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Tall Tales From Pitch End
Ruled by the Elders, policed by an unforgiving battalion of Enforcers and watched by hundreds of clockwork Sentries, Pitch End is a town where everybody knows their place.
Soon-to-be fifteen-year-old Bruno Atlas still mourns the death of his Rebel father ten years ago, and treasures the book of stories he secretly uncovered: the Tall Tales from Pitch End. After discovering a chilling plot planned by the Elders, Bruno flees, escaping to the mountains where a bunch of disparate young Rebels are planning a final attack on Pitch End.
With secrets and betrayal lying around every corner, Bruno will find himself fighting not only for his life, but the life of the town.
Soon-to-be fifteen-year-old Bruno Atlas still mourns the death of his Rebel father ten years ago, and treasures the book of stories he secretly uncovered: the Tall Tales from Pitch End. After discovering a chilling plot planned by the Elders, Bruno flees, escaping to the mountains where a bunch of disparate young Rebels are planning a final attack on Pitch End.
With secrets and betrayal lying around every corner, Bruno will find himself fighting not only for his life, but the life of the town.
384 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2013
6 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Nigel McDowell
4 books10 followersFrom Nigel McDowell's blog (http://www.nigelmcdowellauthor.com/ab...)
I grew up in County Fermanagh, rural Northern Ireland, and as a child spent most of my time battling boredom, looking for adventure - crawling through ditches, climbing trees, devising games to play with my brother and sister, and reading. My favourite book as a child was The Witches by Roald Dahl.
After graduating with a degree in English (and having no clue what to do with it!), I decided to go off on another adventure, spending almost two years living and working in Australia and New Zealand. With me I took a small notebook containing notes about a boy called "Bruno Atlas", and a seaside town called "Pitch End". When I returned to Ireland after my travels, one notebook had multiplied into many, and eventually my notes for Tall Tales from Pitch End filled a large cardboard box...
Picture
I now live in London. I have written articles on film and literature for a number of websites. I'm always on the hunt for books about folklore and fairytale.
My debut novel, Tall Tales from Pitch End, was published by Hot Key Books in June 2013.
My second novel, The Black North, was published on 5th June 2014.
I grew up in County Fermanagh, rural Northern Ireland, and as a child spent most of my time battling boredom, looking for adventure - crawling through ditches, climbing trees, devising games to play with my brother and sister, and reading. My favourite book as a child was The Witches by Roald Dahl.
After graduating with a degree in English (and having no clue what to do with it!), I decided to go off on another adventure, spending almost two years living and working in Australia and New Zealand. With me I took a small notebook containing notes about a boy called "Bruno Atlas", and a seaside town called "Pitch End". When I returned to Ireland after my travels, one notebook had multiplied into many, and eventually my notes for Tall Tales from Pitch End filled a large cardboard box...
Picture
I now live in London. I have written articles on film and literature for a number of websites. I'm always on the hunt for books about folklore and fairytale.
My debut novel, Tall Tales from Pitch End, was published by Hot Key Books in June 2013.
My second novel, The Black North, was published on 5th June 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 30, 2013
I'm impressed.... Tall Tales From Pitch End was written in somewhat of a unique way. Simply by the mannerisms and language used, it separated itself from the crowd. During the beginning quarter, there was something almost lyrical about the way Nigel Mcdowel describes Bruno's situation. Pitch End's dialogue and writing style, was both a surprise and delight to me.
"Bruno dared his eyes open and say smoke. He felt the dizzy orchestra of noise, the tearing like material being shorn in two, everywhere crackling, splintering, buckling, groaning like a dragon's insides."
From there on, Bruno's plot line takes off, spanning the small town of Pitch End - and beyond. Some sentences (due to the accent of the rebels) were slightly jarring, however the general scope and feel of the area was easily conveyed. The location of the story itself - despite being stereotypical, had a few twists of its own. I don't know how Nigel did it, but he made a small, closed off town - rustically endearing.
Do not mistake the point of Pitch End though. This "tale" (no pun intended) is a story about a town, with accents of magic and timepieces, not the other way around. Expect lots of effort to be spent on the town, and lots of labour to be used on stories. This is (by the way) not so much of a bad thing!
The last thing I want to talk about is Pitch End's supernatural side. Although it may not have been at the forefront; it is still worth mentioning. I simply love the simplistic idea of "talents" and how they work. The Book of Black and White, as well as the overall moral of literature was refreshing. Bravo Nigel!
"Bruno dared his eyes open and say smoke. He felt the dizzy orchestra of noise, the tearing like material being shorn in two, everywhere crackling, splintering, buckling, groaning like a dragon's insides."
From there on, Bruno's plot line takes off, spanning the small town of Pitch End - and beyond. Some sentences (due to the accent of the rebels) were slightly jarring, however the general scope and feel of the area was easily conveyed. The location of the story itself - despite being stereotypical, had a few twists of its own. I don't know how Nigel did it, but he made a small, closed off town - rustically endearing.
Do not mistake the point of Pitch End though. This "tale" (no pun intended) is a story about a town, with accents of magic and timepieces, not the other way around. Expect lots of effort to be spent on the town, and lots of labour to be used on stories. This is (by the way) not so much of a bad thing!
The last thing I want to talk about is Pitch End's supernatural side. Although it may not have been at the forefront; it is still worth mentioning. I simply love the simplistic idea of "talents" and how they work. The Book of Black and White, as well as the overall moral of literature was refreshing. Bravo Nigel!
August 28, 2013
A quirky, original book with lots of twists and turns. Bruno Atlas is a hero you find yourself cheering on. It's especially interesting for anyone from Northern Ireland - a Northern Irish book in tone and turn of phrase, without being all about the Troubles. I really enjoyed this book and would love to know what happens next. The ending leaves you wanting more.
July 30, 2013
A lovely poetic writing style, McDowell has created a fantasy world that is unique and fun to spend time in.
March 17, 2018
this book could have been good. but the constant use of ‘ye’ instead of ‘you’ drove me round the bend.
April 19, 2020
* Read for The Stay at Home Reading Rush 2020 - Read a book with a house on the cover *
*Read for the OWL's readathon 2020- Care of Magical Creatures prompt *
This wasn’t for me. It felt like a chore to read, and if I wasn’t being stubborn and reading it for two readathons, I think I would have DNF’d it.
*Read for the OWL's readathon 2020- Care of Magical Creatures prompt *
This wasn’t for me. It felt like a chore to read, and if I wasn’t being stubborn and reading it for two readathons, I think I would have DNF’d it.
July 2, 2017
Nice book. Not-so-nice ending.
March 16, 2014
This book was fascinating, the writing style, the plot, the world McDowell created and the characters. Every part of this book was intriguing in some way. Which is why I am slightly confused as to why I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. The writing was very poetic, and I found it unique and very different to the books I have been reading currently. The writing style fits perfectly with the world because the world is so imaginative and although this phrase is thrown about a lot – it is completely different to all other worlds I have read about.
But I could only give this book 3 stars, which probably doesn't correlate to my comments above. To come to this rating I did some Math… I did not enjoy the first 150-ish pages of this book, and if the book continued at the rate it did in these first 150 pages my rating would have been two stars. After the shaky start it improved drastically, it got so much better, so for the next 250-ish pages I was immersed, and I could not put the book down, so that part of the book would be worth four stars.
Now for the Maths: 150 pages = 40% of the book and 250 pages = 60% of the book.
So: (0.4x2)+(0.6x4) = 3.2. Which rounds down to a three star rating.
Complicated I know, but a complicated method fits a complex book. Complex this was, but I did like this book, some parts more than others, but the world and the history of the world was fantastic.
But I could only give this book 3 stars, which probably doesn't correlate to my comments above. To come to this rating I did some Math… I did not enjoy the first 150-ish pages of this book, and if the book continued at the rate it did in these first 150 pages my rating would have been two stars. After the shaky start it improved drastically, it got so much better, so for the next 250-ish pages I was immersed, and I could not put the book down, so that part of the book would be worth four stars.
Now for the Maths: 150 pages = 40% of the book and 250 pages = 60% of the book.
So: (0.4x2)+(0.6x4) = 3.2. Which rounds down to a three star rating.
Complicated I know, but a complicated method fits a complex book. Complex this was, but I did like this book, some parts more than others, but the world and the history of the world was fantastic.
August 22, 2014
This book was so good! I loved the main character, Bruno, and the fantasy-feel of the world it was set in, which is so similar to our own world. I lost interest slightly towards the middle but luckily the story picked up again right after! I'd recommend this book to anyone who liked adventure/ fantasy books as it definitely had a Terry-Pratchett feel about it. Also the ending is amazing- but I won't spoil it!
March 6, 2013
my review at-- http://booksandwritersjnr.wordpress.c...
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November 13, 2017I have decided not to rate this book as it’s a slippery one that defies a simple star rating. I loved the premise, world and language of the book so much but it veered between adventure novel and folklore in a way that the author did much better with his final work; House of Mountfathom. If I gave Tall Tales a rating for enjoyment it would only be a three but there’s something important about what the author was doing in this that I appreciated more than any rating can convey. Having read this and Mountfathom I mourn the loss of a writer who was important to my sentiments and would perhaps have grown to be seen as hugely important in the Irish literary scene. We are all trying to connect with the past and McDowell was writing it out for us. RIP.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews