Novahead

Beerlight #4

by Steve Aylett

About to quit the failed experiment of civilisation, fake detective Taffy Atom is detained by one last case - a boy with a bomb in his mind. But what's the trigger? Pursued by cops, mobsters, mercenaries and a mechanical swan, Atom carries the bomb and trigger through Beerlight City, the single holdout of creative mischief in a world overtaken by the trend-led Fadlands. By the relentless principles of gun karma Aylett's final Beerlight book lands you in the Delayed Reaction Bar and fixes you a glass of antifreeze with everything in it. Listen to your heart. It will not stop slowly. "The most original and most consciousness-altering living writer in the English language, not to mention one of the funniest. In NOVAHEAD Aylett delivers his most searing work to date and comes up with noir fiction so black it's fluorescent" - Alan Moore. Steve Aylett has been described as "utterly original" (SFX), "an unstoppable master of space and time" (Asimov's), "the most original voice in the literary scene" (Michael Moorcock) and "the coolest writer alive today" (Starburst). "Aylett has made a career out of redefining the boundaries of science fiction - and sanity." - Barnes & Noble Spotlight Feature.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Bizarro Fiction, Novels

184 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2011

About the author

Steve Aylett is a satirical science fiction and weird slipstream author of books such as LINT, The Book Lovers and Slaughtermatic, and comics including Hyperthick. He is known for his colourful satire attacking the manipulations of authority. Aylett is synaesthetic. He lives in Scotland.

Reviews

[Bradley]

Steve Aylett is trapped in a world where he smarter and more talented than everyone else and he's trying to write his way back to his home planet. This planet will not become aware of his brilliance until after his death.

[Christopher]

Skull-cracking. Finally, after several decades of the norm, a wildly bold new voice in fiction. I wish Steve Aylett would do some mainstream comic book work, that stale horse is starting to stink up the joint with its aggressive scorn for blazing new trails or original concepts.

[Felix Millar]

If you've ever had any respect for anything I've ever said you should look at this series with a serious and watering eye. It's a tray of delicious treat sentences enrobed in rich beefy chocolate shells. It brought about in me a similar mental state to after finishing disco elysium and not sleeping.

[Paul]

Just couldn't get into it. Not enough plot, characterisation, wisecracks for me, but that just says more about what I was expecting than the book itself. Worth trying but I'll not be rushing back for more

[Ann]

This was a tremendous final chapter in the Beerlight saga. Profound, infinitely quotable, Aylett at his best.

[Jonathan Norton]

Jolly good.