While i guess we could still call this fantasy, at least as much as the previous ones, i don;t think we can call it gothic anymore. Ths is like a sort of steampunk-Great Gatsby with grothesque shadows of WWII lurking here and there.

It is a complete story in that it has an ending which i wasn't sure it would have, however the start and middle are a little hazier. Many sections feel abridged or truncated. A plot of sorts really only begins at the 3-quarter mark.

Still vivid and memorable, Titus himself has never been much of a character though and is never the most interesting person in the room but the sidecharacters are unique as always.

I'm debating whether to buy the trilogy but its scenes engrain themselves so deeply it might be quite a long time before you feel the need to reread it ;) . ( )

Well, I knew if I didn't read Titus Alone now, after Titus Groan and Gormanghast, I might never. Although having read it, maybe never would have been the wiser choice?

[Perhaps reviewing this book is cruel? He was suffering from the onset of dementia, and another nervous breakdown.]

Plotwise, Titus has left Gormanghast, and entered a strangely modern-sci-fi world, where they have cars and flying machines, and are entirely unaware of the giant crumbling castle of Gormanghast.

Which is probably an interesting topic to write about. Is my greatness real, or just a dream that happened in my mind? What are my roots? Am I deluded? Are my beliefs about what I have done actually true?

But Titus... just fails to click as a character for me. He feels more like a mcguffin, bounced from set piece to set piece. Most people get to know him when he is unconcious, or at least mostly fallen at their feet, and he's not usually, err, all that nice when he's awake?

But whatever we're not being shown must be magnetic, because so many people in the book are drawn to him. Muzzlehatch, hides him from the police and joins in a fight on his side and kills a man for him. Juno, takes him into her house and falls in love with him. Cheeta, becomes so obsessed with him she constructs Elaborate Revenge Ploys.

[Peake is not redeeming himself with his female characters here, either. The Black Rose exists merely for Titus to have to kill to protect her, and then she swoons away and dies anyway. Cheeta is painted as evil and scheming and shallow, but really, she is probably not the douchiest one in their relationship arc, which consists of Titus going 'hello! You have nice breasts' as his first words to her, then saying 'no, I don't like you, I just want to sleep with you, you're not very nice, and I must always be Free To Leave.']

It feels like a book that doesn't quite work, storywise. Lots of Important Events happen offstage and are then referred to later oddly in passing, like the destruction of the zoo or blowing up the factory. There are things that feel like they are going somewhere that never do (who is the strange auburn haired man who is lurking in Juno's arbour just in case she is wandering around heartbroken and wants a new squeeze?) and things where motivations seem oddly missing (why does the state particularly care about Titus enough to send two behelmetted policeman constantly tracking him?) It feels like there is an entire story around the edges about the Evil Factory and Muzzlehatch's destruction of it, but it is so light touch as to dissolve like gossamer when you try to touch it - I have no idea why they destroyed Muzzlehatch's zoo, or what evil things they were doing the factory (other than Terrible Stench of Death and Things Muzzlehatch could Not Describe) or why they were doing them, which feels like a big gap.

And I am sure the ending is Deep and Significant, but 'I am going to spend the entire book wondering if Gormanghast is real. Oh look, here is a rock I recognise, I think it is behind this rock. But I will not actually go to the rock and look at it, because I know in my heart it is real, that is all the proof I need, I am going to walk away from it again' is... well, I'm sure it is a powerful reflection on trusting yourself and not needing external conformation. But it's a bit frustrating!

Ah well. ( )

This is a weird book even in the context of the other 2. It does feel a little unfinished and I can't say it really struck a chord with me. All the memorable characters from the previous books are gone, only Titus remains, out in a new and confusing world. I just found it a bit of a slog. I think Gormenghast is the strongest of the trilogy. ( )

I waffled a little bit between three and four stars, but in the end Peake's use of language won over the rather odd plot departure in this third book.

I didn't mind that Titus was a stranger in a strange land or that he has apparently skipped far into the future where he's among moderns with airplanes or even stranger "seeing" devices or oddly strange ways of transportation upon one's side. All of that appeared to be a hop into the future beyond when this was written, too, so I'm going to call this SF as well as Fantasy. He seemed to be describing robots and AI! lol

I also liked the fact that Titus was nothing without his rituals or his history or his people. In giving up everything in the last book, he'd given up his own identity.

All good so far!

What kind of annoyed me was pretty much the continuity between the first two books and this one.

There was hardly any. This could have been a standalone quite easily, turning the modern world into a falling-down-the-rabbit-hole kind of fantasy for someone like Titus. Maybe he'd get back up and find a sense of himself beyond his place, and maybe not.

Unfortunately, I don't think he even got that much. The conclusion is quite dire. We are our past.

Do I really like this? No. Not particularly. Will I get over it because the rest of the text is pretty spectacular, minus some really atrocious sex scenes? Yeah, I probably will. :)

( )

It's with a heavy heart that I acknowledge how deeply this book let me down after the splendor of Gormenghast and Titus Groan. There's a very long, eloquent, and well-reasoned review on this site explaining why it's of equal quality to the rest of the trilogy. My brain tries to agree, but my heart just can't. ( )