Lost Acre

Reviews

A history-tragic-comedy all rolled into one, Rotherweird is intricate and crisp, witty and solemn: a book not unlike other books, but with special and dangerous properties. Line by line, silent and adroit, it opens a series of trap-doors in the reader's imagination Baroque, Byzantine and beautiful - not to mention bold. An enthralling puzzle picture of a book Compelling . . . the love child of Gormenghast and Hogwarts The Rotherweird trilogy is a sprawling absorbing saga that is breath-taking in conceit and accomplishment. Fans of deeply immersive fiction, such as that created by Neal Stephenson, will love losing themselves in this nightmarish vision of a parochial English town, where everybody has secrets. [A] sprawling fantasy epic This novel is a remarkable achievement. It's also extremely funny, in a typically British sort of way . . . a delightful Harry Potter for grown-ups An imaginative tour de force Lost Acre is a triumphant final volume to what has been a constantly surprising piece of modern British fantasy. Part Gormenghast, part Monty Python, part mythology, part Terry Pratchett, a little bit steampunk but with the occasional dragon and changeling, and with plenty of word puzzles along the way. And while it has plenty of antecedents, this series, its setting and its tone is totally unique and thoroughly enjoyable and should be celebrated as such Intricate and rather beautiful . . . gothic, engaging, and strange, this is a series that has been filled with praise by fans of baroque literature from all fields A vivid fantasy world - albeit one with firm roots in both our own Elizabethan age and, with a timeshift plot set off by events in the Tudor era, the time of Good Queen Bess Precisely calibrated . . . The stakes could not be higher I'm a sucker for a good puzzle and this one was magnificent Ambitious in his scope . . . incredibly inventive Lost Acre is the perfect swansong to the wonderfully executed series of books. Highly recommended It's complex, intriguing and I've loved it! It's definitely ambitious but it does work! It's very original and nothing like I've seen before A steampunkish amalgam of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast, Terry Pratchett's Ankh-Morpork and Christopher Isherwood and Edward Upward's Mortmere, replete with quirky characters, Heath Robinsonesque mechanical devices and a dash of the supernatural Rotherweird and its otherworldly counterpart Lost Acre are just as fascinating as ever. Lost Acre, like its predecessors, is a book to be savoured. If you like your fantasy complex, this is a trilogy for you and Lost Acre rounds it off in style A clever, quirky and enjoyable jaunt into a gothic mystery spanning the millennia between Roman invasions (Gregorius), the Elizabethans (Bole and Wynter, Ferensen and the Seers) and the modern day Caldecott delivers with gusto. There are surprises too: far from being an all-powerful villain, even Wynter isn't sure what is happening (can it be he's really being played?) - and many secrets still lie hidden. An excellent close to this trilogy . I'd also commend the illustrations by Sasha Laika - they are moody, allusive and add greatly to the atmosphere Still one of the best characters in these stories is the city of Rotherweird. It is slightly gothic, Dickensian, there is a touch of horror in it, but it is foremost absolutely captivating. This world building, although complex, is done with great skill and is one (of the many) attractive features. It gave me many hours of sometimes confusing, sometimes marvellous and very often amazing pleasure Delightfully ordinary people with extraordinary names wrestle with weird machinery, weirder science and some quite deliciously gruesome flayage A great read . . . rich and rewarding One of those rare, satisfying commitments you've been looking for in a book A rather spectacular conclusion to a unique series To his lawyerly eye for detail he adds a conjurer's flourish in Wyntertide, the darkly hypnotic sequel to last year's bestseller Rotherweird . . . Rotherweird has antecedents in Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast, C S Lewis's Narnia books and, inevitably, a certain bespectacled boy-wizard Beautifully handled sequel that cooks up a banquet of dark delights. Once again, we are captivated by the compelling alchemy of plot, place and people: the quirks, the mysteries, the saintliness and the sheer bloody evil Expand reviews