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Lord Horror novels
Razor King
Razor King is David Britton's seventh novel. His first, Lord Horror, published in 1989, was the last book to be banned in Britain under the Obscene Publications Act. In a defence led by Geoffrey Robertson QC the book was cleared of obscenity in July 1992.
The new novel continues Britton's cycle of Absurdist picaresque narratives, a series replete with scatological routines and outlandish tableaux. Razor King draws shockingly on the Jewish Holocaust, following the transgressive speculative-fiction lineage of JG Ballard and William S Burroughs while embracing the fin de siècle psychedelia of Alfred Jarry and Harry Clarke.
In Razor King two unconnected worlds and genres collide: the Wild West/Westerns, and outer space/planetary adventure. Key influences are the fantastical works of two of Adolf Hitler's favourite novelists: Karl May, a German author whose Western tales include characters such as Old Shatterhand and Winnetou the Warrior; and Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose Mars trilogy (A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars) prefigures many of the popular fictional styles—sword and sorcery, heroic fantasy, science fiction—of later decades. Britton brings to the surface the psychotic undercurrents that often fuel these genres to create a phantasmagoria grounded in real historical events.
Continuing a trend begun with La Squab in 2012, Razor King is illustrated throughout by Kris Guidio.
The new novel continues Britton's cycle of Absurdist picaresque narratives, a series replete with scatological routines and outlandish tableaux. Razor King draws shockingly on the Jewish Holocaust, following the transgressive speculative-fiction lineage of JG Ballard and William S Burroughs while embracing the fin de siècle psychedelia of Alfred Jarry and Harry Clarke.
In Razor King two unconnected worlds and genres collide: the Wild West/Westerns, and outer space/planetary adventure. Key influences are the fantastical works of two of Adolf Hitler's favourite novelists: Karl May, a German author whose Western tales include characters such as Old Shatterhand and Winnetou the Warrior; and Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose Mars trilogy (A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, The Warlord of Mars) prefigures many of the popular fictional styles—sword and sorcery, heroic fantasy, science fiction—of later decades. Britton brings to the surface the psychotic undercurrents that often fuel these genres to create a phantasmagoria grounded in real historical events.
Continuing a trend begun with La Squab in 2012, Razor King is illustrated throughout by Kris Guidio.
Hardcover
First published October 2, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 1, 2022
In terms of importance, it was maximal. In terms of impact, it was minimal. Yup. By any objective literary criteria — quality of writing, fecundity of imagination, breadth of influence, profundity of ratiocination, etc — the publication of the seventh book in David Britton's pyro-picaresque "Lord Horror" series was a seriously significant event.
But. We. Gotta. Face. Facts.
Objective literary criteria don't rule the roost in terms of the literary world.
Ain't never have.
Ain't never will.
And that's why the impact of the publication of the seventh book in David Britton's pyro-picaresque "Lord Horror" series has been next-to-nothing.
If you wanna small hint of what this maximally metamorphic, morbidly mystagogic Meisterwerk is like, imagine Naked Lunch, A Clockwork Orange and Gulliver's Travels whirled in a blender with two pounds of icing sugar, a good splash of vanilla essence, and some super-strong LSD.
It is seriously, supremely, simultaneously sinister-and-surreal stuff.
But it wasn't reviewed in The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement or The Guardian.
And it ain't up for no major literary awards. No-sir.
For all the attention it's attracted, Razor King might as well have been published in a freakin' Samoyed-Lithuanian dialect of Guaraní on the dark side of the freakin' Moon.
Compare'n'contrast the reception reaped by the dreck dropped by that nugatory nogudnik Will Self.
His last novel, Umbrella, has a total of 315 reviews and 1,685 ratings on this very site (as of this writing).
Cheezus. Kee. Rye-sst.
It's a woeful world that celebrates Self and by-passes Britton.
But I hafta say that Savoy haven't helped themselves by once again giving the latest Britton release what is technically known as a cr*p title.
Razor King wudda been trite'n'tired in the 1950s, imho.
It took me approximately 1/23rd of a second to see how it cudda been improved.
The new book shudda been called King Razor.
Much better.
The swing from "King" to "Razor" is sharp and startling — better than Lord Horror coz "Horror" is an abstract noun that conjures no clear image of anything in particular.
King Razor is much slyer and sinister-er than Razor King.
And it has a suggestion of "F**king Razor".
A subtle one, unlike the neither-clever-nor-funny Britton titles Motherf**kers and F**k Off and Die.
Yup.
We. Gotta. Face. Facts.
Again.
Savoy ain't good at titles. No-sir.
But do you want proof that a mega-maverick Mancunian can come up with a book whose title matches its content?
Then look no further than the Meisterwerk referenced above: Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange.
Possly the best title EVAH!!!
If Savoy had published Burgess's book, they'd prolly have called it Teen Tearaway or Bad Alex or something flatulently feeble like that.
Yup. Published by Savoy with a typical Savoy title, Burgess's greatest book would not have won the success that it deserved.
It might well have been mostly forgotten within a year or two.
Sad. But. True.
But. We. Gotta. Face. Facts.
Objective literary criteria don't rule the roost in terms of the literary world.
Ain't never have.
Ain't never will.
And that's why the impact of the publication of the seventh book in David Britton's pyro-picaresque "Lord Horror" series has been next-to-nothing.
If you wanna small hint of what this maximally metamorphic, morbidly mystagogic Meisterwerk is like, imagine Naked Lunch, A Clockwork Orange and Gulliver's Travels whirled in a blender with two pounds of icing sugar, a good splash of vanilla essence, and some super-strong LSD.
It is seriously, supremely, simultaneously sinister-and-surreal stuff.
But it wasn't reviewed in The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement or The Guardian.
And it ain't up for no major literary awards. No-sir.
For all the attention it's attracted, Razor King might as well have been published in a freakin' Samoyed-Lithuanian dialect of Guaraní on the dark side of the freakin' Moon.
Compare'n'contrast the reception reaped by the dreck dropped by that nugatory nogudnik Will Self.
His last novel, Umbrella, has a total of 315 reviews and 1,685 ratings on this very site (as of this writing).
Cheezus. Kee. Rye-sst.
It's a woeful world that celebrates Self and by-passes Britton.
But I hafta say that Savoy haven't helped themselves by once again giving the latest Britton release what is technically known as a cr*p title.
Razor King wudda been trite'n'tired in the 1950s, imho.
It took me approximately 1/23rd of a second to see how it cudda been improved.
The new book shudda been called King Razor.
Much better.
The swing from "King" to "Razor" is sharp and startling — better than Lord Horror coz "Horror" is an abstract noun that conjures no clear image of anything in particular.
King Razor is much slyer and sinister-er than Razor King.
And it has a suggestion of "F**king Razor".
A subtle one, unlike the neither-clever-nor-funny Britton titles Motherf**kers and F**k Off and Die.
Yup.
We. Gotta. Face. Facts.
Again.
Savoy ain't good at titles. No-sir.
But do you want proof that a mega-maverick Mancunian can come up with a book whose title matches its content?
Then look no further than the Meisterwerk referenced above: Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange.
Possly the best title EVAH!!!
If Savoy had published Burgess's book, they'd prolly have called it Teen Tearaway or Bad Alex or something flatulently feeble like that.
Yup. Published by Savoy with a typical Savoy title, Burgess's greatest book would not have won the success that it deserved.
It might well have been mostly forgotten within a year or two.
Sad. But. True.
October 4, 2017
The reviewer received an advance review copy.
Razor King is David Britton's seventh novel. His first, Lord Horror, published in 1989, was the last book to be banned in Britain under the Obscene Publications Act.
The new novel (says the publisher) ‘continues Britton's cycle of Absurdist picaresque narratives, a series replete with scatological routines and outlandish tableaux. Razor King draws shockingly on the Jewish Holocaust, following the transgressive speculative-fiction lineage of JG Ballard and William S Burroughs while embracing the fin de siècle psychedelia of Alfred Jarry and Harry Clarke. In Razor King two unconnected worlds and genres collide: the Wild West/Westerns, and outer space/planetary adventure.’
