The Percolated Stars

by Rhys Hughes

This is the book Jules Verne might have written if he had studied philosophy with the Marquis de Sade in a lunatic asylum. An astro-caffeine romp and perverted metaphysical fantasy set on the planets of a miniature solar system in the center of the hollow Earth. When a comet cracks open our world and allows these planets to spill out into the greater cosmos, only one man can exploit the catastrophe fully, the demented astronomer and coffee merchant Batavus Droogstoppel... but Batavus is now two men, a circumstance that constantly continues to complicate the chaos...

210 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

A writer of Speculative Fiction who uses fantasy and comedy to explore unusual concepts. Known for his original ideas, intricate plots, love of paradox, and entertaining wordplay.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Percolated Stars is a novel made up of three novellas:

Ultima Thule
Thais Von Oort
The Wardrobe World

This is the book Jules Verne might have written if he had studied philosophy with the Marquis de Sade in a lunatic asylum. A sexually perverted metaphysical fantasy set on the planets of a miniature solar system in the center of the earth.

The book is dedicated to Ray Russell.

[S.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batavus Droogstoppel and a second iteration of himself--one obsessed with coffee and the other astronomy--indulge in frequently debauched misadventures among the various planets which inhabit the fathomless depths of the unknown universe. Chaos ensues.

This really is the kind of madcap co(s)mic novel on which Jules Verne and Douglas Adams might have collaborated after spending a couple decades in a 19th century British insane asylum. I'm looking forward to more of this author's work!

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know where you will find this book but its a fantastic ride. Like a bizarre Frankenstein monster made up of Jules Verne, Jack Vance, Mason Dixon era Pynchon, and Lem sucking helium and rewritting the laws of the universe. It also features one of the most jaw-dropping pornographic sequences in all literature...some one needs to reprint this..print it widely.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first full-length work I've read by Rhys Hughes and it is long overdue (the novel has sat on my shelves for ten years after buying it new, like so many other books). Anyway, as expected, it was totally bonkers.

As I was reading I wondered how I might summarise the plot in this review. In some respects it's quite simple, in others...well, I decided to quote from the second section of the novel to demonstrate: "And so the chase proceeded, two men who were the same man, both cursed with unfeasible erections, mine from an automatic surge of glee at my own cleverness, his from the prospect of making love to a comet, hopping and stumbling and lurching in identical footprints."

And that only describes one instant. The book is filled with nonsense - albeit nonsense that follows its own internal logic - and is thoroughly entertaining. I'm sure there are a multitude of references which went over my head, and several through other parts of my body. Hughes uses a strange mixture of the esoterical with schoolboy humour in a very knowing fashion, but it's the real deal not the emperor's new clothes. Quite simply, you just have to read it.

[Kyle Muntz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel was absolutely amazing. I remember reading somewhere that Hughes himself considers it his best book, and it's easy to see why. The second story especially is brilliant piece of storytelling.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be fair, this is probably closer to a 3 star for me, but I found it oddly disturbing and original in its concept and execution. I was taken for a ride through some gory place of horror, and it was actually pretty good.
It would have been better if more care was taken to make things coherent, because as it was, I had a hard time following what was happening and where they were. Some of this was put to good effect, but mostly it took away from the story in my opinion.

They go on a journey through the planet or through the universe or through the body or the graves of everyone who's ever died and people eat the bones and make them into boats and require your skin for leather to make shoes.

3.5