The Vorrh

The Vorrh by Catling, Brian. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781473606616.

In The Vorrh we have one of the most original and stunning works of fantasy that has ever been my privilege to read. Alan Moore In the tradition of China Miéville, Michael Moorcock and Alasdair Gray, B. Catlings The Vorrh is literary dark fantasy which wilfully ignores boundaries, crossing over into surrealism, magic-realism, horror and steampunk. In B. Catlings twisting, poetic narrative, Bakelite robots lie broken - their hard shells cracked by human desire - and an inquisitive Cyclops waits for his keeper and guardian, growing in all directions. Beyond the colonial city of Essenwald lies the Vorrh, the forest which sucks souls and wipes minds. There, a writer heads out on a giddy mission to experience otherness, fallen angels observe humanity from afar, and two hunters - one carrying a bow carved from his lover, the other a charmed Lee-Enfield rifle - fight to the end. Thousands of miles away, famed photographer Eadweard Muybridge attempts to capture the ultimate truth, as rifle heiress Sarah Winchester erects a house to protect her from the spirits of her guns victims.