charlie Starkweather'd be too chicken to take. Not since Lord of the Flies has fiction been so rough on a Piggy. Now, where'd I put those damned glasses?” --Michael Marano, author of Dawn Song “I loved it. Stylish, fun, and neatly turned. Distinctive and bizarre—and I mean that in a good way—this is a fine ride through some very unusual territories." --Michael Marshall Smith, author of Spares and Only Forward “True Grit meets Falling Angel...The Distance Travelled reads like a blissed-out round-the-table collaboration between Kinky Friedman, Clive Barker, Jim Thompson, Dante, and Thorne Smith. It's a Hell we could all learn to love--kind of--and Brett Savory is a very bad man. But the good news is that it’s safer for us all that he’s writing this stuff down rather than living it.” --Peter Crowther, author of Escardy Gap (with James Lovegrove) and The Longest Single Note "The Distance Travelled is a raucous blood-and-guts pulper, complete with hardboiled mugs like PigBoy, Tom China, and Portnoy Spavin. By setting his hero's mysterious quest in Hell itself, Brett Alexander Savory has started a whole new Actual Underworld Noir." --Stewart O'Nan author of Snow Angels and Faithful co-written with Stephen King
267 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 9, 2017
This was a nice find, absolutely random and quite uncharacteristic of our library's typical genre holdings. Savory's name might be associated for most with ChiZine, which he edits, but turns out (at least going by this book) he's an accomplished and talented writer in his own right. Distance Travelled is a horror comedy set in the underworld, a place many genre writers have visited and recreated in their work. Savory's take is singular in its understatement, where many have been tempted to go over the top, his version is actually a bleak, overheated world that specifically lacks any sort of excitement (which is a punishment in itself), so much so that when our protagonist gets an opportunity to aid in rescuing a young girl and thus possibly earn some much needed redemption, he jumps into it with both feet. A quest is set. Throw in an ancient prophecy and some really memorable characters, set to boil. This book starts off with a bang and proceeds accordingly, not just fun, but also funny, exciting, engaging, it works on many levels. The only thing maybe I'm not entirely sure of is the ending, which is quite ambivalent and ambiguous for such a definitive action driven story. But it gives the story its title and its moral. So there. Greatly entertaining. Strongly recommended.
February 2, 2017
the distance traveled was in one word....funny. definitely not horror, i didn't understand the character of the protagonist well but it was okay.
a fun ride, which should have taken me much less than 14 days ;)
a fun ride, which should have taken me much less than 14 days ;)
July 17, 2008
The best book I read last year! Completely entertaining, funny, and wonderfully vivid, original characters.
September 18, 2019
Stu is a resident of Hell. A group of obnoxious young people in a dune buggy drive by, one day, and throw a live pig through Stu's kitchen window. Stu captures one of them, and calls him Pigboy. He has found a portal to Hell from Upside, and has come to rescue his kidnapped sister. This starts Stu on an epic quest.
Along for the ride are Gus, a walking skeleton who runs the local gas station. Tom is a ten-foot-tall HellRat who fixes cars for Gus. Tom is head-over-heels in love with the beautiful Miss Appleton (the feeling is very mutual). They attempt to answer a set of riddles written years before by a clairvoyant child. To do so, they travel all over the territory of Hell.
It is also a place where the torture sessions are scheduled. We are talking extreme torture, accompanied by fountains of blood everywhere. Give the person a day or two to recover, and they are physically good as new. When Stu misses a torture session because of his quest, Salinger, the Chief Torturer, sets off after him. Does everyone survive until the end? Is the sister ever found?
This is a very bloody and violent story, so it is not for the faint of heart. For everyone else, be prepared for a wild rice, accompanied by a soundtrack of 80's pop music. Think Clive Barker meets Jim Thompson. For those with a strong stomach, this is a gem of a book.
Along for the ride are Gus, a walking skeleton who runs the local gas station. Tom is a ten-foot-tall HellRat who fixes cars for Gus. Tom is head-over-heels in love with the beautiful Miss Appleton (the feeling is very mutual). They attempt to answer a set of riddles written years before by a clairvoyant child. To do so, they travel all over the territory of Hell.
It is also a place where the torture sessions are scheduled. We are talking extreme torture, accompanied by fountains of blood everywhere. Give the person a day or two to recover, and they are physically good as new. When Stu misses a torture session because of his quest, Salinger, the Chief Torturer, sets off after him. Does everyone survive until the end? Is the sister ever found?
This is a very bloody and violent story, so it is not for the faint of heart. For everyone else, be prepared for a wild rice, accompanied by a soundtrack of 80's pop music. Think Clive Barker meets Jim Thompson. For those with a strong stomach, this is a gem of a book.
June 5, 2017
Finally!
I've read this book years ago, and I've been trying to find it again but with no luck.
I was able to locate an old review that I've written about it in a forum, and I'm very proud of myself.
Oh, and about the book - I don't remember too much, just that it was fun, original and I hope that the author has written more cool books.
Yey me and my abilities to locate stuff!
I've read this book years ago, and I've been trying to find it again but with no luck.
I was able to locate an old review that I've written about it in a forum, and I'm very proud of myself.
Oh, and about the book - I don't remember too much, just that it was fun, original and I hope that the author has written more cool books.
Yey me and my abilities to locate stuff!
June 11, 2010
This review appeared in August, 2006 in The Peterborough Examiner. It was reprinted in The New York Review of Science Fiction.
THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED
by Brett Alexander Savory
Necro Publications, July 2006
Trade Paperback: 251 pages
ISBN: 1-889186-62-7
$15.95 US
Limited edition Hardcover: 251 pages
ISBN: 1-89186-61-9
$45.00 US
452 words
Brett Savory’s new novel The Distance Travelled is a horror/comedy set in Hell.
Savory’s Hell is poorly run, but nevertheless an organised sort of place, complete with very hot weather, regularly scheduled torture sessions, a rural countryside including a lake and a gas station, even a city that boasts subways and a restaurant called, natch, Hell’s Kitchen. It’s even kind of fun.
There’s a mysterious hole to the Upside, as it’s known, pigs which fall through and commence eating with cutlery, and an amiable hell rat named Tom China, named after science fiction author China Miéville. The hell rats are an indigenous species, now dying out; much of the book’s poignancy stems from Tom’s relationship with his girlfriend Apple, a cute singer who can also kick ass when required. Savory claims he’s an agnostic, but he certainly has plenty of moral gumption, as his characters are fiercely loyal to one another, embarking upon a quest to save a little girl from the proverbial fate worse than death, for no good reason other than that she doesn’t deserve what’s coming to her.
Hero Stu is perp of an Upside hit and run, hence his new residence. It’s not so bad. He drives an El Camino. He has friends: Tom China and Apple and Gus, the gas station owner, a guy whose lower jaw falls off with a certain regularity. The distance Stu travels is not just their shared adventure but his own journey from adolescence to manhood. He spends a lot of time soul searching,
There’s blood n’ guts aplenty but this book is more likely to cause the reader to chuckle than to shiver. While the images are horrific, they’re cartoonish as well. One of Hell’s denizens wears a Misfits T-shirt, which is entirely appropriate. If there were a soundtrack to this book, it would be The Misfits’ Halloween, or maybe something by The Spooky Kids. One commentator has remarked The Distance Travelled would garner a PG-13 rating, and this is entirely true. The plot speeds along, or is that clatters? It’s literate, with its Dante’s Inferno references, but due to its madcap style and imaginatively drawn characters and locations, I kept envisioning it as a graphic novel. I’d love to see Mr. Savory collaborate with an artist on a future project.
The busy Mr. Savory is also editor of the online dark fiction magazine Chiaroscuro. Major kudos to Brett not just for writing a fun book but for shepherding Chizine in a few short years from an amateur rag to a Bram Stoker Award winning pro market boasting top flight established writers as well as talented newcomers. Check out their link at: www.chizine.com
THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED
by Brett Alexander Savory
Necro Publications, July 2006
Trade Paperback: 251 pages
ISBN: 1-889186-62-7
$15.95 US
Limited edition Hardcover: 251 pages
ISBN: 1-89186-61-9
$45.00 US
452 words
Brett Savory’s new novel The Distance Travelled is a horror/comedy set in Hell.
Savory’s Hell is poorly run, but nevertheless an organised sort of place, complete with very hot weather, regularly scheduled torture sessions, a rural countryside including a lake and a gas station, even a city that boasts subways and a restaurant called, natch, Hell’s Kitchen. It’s even kind of fun.
There’s a mysterious hole to the Upside, as it’s known, pigs which fall through and commence eating with cutlery, and an amiable hell rat named Tom China, named after science fiction author China Miéville. The hell rats are an indigenous species, now dying out; much of the book’s poignancy stems from Tom’s relationship with his girlfriend Apple, a cute singer who can also kick ass when required. Savory claims he’s an agnostic, but he certainly has plenty of moral gumption, as his characters are fiercely loyal to one another, embarking upon a quest to save a little girl from the proverbial fate worse than death, for no good reason other than that she doesn’t deserve what’s coming to her.
