The Digging Leviathan

Narbondo #1

by James P. Blaylock

Southern California - sunny days, blue skies, neighbours on flying bicycles ... ghostly submarines ... mermen off the Catalina coast ... and a vast underground sea stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Inland Empire where Chinese junks ply an illicit trade and enormous creatures from ages past still survive. It is a place of wonder ... and dark conspiracies. A place rife with adventure - if one knows where to look for it. Two such seekers are the teenagers Jim Hastings and his friend, Giles Peach. Giles was born with a wonderful set of gills along his neck and insatiable appetite for reading. Drawing inspiration from the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Giles is determined to build a Digging Leviathan. Will he reach the center of the earth? or destroy it in the process?

Genres: Steampunk, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure

276 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

James Paul Blaylock is an American fantasy author. He is noted for his distinctive style. He writes in a humorous way: His characters never walk, they clump along, or when someone complains (in a flying machine) that flight is impossible, the other characters agree and show him why he's right.

He was born in Long Beach, California; studied English at California State University, Fullerton, receiving an M.A. in 1974; and lives in Orange, California, teaching creative writing at Chapman University. Many of his books are set in Orange County, California, and can more specifically be termed "fabulism" — that is, fantastic things happen in our present-day world, rather than in traditional fantasy, where the setting is often some other world. His works have also been categorized as magic realism.

He and his friends Tim Powers and K.W. Jeter were mentored by Philip K. Dick. Along with Powers he invented the poet William Ashbless. Blaylock and Powers have often collaborated with each other on writing stories, including The Better Boy, On Pirates, and The William Ashbless Memorial Cookbook.

Blaylock is also currently director of the Creative Writing Conservatory at the Orange County High School of the Arts, where Powers is Writer in Residence.

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, every blurb I've read for The Digging Leviathan has been pretty misleading. I know part of this is just the nature of blurbs, they're there to get you to pick up the book to start with, not necessarily to be synopses. But, in this case, I feel it is my duty to explain why the blurbs have probably let to many disappointed readers.

The blurb creates the impression of an adventure. One would expect a plot like an adventure, i.e. ...and then this happens and then this obstacle and then GOAL! However, the book is actually about the anticipation of adventure and a group of protagonists who are varying degrees of insane, obsessive, or deluded. That's not to say that this group isn't also delightful, but they tend to wander through the world taking zorth turns in their thinking and getting in their own way.

So, readers who enjoy the type of story where they're not quite sure what is real, what is imagination, or if that distinction even matters, will love this book. It may have taken me a month to get through, but from the other side I love it.

P.S. Because one of my delights is categorizing books, I will note that this is most definitely not a steampunk book. There's a little misguided (¿mad?) science and a few zany devices, but this is firmly in the realm of magical realism.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I just finished "The Anubis Gates", and am on a bit of a William Ashbless kick, I decided it was high time to re-read this little gem. I'm finding that Powers, while I enjoy his work, is a bit more "rough and ready" and "gritty", whilst Blaylock, equally fantastical, is a bit gentler and sweeter. A bit more my speed.

Update: Just finished it (for the third or fourth time, I guess). It amazes me how much I've missed. It was almost like reading a completely new, fresh tale. Maybe I'm just learning to slow down a bit and savor the magic.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blaylock's brilliant masterpiece of modern fantasy about a group of eccentrics on a race to the center of the hollow Earth in 1950's California. All the characters are paranoid lunatics (the only sane and responsible one of the bunch is a 13-year old boy) with the action being driven by their wild schemes and even wilder imaginations and the story ending just where most people might think it should be beginning . . .

[Elizabeth Frey-Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flashes of smart storyline, dragged down by too many characters and an author who thinks he’s far more clever than the story indicates. I finished it, but have no desire to read the series.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Blaylock and his St. Ives adventures, in particular. Some of his early stories are hard to get into, including this one. In fact, I had to push myself through the first half of the book. In my opinion, it was likely easier for me to get through than for a first-time Blaylock reader. For that reason, I am disappointed in the overly-disjointed nature of the novel. Although this approach may be consistent with the plot, what little there is, it will likely prevent many first-time readers from finishing the book, or, more likely, from exploring some of Blaylock's better works.

One other significant issue I had throughout 80+% of the novel is that the protagonist's sanity is in question throughout the book. However, we are expected to follow some of the bits of logics hiding within his ranting (or are we?)... I spent most of my time thinking 'Huh?', and 'What the...?'...

Having said that, there are bright points, especially if you are into dry humor... ;)

[Fantasy Literature · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Digging Leviathan is the first book in James P. Blaylock’s LANGDON ST. IVES/NARBONDO series. I’ve been reading these out of order, which doesn’t seem to matter. The books have some overlapping characters, settings, and/or concepts, but each stands alone. The Digging Leviathan features two teenage boys, Jim Hastings and Giles Peach, who are living on the coast of Southern California during the mid-20th century. Each is a dreamer and each has his own “issues” involving his father.

Jim lives with his uncle Edward St. Ives (who, I’m assuming, is a direct descendant of Langdon St. Ives, the eccentric Victorian scientist who stars in several of the books in this series) because Jim’s mother is dead and his father is insane. (Or is he?) Most of the time Jim’s father lives in a mental hospital, but when he ma... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the weirdest, goofiest - but endearing - books I've ever read. It's been a favorite since I first read it when I was 14 or 15.

[John Lawson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pudgy academicians compete with other pudgy (but evil) academicians in a race to be the first to discover the Lost World at the center of the Earth. Indiana Jones definitely does not ensue.

This book annoyed the hell out of me.

Even by the halfway point, there really wasn't any real justification for why the "good" scientists (GS) hated the "bad" scientists (BS), other than their own claims that they were nefarious scoundrels and whatnot. Considering that the BS were so far ahead of them in the race (because of course they were), it would have made more sense for them to join forces and pursue their goals together.

There was a remark made that the BS plan would "destroy the earth", but due to the confusing junk science, I had no idea if that was meant to be accurate or hyperbole. Being steampunk, the book is filled with junk science. But not good junk science. It ends up undermining the world building the author was trying to establish.

Being steampunk, the narrative is filled with characters with appropriately Victorian foreign-sounding names:
Narbondo (a purveyor of extra strength glues)
Frostico (an ice delivery man)
St. Yves (cosmetician)

Including a guy named Pince Nez. Not sure what that was about. Was it supposed to be ironic? The character was a senile, deaf, drunk sailor, so not exactly fitting match for a pair of eye glasses. Maybe the author just liked the sound of it and hoped the reader wouldn't know what they were? No clue.

Not a female character in sight, except for one fretful, hand wringing mother who proved incapable of protecting her son without help.

Lots of confused, muddled scenes. Having just tipped their hands to the BS, the GS consider their options:
We must attack immediately before they can prepare!
No! They'll just be expecting that!
We should call the police!
No! The police are useless!
Then we should fall back and plan!
No! What if the BS call the police on us!
Oh no, the police aren't useless!
Then we must attack immediately!
Yes! Let's attack now!
OK, we'll attack tomorrow. After breakfast, say around lunch time.

What???

I couldn't take any of this seriously. There's no humor, so it's not comedy. It's not smart enough to be satire. There is not tension, so it's not an adventure. It's just bad.

My PDF was filled with annoying, distracting typos and formatting errors. Would have been fine for a free e-book, but I think I paid $10 for it. (I see now that according to Goodreads, the PDF was published by a literary agency and not a publisher. That might explain it.)

[Jeremy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been interested in exploring literature responsible for the birth of steampunk, and so far, what I have given a try has unfortunately not impressed. James Blaylock is supposed to be one of the forefathers of the genre, and when I traveled to Portland, Oregon a few years ago and explored the legendary Powell’s bookstore, I was ecstatic to find this book, thinking it might just be the eccentric steampunk adventure I had been hoping for...but the Digging Leviathan unfortunately turned out to be anything but. For more than half the book, the characters merely talk and debate about going on an adventure, and it takes them forever to go on one already...and when they finally do, not much comes of it. This wouldn’t be quite as bad if the characters were interesting in their own right, but they’re sadly just not interesting at all.

Maybe I just didn’t pick the right Blaylock book to start with? I don’t know. My next attempt to get into steampunk literature will be Tim Powers’ The Anubis Gates. Hopefully that tale will be a bit more captivating. It’s hard to tell so far how the steampunk outfits and the aesthetic featured in the likes of Image & Form’s SteamWorld video game series or the likes of Bioshock came about from novels like this that are supposed to be the chief inspirations for the genre. If anyone happens to be reading this review and has any book recommendations for a better steampunk adventure, by all means, drop me a line!

[Emily | Emmeline's Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Digging Leviathan by James Blaylock is the first in his series known as Narbondo. This book is focused on the lives of Jim Hastings and Giles Peach two teenagers living during the 20th century who get up to all sorts of weird and wonderful adventures.

Whilst Jim has his own family issues, Giles' are more intriguing as his father has been missing for quite a while. Giles, who is an interesting character to say the least, has webbed fingers and gills on his neck. He thinks that his Dad became a fish and swam down a tunnel that leads to the centre of the earth. Giles wants to find his father and in order to do so, builds a machine called The Digging Leviathan. Jim is skeptical throughout most of the novel and believes that Giles is going crazy.

However, there are others who are interested in Giles' machine and wish to use it for different purposes. The book follows the two teenagers and how they navigate their situation.

Overall, Blaylock creates interesting and different characters whose behaviour constantly intrigues the reader and peaks their interest. I enjoyed this book and would certainly recommend it to others who are seeking something unconventional in their next read.

[Kevin Phyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young Giles Peach comes from a long line of people with strangely altered physical characteristics - like vestigial gills and webbed toes. He is also obsessed with the hollow Earth theory of Pellucidar, a genius with machinery and seemingly-impossible physics, and may be creating the world! After confiding to his friend Jim that he has an idea for a boring machine that will enter this subterranean world, he goes missing, apparently coerced into working for a rival scientist. With a madcap cast of characters including the possibly insane patriarch of a rich California family (who is subjected to regular detention in an asylum) and a scientist also obsessed with the prehistoric fauna and flora of the underground world, they must prevent the mad scientist from using Giles’s machine, as it becomes possible that it would puncture the Earth like a balloon and destroy it utterly. With just 100 hours to find and stop the mad mission, Giles turns up. With new ideas… James P. Blaylock riffs heavily on Burroughs and Verne but with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and gives us an amusing and entertaining fantasy. Worth a read.

[Chris Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

James Blaylock can be a tough read. He’s vague and abstract, and it’s real difficult to try to figure out who’s doing what and just what the heck is going on. And that makes it tough to enjoy the story.

And there is a good story here, although if feels a bit odd. There’s a group of explorers that hold regular meetings and they are trying to get to the center of the hollow earth. And although it’s California in the 60’s, it really comes across as a Victorian English adventurers’ club. There’s a mad doctor, a weird poet, a gaslighting plot, and mermen. It’s a lot to try to keep up with.

And this is only the first book of a trilogy. And to be honest with you, I’m not going to actively look for the other two books. This just wasn’t fun. I had no idea what was going on for most of it, and I just did not enjoy it. If I came across the next book, I would probably pick it up, though...

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A love letter to a beloved time and place and milieu - a bunch of eccentrics tooling around Northern California in the 1960s dreaming of travelling to the centre of the Earth. Two rival projects - a bethysphere and a digging machine, but it soon becmes aparent that neither is going anywhere without young Gil Peach with his gills and his webbed fingers and his extraordinary gift for creating impossible inventions out of junk - anti-matter, anti-gravity, perpetual motion. Seduced away by the vainglorious scientist and the sinister psychologist, can his friends and family find him and win him back and win the race? There's a distinct possibility the world will explode if they don't.

This is a lot of fun. It's a smart, inventive, heartwarming, occasionally terrifying tale of the adventure that happens before the other adventure begins.

[Lana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of the most convoluted books I've ever read, but I absolutely love James Blaylock's prose. He can make the back of an aspirin bottle sound interesting.

Basically, the story is about Giles Peach, a boy who, incidentally, was born with gills and semi-webbed fingers. He has a way with machines, and has come up with something he calls The Digging Leviathan, a device to reach the center of the world.

There are mermen popping up everywhere, and Giles' best friend,Jim, has a father who is locked up in an insane asylum, and escapes regularly.

I liked the book itself, but the reason I gave it three stars was due to typos all the way through it.

[Redsteve · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Blaylock's better books. Published in 1984, this is probably the earliest of his novels I've read. Not only did this one get off to a slow start, but also to a confusing one, as characters shared names with ones in Anubis Gates (Powers, 1983) and Homonculus (Blaylock, 1986) - some seemed to be the same characters (Ashbless, Narbondo) and other just having the same (or similar) names. Blaylock seemed to be fooling around with ideas that he used to better effect in his later works; some interesting concepts that just didn't seem to come together.

[Jonathan Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very curious novel, but in the best of ways. There's a bit if everything here. The title is misleading, but ultimately for comic effect. A group of academic misfits, Forteans, adventurers pursue their enthusiasms in curious ways. There's great leaps of the imagination here as a well as a smaller, more intimate story about the nature of madness, mental illness, and the liberation of the imagination. Well worth your time.

[Marc Ruvolo · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as sublime as All the Bells on Earth, or The Paper Grail, The Digging Leviathan is classic Blaylock: meandering, beautifully written, funny, and strange. There's mystery lurking around every corner, and his love for California is palpable. I read a half-destroyed ACE paperback copy I rescued from a dilapidated Little Free Library, and I can think of no better way to experience this story. Lovely.

[Michael O. · Rating 1 out of 5]

275 pages of setup for what might be an actually interesting story about a journey to the center of the Earth (as the tagline proudly proclaims), but that apparently doesn't happen till the next book. The tone is effectively suspenseful, but the suspense never pays off. Too many characters, none of them well developed.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

James Blaylock is described as one of the pioneers of steampunk science fiction. This story was written in 1984 and set in Los Angeles in 1964. The plot is a race between eccentric characters to be the first to reach the center of the earth. I enjoy steampunk stories, but this was not one for me.

[Jerry Balzano · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ☆ rounded up to 5. I was not so much "impressed" as I was "charmed" by the characters and situations in this book. Looking forward to the sequel (if sequel in fact it is), the Philip-K-Dick-award winning Homunculus.

[Ehret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Made me seasick with its greasy characters and baroque descriptions. Unpleasant people doing unpleasant things, not disgusting, just weird and lumpy. Very original and distinctive style worth reading, but difficult to finish (I didn't quite).

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastical fantasy-- think Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter novels-- grounded in the Los Angeles of the 1960's. It has a lot of dry humor that is not entirely unappealing, but is just not my cup of tea.

[Brock Books]

Failed to complete this for the tenth time in 2020, yet somehow I still want to. The book was in such poor condition I tossed it. Hopefully, I'll try the audiobook someday.

[Kat Hooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Originally posted at Fantasy Literature.
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...

The Digging Leviathan is the first book in James P. Blaylock’s LANGDON ST. IVES/NARBONDO series. I’ve been reading these out of order, which doesn’t seem to matter. The books have some overlapping characters, settings, and/or concepts, but each stands alone. The Digging Leviathan features two teenage boys, Jim Hastings and Giles Peach, who are living on the coast of Southern California during the mid-20th century. Each is a dreamer and each has his own “issues” involving his father.

Jim lives with his uncle Edward St. Ives (who, I’m assuming, is a direct descendant of Langdon St. Ives, the eccentric Victorian scientist who stars in several of the books in this series) because Jim’s mother is dead and his father is insane. (Or is he?) Most of the time Jim’s father lives in a mental hospital, but when he manages to escape (a regular occurrence), he comes home until Dr. Hilario Frosticus (one of Dr. Narbondo’s incarnations, I presume) manages to find him and take him away again. While at home, Jim’s dad oversees animal experiments which he hopes will support his peculiar theories about evolution and civilization. He’s also trying to get a short story published in Analog.

Giles’ father, on the other hand, has been missing for years. Giles, who has webbed fingers and a set of gills on his neck, suspects that his dad turned into a fish and swam down a subterranean aquatic tunnel which leads to the center of the earth. Desperately trying to find his father, Giles is building a tunneling machine called The Digging Leviathan. Jim doesn’t believe Giles, of course. He thinks Giles gets his bizarre ideas from all the Edgar Rice Burroughs and Jules Verne novels he reads. But, strangely, other men are interested in Giles’ plans. Some hope to use Giles’ machine to discover the secret to immortality. Some are afraid that Giles will destroy the earth. Do they have some reason to believe that Giles is on to something?

What I’ve described is the essential plot of The Digging Leviathan, but readers who are familiar with James P. Blaylock won’t be surprised to be told that it doesn’t seem like this book was written for the main purpose of telling a story about tunneling to the center of the earth. Instead, Blaylock uses the plot as an excuse to entertain us with the antics of his quirky but loveable characters and, perhaps, to touch our hearts as we watch two boys longing for a “normal” relationship with their fathers.

Blaylock’s funniest character is Jim’s father who seems like (but maybe isn’t) a paranoid schizophrenic. He believes that his neighbor — a little old lady in curlers and a bathrobe — is conspiring against him with the gardener. He imagines that every night they hoist her dog over the fence so it can defecate in the Hastings’ yard. He also suspects that the man who drives the ice cream truck is a spy. In the backyard shed, Jim’s father attempts to breed mice and axolotls, hoping he can get the mice to devolve into an aquatic species. He dresses them in doll clothes to test his Civilization Theory. Mr. Hastings’ ideas are funny to consider and Blaylock gets to send escaped dressed-up axolotls running through some of his scenes. Hilarious!

Creating and entertaining us with his neurotic characters is what Blaylock does best. As if they’re in a Monty Python sketch, they’re constantly (and I’m taking these verbs right out of the story) dashing, springing, jumping, cursing, tripping, lurching, falling, stumbling, spying, sneaking, creeping, lurking, and peering in windows. Readers who love John Cleese’s brand of humor will probably be delighted with The Digging Leviathan (and the other LANGDON ST. IVES books). Readers who don’t, probably won’t. I do love Blaylock’s sense of humor, though I have to say that the silliness goes on a little too long in several scenes of The Digging Leviathan.

There’s more to The Digging Leviathan than the quirkiness I’ve described. The story is also about familial love. It was the loss of Jim’s mother that probably sent his father over the edge. The bond that Jim and his father still have, and Giles’ desire to find his own father, is sweet and poignant.
I listened to Audible Studio’s version of The Digging Leviathan. It’s 10.5 hours long and performed by Christopher Ragland, who obviously gets Blaylock’s brand of humor. I enjoyed his performance, and I thought it got better and better as it went on.

[Felix Zilich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Представьте себе, что Эдгару По довелось переписать “Нейроманта” Уильяма Гибсона. Или лучше – Чарльзу Диккенсу времен Пиквика поручили переделать с нуля всего Лавкрафта. Эта книга – результат подобного эксперимента, который при этом трудно назвать также постмодернистским или пародийным. Про эту книгу вообще очень трудно говорить что-либо внятное и ультимативное. Она настолько сильно в себе, что явно потребует своей первой перечитки еще до наступления Нового Года.

Итак, действие книги разворачивается в Лос-Анжелесе 1964 года. Самом обыкновенном Лос-Анжелесе, но не с самыми обыкновенными людьми. Надо сказать, что членов местного ньютонианского клуба трудно назвать простыми американцами. Им плевать на фильмы с Мэрилин Монро, карибский кризис и убийство президента Кеннеди, так как в их мире уже много лет превалируют совершенно иные ценности. Они – маньяки от науки, настоящие психи и настоящие гении, которые готовы пожертвовать собственной жизнью ради поисков бабочки неизвестного вида или встречи с живым антарктическим ктулху.

Сюжет осложняется тем, что все происходящее в клубе и за его пределами передается читателю через призму восприятия 14-летнего Джима Гастингса, чей безумный отец Уильям и дядя Эдвард Сент-Ив являются одними из самых активных членов этого клуба. Персона Джима выбрана совершенно не случайно, так как причиной всех неприятностей, из-за которых едва не погиб наш мир, стал лучший друг Джима – странный подросток по имени Гил Пич. Молчаливый и нелюдимый мальчик с настоящими жабрами, наследник династий Инсмута, наделенный способностью изменять окружающую его реальность по собственному желанию. Оказавшись под влиянием жуткого нелюдя Хиларио Фростикоса, мальчик проникся идеей создание Подземного Левиафана, при помощи которого он смог бы попасть в центр земли и найти там своих дальних родственников. (2006.08.14)

[David Critchfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven’t read this book, stop what you’re doing right now and do so. It’s an excellent fantasy.

