Titus GroanFirst in the classic gothic trilogy. “A masterpiece . . . a moody, melancholy comedy with an underlying wit and profundity that cannot be denied.” —Speculiction The basis for the 2000 BBC series Now in development by Showtime As the novel opens, Titus, heir to Lord Sepulchrave, has just been born. He stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that form Gormenghast Castle. Meanwhile, far away and in the kitchen, a servant named Steerpike escapes his drudgework and begins an auspicious ascent to power. Inside of Gormenghast, all events are predetermined by complex rituals, the origins of which are lost in time. The castle is peopled by dark characters in half-lit corridors. Dreamlike and macabre, Peake’s extraordinary novel is one of the most astonishing and fantastic works in modern fiction. Praise the Gormenghast Trilogy “Mervyn Peake is a finer poet than Edgar Allan Poe, and he is therefore able to maintain his world of fantasy brilliantly through three novels. It is a very, very great work.” —Robertson Davies, New York Times-bestselling author “A sumptuous, poetic epic . . . considered by some to have an equal or even greater degree of importance to the development of modern fantasy as Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.” —SFF180 “Mervyn Peake’s gothic masterpiece, the Gormenghast trilogy, begins with the superlative Titus Groan, a darkly humorous, stunningly complex tale of the first two years in the life of the heir to an ancient, rambling castle . . . This true classic is a feast of words unlike anything else in the world of fantasy. Those who explore Gormenghast castle will be richly rewarded.” —SFF Book Reviews |
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Abiatha Swelter arms Barquentine began beneath birds body Breakfast carvings castle chair chef Clarice clever climbed clouds colour conifers Cora corner corridor Countess cried dark dear Doctor Prunesquallor door Earl edge elderberry wine eyes face father feet felt fingers Flay floor forward Fuchsia Groan gazed Gertrude glass Gormenghast Gormenghast Castle grey hair hall hand head heard heart hour Irma Keda kitchen knees knew Ladyships legs lifted light lips look Lord Sepulchrave Lordship Mervyn Peake mouth moved Nannie Slagg neck never night old nurse once peered Pentecost rain Rantel Rottcodd servant shadows shoulders side silence smile sound Sourdust stared Steerpike stone stood suddenly Swelter swordstick tell thing throat Titus Titus Groan Tower trees turned twins twisted voice walked wall watched west wing window wing