Hero Stu is perp of an Upside hit and run, hence his new residence. It’s not so bad. He drives an El Camino. He has friends: Tom China and Apple and Gus, the gas station owner, a guy whose lower jaw falls off with a certain regularity. The distance Stu travels is not just their shared adventure but his own journey from adolescence to manhood. He spends a lot of time soul searching,
There’s blood n’ guts aplenty but this book is more likely to cause the reader to chuckle than to shiver. While the images are horrific, they’re cartoonish as well. One of Hell’s denizens wears a Misfits T-shirt, which is entirely appropriate. If there were a soundtrack to this book, it would be The Misfits’ Halloween, or maybe something by The Spooky Kids. One commentator has remarked The Distance Travelled would garner a PG-13 rating, and this is entirely true. The plot speeds along, or is that clatters? It’s literate, with its Dante’s Inferno references, but due to its madcap style and imaginatively drawn characters and locations, I kept envisioning it as a graphic novel. I’d love to see Mr. Savory collaborate with an artist on a future project.
The busy Mr. Savory is also editor of the online dark fiction magazine Chiaroscuro. Major kudos to Brett not just for writing a fun book but for shepherding Chizine in a few short years from an amateur rag to a Bram Stoker Award winning pro market boasting top flight established writers as well as talented newcomers. Check out their link at: www.chizine.com
November 20, 2010
Just how this book ended up on my iTouch is something of a mystery to me, but it was there and I'd read everything else, and it was the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep, so I figured what the heck.
A few minutes later, I stopped, looked back at the title and author, and tried really hard to figure out where this book could have possibly come from, because, um, wtf? A guy is sitting in his kitchen, minding his own business, and a pig comes sailing through the window? A live pig? Right. Then he starts checking the thermostat and it is pretty clear that he must live in hell. Oh, and the pig sits down and helps itself to his cereal, sitting upright in the chair and using the spoon.
That's before things really get odd.
I have no objection to a few fnords, but I generally know what I'm getting into. I suppose that when a novel apparently puts itself onto your e-reader, you just deal with whatever happens.
So maybe I shouldn't be complaining about the fact that there isn't exactly a happy ending, because the ending isn't as unhappy as it could have been. But I LIKE happy endings. In fact, I have a thing about them, in that I tend to choose my reading with a very strong preference for them. That's one reason I'm unlikely to be reading any more Neil Gaiman (I know, I know, he's such a good author - but he's depressing as hell, too).
Let's be honest here: Savory is not Neil Gaiman, and there wasn't a really happy ending. The ending didn't wholly suck as much as it could have, but there wasn't any goodness and light. Or redemption. Or reward. No love. Just - blah.
So I don't know what else Brett Alexander Savory has written, but I probably won't be looking too hard at any of it. The book did keep me reading for about an hour and a half, though, so Savory did better than many other authors could. Kudos for that!
I know he put this novel, at least, out under a Creative Commmons license, according to the copy on my e-reader. I don't know if any of his other material is licensed that way or not, but I give him thumbs up for being part of the CC movement.
A few minutes later, I stopped, looked back at the title and author, and tried really hard to figure out where this book could have possibly come from, because, um, wtf? A guy is sitting in his kitchen, minding his own business, and a pig comes sailing through the window? A live pig? Right. Then he starts checking the thermostat and it is pretty clear that he must live in hell. Oh, and the pig sits down and helps itself to his cereal, sitting upright in the chair and using the spoon.
That's before things really get odd.
I have no objection to a few fnords, but I generally know what I'm getting into. I suppose that when a novel apparently puts itself onto your e-reader, you just deal with whatever happens.
So maybe I shouldn't be complaining about the fact that there isn't exactly a happy ending, because the ending isn't as unhappy as it could have been. But I LIKE happy endings. In fact, I have a thing about them, in that I tend to choose my reading with a very strong preference for them. That's one reason I'm unlikely to be reading any more Neil Gaiman (I know, I know, he's such a good author - but he's depressing as hell, too).
Let's be honest here: Savory is not Neil Gaiman, and there wasn't a really happy ending. The ending didn't wholly suck as much as it could have, but there wasn't any goodness and light. Or redemption. Or reward. No love. Just - blah.
So I don't know what else Brett Alexander Savory has written, but I probably won't be looking too hard at any of it. The book did keep me reading for about an hour and a half, though, so Savory did better than many other authors could. Kudos for that!
I know he put this novel, at least, out under a Creative Commmons license, according to the copy on my e-reader. I don't know if any of his other material is licensed that way or not, but I give him thumbs up for being part of the CC movement.
April 8, 2015
A solid 4. Off the beaten path, style-wise. Setting: Hell. Opening scene: protagonist's breakfast of Boo Berry interrupted by a pig thrown through his window. That should be enough for you to know whether you want to give it a go. Not convinced? Ok, fine, he drives an El Camino. Enough yet?
January 3, 2013
Vivid landscape and characters! And who doesn't love flying Pigs!?! Seriously though, a smooth, fast paced read. Dark landscapes and dark deeds...
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews