A review by stromberg
Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I have never read anything quite like this, and I lingered with great pleasure over every extravagant sentence. This novel has been lumped under epic fantasy, where I do not think it belongs. If fantasy is “romance of the magical” (in the older sense of romance: a pageant of marvelous deeds in fantastical circumstances) then I find Titus Groan instead to be “romance of the uncanny”. This, more than its humour or any purported affinities with mainstream fantasy fiction, defines it for me. While each character is a Dickensian burlesque and the gonzo bombast of the prose is often wickedly droll, a rich gothic mood and macabre maturity tincture it all, spreading over it a texturous murk absent from much Tolkienesque fantasy. Tolkien’s work has had so much more direct influence on the fantasy genre because he attracted so many avid imitators, who found much that was readily imitable; Mervyn Peake’s astonishing style and approach defy imitation, which is why, to me, this novel seems to dwell naturally at the periphery of the genre. I am glad it found its way to me. If you haven’t yet, read it.