Strange Cargo [Mass Market Paperback]

Since the internet is such a visual medium, I feel it is only fair to begin this review with the following statement: the cover art for "Strange Cargo" has no relation to the text, so save yourself the time of flipping back and forth. With that rather puzzling reminder that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover set aside, I can say that in this his third novel, Jeffrey Barlough continues to delight with his original fusion of genres. For those unfamiliar with his prior work, Barlough has imagined a world of that primarily combines alternate history and apocalyptic fiction, the first element being the survival of Ice Age mega-fauna, and the latter being the destruction of the majority of civilization in an enigmatic, but massive, disaster some two hundred years before the period of his novels. On top of this fusion, Barlough then piles on a host of other genres and styles to create genuinely unique novels.

In particular, Barlough has drawn heavily in style from Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle, with a vast panoply of characters, all with wonderful names like Thistlewood and Matchless, and all using a delightfully Victorian mode of speech. In addition, Barlough has always, and has so particularly in "Strange Cargo", drawn on the "weird fiction" tradition of H. P. Lovecraft. Hence, not only is this an apocalyptic alternate history, but is one that is populated by mysterious, and entirely capricious creatures far beyond human comprehension.

As one might imagine, there is a lot going on in "Strange Cargo", and it is in fact far more ambitious in its scope than "Dark Sleeper" or "The House in the High Woods". This is due to primarily to the two distinct plot lines, as compared to the more narrow focus of the prior two novels. To attempt to explain the plot in any detail would risk major spoilers, but in a general sense, the novel revolves around a mystery dating back to Ancient Greece, and touches upon questions of theology and free will. At the same time, the second, parallel story is a more straightforward detective/ghost story.

For the most part, Barlough handles his different characters and plots quite deftly. His skill as a writer has improved significantly, and when combined with his gift for dialogue and characterization, the reader is treated to a novel that is both lush and brisk at the same time. In particular, his examination of the dynamics of human relationships is very nicely handled and is the heart which supports the weighty body of his creation.

Unfortunately, I cannot offer an entirely unreserved endorsement, as the conclusion is somewhat lacking. Without giving anything away, the main plot line ends in a manner that is rushed, generally unsatisfying, and far too convenient within the context of the novel. At the same time, the second plot line ends in rather a more satisfying a fashion, except that it never ties back to the main plot. One could completely excise this second element from the novel without any impact on the primary story, and one is thus left wondering what the point of it was. Finally, the apocalyptic element of Barlough's novels has always been highly enigmatic; no one quite new what had happened. In "Strange Cargo", Barlough more or less reveals the cause of "The Sundering" and as such, I feel that much of the mystery has been drained from his books. Again, if one cut out the explanation, the story would carry on just as well, and with more room for the reader's imagination to come into play.

That said, "Strange Cargo" is still well worth reading if for no other reason than Barlough represents one of the most original voices in fiction today. While perhaps not of the caliber of a Mieville or a Vandermeer, he has nonetheless used a fascinating blend of genres and an original voice to write a novel that is both familiar and fresh at the same time. I would rate "Dark Sleeper" and "The House in the High Woods" ahead of "Strange Cargo", but they are two of my favorite novels of the last five years, and as such, placing third is hardly a bad thing.

Jake Mohlman

I made these comments in a review of Barlough's earlier novel The House in the High Wood but, frankly, they bear repeating for Strange Cargo, his third novel. Barlow's very special blend of writing styles is probably unique in today's literature and gives us a novel that defies classification. One can say, I suppose, that it represents a delicious blend of Lovecraft, Collins or Poe's version of tension and horror, Brooks' ideas of a modern, dark, urban fantasy and the very best of Dickensian characterization, complex and intricately described environments with superbly comic dialogue and story-telling. But to say that is to suggest somehow that Barlough's efforts are derivative and that is selling him far too short. Barlough's style is quite clearly his own and he has mastered it completely.

Nantle, a small seacoast town and sailor's haunt in Barlough's special universe in which the Ice Age has never ended and a small Victorian population live side by side with saber tooth tigers, woolly mammoths and mastodons, plays host to two simultaneous story lines.

In the first, Miss Jane Wastefield arrives seeking Gilbert Thistlewood with whom she has corresponded. Wastefield, at her wit's end, needs his promised help in ridding herself of a malevolent mirror, a gift she received on her twenty-first birthday, which she keeps locked inside a traveling trunk. The mirror, reflecting eerie visions of a long dead society reminiscent of a fantastic Greece in which monsters and evil demi-gods hold sway, threatens Miss Wastefield's very sanity and, despite her best efforts, refuses to be parted from its owner.

In the second, the Cargo family and their solicitor, Mr Arthur Liffey, seek out Jerry Squailes, the mysteriously elusive beneficiary of a significant piece of their grandfather's estate. This particular sub-plot is more recognizable as the product of the combined influences of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. We are witness to a superbly crafted detective story involving skullduggery, fraudulent wills and, ultimately, even the appearance of a wonderfully traditional Victorian ghost.

Unfortunately, the two plot lines, while they bump into one another and occasionally interact, never conjoin and become inter-dependent. I finished the novel with the distinct feeling that Barlough had two independent ideas sufficient unto themselves for a novella length story and felt compelled to shoehorn them together in order to produce something with sufficient length to be classed as a novel. This left me with a mystifying and disturbing sense of non-completion even though both stories wound down with nothing that even the most particular reader could classify as a loose end. It somehow just didn't seem quite right!

That said, Barlough's style and his mastery of dialogue, characterization and scene setting is more than enough to justify reading his work and I'll look eagerly for that next novel in this very special world.

Paul Weiss

On the alternate Earth Jeffrey Barlough has created, characters who would not be out of place in a Dickens novel coexist with beings that we know only through the study of paleontology. Thus, prissy Victorian types are not taken aback when they see a mastodon, or hear of someone who had a fatal encounter with a saber-toothed tiger. It's a world of wonders, where strange rocks enable houses to double as airborne vessels, and dark forces are at work just outside the fringes of normal human perception.

Strange Cargo marks Barlough's third visit to this world, following 1998's Dark Sleeper, and 2001's House in the High Wood. It begins in the coastal town of Nantel, as the occupant of a lighthouse observes an airborne house floating by through the fog. It also ends there, when the dual plotlines Barlough develops, involving the search for the beneficiary of a prominent citizen's will, and that of an orphan who seeks to divest herself of a terrible supernatural burden, eventually converge.

The leisurely unfolding of Barlough's plot allows him to explore his strange terrain in loving detail, with many asides and detours along the way; he clearly loves the world he's created and the eccentrics he's peopled it with, folks with delightful names like Matthew Mulks, Tim Christmas, and Malachi Threadneedle. Obviously influenced and inspired by the likes of Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft, Barlough's major personal quirk is the tendency to "wander off" mid -story to explore something that's caught his attention. It's a habit which readers will either love or loathe, depending on their temperament. Most will likely find it charming, a quality which, when combined with Barlough's obvious gift for language, makes for satisfying reading.