Book of the Week

Mordew by Alex Pheby
Recommended by AJB

Mordew has the most exciting blurb I've read in years:

'GOD IS DEAD, his corpse hidden in the catacombs beneath Mordew.

In the slums of the sea-battered city a young boy called Nathan Treeves lives with his parents, eking out a meagre existence by picking treasures from the Living Mud and the half-formed, short-lived creatures it spawns. Until one day his desperate mother sells him to the mysterious Master of Mordew.

The Master derives his magical power from feeding on the corpse of God. But Nathan, despite his fear and lowly station, has his own strength – and it is greater than the Master has ever known. Great enough to destroy everything the Master has built. If only Nathan can discover how to use it.

So it is that the Master begins to scheme against him – and Nathan has to fight his way through the betrayals, secrets, and vendettas of the city where God was murdered, and darkness reigns…'

As the blurb might suggest, this is one for fans of Philip Pullman and Gormenghast, while in no way feeling derivative of either. Initially you may fear you are going to drown in neologisms, but things soon settle down into a novel that is conceptually interesting but highly readable. You can only admire the originality and range of its author whose previous novels have included a life of James Joyce's daughter and Playthings, 'arguably the best neuronovel ever written'.

All these books are published by Galley Beggar Press, a 'small but mighty' independent publisher, which accurately defines itself as 'committed to publishing daring, innovative fiction'. Their novels might not always have the superficial polish you'd find with a mainstream publisher, but this is where genuinely exciting writing is happening, Ducks, Newsburyport recently bringing them some much deserved Booker-Prize attention [find out what Nikolas Boyd-Carpenter thought of the novel in at last year's Predict the Booker prize event here]. Writers might like to check out their courses and short-story competitions.