(Cue eager
1950s’ advertizing voice.) Looking for something new? Tired of that steady diet of popular fantasy
with the same dichotomies, the same sense of style, the same touch points? Need something fresh, something outside the
mainstream of genre? A plot that goes
none knows where? Characters so obtuse
they’re normal? Imagination of the most
esoteric? If this is you my friend, then
look no further than the incomparable Mr. James P. Blaylock! Fabulist extraordinaire, he mixes a drop of
the supernatural into the mundane affairs of Joe Average to create a concoction
most quirky—and pleasing for it! Run,
run, run to your corner bookshop and pick a book today!
After such
a review introduction, I should pause to note the above tone is all in good fun,
but the message is real; Blaylock is the scribe for the reader looking for
something outside the fantasy norm. His
oeuvre unique across the spectrum of speculative fiction, one may choose almost
anywhere (save the middle of series, or course) and walk away satisfied. Take for example his delightful 1988 The Last Coin—as consistent, individual,
and delightful as the day it was published.
