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Product Description
Review
'David Lee Stone is a wonderfully mad new talent to watch. He has a truly original comic voice and you won't forget his hysterically hopeless (rather than heroic) characters in a hurry!' -- Wendy Cooling 'many comical elements and a touch of Mervyn Peake' -- The Children's Bookseller 20030321 The Illmoor Chronicles include all the ingredients any self respecting young, or indeed old, bookworm could desire - wizards, goblins, sprites and vampires, plus a lot of comedy. -- Kent on Sunday 20040620
Product Description
The Duke of Dullitch is in distress - several reports are coming in that the city is beginning to be over-run by a plague of rats. Naturally he has killed off all witnesses, but daily the problem is becoming more obvious. His corrupt council, led by the hapless ex-wizard Tambor has no solutions. He must send for mercenaries to rid his city of the rampant rodents. Heralds ride out from every gate, each hoping to bring back the saviour of the city. Part-time herald, full-time thief, and grandson to Tambor, Jimmy Quickstint is the lucky man - falling haphazardly upon the skills of Diek Wustapha - a charmer - recently inhabited by magic and suddenly irresistible to girls, sheep - and rats. Diek fulfils his task and is promised GBP500 for his troubles. But once the rats have gone, the council renege on their deal. Full of anger (and magic), Diek charms the children of Dullitch out of the city, playing on his mouth organ, where he disappears into the caves and woodland of the surrounding area. The Duke is now in despair. Jimmy and his useless friends Groan, a barbarian mercenary, and Gordo, a dwarf - decide they will bring the children back, and garner a huge reward. But their adventure is only just beginning!
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First Sentence
. . . whoosh. Diek Wustapha dropped his flute. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
. . . whoosh. Diek Wustapha dropped his flute. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm still in pain from the effects of this book. The Ratastrophe Catastrophe is, apparently, the start of the Illmoor Chronicles. I read it on my hols (in the USA, no less!)
and I'd definitely recommend it for this purpose. The characters
are totally deranged, the black humour is absolutely guy-busting, and the story - a familiar pied-pipery tale - is turned on its head and rolled down a hill! Magically enfuelled Diek Wustapha marches into Dullitch to fix their rat problem,
ends up kidnapping the kids and is pursued across the land by a horde of nutcase mercenaries (they're actually weirder than the mercenary line up in Empire Strikes Back). These mercenaries have names like Groan (as in moan), Tambor and Quickstint! While Ratastrophe Catastrophe is not as universally appealing as
Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl, it certainly a damn funny book -
it's already been knicked off my shelf by my dad (though he reckons he's only 'skimming' it).
and I'd definitely recommend it for this purpose. The characters
are totally deranged, the black humour is absolutely guy-busting, and the story - a familiar pied-pipery tale - is turned on its head and rolled down a hill! Magically enfuelled Diek Wustapha marches into Dullitch to fix their rat problem,
ends up kidnapping the kids and is pursued across the land by a horde of nutcase mercenaries (they're actually weirder than the mercenary line up in Empire Strikes Back). These mercenaries have names like Groan (as in moan), Tambor and Quickstint! While Ratastrophe Catastrophe is not as universally appealing as
Harry Potter or Artemis Fowl, it certainly a damn funny book -
it's already been knicked off my shelf by my dad (though he reckons he's only 'skimming' it).
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
David Lee Stone's first Illmoor Chronicle is not quite a catastrophe, but it's not good either. The first of this fantasy series, "The Ratastrophe Catastrophe," is one of those books that has to strain to be halfway funny and a quarter entertaining, but doesn't quite manage it.
Evil magic possesses a very ordinary young man named Diek, making his eye glow and giving him the power to charm animals and people with music. At about the same time, the ancient, run-down city of Dullitch is suddenly overriden with thousands of giant rats. Diek offers to charm them away, for a price. He does so... only to be informed that there isn't enough to pay him.
So he charms all the city's children away. So the dim Duke hires some not-so-competant mercenaries, including belligerent dwarf Gordo, crocheted-hat-wearing giant Groan, and has-been wizard Tambor. But can they find the missing children and defeat the evil magic in time, or will the parents of Dullitch revolt?
Something magical is missing from "Ratastrophe Catastrophe," and it's not just because of the constant comparisons to Terry Pratchett. A few too many things -- Dullitch, the Duke, the guilds, even the magical possession story -- are similar to Pratchett's Discworld, but that wouldn't be a problem if Stone had crafted a funny, witty fantasy.
Unfortunately, he tried and failed. With an old plot like the Pied Piper, a story needs exceptional wit to stand out. Unfortunately Stone seems focused more on contrived jokes that really aren't that funny, like hair loss or the Tower of Screaming Doom. They're a little funny, but not so funny that you might actually laugh at them. If he just let the humour flow, it would have worked better.
And even more unfortunately, all the time that Stone spends on his jokes takes away from the characters. They're all paper-thin one-joke characters -- inept wizard, big doof, grumpy dwarf, corrupt politicians. And the most interesting characters vanish pretty quickly, such as the weirdo who is mad because he LIKED having a rat infestation.
Humorous fairy-tale retellings are a common thing, but David Lee Stone adds little to the genre in "The Ratastrophe Catastrophe." Here's hoping the second book of the series has some substance.
Evil magic possesses a very ordinary young man named Diek, making his eye glow and giving him the power to charm animals and people with music. At about the same time, the ancient, run-down city of Dullitch is suddenly overriden with thousands of giant rats. Diek offers to charm them away, for a price. He does so... only to be informed that there isn't enough to pay him.
So he charms all the city's children away. So the dim Duke hires some not-so-competant mercenaries, including belligerent dwarf Gordo, crocheted-hat-wearing giant Groan, and has-been wizard Tambor. But can they find the missing children and defeat the evil magic in time, or will the parents of Dullitch revolt?
Something magical is missing from "Ratastrophe Catastrophe," and it's not just because of the constant comparisons to Terry Pratchett. A few too many things -- Dullitch, the Duke, the guilds, even the magical possession story -- are similar to Pratchett's Discworld, but that wouldn't be a problem if Stone had crafted a funny, witty fantasy.
Unfortunately, he tried and failed. With an old plot like the Pied Piper, a story needs exceptional wit to stand out. Unfortunately Stone seems focused more on contrived jokes that really aren't that funny, like hair loss or the Tower of Screaming Doom. They're a little funny, but not so funny that you might actually laugh at them. If he just let the humour flow, it would have worked better.
And even more unfortunately, all the time that Stone spends on his jokes takes away from the characters. They're all paper-thin one-joke characters -- inept wizard, big doof, grumpy dwarf, corrupt politicians. And the most interesting characters vanish pretty quickly, such as the weirdo who is mad because he LIKED having a rat infestation.
Humorous fairy-tale retellings are a common thing, but David Lee Stone adds little to the genre in "The Ratastrophe Catastrophe." Here's hoping the second book of the series has some substance.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When this book first came out, I pretty much ignored it because everyone said it was a 'ladsndads' read. I finally bought it last week, (mainly because so many of you on here hype it up so much).
and I'm very glad I did. It's probably not the best book I've read this year, but it's definitely in my top five. It's funny, original and I loved the character names. The map is hillarious - there's places like Shinbone and Phlegm! I think the main reason people said this was just for boys was because there aren't enough girls IN IT. In fact, I counted one. Still, I'd certainly recommend it to the lads (or any girls with a blokish sense of humour).
and I'm very glad I did. It's probably not the best book I've read this year, but it's definitely in my top five. It's funny, original and I loved the character names. The map is hillarious - there's places like Shinbone and Phlegm! I think the main reason people said this was just for boys was because there aren't enough girls IN IT. In fact, I counted one. Still, I'd certainly recommend it to the lads (or any girls with a blokish sense of humour).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not as good as it wants to be.
Its obvious from the sort of humour used that the book is aiming to be much in the style of Terry Pratchett. Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2007 by Matthew Poole
Bit of a giggle
I found this book in a car boot sale for a pound and having just spent the last 2 or 3 months reading 'View from the Mirror Quartet' I fancyed something short not too serious and... Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2007 by C. Parrott
Not bad for 1p :-)
While the comparisons with Pratchett are obvious and, indeed, unavoidable (at many points in the book you could be forgiven for accidentally reading Ankh-Morpork instead of... Read more
Published on 26 Mar 2006 by "-craiga-"
The Start of An Amazing Series
I've read Rat Cat a few times now, and I haven't posted a review before because, although I loved it, I did think it was the weakest of the series. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2006 by "theironminx"
A Bad Pratchett Rip Off
Readers who enjoy Terry Pratchett's Discworld series might be tempted to try Stone's The Ratastrophe Catastrophe which with the notation Vol.1 threatens to be a series. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2005 by NNNNN
Good but unoriginal
This is the most unoriginal but funny book I have ever read. If you're a Terry Pratchett fan you'll grasp the point of book straight away, but be somewhat confused that Terry... Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2003
Scary, funny and very ACTION PACKED!
I found the first half of this book to be extremely scary; the character of Diek is quite odd and - as he falls under the influence of evil magic - he becomes REALLY twisted... Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2003 by Peter Garratt
Maybe everyone else read a different book?
This is an unbelievably trite book, about as funny as a car crash, and with exactly the same depth of subtlty and nuance. Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2003 by Andrew J. Codling
This book is hilarious
This book could not get any funnier from the chapter one plus I found it to be full of witticisms, irony and with a totally nonchalant attitude to things, which all just added to... Read more
Published on 26 July 2003 by Jack
Wickedly strange.....and VERY funny.
David Lee Stone's take on the pied-piper yarn is completely off the wall. Complete with a case of thieves, zombies, magicians and rats, the Illmoor Chronicles are sure to be a... Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2003 by Clive Warren
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