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Ламсден Мох - беглый вор и страстный библиофил. С детских лет он постоянно винит себя в трагической смерти своей подруги, Мемории, обладавшей странными способностями. Попытка отомстить судье, украв экземпляр редкой книги, оборачивается встречей с опасными людьми и получением не менее опасного задания.
Вместе с друзьями - Имоджин, странным существом Радужником и Умельцем Вороном, он отправляется на остров Козодоя. Это опустошенное место, отравленное в результате войны и геноцида - Чистки. Их преследует криминальный синдикат "Красная минога", полицейские агенты и пугающая девочка-ведьма с кошмарным ручным монстром.
В фантастическом, еще не оправившемся от мировой войны мире, в котором технология сплетается с магией, Моху и Имоджин придется расшифровать тайны своего прошлого, чтобы открыть темное сердце проклятого острова.
Вместе с друзьями - Имоджин, странным существом Радужником и Умельцем Вороном, он отправляется на остров Козодоя. Это опустошенное место, отравленное в результате войны и геноцида - Чистки. Их преследует криминальный синдикат "Красная минога", полицейские агенты и пугающая девочка-ведьма с кошмарным ручным монстром.
В фантастическом, еще не оправившемся от мировой войны мире, в котором технология сплетается с магией, Моху и Имоджин придется расшифровать тайны своего прошлого, чтобы открыть темное сердце проклятого острова.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published June 6, 2017
2 people are currently reading
392 people want to read
About the author
Richard A. Kirk
11 books34 followersRICHARD A. KIRK - Author, Illustrator, & visual artist
Richard is the author of the novella THE LOST MACHINE (Radiolaria Studios, 2010), the novel NECESSARY MONSTERS (Resurrection House, Arche Press, 2017), and an illustrated short story collection MAGPIE’S LADDER (PS Publications, 2019). Richard’s new, illustrated novel, TAILOR OF ECHOES was published in 2021 by PS Publishing. Richard is currently working on a new novel.
He has illustrated works by Clive Barker, Christopher Golden, Frank Herbert, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Thomas Ligotti, China Mieville, the rock band Korn and others.
Richard's art work is drawn from an interest in the forms and processes of the natural world. He explores these themes through the creation of meticulous drawings in ink, graphite and silverpoint, which often depict chimerical creatures and protean landscapes. Metamorphosis is an underlying narrative in all of Richard's work.
Richard is the author of the novella THE LOST MACHINE (Radiolaria Studios, 2010), the novel NECESSARY MONSTERS (Resurrection House, Arche Press, 2017), and an illustrated short story collection MAGPIE’S LADDER (PS Publications, 2019). Richard’s new, illustrated novel, TAILOR OF ECHOES was published in 2021 by PS Publishing. Richard is currently working on a new novel.
He has illustrated works by Clive Barker, Christopher Golden, Frank Herbert, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Thomas Ligotti, China Mieville, the rock band Korn and others.
Richard's art work is drawn from an interest in the forms and processes of the natural world. He explores these themes through the creation of meticulous drawings in ink, graphite and silverpoint, which often depict chimerical creatures and protean landscapes. Metamorphosis is an underlying narrative in all of Richard's work.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
August 7, 2018
This novel of artist Richard A. Kirk (the illustrator of such famous authors as Thomas Ligotti, China Mieville, Caitlin R. Kiernan and Clive Barker) immerses the reader in the surreal atmosphere of a fictional world, which level of technological development roughly corresponds to the beginning of the XX century, but it is filled with bizarre and frightening magic. Immersion in this world happens spontaneously, without any intro or explanation, so the reader has to stay focused.
The story Richard A. Kirk tells is, above all, the story of Lumsden Moss, a former teacher, and now a fugitive prisoner. We first meet with Moss when he steals — with a great deal of effort — a single copy of a book from the Museum. The author of this book was his fellow prisoner. The book — and some secrets from the past — will not allow Moss to lay low in anticipation of better times. He will have to face many people, whose interests have intersected due to the secrets of the Nightjar Island and a monastery in its very center. According to a legend, ten thousand years ago a meteorite fell there, marking the beginnings of a chain of strange events. Eventually all paths will lead the heroes to this mysterious island, and it is worth mentioning that after the recent war with the use of magic it became forbidden territory, where you cannot enter without risking your life. In addition to Lumsden Moss we also meet his best friend Irridis (I will not say anything about him, otherwise it will spoil the element of surprise); a thief, Imogen, whose personality is more complex than you might think at first; sinister Lamb, head of the criminal group “Red Lamprey”; a witch named Elizabeth and her assistant Echo, a monster; an intelligent bird who once stole a very dangerous object… as well as many other characters.
The main character, Lumsden Moss, turned out to be very plausible — he is not a hero in the full sense of the word, but just a small man who blamed himself from childhood in the death of a friend, which to some extent left a mark on his whole life. Sometimes Moss acts like a real criminal, but the skills acquired in prison are like clothes from someone else's shoulder for him.
