The Harlequin's Dance: First Book of the Orokon

The Harlequin's Dance is the most amazing fantasy novel I've read for years. It's nothing like Terry Brooks or David Eddings. It's really dark and perverse and strange, and told with amazing lashings of irony and black humour. Set in a puritiancal village, sort of like Puritan New England, it''s the story of a crippled boy called Jem who not only learns to walk but finally discovers his destiny and esapes out into the wider world. The evil characters (particularly the fat Aunt Umbecca, the crazy Goodman Waxwell, and the town bully, Poltiss) are fabulously well done. I really look forward to the next volumes in this series.