It's my review of the new novel from that master of fantastical madness Jeff Noon, Creeping Jenny! This fair and unbiased review was conducted with gratitude for the free electronic copy of the book which I received. From the publisher’s website: In the winter of 1959, private eye John Nyquist arrives in the village of Hoxley-on-the-Hale with only a package of cryptic photographs, and the frail hope of finding an answer to a question he’s been asking since his childhood. But the villagers offer little help, as each day brings a twisted new rule in the name of a different Saint that they, and Nyquist, must follow. And there are whispers of the return of the Tolly Man, an avatar of chaos in a terrible mask… As Nyquist struggles to distinguish friend from foe, and the Tolly Man draws nearer, he must race to finally settle the one mystery he has never been able to solve: the disappearance of his father… This is the third of Jeff Noon’s Nyquist Mystery series, but don’t worry if you haven’t read either of the other two; I had only read the second book (The Body Library) prior to reading this one, and can confirm that you don’t need to have read either of the other two before getting stuck into this one. Also, in true Jeff Noon fashion, it probably wouldn’t help you grasp what’s going on any better anyway. The always experimental, award winning author has made his home in metanarratives and kicked so many holes through the fourth wall that the roof is surely coming down around his ears by now. Honestly, by the end of his Arthur C. Clarke Award winning debut Vurt, I wasn’t sure if I was even real any more. I actually found Creeping Jenny one of his easier to follow novels, in that by the end I felt like I’d understood pretty much everything that had happened and didn’t feel compelled to google “Creeping Jenny ending explained.” A creepy and pervasive sense of wrongness is established nice and early. There’s a very gothic tone throughout, although I would hesitate before putting the novel wholly in this (or indeed, any) genre. Jeff Noon’s work nicely fulfils the “WTF” part of publisher Angry Robot’s “SF, F and WTF?!” mandate. Having been summoned to the village by a set of creepy photographs that depict a mysterious tower that the residents claim to know nothing about, Nyquist’s welcome to Hoxley-on-the-Hale is not exactly warm. His first encounter is with the bizarre Sylvia Keepsake, who appears to live in the woods giving names to things - in particular, trees. She does this by writing the name she’s given them on a card, then hanging it on a particular branch. My own take on this memorable early scene. Why yes, I did have fun with this, why do you ask? But the creepiness and wrongness only increase as Nyquist continues his investigations. The unique central mechanic of the story is the saints worshipped in Hoxley-on-the-Hale - 360 in total, one for almost every day of the year. Not only is the worship of the saints interesting and often unsettling, it gives the novel a wonderfully paced narrative and sense of structure. The specific rules of worship placed upon the villagers begin somewhat quirkily, then become stranger and more disturbing as the story progresses. This lends the novel a real page turning quality, as I found I was keen to see exactly what rules would accompany whichever saint came next. Each day’s rituals are distinct from the one before, and all are highly imaginative. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the creepy little homemade miniatures of the saints displayed in Nyquist’s room and trying to guess what effect that particular saint would have on the day from the description. Unsurprisingly, I guessed wrong pretty much every time! Some of the observances are very off the wall, but to say more would be spoiling things. Their effect on each day tends to frustrate Nyquist’s investigations, almost as if different narrative “filters” have been applied to a traditional mystery story. On top of this, Nyquist often wakes up in his room with little or no indication of how he got there, which adds to the general sense of disorientation - he is out of his comfort zone, and we as readers are pushed out of ours along with him. This sense of disorientation also comes out in Nyquist’s conversations with the inhabitants of the village. Not only are they frequently difficult to communicate with owing to the restrictions or rules placed upon them by that day’s saint, they also often speak at right angles to Nyquist, seeming to answer a different question to that which he’s asked. The rural setting and the investigations of the main character evoke the likes of The Wicker Man, while the experimental nature of the writing and the folkloric themes recall Max Porter’s Lanny. Surely a mouth-watering prospect.
Creeping Jenny is an engrossing read, a psychological thriller with a wonderfully distinct twist and a more than worthy addition to Jeff Noon’s already impressive body of work. It’s a playful fantasy, fizzing with a dark magic, that will draw you in with its mysteries and unsettle you with its offbeat setting. Having very much enjoyed it, I will now be purchasing the first book, A Man of Shadows, to find out exactly how Noon put Nyquist through the wringer in that one. You can buy all three of the Nyquist books from Angry Robot’s webstore in DRM-free ebook form now. They will work on Kindle too, which is always good! The paperback of Creeping Jenny, along with the other two books in the series, can be ordered here. Currently reading: The Hidden Empire (Saga of the Seven Suns Book One), Kevin J. Anserson Currently listening: The Parallax II: Future Sequence, Between the Buried and Me
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AuthorOllie - BA English and Creative Writing, MA Publishing. Archives
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