Review: “Thunderer” by Felix Gilman

As much as I read, it is still a rare treat to discover a book with enough power to make me forget the mundane world around me, completely transporting my mind from the here and now: “Thunderer” is one of those books.

The setting, an enormous city called Ararat haunted by innumerable gods who constantly warp both the city and its inhabitants, absolutely comes to life in Gilman’s beautiful, nuanced prose. The author isn’t afraid to spend time and linger in his descriptions of the city, and still knows how to keep an entertaining story going with this tale of gods, thieves, soldiers and pilgrims.

The prophesied return of a mysterious white bird – a deity – is used by a blasphemous scientist in service to the court to create the ultimate weapon, a floating warship called Thunderer, while below in the city’s streets a young escapee from a religious workhouse turned thief and a traveling mystic cross paths, spurring a story sure to hold even the most demanding reader’s attention for the full length of this weighty novel.

I love “Thunderer,” and cannot stop recommending it to friends.

My only regret about the novel is the cover, which is by no means the fault of the author. I feel that the publisher, Bantam, is attempting to market the book as a light fantasy in the popular “epic” mode, and it is so much more than that. People who purchase this book expecting literary bubble gum may be surprised to discover that they’ve just signed on for a four course meal. I worry that this will ultimately disappoint those readers, and that the same cover will have the effect of scaring away readers used to more challenging fare who will see it and assume that “Thunderer” is a run-of-the-mill popular fantasy novel, rather than the “New Weird” classic that it is.

Hopefully word of mouth will be enough to offset any potential difficulties caused by the unfortunate cover, and I can’t wait to see what’s next from Mr. Gilman’s fertile imagination.