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The Somnambulist (Gollancz S.F.)
 
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The Somnambulist (Gollancz S.F.) (Hardcover)

by Jonathan Barnes (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
RRP: £16.99
Price: £14.44 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 284 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz; New title edition (22 Feb 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 057507941X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575079410
  • Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 13.8 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 635,078 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Sarah Crowden, THE OBSERVER
"This promising debut subverts its 19th-century predecessors amusingly. Inventive and often witty. A cabinet crammed with curiosities."

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
'Be warned. This book has no literary merit whatsoever. It is a lurid piece of nonsense, convoluted, implausible, peopled by unconvincing characters, written in drearily pedestrian prose, frequently ridiculous and wilfully bizarre. Needless to say, I doubt you'll believe a word of it.' So starts the extraordinary tale of Edward Moon, detective, his silent sidekick the Sonambulist and devilish plot to recreate the apocalyptic prophecies of William Blake and bring the British Empire crashing down. With a gallery of vividly grotesque characters, a richly evoked setting and a playful highly literate style this is an amazingly readable literary fantasy and a brilliant debut.

See all Product Description

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Somnambulist (Gollancz S.F.)
85% buy the item featured on this page:
The Somnambulist (Gollancz S.F.) 3.9 out of 5 stars (13)
£14.44
The Domino Men (Gollancz S.F.)
9% buy
The Domino Men (Gollancz S.F.) 4.3 out of 5 stars (3)
£7.69
The Dark Volume
4% buy
The Dark Volume 3.2 out of 5 stars (11)
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The Court of the Air
2% buy
The Court of the Air 3.7 out of 5 stars (29)
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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A really good adventure!, 21 Feb 2007
This review is from: The Somnambulist (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
This was a really entertaining read. If you liked Mark Gatiss The Vesuvuis Club then you'll love this. It references alot of english victorian writing such as dickens and Doyle. It is hilariously dark in humour. I found the prose well written and easy to read even though the story is complex. It is atmospheric to say the least. It is very much a book aimed at people with a sense of the ridiculous. This book doesn't take it's self too seriously and therefore you enjoy it all the more. A great read!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars It's quite good, 30 May 2007
By E. Watson "readtoomuch" (uk) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I read it in 3 days - mainly due to wash out bank holiday weekend - and found it to be both enjoyable and confusing.

Really liked the idea of the prefects.

A good read if you are after a well paced, slighly dark mystery. I hope for further accounts of Mr Moon's past adventures.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Well written, witty, but..., 2 May 2007
By Karen B (London, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Somnambulist (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)
A very well written novel, which kept me hooked to the end. And that is, alas, where for me it fell down. The end seemed rushed as if the author didn't know what else to do. In summary, I would say it's a thoroughly enjoyable book but I felt cheated by the ending which was done so poorly compared to the rest of it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars 'Lost' in pastiche Edwardian novel form
This is a dreadful book. I compare it to 'Lost' as it goes down the same route of thinking a story is improved by adding great big helpings of 'mystery' whilst neglecting vital... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Kevin

1.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Terrible Mess
Reading the other reviews of The Somnambulist I can only presume that I must have read a wholly different novel, because the book I just struggled to finish and immediately cast... Read more
Published 5 months ago by C. Green

4.0 out of 5 stars A Lurid Piece of Nonsense
This is Jonathan Barnes' first book, and a very well-written début it turns out to be. But, given that Mr Barnes graduated from Oxford with a first in English Literature, one... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Diziet

5.0 out of 5 stars Tinketty-Tonk...
It's the kind of book that may have been written if Lewis Carrol, Robert Rankin and Conan Doyle had somehow all gotten together and taken some very illegal substances while... Read more
Published 11 months ago by The Big Onion

4.0 out of 5 stars Victorian Farce A Right Old Jolly Jape!
First things first - this book IS different.
Secondly, I thoroughly enjoyed this dastardly Dickensian thriller, and especially the characters. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. John Frank Herbert

5.0 out of 5 stars Wierd and Wonderful! A Brilliant Debut
I was initially drawn the 'The Somnnabulist by the enticing front cover which seemed to promise adventure, humour and intrigue all in one, and upon reading it I wasn't... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Wildlife Bookworm

4.0 out of 5 stars eye candy for the brain
The book has its roots in stream punk or gothic horror with a dark brooding picture of late Victorian London full of grotesques, human monsters, corruption, dystopian nightmares... Read more
Published 15 months ago by John

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Wow - just read it everyone - it's a joy. Please, please Johnathan Barnes let's have another one. Wonderful.
Published 15 months ago by L. Kersh

4.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff
I bought this on a whim, primarily because I liked the cover; I'm as shallow as that. I wasn't expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Ed F

5.0 out of 5 stars a fine mix of neil gaiman and china mieville
(from my amazon.com review)


This is a stunning debut novel--there are elements of Neil Gaiman, but it most closely resembles the work of China... Read more
Published 17 months ago by David W. Straight

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