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The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes
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The Somnambulist (original 2007; edition 2007)

by Jonathan Barnes (Author)

Series: Victoriana (1)

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1,32912114,124 (3.24)158
A tale set in Victorian London introduces the characters of a stage magician and detective and his silent sidekick, whose fiendish plot to re-create the apocalyptic prophecies of Samuel Taylor Coleridge threaten the British Empire.
Member:invisiblecityzen
Title:The Somnambulist
Authors:Jonathan Barnes (Author)
Info:William Morrow (2007)
Collections:Your library, Currently reading, Wishlist, To read, Read but unowned, Favorites
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Work Information

The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes (2007)

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» See also 158 mentions

English (123)  Spanish (1)  German (1)  All languages (125)
Showing 1-5 of 123 (next | show all)
Gosh I can't believe I actually finished this. So much potential just fell flat. Barnes tries too much and too little at the same time. I didn't care about any of the characters and the historical gimmicks weren't interesting enough. For instance, the character of Coleridge (minor spoiler, but I could not care less) is under-used and the nature of the title character is never answered--why the fuck is it called the Somnambulist?! It makes no sense. Is he some sort of golem? It feels like Barnes took a bunch of notes on "how to create a unique alternative world" and started to try to lay the groundwork in some overly subtle way for a follow-up novel in the Domino Men (which also falls flat, given this poor foundation). But where his world-building had the potential to be unique and interesting, he just glossed over it. In the meantime, his characters are boring and predictable and the plot is grand but kept on too short of a leash to flourish. I feel like Barnes tried too hard and couldn't keep track of his own pieces. The unreliable narrator was cliche and predictable.

It's been a long time since I've read a novel that was so good at reminding me it was a book, consciously knocking me out of its narrative grasp. It was *this* close to being a page turner, but it just ended up a wannabe. ( )
  invisiblecityzen | Mar 13, 2022 |
Gosh I can't believe I actually finished this. So much potential just fell flat. Barnes tries too much and too little at the same time. I didn't care about any of the characters and the historical gimmicks weren't interesting enough. For instance, the character of Coleridge (minor spoiler, but I could not care less) is under-used and the nature of the title character is never answered--why the fuck is it called the Somnambulist?! It makes no sense. Is he some sort of golem? It feels like Barnes took a bunch of notes on "how to create a unique alternative world" and started to try to lay the groundwork in some overly subtle way for a follow-up novel in the Domino Men (which also falls flat, given this poor foundation). But where his world-building had the potential to be unique and interesting, he just glossed over it. In the meantime, his characters are boring and predictable and the plot is grand but kept on too short of a leash to flourish. I feel like Barnes tried too hard and couldn't keep track of his own pieces. The unreliable narrator was cliche and predictable.

It's been a long time since I've read a novel that was so good at reminding me it was a book, consciously knocking me out of its narrative grasp. It was *this* close to being a page turner, but it just ended up a wannabe. ( )
  invisiblecityzen | Mar 13, 2022 |
Hm. After spending the middle of the book thinking that I was missing the key to this story, I liked it better once it was over and context was revealed. It was well written but I find it slipping away from me already. Back to Austen! ( )
  Je9 | Aug 10, 2021 |
I tried again and it sucks so bad I can't finish it. It is a poorly written psuedo-Sherlock-cum-mysticism piece of wandering drivel. I'm embarrassed to have spent as much time on it as I did. This may be my reference for how bad a book is in the future. ( )
  KittyCunningham | Apr 26, 2021 |
An interesting pot-pourri of ideas and characters that wouldn’t be out of place in Victorian penny-dreadfuls pulp magazines. The result is a fast moving series of adventures and puzzles that reflects the twist and turns of London’s gas-lit streets. Unfortunately the characters are never really developed and it does come across as trying to be a little bit too hard to be clever which gets in the way of the narrative. ( )
  gothamajp | May 26, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 123 (next | show all)
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Be warned. This book has no literary merit whatsoever. It is a lurid piece of nonsense, convoluted, implausible, peopled by unconvincing characters, written in drearily pedestrian prose, frequently ridiculous and willfully bizarre.
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A tale set in Victorian London introduces the characters of a stage magician and detective and his silent sidekick, whose fiendish plot to re-create the apocalyptic prophecies of Samuel Taylor Coleridge threaten the British Empire.

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FROM THE EARLY REVIEW LIST DESCRIPTION:
A fabulous first novel about a stage magician trying to stop a sorcerous uprising in turn-of-the-century London, in the vein of bestselling works by Susanna Clarke and Neil Gaiman.

The Somnabulist follows the extraordinary tale of Edward Moon, stage magician and detective, and his silent sidekick the Somnambulist. A bizarre series of murders unsettles turn-of-the-century London, but as Moon begins to investigate, he realizes it is only the beginning: nourished by blood and poetry, an eerie uprising grows among the very roots of the city.

With a gallery of vividly grotesque characters, a richly evoked setting and a highly literary and playful style, this is an amazingly addictive, brilliant debut novel from an author with a great voice and huge potential.
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Jonathan Barnes's book The Somnambulist was available from LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

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