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Fata Morgana
A blend of fantasy tale and hard-boiled detective story set in Paris in 1861 features a French police detective who sets out to investigate a conjurer whose fortune-telling machine is sweeping Paris. Reprint. NYT. IP.
209 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
56 people are currently reading
420 people want to read
About the author
William Kotzwinkle
82 books257 followersWilliam Kotzwinkle is a two-time recipient of the National Magazine Award for Fiction, a winner of the World Fantasy Award, the Prix Litteraire des Bouquinistes des Quais de Paris, the PETA Award for Children's Books, and a Book Critics Circle award nominee. His work has been translated into dozens of languages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
April 7, 2019
synopsis: a noirish adventure in Europe, mid-19th century. The psychic Lazare captivates the upper classes of Paris. The redoubtable Inspector Picard is less than captivated.
William Kotzwinkle is perhaps most well-known for his World Fantasy Award-winning novel Doctor Rat, or for his novelization of E.T. (gotta pay those bills, right?). I know him for writing an early favorite of mine, Jack in the Box, that is long overdue for another visit.
Fata Morgana was a swell read. It was nice to be in the capable hands of a professional who knows all about pacing and spending just the right amount of time in varying, vivid environments and wowing the reader with a surreal, twisty ending. The book was written like it was meant to be a movie, and occasionally that's not a bad thing. Kotzwinkle wants to entertain but happily his prose doesn't aim for the lowest common denominator. One caveat: every now and then the perspective switches from third person to first person, sometimes mid-paragraph; at first I thought it was an interesting stylistic choice but later it felt like sloppiness. And that's it for the complaints, now back to the praise.
The protagonist was well-characterized: Picard is strong, bearish, big-bellied; he's thoughtful and melancholy, contemplative of his past and also fretful about his too-rich diet; he has a sweet fondness for whores and an implacable drive for justice. He lurches here and there, sometimes furious, other times lost in thought, but never forgetting his manners. I really rooted for him. The narrative opens in media res during Picard's pursuit of elegant serial killer Baron Mantes, then quickly proceeds to the main story, which unfolds in three parts. The first and third parts depict confrontations with the Inspector's new nemesis, the magician and acrobat Lazare (and the equally formidable Madame Lazare), and the lengthy middle section - the strongest and certainly most evocative part - is a tour of the parlors and villages of diverse European countries as Picard untangles Lazare's sinister past. I especially loved the focus on toys, deadly and otherwise. The story satisfied and the world was so well-described that it made me want to stay there even longer. All in all, a very pleasant affair.
William Kotzwinkle is perhaps most well-known for his World Fantasy Award-winning novel Doctor Rat, or for his novelization of E.T. (gotta pay those bills, right?). I know him for writing an early favorite of mine, Jack in the Box, that is long overdue for another visit.
Fata Morgana was a swell read. It was nice to be in the capable hands of a professional who knows all about pacing and spending just the right amount of time in varying, vivid environments and wowing the reader with a surreal, twisty ending. The book was written like it was meant to be a movie, and occasionally that's not a bad thing. Kotzwinkle wants to entertain but happily his prose doesn't aim for the lowest common denominator. One caveat: every now and then the perspective switches from third person to first person, sometimes mid-paragraph; at first I thought it was an interesting stylistic choice but later it felt like sloppiness. And that's it for the complaints, now back to the praise.
The protagonist was well-characterized: Picard is strong, bearish, big-bellied; he's thoughtful and melancholy, contemplative of his past and also fretful about his too-rich diet; he has a sweet fondness for whores and an implacable drive for justice. He lurches here and there, sometimes furious, other times lost in thought, but never forgetting his manners. I really rooted for him. The narrative opens in media res during Picard's pursuit of elegant serial killer Baron Mantes, then quickly proceeds to the main story, which unfolds in three parts. The first and third parts depict confrontations with the Inspector's new nemesis, the magician and acrobat Lazare (and the equally formidable Madame Lazare), and the lengthy middle section - the strongest and certainly most evocative part - is a tour of the parlors and villages of diverse European countries as Picard untangles Lazare's sinister past. I especially loved the focus on toys, deadly and otherwise. The story satisfied and the world was so well-described that it made me want to stay there even longer. All in all, a very pleasant affair.
October 27, 2014
Magic carpets to the stars, noble suckers, magic carpets for all!
Fata Morgana is a mirage, a trick of the light, a sleight of hand from a skilled magician that cons the audience into believing for a moment in the presence of supernatural forces. Yet, after the show, you go back to the real world and shake your head in wonder at how you've been played. The novel succeeds in creating this special atmosphere and maintaining an air of secrecy and ambiguousness, but for me it was just a step too clever, too smug in its twist ending () to warrant a higher rating. Kotzwinkle has a lot of experience as a scriptwriter for Holywood in his resume, and I believe this is both a strength and a shortcoming for the present story. He favors a very visual style of writing, with opulent period costumes (a decadent Paris in around 1860 with loose morality and extravagant parties), roadtrips to posh location on the Continent (Vienna, Nurnberg, Budapest, the Hungarian puszta, the ''wild and sinister mountains of Transylvania') and exotic characters, both from the high society and from the criminal underworld. The reservations I had have mostly to do with the rambling plot, a succession of set pieces that are very atmospheric, but feel rushed and contrived. Add to this the shallowness of the characters and of their motivations. There's also a good quantity of more or less gratuitous sex scenes which I believe serves more to spice up the proceedings than advancing the story.
The lead character is Inspector Paul Picard of the Parisian Prefecture, a bulldog of a policeman, hardboiled, gourmande and lecherous, doggedly following the trail of the latest star of the Paris elite society. Ric Lazare has arrived from Vienna to dazzle and charm the jaded tastes of the aristocracy with a machine that predicts the future, with a Hindu guru that can read your mind and with Renee - his voluptuous, redheaded wife. Lazare has a magnetic personality, penetrating eyes and claims also visionary powers. Picard suspects him to be an impostor, setting up shop to blackmail his rich sycophants after he learns all their secrets.
Picard carried the book to the table by the window and began reading about the fabulous Grand Cophat of the Masonic Order, Lord of the Egyptian Rite, a sinister and clever imposter who, a hundred years ago, had lied and bluffed his way into the richest salons in Europe. Sorcerer, soothsayer, magician, prophet, gold maker, his rooms at the Hotel St Claude had attracted all notable Parisians.
The policeman decides to investigate the secret past of the man, and a good portion of the novel takes us on a trip through Europe and to a gradual revelation about both the genius of Lazare and about the repeated scandals he has left behind. One scene stands out for me during the trip, about a winter night by a frozen lake in Bavaria, that starts with whimsical beauty and ends up in horror:
Picard walked on, suffused with that part of love given to those who watch from the sidelines, an ever-expanding feeling, the embrace of a lonely lover who embraces the whole night - its lamps, its skaters, its steaming wine.
The magic part of the novel is kept deliberately vague, dealing mostly with state of the art miniature automata - mechanical toys capable of intricate movements. There is also an insinuation that Monsieur Lazare may be an immortal traveler through history, but I will leave the other readers to draw their own conclusions. I mentioned mine in the first paragraph : good atmosphere, less convincing plot and characters. But I might read more novels from Kotzwinkle, as he demonstrates here that he has the imagination and the writing skills to do better. Last image I have bookmarked is again cinematic in its conception, a variant of the rundown knight (Picard) battling windmills (here a merry-go-round):
Picard felt suddenly and hopelessly lost, upon a wooden horse which could never overtake the golden coach ahead of it on the wheel. Inside the fairy coach, Ric and Renee Lazare, forever free, mocked and laughed at him, as he spurred his wooden horse in pursuit of them.
April 27, 2022
A Good Mystery
I truly enjoyed this book. It had lots of twists, turns and plot changes.
Characters were great and the descriptions of France were fantastic.
A good book that I recommend
I truly enjoyed this book. It had lots of twists, turns and plot changes.
Characters were great and the descriptions of France were fantastic.
A good book that I recommend
February 25, 2010
Perhaps this is the story Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have penned were he apprehended at a circus performance and dispatched straight to his typewriter. Fata Morgana is a solid mystery with fantasy elements that elevate it from sleuth versus villain into an enigmatic and elusive tale tinged with Gypsy mystery, parlor games and extortionist magic.
