The Somnambulist

A fun romp through a Victorian London that isn't quite ours, with characters that are just not quite believable, telling a story that borders on the absurd... and I loved every page of it! Part historical fantasy, part murder mystery, part political intrigue, the best way to describe The Somnambulist is in the authors own words, from the very opening lines of the book: "Be warned. This book has no literary value whatsoever. It is a lurid piece of nonsense, convoluted, implausible, peopled by unconvincing characters, written in drearily pedestrian prose, frequently ridiculous and willfully bizarre. Needless to say, I doubt you'll believe a word of it." The Somnambulist centers around Edward Moon, an aging, fallen from fame magician, and his enigma of a partner, who is known only as the Somnambulist. While being the title character to the novel, the Somnambulist doesn't actually play the starring role in the book, but is simply always there at the right time it seems, and is the perfect foil to Moon. In his time, it comes to light that Moon has also aided the London police on several occasions, helping them solve seemingly unsolvable crimes. And this presents my one great complaint with the book: we hear about several of these cases from Moon's past, but that's all; we are never given anymore than off-the-cuff remarks about them, no details. I want to know more about Moon and his earlier cases! The characters in The Somnambulist are just as much fun as the story. Obviously, Edward Moon and the Somnambulist, but there is also the Human Fly, the Albino, the Prefects, the Chairman, Mrs Grossmith, Mr Cribb, Barrabas, the bearded-lady whore... the list goes on and on. Each has a part to play in the story from beginning to end, and each person's story is, for the most part, tidied up by the end of the story. My hope remains that Jonathan Barnes continues thrilling us with tales of Edward Moon and the Somnambulist; tales of their earlier adventures and cases that are only hinted at in The Somnambulist. This book may not be for everyone, but as escapist reading, I don't think you can do much better than this!

The Somnambulist - who is never named and who never speaks - is only the most featured oddity in Barnes' repetoire of strange men and women who populate turn-of-the-20th-century London. Others include a bearded lady with a formarm growing out of her chest, a man who lives life backwards through time, an albino spy, and various societal castoffs and misfits. The protagonist, a conjorur who merely travels in their circles - Edward Moon - seems almost normal by comparisson. Moon has to unravel a mystery. Who pushed a bit actor out of a window in a London tower in the wee hours of the morning, and more significantly, how did he scale the sheer stone wall of the tower to do it? The tale is narrated by someone who seems to be a part of the story, but we are not quite sure how until much later. Beleive me, it is worth the wait to find out. In the meantime, the old man sleeps far beneath the city. Like "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel," The "Historian," "The Alienist," or even Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," (see my other reviews, as well as my own book, Neitherworld for similar off-the-wall characters) we are treated to an crossroads time between the superstitious old times, with their myths and monsters, and our new modern age. Like all good scene setters, Barnes makes you feel the dank, dark London of the age in a few carefully chosen words. There is poetry here, as well as adventure. This is an author in control of his craft even in his debut novel. The middle gets a bit soggy but picks up well in the second half when Moon's captivating sister joins the chase. Barnes has enough confidence in himself to evolve his characters, and the bad become the good, and even the good sometimes the very, very bad. The author is taking chances, and pulling them off. Highly recommended.

The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes is a delightfully quirky mystery filled with twists and turns. Edward Moon is a renowned magician in late Victorian England. Along with his partner, the silent giant The Somnambulist, Moon has acquired a reputation for solving complicated crimes through deductive process. A ham actor is murdered in an exotic manner, and the police call in Moon to help, but the too easy answer only opens the door to many frightening and confusing twists. Soon all of London is under threat of attack, and only Moon can figure out the secret of the poet. I was suffering from book fatigue when I picked up this novel. Too many books in too few days, and none of them were appealing me anymore. But within the first pages of Barnes' book, I was laughing out loud and reading passages to my husband. The narrator promises you that he's going to embellish his story and on occasion even lie to you, and I loved every moment of it! The story is hardly plausible, but that's not the point. My imagination was stirred, my funny bone tickled, and my mind thoroughly engaged. Although this is Barnes' debut novel, he writes with the assurance and flair of a well established author. He even handles a startling twist and complete upending of the story with style.

Victorian London will be forever etched into the minds of readers that enjoy twisty mysteries and macabre adventures set against a history sharply defined in books and movies. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories first come to mind, as well as later forays such as The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore. Stephen Spielberg even took a run at the genre and the setting in Young Sherlock Holmes. I have to admit, I'm a bonafide sucker for the milieu. I grew up hanging onto Sherlock's coattails while the game was afoot, and I never quite recovered from that first blush of fog-crowded streets and Hansom cabs clattering across cobblestones. Oklahoma author Will Thomas has set up a fine Sherlock riff in his own series about Baker and Llewelyn, Victorian detectives. But Jonathan Barnes's new novel, The Somnambulist, takes pre-conceived notions of Victorian mystery novels and adventures and turns them on their ears. And this is only his first novel! I was captured at once by Barnes's writing. He favors a blend of modern, easy to read, language mixed with a shading of the long-winded Victorian trappings and a touch of purple prose. It's a fine brew and I found myself sailing along within just a few pages. His writing is so smooth, and his imagery so evocative, that the world of Edward Moon and the Somnambulist grew larger and deeper and more textured with every word. I have to admit, Edward Moon isn't one of the most likeable people you're going to find in this novel, but he is our chief detective. Like Holmes, Moon is a quirky individual filled with his own ego and intelligence. He's a stage magician by trade, but his intellect is keen and he's knowledgeable about a great many things. Moon is also rather novel in his relaxation pursuits, and I found myself jarred quite deeply when he elected to sample the wares of a local house of prostitution. I decided at that point not to like him overly much, but the traits - all too human and poignant for some weird reason - made him even more fascinating. But where Moon has a few things hidden from the reader that are eventually revealed, his companion - the Somnambulist - remains an enigma. He's a large, strong man who can't speak but does communicate through a portable chalkboard he carries with him. He also has the peculiar ability of being able to become a veritable pincushion for swords that Moon thrusts through him in their magic act, and for enemies that battle him. He's got an unexplained fetish for milk. Together, these two form our crime-fighting duo for the novel. In the beginning, Moon is vaguely interested in the murder of Cyril Honeyman. At first, