★ 06/22/2015
Philip Murdstone has written five quiet books in the “Sensitive Dippy Boy genre,” which his agent—the curvaceous, ferocious Minerva Cinch—insists he must abandon if he (or, more importantly, she) is ever to make any money. “You may be perfectly content in your badgery little cottage living on poached mice and hedge fruit,” she tells him, “but my tastes run a little richer.” Cinch wants high fantasy, “Tolkien with knobs on,” and she even draws him a hilarious template (on the back of a page from Murdstone’s most recently submitted manuscript): “mock-Shakespearean without the rhyming bits.... Bags of capital letters.” Murdstone has no aptitude for this, but Peet is certainly up to the task, alternating the writer’s story with a summary of the epic fantasy he produces after a fateful (and highly drunken) encounter on the moor with a dwarfish creature named Pocket Wellfair. Whether the story Murdstone turns in is actually his or he is merely taking dictation from Wellfair will depend on what readers conclude about Murdstone’s sanity/sobriety. Either way, the fantasy is a big hit, which means Murdstone has to come up with the next book in the trilogy—quick. The novel was published for adults in the U.K., and it’s easy to see why: there isn’t a teenage character in sight, and the concerns—about career, reputation, parochialism, and looming bankruptcy—are all adult, too. Regardless, Peet’s book is enormous fun, especially for those familiar with the literary conventions it skewers, and it’s a brilliant valedictory for the author, who died in March. Ages 16–up. (Sept.)
The novel was published for adults in the U.K., and it’s easy to see why: there isn’t a teenage character in sight, and the concerns—about career, reputation, parochialism, and looming bankruptcy—are all adult, too. Regardless, Peet’s book is enormous fun, especially for those familiar with the literary conventions it skewers, and it’s a brilliant valedictory for the author, who died in March.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Carnegie Medalist Peet (Tamar, 2007) has written a hilarious satire of the fantasy genre with alcohol-laced overtones of Terry Pratchett and William Goldman’s The Princess Bride. Blending worlds, wit, and literary allusions with unique narrative voices, Peet’s take on fantasy and the writing process will attract adults and teens alike. Darkly comic and a joy to read.
—Booklist (starred review)
The Murdstone Trilogy...is brilliant. Richly drawn characters ground the story, even at its wildest, and older teens steeped in the fantasy traditions of what Minerva describes as "Dwarves. Beards. Time and dimension shifts.... You know." will revel in this wonderfully witty, upside-down take on the genre.
—Shelf Awareness (starred review)
This book, released in the UK in 2014, will be relished by American readers whose taste for stunning verbal finesse outweighs any tendency to outrage over carnal humor, cultural indelicacies, or lack of respect for the fantasy genre as such, making it a meaty feast for knowing teens who can laugh at what they love and hoot at naughty jokes they aren’t supposed to admit are funny. An angry edge of authorial disgruntlement over the state of publishing only serves to sharpen the wit as Peet literally and figuratively scours the shire of the fantasy genre while reminding readers of what artful literary language should sound like.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
A deliriously freewheeling send-up of the publishing industry and the current sword-and-sorcery craze results. But there’s a vein of real feeling. “The world is the stories we tell of it,” one of the fantasy beings says to Philip. They should all be as lively and entertaining as this one.
—The Wall Street Journal
The Murdstone Trilogy has just about every ingredient I try to avoid in my reading: magick with a K, sword slashing sorcerers, minions aplenty and dwarfs. So how can I love this book more than anything I’ve read in ages? Because when Mal Peet gets his hands on an idea he can out-plot the furthest-fetched of fantasizers, out-skewer the most sardonic of satirists, and just generally work his writerly magic, with a plain old C. And he does it all in one book instead of three. It’s a big-hearted romp of a rant. Read it. Even if you hate Tolkien. Even if you love Tolkien. It really is that brilliant.
—Tim Wynne-Jones, author of Blink & Caution and The Emperor of Any Place
An award-winning author whose young-adult novels have gone out of fashion makes a Faustian bargain with a Hobbit-like creature in this broad, darkly hilarious sendup of high fantasy and publishing...Bitter and frothy as a pint of stout, this formula-thwarting satire will intoxicate fantasy fans with strong stomachs.
—Kirkus Reviews
Peet lampoons the fantasy genre in this stand-alone novel. Sharply drawn characters propel the plot as it builds to an unexpected finish...This title is highly recommended to a select audience of mature readers interested in the darker comedies of life.
—VOYA
This is one of the few fantasy send-ups that matches the genius of Diana Wynne Jones’s masterpiece Dark Lord of Derkholm and the hilarious companion, A Traveler’s Guide to Fantasy Land...Few adult fantasy readers are familiar with the late Carnegie Medal-winning YA author Peet (Tamar), but this work should gain him a mature audience. His clear appreciation and knowledge of the genre, plus adult language, make this clever story best for adults and those well versed in fantasy.
—Library Journal
09/15/2015
This is one of the few fantasy send-ups that matches the genius of Diana Wynne Jones's masterpiece Dark Lord of Derkholm and the hilarious companion, A Traveler's Guide to Fantasy Land. YA author Philip Murdstone is recognized for his stories of sensitive teenage boys in contemporary settings, appreciated by critics but not widely read, which is why his pushy agent talks him into an absolutely new writing venture, an epic fantasy novel with all the Tolkienesque trimmings. Murdstone hates fantasy fiction and has no idea what to write, so he's grateful when a complete story arrives in his head. VERDICT Few adult fantasy readers are familiar with the late Carnegie Medal-winning YA author Peet (Tamar), but this work should gain him a mature audience. His clear appreciation and knowledge of the genre, plus adult language, make this clever story best for adults and those well versed in fantasy.—JM
2015-07-15
An award-winning author whose young-adult novels have gone out of fashion makes a Faustian bargain with a Hobbit-like creature in this broad, darkly hilarious sendup of high fantasy and publishing. Philip Murdstone, "still good-looking, in a crumply vicar sort of way," is broke. It's been years since Last Past the Post, his novel about sensitive adolescents, won "all those prizes" (like Peet's own teen novels) and "made Asperger's cool." Philip's latest has sold just 313 copies. The solution, says his agent, the delicious Minerva Cinch, is to change gears: produce a trilogy filled with a Dark Lord, Orcs, Shire-dwellers, a magick sword, plenty of capital letters and stray apostrophes, and most important, an Amulet. Unfortunately, Philip loathes Phantasy. After drowning his sorrows in Dark Entropy beer at a pub near his Dartmoor cottage, he belches his way to a nearby stone circle, relieves himself against a standing stone, and subsides into the grass, where he receives a vision. A "Greme" called Pocket Wellfair appears and dictates the first part of a saga of the Realm, complete with exiled hero, corrupt wizard, and the lost Amulet of Eneydos. Philip hurries home to type it up. The resulting novel, which Philip calls Dark Entropy, is brilliant but incomplete. Pocket reappears and offers Philip the rest of the story in exchange for the Amulet, which the evil wizard has hidden somewhere in the real world. Philip's quests for the Amulet, a path into Minerva's panties, fame, and fortune lead him from the New York literary landscape to the Dalmatian coast and the Himalayan highlands, ever deeper into drink, eschatology, and scatology. Bitter and frothy as a pint of stout, this formula-thwarting satire will intoxicate fantasy fans with strong stomachs.