An undisputed advantage of the novel is its writing style. Exquisite, beautiful, full of intricate dark images, which are quite consistent with the fascinating, phantasmagoric drawings of Richard A. Kirk. As to the plot, the book is not perfect: sometimes the story hangs, and an impatient reader may well justify the desire to scroll through a few pages to get to the place where it begins again to develop, as it should. However, do not forget that we are dealing with a new weird story. The logic of surrealism is not the same as the logic of the real world, so I must warn the readers prone to a rational approach: this book is likely to disappoint you. If you prefer plots, which leave absolutely no questions unanswered, “Necessary Monsters” is probably not for you. As the creatures from Richard A.Kirk’s drawings cannot exist in the real world, so the described society cannot exist also, and for some readers this will become an obstacle.
But for those of you who like phantasmagoric (and confusing) stories that do not inspire horror, but fascinate with sinister magic, do not spread it all out, but force you to contemplate for at least several days, do not follow the traditional narrative schemes, but delve into uncharted territory and experiment (though not always successfully), I highly recommend paying attention to this book.
And, after all, if you like Richard A. Kirk’s drawings, don't miss out this book. Because, in my opinion, those images that he creates with words are not inferior to those created with ink.
The story Richard A. Kirk tells is, above all, the story of Lumsden Moss, a former teacher, and now a fugitive prisoner. We first meet with Moss when he steals — with a great deal of effort — a single copy of a book from the Museum. The author of this book was his fellow prisoner. The book — and some secrets from the past — will not allow Moss to lay low in anticipation of better times. He will have to face many people, whose interests have intersected due to the secrets of the Nightjar Island and a monastery in its very center. According to a legend, ten thousand years ago a meteorite fell there, marking the beginnings of a chain of strange events. Eventually all paths will lead the heroes to this mysterious island, and it is worth mentioning that after the recent war with the use of magic it became forbidden territory, where you cannot enter without risking your life. In addition to Lumsden Moss we also meet his best friend Irridis (I will not say anything about him, otherwise it will spoil the element of surprise); a thief, Imogen, whose personality is more complex than you might think at first; sinister Lamb, head of the criminal group “Red Lamprey”; a witch named Elizabeth and her assistant Echo, a monster; an intelligent bird who once stole a very dangerous object… as well as many other characters.
The main character, Lumsden Moss, turned out to be very plausible — he is not a hero in the full sense of the word, but just a small man who blamed himself from childhood in the death of a friend, which to some extent left a mark on his whole life. Sometimes Moss acts like a real criminal, but the skills acquired in prison are like clothes from someone else's shoulder for him.
An undisputed advantage of the novel is its writing style. Exquisite, beautiful, full of intricate dark images, which are quite consistent with the fascinating, phantasmagoric drawings of Richard A. Kirk. As to the plot, the book is not perfect: sometimes the story hangs, and an impatient reader may well justify the desire to scroll through a few pages to get to the place where it begins again to develop, as it should. However, do not forget that we are dealing with a new weird story. The logic of surrealism is not the same as the logic of the real world, so I must warn the readers prone to a rational approach: this book is likely to disappoint you. If you prefer plots, which leave absolutely no questions unanswered, “Necessary Monsters” is probably not for you. As the creatures from Richard A.Kirk’s drawings cannot exist in the real world, so the described society cannot exist also, and for some readers this will become an obstacle.
But for those of you who like phantasmagoric (and confusing) stories that do not inspire horror, but fascinate with sinister magic, do not spread it all out, but force you to contemplate for at least several days, do not follow the traditional narrative schemes, but delve into uncharted territory and experiment (though not always successfully), I highly recommend paying attention to this book.
And, after all, if you like Richard A. Kirk’s drawings, don't miss out this book. Because, in my opinion, those images that he creates with words are not inferior to those created with ink.
June 7, 2017
**I received this as an egalley from Edelweiss in return for an honest review.**
I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately, I had to finally give up on it at about 80%. I know, I was almost done, but at that point, the story had been dragged out beyond reason since the halfway point, and the characters were just so uninteresting that I could not even care what happened to them in the end.
The premise of the book was really interesting, but also a little hard to follow. There was some world building that could have used more love, particularly in how the magic of the world interacted with the rest of it, what sort of time period this was (it seemed a little all over the place? Horse carriages and trucks and phone booths - I was confused), and there was this war and some Purge that was constantly mentioned but only vaguely explained, leaving me still trying to figure out just why the people of Nightjar Island were forced away. The plot itself started off well, but as I mentioned before, halfway through it started to feel dragged out unnecessarily, and the pacing would be fine only to all of a sudden half a quick burst of action or jump to the next scene or moment with poor transition.
