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Title: The Prophecy Machine by Neal Barrett Jr. ISBN: 0-553-58195-3 Publisher: Spectra Books Pub. Date: 28 November, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Outstanding
Comment: "There's no use blaming yourself for this grievous turn of events. It is your fault, of course, but there's little you can do about that. Wisdom comes easily to the man who's waiting for the axeman's blade to fall. For the first time in his life, he knows exactly where he's going next."
This quote, uttered by an argumentative mechanical lizard named Julia Jessica Slagg, exemplifies "The Prophecy Machine". Neil Barrett Jr. wrote two of these delightful comic fantasy novels. I read the sequel, "The Treachery of Kings", last year, and found it to be one of the most brilliant and eccentric novels I'd ever read. I'm actually a little bit less enchanted with "The Prophecy Machine", but it's still a quite impressive achievement.
Master lizard-maker Finn and his lovely wife Letitia Louise are trying to take a vacation, but an unfortunate set of circumstances strands them in the land of Makasar. Along with them is the aforementioned mechanical lizard, a creature named Julia Jessica Slagg, with a sharp tongue. This odd trio makes for one of the most entertaining sets of relationships in imaginative fiction. The dialogue they trade, and the subtle interplay of their personalities, is delightful. Barrett's intuition for comic timing is amazing, and his dark, cynical sense of humor cuts through all pretense.
Now I could go into a further plot summary, but I think I'll let you discover all the clever parts of this book for yourself. Barrett's name is not widely recognized, even among fantasy geeks, but the same could be said of many today's most talented writers. After "The Prophecy Machine" and "The Treachery of Kings", he certainly deserves to enjoy the same fame as Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.
Rating: 4
Summary: A very odd story...
Comment:
An odd couple (inter-species?) with an odd vocation (lizard-maker) and an unusual companion (a mechanical lizard) get waylayed in a strange land with weird customs and nonsensical religions and are forced to take refuge in a bizarre house with a strange family and fight through a ton of weird situations to extricate themselves.
A variety of plotlines are left hanging and the "prophecy machine" itself is not explored very much and even in the end there are a lot of unanswered questions. Furthermore the action itself is somewhat unsettling, kind of like watching a sci-fi fantasy train-wreck spoil the heroes' vacation. Although it's a page-turner that keeps you reading I couldn't really call it enjoyable - the house, offkilter and dizzying, could in fact be a metaphor for the effect this book has on the reader.
I give it three stars for general quality and a fourth star just for the weird originality that is it's defining characteristic.
Rating: 4
Summary: How very very strange and wonderful....
Comment: ...this is a thrill ride into the strange and bizarre world of Mr. Neal Barrett Jr. and what a wonderful world this is...
It has a lot of ideas that I haven't seen anywhere, and even though it seems a bit weird and at times childish, it is... but it is also its strength.
I would like to say something about what the book is about, but it would take some of the fun out of reading it... so I won't.
Enjoy it!
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Title: The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 2) by Neal Stephenson ISBN: 0060523867 Publisher: William Morrow & Company Pub. Date: 01 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Spin State by Chris Moriarty ISBN: 0553382136 Publisher: Spectra Books Pub. Date: 30 September, 2003 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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Title: The Knight (The Wizard Knight, Book 1) by Gene Wolfe ISBN: 0765309890 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases by Jeff Vandermeer, Tim Lebbon, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, China Mieville, Michael Moorcock, Kage Baker, Mark Roberts, Stepan Chapman ISBN: 1892389541 Publisher: Night Shade Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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Title: The Killing of Worlds by Scott Westerfeld ISBN: 0765308509 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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