Occult Comedy - review from Elizabeth A. White

[Jack Barrow]

How many magicians does it take to save the universe?

Geoff is having trouble with his mates. Actually he's having trouble with the model village where he works, where models that he most definitely did not make have started appearing in the village. What's more, when he looks back they're not there any more. Within a few hours of his mates arriving to help out (and after a few beers), things go from bad to worse.

Geoff's mates are having trouble with him, or at least that's what they're expecting. He's been dabbling in voodoo and when a friend of theirs dabbles things can easily go wrong. Having divined on the matter the friends decide to fix things and head north on Friday night but they have to save the Universe by Sunday evening because they have to be back at work on Monday morning.

This is a story of magical misadventure, gambling and nasty horrid criminality; where a group of intoxicated, paunchy, middle aged friends use their knowledge of the occult (often with unexpected and inconvenient results) to investigate an apparent conspiracy to turn a decaying Victorian holiday resort into the Las Vegas of England, thus making it a seedy tacky and depraved town.

This is magic but there are no broomsticks or sparks flying from wands. This is the magic of candle-lit rooms thick with atmosphere or ancient incantations, frequently with dubious outcomes. Based in Blackpool with a background of occult intrigue The Hidden Masters and The Unspeakable Evil has been labelled by readers of the blog as Fear and Loathing in Blackpool meets the Illuminatus trilogy. This is gonzo occult peppered with pop philosophy, cheap dark rum and cigarette papers.

Described as Occult Comic Fiction or Contemporary Comic Fantasy the story is set in the modern world just after the turn of the Millennium. However, fantasy is not really the word for this as there are no non human races (apart from cats), not really any supernatural events (okay a couple at least) and very few events that you might not see in every day life (if perhaps quite unlikely).

The story contains some adult themes so it is not intended for an under eighteen audience.

“None of us can afford to lose our trousers,” insisted Clint. “We have to deal with the bad guys and having bare legs will not get us the respect we need to beat them at poker.” They all thought he had a point there. “I mean, man, you can’t bluff with your knees exposed!”

Review of the paperback from Pentacle Magazine  + + +  Review of the paperback from Pagan Dawn Magazine

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[Jack Barrow]

Bump?

I'm still interested in thoughts on genre. Actually that's almost my prime motivation for posting this because if I can figure out where it sits it would be so much easier to move forward.

But let me explain. I've listed this variously over the years as occult comic fiction (which doesn't exists as a genre), urban fantasy, contemporary fantasy and even magic realism. (They say that the publishing industry doesn't want to touch something that they can't allocate to a particular shelf.)

So does urban fantasy have to have vampires and and supernatural events like that? Because I don't really have that/

Does contemporary fantasy have to have non human races and stuff like that? Because I don't have that.

What is it called when characters do things, thinking it's magic, but could be explained away mostly by coincidence?

There are a couple of clearly fantastic events but basically the story contains things that happen in every day life, but perhaps a bit unlikely

[Jack Barrow]

Recently described on Twitter:

Tweeted by @ElizabethAWhite
@JackBarrowBooks This is spectacularly bizarre, in a good way. Hope to finish tonight.

Elizabeth A White is a book reviewer in the US.

http://www.elizabethawhite.com/

I'm looking to get some people to just take a look at this so I'm not bothering to sell it. If you want a copy you can download it from Smashwords with the code SS57W. If you don't want to log into Smashwords I can send a file direct. Any feedback would be good.

[Jack Barrow]

I'd been a bit disheartened not to get the promised review from Elizabeth White so I left it a couple of weeks before contacting her. After all she might be saying nothing because she didn't like it. This was her response:

"Really enjoyed it. I'm just so d*mn behind on my reviews, but that's no excuse for not having told you that directly. Sorry. T'was wonderfully weird, and I mean that in a good way, and I *will* get to the review next week. Will send you the link when ready. "

So I suppose that's a lesson in not losing faith in yourself.

[Jack Barrow]

Here's a review from Elizabeth A. White.

http://www.elizabethawhite.com/2012/02/17/the-hidden-masters-and-the-unspeakable-evil-by-jack-barrow/#more-14386