I was most annoyed by the characters. Moss himself wasn't too bad, but his relationship with Imogene made no sense. His "feelings" for her were not subtextual at all and felt completely forced into the plot, considering how little he actually knew her. Imogene, for her part, felt like little more than a caricature of a woman than an actual person, with barely any character to her aside from a few random bursts of emotion towards Moss that felt overwrought and unlike anything she expressed beforehand. She just did not feel interesting in any way, nor did she have much depth. There were a few other characters as well, but barely any of them appeared often enough to showcase much depth either. For the most part they were all just names on a page to me and I could care less about any of them.
It's sad because some of the writing was good and interesting, and most of the initial plot kept me intrigued enough to keep going despite how little I cared for Imogene and Moss's inexplicable attraction towards her, but by the halfway point I was just struggling to keep going and every time it seemed to get interesting again, it would quickly lose its stamina again. So finally I just had to stop, even though I was almost at the end. I think it just needed a lot more work in the character development, the world building, and the pacing of the plot. 2 stars
I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately, I had to finally give up on it at about 80%. I know, I was almost done, but at that point, the story had been dragged out beyond reason since the halfway point, and the characters were just so uninteresting that I could not even care what happened to them in the end.
The premise of the book was really interesting, but also a little hard to follow. There was some world building that could have used more love, particularly in how the magic of the world interacted with the rest of it, what sort of time period this was (it seemed a little all over the place? Horse carriages and trucks and phone booths - I was confused), and there was this war and some Purge that was constantly mentioned but only vaguely explained, leaving me still trying to figure out just why the people of Nightjar Island were forced away. The plot itself started off well, but as I mentioned before, halfway through it started to feel dragged out unnecessarily, and the pacing would be fine only to all of a sudden half a quick burst of action or jump to the next scene or moment with poor transition.
I was most annoyed by the characters. Moss himself wasn't too bad, but his relationship with Imogene made no sense. His "feelings" for her were not subtextual at all and felt completely forced into the plot, considering how little he actually knew her. Imogene, for her part, felt like little more than a caricature of a woman than an actual person, with barely any character to her aside from a few random bursts of emotion towards Moss that felt overwrought and unlike anything she expressed beforehand. She just did not feel interesting in any way, nor did she have much depth. There were a few other characters as well, but barely any of them appeared often enough to showcase much depth either. For the most part they were all just names on a page to me and I could care less about any of them.
It's sad because some of the writing was good and interesting, and most of the initial plot kept me intrigued enough to keep going despite how little I cared for Imogene and Moss's inexplicable attraction towards her, but by the halfway point I was just struggling to keep going and every time it seemed to get interesting again, it would quickly lose its stamina again. So finally I just had to stop, even though I was almost at the end. I think it just needed a lot more work in the character development, the world building, and the pacing of the plot. 2 stars
June 3, 2017
Thanks Edelweiss for this ARC.
This novel is hard to define. It's a wacky, atmospheric, spooky, horror novel
This novel is hard to define. It's a wacky, atmospheric, spooky, horror novel
November 24, 2022
Hmmm, na ovu knjigu sam naletio preko meni omiljene Weave World od Barkera, jer je Kirk radio ilustracije koje su mi odlične. No eto ovo je onako, pokušaj da bude nešto slično, čak je i dosta uspio ali radnja mi nije toliko zanimljiva. Počinje i završava super i onda nekako previše ode u nekom smjeru koji se meni ne sviđa.
February 4, 2018
I really didn’t get on with this. There is a lot to like, but an infuriating lack of detail in the world. A lot of the plot points end up unexplained or unanswered and there are gaping holes in the prose - there were several points where I thought I’d skipped a page by mistake. Annoying.
September 17, 2019
I would love to see this book as a movie or animation!!
December 26, 2021
Reading this book would have been much better. The audiobook did not impress.
March 18, 2022
Совсем не зашла.
Стиль - что-то вроде урбанистического фентези. Герои прописаны поверхностно, их предыстории раскрыты неполностью.
Не рекомендую
Стиль - что-то вроде урбанистического фентези. Герои прописаны поверхностно, их предыстории раскрыты неполностью.
Не рекомендую
May 20, 2025
Very good book. Interesting story, dark fantasic world with many surprises ahead. Must read
August 31, 2024
Although he considers himself a smooth criminal operator, I think it’s fair to say that Lumsden Moss has no idea what the hell he’s doing in Necessary Monsters, by Richard A. Kirk. At first, Moss is only involved in a little identity theft and a little vengeful larceny. Then his plans almost immediately go wrong and he finds out that there are much bigger fish in his pond than he realized. His little schemes are derailed when one of those bigger fish tells Moss that he has to find a woman he thought had died many years ago. If he doesn’t find her, they will kill Moss. If he does find her, Moss will probably be killed anyway. Moss has been in tight spots before, but this one looks impossible to get out of...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews