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Malignos (Paperback)

by Richard Calder (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 359 pages
  • Publisher: Earthlight (3 April 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 067103720X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0671037208
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 971,624 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Richard Calder's offbeat blend of SF, sexuality and surrealism began with his debut novel Dead Girls, Dead Boys, Dead Things. Malignos introduces a 53rd-century Earth where technology has lapsed thanks to invading, transforming "perversion" from outside our universe. New races have spun off from humanity, malignos in the traditional shapes of demons--horned, scaled, sometimes bat-winged, and mostly exiled to a vast, artificial underworld.

Antihero Richard Pike is a professional killer and insufferable snob who finds female malignos sexually irresistible, and has shacked up with Gala, one of the few who lives above ground. He loves her so much that he rents out her body and lives on the earnings. Then Gala's past catches up, and to rescue her from drug-induced mindlessness Pike faces a literal journey to the centre of the earth. The path descends through exotic wonders: a freak show of caged humans, flying swarms of hungry child malignos, awesome cities and seas, shadow-beings and chimeras, a descent through the maelstrom to a tropical Torrid Zone, semi-magical tricks with space and gravity whose secret is long lost--and at the core the city or world of Pandemonium, where all answers await.

Pike suffers considerably, usually through his own folly: pursuing sexily demonic girls leads him into traps, and he's repeatedly told (often comically, and sometimes by himself) what a bastard he is. He betters himself a little, though, and carries his underworld quest to an unexpected end. Calder's darkly poetic imagination and rich landscape-building make for enjoyable reading. --David Langford

Product Description
It is the 53rd century. After an unknown catalysm the ability to invent or maintain technology vanished. Humanity has separated into those who live on the surface and those who live underground - the "Malignos". Captain Pike must venture underground to find an antidote for the poison fed to Gala.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Picaresque Orpheus, 11 Feb 2002
I guess this book falls into the category of science fantasy - a strange halfway house between more familiar genres. I stumbled on it by chance as on of Amazon's "Others buying this book bought..." and I'm glad that I did - I really enjoyed it.

Malignos is unusual in that it is a picaresque novel - all the central character's numerous flaws are clearly laid before us but still we like him. It's a genre that was favourite of Russian literature but not so common here. I hope Richard Calder repeats the experience for us.

Calder synthesises something different from an intriguing blend of styles and conventions. There are nods and winks at Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast, not least in the protagonist's name which clearly hints at Peake's Steerpike. The tale as a whole loosely alludes to the classical Orpheus and Eurydice myth. Calder conjures up an interesting world that has a number of intriguing ambiguities to it and he exploits these to the full. The story moves along at a good pace and I found plenty to sustain my interest.

The central character, Pike, is revealed to us in a variety of cunning ways. There are the casual throwaway shockers, like his adjusting his mascara and lip gloss before going into battle. However, his vanity and fastidiousness is delightfully portrayed by the extraordinarily rich vocabulary that Calder puts into his mouth. Obscure words come so thick and fast that some readers may find they get between them and the story - but I loved them and felt this language aspect gave Pike a credible roundness.

I consider this book a happy discovery and look forward to reading more by the same author.

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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a fantastic read, 19 Jan 2001
By A Customer
Richard Calder just gets better! His earlier works, such as the dead trilogy, are great reads, but can seem a little disjointed and confusing in places. Malignos retains richard calders unique and highly enjoyable writing style, but reads as a much less confusing story.

Don't get me wrong, i love all richard calders work, and recommend them all as enjoyable reads, but i believe that malignos is the best so far.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Going Underground, 1 Oct 2007
By dogbarkssome (England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)      
While it works as a stand-alone story Richard Calder's 7th novel can also be read as a distant sequel to 'Frenzetta', picking up again on the concept of a humanity tainted by the perverse souls of a desotryed parallel universe. As with 'Frenzetta' this is a mix of science fiction and fantasty, with shades of Moorcock (particularly Elric and his 'spirited' sword), as vain anti-hero Richard Pike descends into the underworld to save his lover and, perhaps, himself.

Calder has toned down the verbosity and madcap plotting of his earlier novels, and produced a straight-forward exciting adventure yarn full of colourful characters and locations. Personally I prefer the full-on madness of Calder's 'Dead Girls/Boys/Things' series, but this is still undeniably a cracking read, and due to it's less challenging nature a perfect book for those new readers interested in checking out this author.
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