Blaylock’s mastery of the language allows him to create interesting moods. Here’s an example: “Ashbless wondered what weird routine Basil Peach followed from day to day, how like it was to that of his father and grandfather and--who could say?--countless Peaches before them, and how it became less human and more like that of a toad or an eft as the long damp years passed until one day Basil would slip out through that arched door and return to dry land no more, summoned by amphibian pipes, muted and watery, the notes darting among seaweeds like fishes.”

Mystery and excitement prevail throughout. The reader knows that something grand and wild is about to happen.

Blaylock’s colorful descriptions of the thought processes and antics of the paranoid, yet heroic William Hastings are hilarious. I laughed out loud and re-read several passages.

At times the story feels a bit like a Jules Verne yarn, possibly intentionally. For example, the protagonists are members of the Newtonian Society composed of elderly Inventors, Scientists, and Explorers.

The story’s perspective shifts back and forth between the members of the “good” team: William, Edward, Latzarel, and Jim, but never Giles Peach. His thoughts remain a mystery to us.

Blaylock’s science is intentionally nonsensical; his characters go exploring in a Hudson Wasp in bad need of a tune-up. K. W. Jetter, in an article in the Morrigan special edition, describes the book as “another one of those demented Blaylock novels.” This was my third time reading it; your turn; you’re in for a treat.

[Buck Wilde · Rating 1 out of 5]

None of these characters had a personality. There was nothing to connect to, no reason to be interested or impressed. Most of them were interchangeable. The only two characters I currently remember (and I finished this book yesterday) were Oscar and the General, and they were both caricatures, one antagonistic, one comic relief. But caricatures have characteristics!

I could not, for the life of me, imagine a reason to give even a fractional fuck about any of the characters, or what was going on. I listened to the audiobook, and the one dude sounded exactly like Zap Brannigan from Futurama. That was the high point of the experience.

Right out the gate, the first chapter, when Blaylock was going deep purple describing the surface of the water at night, I thought, "Oh, god. Okay, maybe... maybe there's a point."

The point was, look how pretty I can write about water.

I tried this book because I was told it was like the Johannes Cabal novels. This was a lie. I would rather have read a 500 page novel about Johannes Cabal doing his taxes; at least his internal monologue would've been memorable.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this started off slow but then got better and better as I got to know the characters and understand what was happening. When I read the back blurb I really thought that the characters were going to be immersed in a world like Pellucidar but instead it ended up being a bunch of crazy old men running around trying to solve mysteries and save the world.

It's reminiscent of "Cloud Atlas" though I've only seen the movie so I'm not sure how the book handled the "senior citizen revolt" and obviously this came out way before Cloud Atlas.

I REALLY loved the cover art on my paperback and now I'm disappointed to find that the hardcovers have other (lesser) art. It just has that kind of Norman Rockwell on acid vibe that EXACTLY fits the tone of the book.

[Brendan Coster · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a one star book, it's horrendous, there's barely a coherent structure within individual paragraphs... much less the entire novel. However, it did challenge regular world views, it had a lot of high concept material locked.... deep.... within (that's like... a pun...). I found myself thinking about certain things in the novel

especially on the Nature of Gil's power

but that's really it. My understanding is that this novel has inspired many a writer over time.... and maybe I missed something.... but as it stands, it's a terrible read and I couldn't recommend it to anyone (well, unless you're into wacky scf-fi conspiracy fiction type stuff)

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interestingly wierd.

The story line includes an inmate from a loony bin who may be the sanest person there, a boy who is part fish, two separate groups racing to the center of the earth in assorted unlikely contraptions and a lot of running around in the sewers.

I think this book would make a great basis for a freeform role play. Lots of interesting strange characters most of whom are not what someone else thinks they are. You'd have to explain to the participants what was going on afterwards though. I don't think they'd pick it up as they went along.