The novel has a loose narrative of sorts, but mainly consists of a series of fantastical series of scenes and descriptions of three or four main characters, the razor-wielding Lord Horror, engaged in dispatching Jews with his razor, and his two grotesque associates Meng, a sexually voracious half-man half-woman, and his emaciated and more reflective brother Ecker. There is also Meng’s pubescent daughter, the winsome La Squab. There are also two talking cars with libidos and an alien boy made of confectionery. The settings involve among other things crematoria, the Wild West and a ship crewed by rats. Britton certainly has a vivid imagination and a knack for putting his creations on the page.
Needless to say, Britton does not in any way endorse anti-semitism, but is attempting to expose its psychopathic and un-empathetic nature.
Continuing a trend begun with La Squab in 2012, Razor King is illustrated throughout by Kris Guidio, this time entirely in full colour. The book contains thirty double-spread full colour illustrations, depicting Britton’s grotesque characters, along with crematoria, Ken Reid’s elf characters Fudge and Speck (from Reid’s comic book republished by Savoy) and various characters redolent of Edgar Rice Burrough’s books. The images contain some cartoon nudity.
Let’s be clear, this book is for adults only, and further to that, it’s for adults not easily offended. This is a brutal satire on anti-semitism, and everything in it references Hitler and the Jewish holocaust. While reading it however, I was forcibly reminded of a more recent event, the ethnic cleansing of the Rohinga from Burma.
‘Razor King’ is a significant exercise in transgressive speculative fiction, extending on an established teadition, and deserves some serious attention. The artwork alone would make it worth examination.
Razor King is David Britton's seventh novel. His first, Lord Horror, published in 1989, was the last book to be banned in Britain under the Obscene Publications Act.
The new novel (says the publisher) ‘continues Britton's cycle of Absurdist picaresque narratives, a series replete with scatological routines and outlandish tableaux. Razor King draws shockingly on the Jewish Holocaust, following the transgressive speculative-fiction lineage of JG Ballard and William S Burroughs while embracing the fin de siècle psychedelia of Alfred Jarry and Harry Clarke. In Razor King two unconnected worlds and genres collide: the Wild West/Westerns, and outer space/planetary adventure.’
The novel has a loose narrative of sorts, but mainly consists of a series of fantastical series of scenes and descriptions of three or four main characters, the razor-wielding Lord Horror, engaged in dispatching Jews with his razor, and his two grotesque associates Meng, a sexually voracious half-man half-woman, and his emaciated and more reflective brother Ecker. There is also Meng’s pubescent daughter, the winsome La Squab. There are also two talking cars with libidos and an alien boy made of confectionery. The settings involve among other things crematoria, the Wild West and a ship crewed by rats. Britton certainly has a vivid imagination and a knack for putting his creations on the page.
Needless to say, Britton does not in any way endorse anti-semitism, but is attempting to expose its psychopathic and un-empathetic nature.
Continuing a trend begun with La Squab in 2012, Razor King is illustrated throughout by Kris Guidio, this time entirely in full colour. The book contains thirty double-spread full colour illustrations, depicting Britton’s grotesque characters, along with crematoria, Ken Reid’s elf characters Fudge and Speck (from Reid’s comic book republished by Savoy) and various characters redolent of Edgar Rice Burrough’s books. The images contain some cartoon nudity.
Let’s be clear, this book is for adults only, and further to that, it’s for adults not easily offended. This is a brutal satire on anti-semitism, and everything in it references Hitler and the Jewish holocaust. While reading it however, I was forcibly reminded of a more recent event, the ethnic cleansing of the Rohinga from Burma.
‘Razor King’ is a significant exercise in transgressive speculative fiction, extending on an established teadition, and deserves some serious attention. The artwork alone would make it worth examination.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews