Harp, Pipe, and Symphony

by Paul Di Filippo

In this, Di Filippo's first fantasy novel ever, Thomas the Rhymer confronts humans and faery and monsters, in a quest through lands known and unknown . . . but can he survive the machinations of the Faery Queen?

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

152 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Paul Di Filippo is the author of hundreds of short stories, some of which have been collected in these widely-praised collections: The Steampunk Trilogy, Ribofunk, Fractal Paisleys, Lost Pages, Little Doors, Strange Trades, Babylon Sisters, and his multiple-award-nominated novella, A Year in the Linear City. Another earlier collection, Destroy All Brains, was published by Pirate Writings, but is quite rare because of the extremely short print run (if you see one, buy it!).

The popularity of Di Filippo’s short stories sometimes distracts from the impact of his mindbending, utterly unclassifiable novels: Ciphers, Joe’s Liver, Fuzzy Dice, A Mouthful of Tongues, and Spondulix. Paul’s offbeat sensibility, soulful characterizations, exquisite-yet-compact prose, and laugh-out-loud dialogue give his work a charmingly unique voice that is both compelling and addictive. He has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Philip K. Dick, Wired Magazine, and World Fantasy awards.

Despite his dilatory ways, Paul affirms that the sequel to A Year in the Linear City, to be titled A Princess of the Linear Jungle, will get written in 2008. He has two books forthcoming from PS Publications: the collection entitled Harsh Oases and the novel titled Roadside Bodhisattva. His 2008 novel Cosmocopia is graced by Jim Woodring illustrations.

Paul lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Macha · Rating 3 out of 5]

barely 2 and a half stars. i have liked some of Di Filippo's work, but this really wasn't very good. i always read Thomas the Rhymer fantasy when i come across it, but this one was a bad example of Di Filippo's tendency to throw everything indiscriminately into the pot, including in this case Dante, John Bunyan, Candide, and faerie, and expecting the resultant stew to prosper. it doesn't. the allegories don't work, the time conceit doesn't work, the characters are wooden, and the whole thing isn't as charming as the author would like to think.

[Jay Daze · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting fantasy, reminded me of Swift and the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett and Sterne in places, rather than Tolkien and his imitators. A book in love with its learning: the young hero-farm boy is reading Dante's Divine Comedy when the action starts and Queen Mab (from a mention in Shakespeare) is discovered reading a famous 18th century french work. It is rather bald in its examination of the duality and limitations of good and evil. Tom, the hero, struggles to "integrate" experience of the Bastard King and the Patriarch, but wants to find a middle path between the two. It is a deliberate choice to put this stuff in the foreground, and does ensure that I was aware of what the writer was doing, rather than maybe the more run-of-the-mill "getting lost in the story". A welcome change when does as wittily and merrily as this.

The title "Harp, Pipe, and Symphony" is taken from Chaucer's "Tale of Sir Thopas" which is a satire of the medieval romance, but Di Filippo is anything but straight faced about this fantasy. Yet strangely enough the ending seemed rather tradition, the intellectual discussions fell aside and Di Filippo let loose the symbolic act.

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't entirely know what I think of this book. It was surreal and at times preachy, and the main character seemed to know a lot of things which were inconsistent with the amount of knowledge his backstory should have provided for - not major plot-changing things, just the analogies and metaphors on the tip of his tongue (or mind) were so often past his education level or his time period that it broke the suspension of disbelief for me. And the cover artist, while good, obviously hadn't read the book! But the very surrealness of it could be Fun, and there were a couple of twists I didn't expect, and it seems like even if it was patchy, it will be memorable. I think the author aimed high and fell short, but I can still see potential. I wouldn't recommend it willy-nilly, but I'm personally glad I read it.

[VaughanPL]

Click here to find it in the catalogue.