Last February, we featured a sleeper of a novel entitled Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory's critically acclaimed debut novel about demonic possession with a truly cool twist... In fact, Publishers Weekly called it "darkly ambitious" and "highly original" and gave it a rare Starred Review!
One editor I know called it "the best debut" he'd ever read. One of my favorite writers, Paul Witcover, described it as: "...an unusually strong debut, a quirky fantasy whose Pynchonesque elements are more statisfying than the plot to which they are harnessed. That plot, ar at any rate its resolution, draws too heavily on Twilight Zone tropes and a classic Harlan Ellison story whose title alone would qualify as a major spoiler. But the novel transcends its debt to these sources thanks to a vivid narrative voice, an oddball cast of characters, and a pervasive sense of anarchy that seems perpetually on the verge of spinning out of control."
Now, we're featuring his latest novel, a book that, like Pandemonium, is somewhat of a sleeper but one that has appeared on numerous reviewers' "Best Of 2009" lists – The Devil's Alphabet, a novel that PW called a "quietly brilliant second novel."
Here's the rest of the review – "As a teen, Paxton Martin left the town of Switchcreek, Tenn., to escape a scandal and the retrovirus that afflicted many of the town's inhabitants. Many died hideously, and most survivors turned into strange creatures: towering argos, parthenogenic betas, enormously obese charlies. A decade later, Pax returns home to attend the funeral of a close friend who has committed suicide. Hoping to avoid his estranged father, Pax plans to leave immediately after the funeral, but he soon finds himself caught up in both the complexities of his old life and the deep quantum weirdness that Switchcreek has become. A wide variety of believable characters, a well-developed sense of place and some fascinating scientific speculation will earn this understated novel an appreciative audience among fans of literary SF."
So, Daryl Gregory is obviously a exceptional new talent in the field of speculative fiction – whenever a SF or fantasy is termed "literary" in a review, I know that I have to read it!
Paul
I just read the prologue and first chapter of Raising Stony Mayhall on Daryl's website. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the book coming out later this Spring.
Here is the link if anyone want's to read it: http://darylgregory.com/stony/Default.aspx
