Friday, November 19, 2010

[Review] "A Festival of Skeletons" by RJ Astruc


Talking about A Festival of Skeletons without mentioning the cover would be a bit like committing a crime. Look at it closely. Step back and then look again. I think that the cover does a great job of summarizing the plot, representing the novel’s core idea and setting the proper expectations.

Yes, this will be a hilarious tale of a fugly redhead midget in a pink dress [among other fashion choices], a predatory merwoman, a fat kitchenhand, a sour policewoman, and a few maniacs for colour. Yes, there will be undead. Yes, I bet my spleen that you’ll laugh.

The team at Crossed Genres surprised me with the decision to publish a novel, but having read R. J. Astruc’s mind-bending dark comedy, I can agree as to why. Fantasy needs new faces in the humorous section. Perhaps it speaks poorly of me, but when I have to think of humorous fantasy, I recall only one name: Terry Pratchett. Now, I’ve read in several reviews how Astruc is compared to Pratchett. While Atruc’s Kamphor can compete with Ankh-Morpork in its absurdity and while Astruc uses biting humor to criticize aspects of the modern society, I’d say that Astruc has an entirely different voice:

[The Rest of this review you can find at Innsmouth Free Press]

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