Prepare to lose yourself in the heady, mythical expanse of the Vorrh.
'In THE VORRH we have one of the most original and stunning works of fantasy that has ever been my privilege to read.' Alan Moore
In the tradition of China Mieville, Michael Moorcock and Alasdair Gray, B. Catling's THE VORRH is literary dark fantasy which wilfully ignores boundaries, crossing over into surrealism, magic-realism, horror and steampunk.
In B. Catling's twisting, poetic narrative, Bakelite robots lie broken - their hard shells cracked by human desire - and an inquisitive Cyclops waits for his keeper and guardian, growing in all directions. Beyond the colonial city of Essenwald lies the Vorrh, the forest which sucks souls and wipes minds. There, a writer heads out on a giddy mission to experience otherness, fallen angels observe humanity from afar, and two hunters - one carrying a bow carved from his lover, the other a charmed Lee-Enfield rifle - fight to the end.
Thousands of miles away, famed photographer Eadweard Muybridge attempts to capture the ultimate truth, as rifle heiress Sarah Winchester erects a house to protect her from the spirits of her gun's victims.
I really loved Brian Catling's The Vorrh. It's a hot storm of a novel bursting with art and history, sex and nature. A visionary fantasy epic that is incredibly fun to read. Wildly different, but no less remarkable. - The Guardian
This is fine stuff. Like the best fantasy writers Catling succeeds in creating a compelling and believable parallel dimension. - Daily Mail
The English language has given birth to some great works of unbounded vision and imagination, and here is another one... It's a very sophisticated and subtle exploration of the decadent, primitive and the mythical. Many books are said to be like nothing else, and aren't, but Brian Catling's really is. - Philip Pullman
Darkly imaginative. . . . Packed with striking images . . . real beauty and power. - Kirkus
Catling's novel reads like a long-lost classic of Decadent or Symbolist literature, with that same sense of timelessness. It's peculiar, wildly imaginative, unafraid to transgress and get lost, and is unlike anything I've ever read. - Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach Trilogy
Although comparisons to Michael Moorcock and Mervyn Peake will inevitably be drawn, The Vorrh offers something more...It reminded me of Odilon Redon: a combination of the luminous, the luxurious, monstrous flora and dark wit. - TLS
One of the most original works of visionary fiction since Mervyn Peake. - The Guardian
I am glad to have the book as a companion on my own dark quest. - Tom Waits