Lanceheim

Mollisan Town Quartet #2

by Tim Davys

Maximilian ligner ingen af Mollisan Towns andre tøjdyr. Hans stof ligner glansløs silke; det er næsten umuligt af få øje på sømmene. Han er noget helt særligt.

Komponisten Reuben Hvalros vil inden for tre uger miste hørelsen. Skal symfonien, han skriver på, blive hans skæbne?

Det siges, at der findes et tøjdyr, der har helbredende kræfter. Når man er tæt på ham, kan alting ændre sig.

Men ikke alle er galde for ændringer.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery

351 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Tim Davys is the pseudonym for a well-known Swedish public figure, and Amberville is his or her first novel.

A dark and stormy night…I was born in a country far, far away. Before the age of 20, I never read a book. Comic books, magazines, and movies taught me how to tell a story. I studied literature, got a job, found a wife, and bought a dog. I studied psychology, got another job, held on to the wife, and wrote a book.
Today I'm much older than I used to be. The dog is much older too. I would never comment on the age of my wife. The idea going forward is to stay alive, write a lot more, and adapt to a life in New York City. But if I've learnt on thing in this life (and I know I have), it's this: It's never going to turn out the way you intended.

Reviews

[Michael]

This is the second in a series about a world of stuffed animals that act very human. ("Amberville" was the first, and I liked that one better.) The animals live in a city with pastel colored streets where it rains at exactly the same time every day. They have names like Wolf Diaz (he's a stuffed wolf), Reuben Walrus (a stuffed walrus, and the town's foremost musical composer), Eagle Rothman (an eagle, and the pope), etc. All the vices, treacheries, and weaknesses you might expect in an LA noir book are here. "Lanceheim" is a reinvention of the Messiah stories. The main character is a miracle-working stuffed animal that spreads love and hope among all animals, even the lowest, even those in prison, and makes deadly enemies in the established church. I am still a little taken aback having just finished it... This writer is brilliant. I hardly know what to say. Anyone that can make up an alternative world, an abstraction at this level while maintaining relevance is off the grid.

[Kate]

A noir mystery set amongst a community of stuffed animals?! i have to read this now.

[Piotr Ferster · Rating 2 out of 5]

dość irytująca bajka

[Martyna :] · Rating 1 out of 5]

xd

[amaya the cactus · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a rather odd book. I found the writing to be not terrible, but it was a bit disjointed (there was much bouncing round of the storyline). The premise is intriguing enough, but the execution was lacking: despite myriad possibilities, the animals basically acted as humans, with the occasional reference to fabric or fur and 'all stuffed animals' in lieu of skin and 'humankind', respectively; and there wasn't much detail concerning the intricacies of how their world was different from reality, though I liked that the particular streets were at least related with colour and that the descriptions - albeit more vague than I'd have preferred - of the weather patterns marking their days.

I found it difficult to be excited about reading further after breaks, and I had to sort of talk myself into it; as I love to read, that was disappointing.

There were some interesting parts throughout, but I felt it was more prosaic overall.

The end was just...I'm not even sure of the proper term to use. Abrupt? Kind of a non sequitur? Somewhat antithetical?

Having said that, I do feel there's a bit of promise here for the author. I get the impression that (s)he(? It's written under a pseudonym) is working the 'early days of writing' kinks out and that his/her work could improve quite drastically over time.

Though I don't expect I'll read any others in this quartet, I plan to keep my eyes open for any forthcoming works; I'd be willing to give this individual's writing another go if ever the opportunity arises.

[Roz Gibson · Rating 1 out of 5]

A repost of my original Amazon review, but this book was so awful, I figure an another warning is warranted here.

A book with a cast made up of intelligent, walking and talking stuffed animals could be interesting and unique. Unfortunately, this isn't. The characters act completely human-- they eat, drink, get drunk, have sex, and have medical problems. Are we supposed to believe that a stuffed animal is having inner-ear problems, described in detail down to the hairs in the ear canal? Other than the names of the characters (Eva Whipoorwill, Ruben Walrus, Wolf Diaz)there's no behavior that suggests they're not human. The book is a clumbsy religious allegory featuring Maximillian, a Christ-like figure that threatens the religious status quo. Early hints that Maximillian might be something other than a regular stuffed animal (nobody can figure out what type of animal he is, and he appears to grow) are never followed up on and seemingly forgotten. None of the characters are particularly sympathedic; of the three main characters Ruben Walrus is a selfish jerk, Maximillian is remote and clueless, and Wolf Diaz is promiscuous and self-serving. So if you're looking for a unique and intelligent fantasy, look elsewhere.

[Gef · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky, noir-ish tale of faith and loss and desperation, all told with stuffed animals as the characters in a strange place called Mollistown. This is the second book, which I had the chance to read this summer, and I'm hoping to read the first (Amberville) later. It was a bit of a mixed bag with me, as I preferred one of the parallel narratives over the other. Maxamillian's story was far more interesting to me than Reuben's. And while the stuffed animals were a neat little twist in the presentation, there were plenty of moments when I wondered why not just have them be human. Still, it's nice to see yet another well-written novel break out of Sweden. Keep 'em coming.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Haven't read Amberville, so maybe I'm missing something, but I found this book to be a little underwhelming (*if that's a word*). It's a mystery of sorts, set in a land where the inhabitants are all stuffed animals. An interesting premise, but nothing is really made of it. Why are the characters stuffed animals and not just people? It seems to make little difference in the course of the story, so it read like a pretty straightforward story of religion and moral dilemmas featuring characters with silly (animal) names...

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This little town filled with stuffed animals, needed a little more magic to keep me interested. Loved the character names though - Reuben Walrus, Bluebird Niklasson, Buzzard Jones, Raccoon Olsen ... Not enough to see me past page 100 though.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part 2 of 4 in this oddball series - a Messianic tale of a human amidst a city of stuffed animals. Orwell meets plushies...delicious stuff!

[Joe Ohlenbusch · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me four years to finish this book. I think that says enough.