Inspector Picard, (career descending and body weight ascending), is on the trail of Ric Lazare who is bilking high-society members out of considerable cash. Ric Lazare possesses a machine that foretells the future, but this alone does not explain his hold on those in his circle of influence. Picard investigates with the intention of exposing the salon scam of a medium and his costly advice; instead, he encounters the unknown - Black Magic, Grand Bewitching, the creations of a German toy maker, and a nagging foreshadowing of events, particularly his own demise. Picard's sleuthing takes him through Nuremberg, Budapest and Old-World Paris and everything Picard discovers lays in shadows, echoes and reflections. Discovering the background and identity of Ric Lazare (and his stunning wife, Renee, who has Paris bewitched) is what keeps the reader turning the pages.
Clues come from:
1.) The mysterious death a priest.
2.) A half-Paleolithic family on a one-way forest trail somewhere on the steppes of Eastern Hungary.
3.) A hashish smoking Chief of Police. (“The smoke is rather strong...occasionally it renders me unconscious.”)
4.) A gifted toy maker, his evil apprentice, and ultimately the toys themselves, which are "much finer than men and much worse."
5.) A library in Paris where a volume of century old letters and diary excerpts reveal the true, yet impossible, identity of Ric Lazare and his wife Renee.
Kotzwinkle adds amusing sensuality to his descriptions of Nineteenth century Paris. (1861) What other capital would throw a party for the Great Whores of the City? The description of this party and the sauced satyr, Count Cherubini, who hosts it are worth the read alone. Extravagant debauchery Old-World style.
Kotzwinkle includes several zestful scenes between Inspector Picard and the ladies - a prostitute, an enchantress, and a woman in a tavern whom he seduces by hiring a gypsy Cymbolom player to envelop her in aural foreplay. Picard is quite the ladies man and these scenes show that while he may be an old dog, the learning of new tricks isn't necessary if the old ones are masterfully performed.
Inspector Picard, (career descending and body weight ascending), is on the trail of Ric Lazare who is bilking high-society members out of considerable cash. Ric Lazare possesses a machine that foretells the future, but this alone does not explain his hold on those in his circle of influence. Picard investigates with the intention of exposing the salon scam of a medium and his costly advice; instead, he encounters the unknown - Black Magic, Grand Bewitching, the creations of a German toy maker, and a nagging foreshadowing of events, particularly his own demise. Picard's sleuthing takes him through Nuremberg, Budapest and Old-World Paris and everything Picard discovers lays in shadows, echoes and reflections. Discovering the background and identity of Ric Lazare (and his stunning wife, Renee, who has Paris bewitched) is what keeps the reader turning the pages.
Clues come from:
1.) The mysterious death a priest.
2.) A half-Paleolithic family on a one-way forest trail somewhere on the steppes of Eastern Hungary.
3.) A hashish smoking Chief of Police. (“The smoke is rather strong...occasionally it renders me unconscious.”)
4.) A gifted toy maker, his evil apprentice, and ultimately the toys themselves, which are "much finer than men and much worse."
5.) A library in Paris where a volume of century old letters and diary excerpts reveal the true, yet impossible, identity of Ric Lazare and his wife Renee.
Kotzwinkle adds amusing sensuality to his descriptions of Nineteenth century Paris. (1861) What other capital would throw a party for the Great Whores of the City? The description of this party and the sauced satyr, Count Cherubini, who hosts it are worth the read alone. Extravagant debauchery Old-World style.
Kotzwinkle includes several zestful scenes between Inspector Picard and the ladies - a prostitute, an enchantress, and a woman in a tavern whom he seduces by hiring a gypsy Cymbolom player to envelop her in aural foreplay. Picard is quite the ladies man and these scenes show that while he may be an old dog, the learning of new tricks isn't necessary if the old ones are masterfully performed.
July 30, 2011
William Kotzwinkle’s Fata Morgana. I’m surprised because it reminds me that for 12 years I was trapped in Fata Morgana. Thank you, author of Doctor Rat, your other great book. Both books speak of the possibility of slipping into Fata Morgana, and then one becomes just like Doctor Rat or a Toy. The danger is when one starts believing that one can weave the Fata Morgana oneself. It is the ultimate Delusion of Grandeur. Or of Persecution.
Then, of course, it is a pleasure to follow Inspector Picard. Through the sewers and back alleys and tenements of Paris and then across Europe – to Vienna, Nuremberg, Esztergom, Dunabogdany, Debrecen and Translyvania.
The layering is excellent in this tale – masks, false trails, mesmerism and suggestiveness and what that does to people, orgies and excess and magic, the individual weaknesses that endanger individuals, doggedness, accurate self-evaluation, and language that is exquisite in the way it’s been crafted.
Anyone interested in toys and references to the creation of machines with souls, this takes you into the intricacies that all toys are – mysteries – and to Idoru. And the sections divided among four cards of the Tarot, allow for musing upon the warp and woof of destinies compounded in strange manner .
Strangely enough, it is a Hindoo who weaves the spell Inspector Picard falls into (among other spells that invite him in) – 25 seconds. So while he is able to resist the spell cast by Madame Lazare, he falls into the greater Grand Bewitchment through which, in my view, he comes to his senses, to Balance, to knowing himself more accurately – what exactly he is able to accomplish and what he is unable to accomplish. This is the story of Everyman.
Then, of course, it is a pleasure to follow Inspector Picard. Through the sewers and back alleys and tenements of Paris and then across Europe – to Vienna, Nuremberg, Esztergom, Dunabogdany, Debrecen and Translyvania.
The layering is excellent in this tale – masks, false trails, mesmerism and suggestiveness and what that does to people, orgies and excess and magic, the individual weaknesses that endanger individuals, doggedness, accurate self-evaluation, and language that is exquisite in the way it’s been crafted.
Anyone interested in toys and references to the creation of machines with souls, this takes you into the intricacies that all toys are – mysteries – and to Idoru. And the sections divided among four cards of the Tarot, allow for musing upon the warp and woof of destinies compounded in strange manner .
Strangely enough, it is a Hindoo who weaves the spell Inspector Picard falls into (among other spells that invite him in) – 25 seconds. So while he is able to resist the spell cast by Madame Lazare, he falls into the greater Grand Bewitchment through which, in my view, he comes to his senses, to Balance, to knowing himself more accurately – what exactly he is able to accomplish and what he is unable to accomplish. This is the story of Everyman.
December 27, 2018
Este relato policiaco que recorre centroeuropa, desde París a Bucarest pasando por Viena, Nuremberg y Budapest, homenajea a los grandes folletines decimonónicos de intriga. Además se constituye como una agradable evolución cuando en su trama se intuye lo fantástico. Una presencia cuya duda no se disipa hasta su final, lo que permite a Kotzwinkle establecer un ejercicio de prestidigitación sobre el consenso de lo real, las percepciones, la memoria y su transmisión. El uso que hace de los Fata Morgana para acentuar este carácter del relato me parece muy acertado.
El coqueteo con el fantástico se beneficia de su integración dentro de la trama de misterio, cuyas convenciones más clásicas se siguen al pie de la letra. Cada personaje, cada objeto, cada revelación tienen su motivo e incluso lo aleatorio, que en algún momento puede amenazar con sacar de la novela al más quisquilloso, encuentra su encaje en el desenlace. Un clímax coherente con el sentido de una novela notable que admite su lectura como una sátira de la historia policiaca.
Se nota que la he disfrutado.
El coqueteo con el fantástico se beneficia de su integración dentro de la trama de misterio, cuyas convenciones más clásicas se siguen al pie de la letra. Cada personaje, cada objeto, cada revelación tienen su motivo e incluso lo aleatorio, que en algún momento puede amenazar con sacar de la novela al más quisquilloso, encuentra su encaje en el desenlace. Un clímax coherente con el sentido de una novela notable que admite su lectura como una sátira de la historia policiaca.
Se nota que la he disfrutado.
August 6, 2022
A Magical and Decadent Detective Tale Set in Paris in 1861
This a tasty and sensuous noir tale of police detective Picard on the trail of a suave and clever magician and conman through the decadent soirees of 19th century Paris, filled with sybaritic wealthy elites, shady charlatans, Tarot readers, magicians, performers, thieves, prostitutes, impossibly crafted toy dolls, and *possibly* some real and sinister enchantment. Its got many an exotic set piece and roams throughout central Europe on the trail of Ric Lazare and his ravishingly beautiful temptress wife Renee. There is much narrative sleight-of-hand, many passages of dazzling beauty, and many erotic digressions, but you will not be bored. A very delectable and atmospheric novel, even if it stays always out of range of being pinned down.
This a tasty and sensuous noir tale of police detective Picard on the trail of a suave and clever magician and conman through the decadent soirees of 19th century Paris, filled with sybaritic wealthy elites, shady charlatans, Tarot readers, magicians, performers, thieves, prostitutes, impossibly crafted toy dolls, and *possibly* some real and sinister enchantment. Its got many an exotic set piece and roams throughout central Europe on the trail of Ric Lazare and his ravishingly beautiful temptress wife Renee. There is much narrative sleight-of-hand, many passages of dazzling beauty, and many erotic digressions, but you will not be bored. A very delectable and atmospheric novel, even if it stays always out of range of being pinned down.
February 26, 2013
I'm not going to lie, I 100% bought this book because of the cover. My local bookstore had a 1st edition in amazing shape from 1977 and I took a chance on it without really reading the description. What's not to like, mysterious shadowy man leering over a prone have naked woman in a giant moon mask. It's basically a detective story in Paris 1861 with the detective trying to build a case against a magician and his beautiful wife. Loved it! The characters were great, the feel & dialog acceptibly noir and I loved the scenes where the book included these amazing toys. That aspect of the story reminded me a lot of some of my favorite Steven Millhauser's short stories.
Pumped I picked it up and would definitely recommend it.
Pumped I picked it up and would definitely recommend it.
November 27, 2022
A French detective in 1861 Paris hunts a criminal who may employ the supernatural.
Book Review: Fata Morgana is a mirage, an illusion. Which is the story of Paul Picard, the bear-like detective who relentlessly pursues his quarry while trying and failing to live life to the fullest. I'm not much of one for the supernatural but this story won me over. While not as layered as an onion, the novel is more subtle than it first seems and in the end there's a life-affirming moral with a comment on when duty outwears common sense. Kotzwinkle makes the historical narrative, the magic and mysticism, the larger than life characters in Fata Morgana seem effortless. He powerfully evokes the time and place, the exotic and erotic, the appealing character of this lumbering ursine policeman. Kotzwinkle is the ultimate professional and facile writer, but there's more here than meets the eye. He really should be better known, but he writes in a wide variety of genres with no two novels are alike -- in fact they're widely divergent. He writes children's stories, adult novels, novelizations, and always seems to have a bit of tongue in cheek, while his writing is so facile, florid, and fluid that one hesitates to look for depth, which is there hovering just below the surface. Fata Morgana is a fantastical romp that entertains on a high level. [5★]
Book Review: Fata Morgana is a mirage, an illusion. Which is the story of Paul Picard, the bear-like detective who relentlessly pursues his quarry while trying and failing to live life to the fullest. I'm not much of one for the supernatural but this story won me over. While not as layered as an onion, the novel is more subtle than it first seems and in the end there's a life-affirming moral with a comment on when duty outwears common sense. Kotzwinkle makes the historical narrative, the magic and mysticism, the larger than life characters in Fata Morgana seem effortless. He powerfully evokes the time and place, the exotic and erotic, the appealing character of this lumbering ursine policeman. Kotzwinkle is the ultimate professional and facile writer, but there's more here than meets the eye. He really should be better known, but he writes in a wide variety of genres with no two novels are alike -- in fact they're widely divergent. He writes children's stories, adult novels, novelizations, and always seems to have a bit of tongue in cheek, while his writing is so facile, florid, and fluid that one hesitates to look for depth, which is there hovering just below the surface. Fata Morgana is a fantastical romp that entertains on a high level. [5★]
February 24, 2017
I really enjoyed this book; it's one of the better books I've read this year. I was having a great deal of fun following Parisian police detective Picard's efforts to nail the mysterious Ric Lazare, and was looking forward to their inevitable fatal confrontation.
I was definitely flirting with a four-star rating.
But then - aaaagh! It turns out to be a hallucination contrived by Lazare to convince Picard he's in over his head.
It still gets a strong 3.5+recommendation for the writing quality and Picard.
I was definitely flirting with a four-star rating.
But then - aaaagh! It turns out to be a hallucination contrived by Lazare to convince Picard he's in over his head.
It still gets a strong 3.5+recommendation for the writing quality and Picard.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 26, 2008
Probably the best known (and certainly best reviewed) of all Kotzwinkle's work, Fata Morgana is a detective story with a big slice of fantasy on the side. Set in Paris of 1861, there is a mysterious fortune telling machine, a beautiful woman who is bought and sold, and a sense of larger forces being at work. Highly recommended.
May 4, 2009
An 18th-century policeman chases the trail of a mysterious occult conman (or is he?) across Europe. Along the way, there is much danger, deception, magic and mystification and a good deal of sex as well. There are some brilliant set-pieces, lots of picturesque minor characters, and a fascinating ride as the magician catches the policeman in his web, in a most unexpected manner.
September 26, 2009
A very fine novel--kind of like Robertson Davies' World of Wonders meets Maigret in the 19th century.
October 28, 2011
Kotzwinkle wrote The Bear That Went Over the Mountain (which was hysterically funny) and E.T. each a different style and this is yet another style. Set in Paris a Police Inspector who is not in the good graces of his department searches for the history of an obvious charlatan. He becomes obsessed and we are surprised (at least I think it would be we) at the surprising ending. The main character is really not very likable - insecure, overweight, fond of "loose women" and given to melancholy he feels sorry for himself for all of the story. But the book is good if you're not expecting a deep and complex plot.
May 1, 2010
I liked the style, the general tone of the writing was evocative of what I would think Paris was like in the 1800s. I liked the hard-boiled plot. The dark, Circus freak / Steampunk-ish setting was captivating.
When I got to the end, I felt like I'd been hit between the eyes with the ol' one-two (maybe I should've paid better attention; it is a detective novel after all). Also, despite the character development that explores Picard's appetites, I thought the way Kotzwinkle represented women was despicable.
When I got to the end, I felt like I'd been hit between the eyes with the ol' one-two (maybe I should've paid better attention; it is a detective novel after all). Also, despite the character development that explores Picard's appetites, I thought the way Kotzwinkle represented women was despicable.
April 24, 2013
A really fascinating detective story set in Paris in the late 19th Century, with a mystical bent involving a fortune teller who is more than the charlatan he seems, and an exciting story. One of my favorite Kotzwinkle books, and I do hope a new generation discovers his novels and short fiction. He wrote the ET book after the movie came out, all from the alien's point of view, and it was the best of the genre of such movie tie-ins, a great fantasy story in its own right, and in some ways better and more moving than the movie.
January 19, 2011
When I was in the middle of the book I was thinking "Yeah, I like it, but it just isn't stellar" because things weren't happening too fast and answers weren't coming. But then the ending came and it redeemed a lot of what I was feeling.
Pros: Very good on 19th Century Paris/Europe, Characters, fantastical plot grounded in "reality"
Cons: Plot has quite a lot of loose ends and unexplained things for a small book!
Pros: Very good on 19th Century Paris/Europe, Characters, fantastical plot grounded in "reality"
Cons: Plot has quite a lot of loose ends and unexplained things for a small book!
September 11, 2008
wonderful, 19th century detective story set in Paris and throughout Europe. this time around the always unpredictable Kotzwinkle is mystical, bawdy, and oh-so clever.
June 13, 2009
I preferred The Fan Man, but it didn't keep me from enjoying this book of fantasy and magic. Everything was so vividly described that pictures just swam around in my head. I loved the ending.
September 3, 2012
Lovely, mysterious, mystical, romantic, and surprising
Read
June 16, 2012A seriously magical tale for adults, not as in soft-porn Anne Rice stuff, either.
November 9, 2016
Neat serpentine puzzle of a novel. The title and cover drew me in, but Kotzwinkle did the rest with his lavishly atmospheric writing bringing the readers into the 19th century Europe in all of its decadent magical glory. If viewed from a detective chasing suspect story, it's a mystery. Different approach may reveal it to be an occult drama or drama of the occult. It's quite stunning to read, the opulence of costume balls, magicians, intrigues...it's only the old trick ending (all that we see and seem is nothing but a...) that somehow cheapens the experience or leaves the reader feeling somewhat cheated. And yet such a quick read with so much to enjoy within its pages, it's tough to not like.
April 6, 2024
Aparte detective. Hoofdpersoon is recherche Picardië, Franse politie man. Verhaal begint met de achtervolging van een baron die jonge vrouwen vermoordt. Picard achtervolgt hem, beland in een gevecht en weet nog net weg te komen uit het woongebouw dat in brand is gevlogen. Als hij weer bijna beter is komt hij in aanraking met ene Ric Lazare. Een rijke vent die een waarzegapparaat heeft. Picard krijgt een briefje uit het apparaat waaruit blijkt dat hij herkend is en dat hen bedreigt met de dood. Hij probeert dan te achterhalen wie Ric Lazare eigenlijk is, en ontmoet veel mensen die door hem gedupeerd zijn. Terug in Parijs volgt de eindscene. Leest lekker weg, maar ook wel raar verhaal. Leuk voor tussendoor.
May 19, 2018
A surprisingly entertaining bit of smutty, poetic pulp that I wasn't expecting to love.
Too often, old-school paperbacks brag so loudly that their insides can never match the promises of their outsides. But Fata Morgana is, indeed, "A magical, erotic novel of crime and passion in Paris of the 1860s."
Better yet, it's a light read that mixes fun and literary flourishes, and has a twist that is completely earned by its structure and theme, rather than some Shyamalan deus ex machina.
After all of the unexpected perks, it's only fitting that this man also came up with the story for my favourite campy horror film: NOES Dream Master.
Too often, old-school paperbacks brag so loudly that their insides can never match the promises of their outsides. But Fata Morgana is, indeed, "A magical, erotic novel of crime and passion in Paris of the 1860s."
Better yet, it's a light read that mixes fun and literary flourishes, and has a twist that is completely earned by its structure and theme, rather than some Shyamalan deus ex machina.
After all of the unexpected perks, it's only fitting that this man also came up with the story for my favourite campy horror film: NOES Dream Master.
December 17, 2025
A beautifully paced surreal trip through Second Empire Paris, summoning the ghosts of Arsene Dupin and Cagliostro, peopled with eccentric aristos, the craftsmen of a bygone age about to be wiped out by industrialization, the Grande Whores of Empire, courtesans and generals. It’s a heady mix of not quite occult mystery, and if you can settle in and enjoy the vignettes in themselves, beyond how they serve the story, you’ll enjoy it just fine.
February 2, 2020
A vivid walk in Victoria era Paris with all the dark, debauch overtones that pre-internet/modern age can muster. I could easily check the boxes of the occult practices of the upper-middle class and remember who was eliciting them with the staunch character development. However, there was an innocence entwined with the dance with the devil; and a page turning drive to see its conclusion.
September 24, 2020
Bleh. This is more of a series of episodes without a plot than anything. Or more accurately, a series of episodes that have nothing to do with the plot, which is so simple I could fully explain it in a paragraph. Furthermore, it is not good historical fiction--what period detail it has does not feel authentic at all. Even though it was short I was bored before the end.
September 25, 2025
Kotzwinkle steps far afield from his usual light satires, to tell a story of the great detective Paul Picard, late in his career in the Paris of the 1860s. Picard encounters a con man and rumored sorcerer Ric Lazar, and travels through Europe to discern Lazare's origins and motivations.
Picard is an engaging character and the story clips along at a reasonable pace. Recommended.
Picard is an engaging character and the story clips along at a reasonable pace. Recommended.
March 28, 2024
very good
Fine mystery well crafted. The normal and paranormal worlds join. The world of Paris and much of Eastern Europe is very detailed and quite real. Worth rereading at some point.
Fine mystery well crafted. The normal and paranormal worlds join. The world of Paris and much of Eastern Europe is very detailed and quite real. Worth rereading at some point.
January 7, 2026
A ridiculous shaggy dog story, but surprisingly entertaining. Portentous, gratuitously sleazy, with an ending so anti-climactic and silly the author might as well be blowing a raspberry, it’s a masterclass in how to evoke and sustain an atmosphere without any meaningful content whatever.
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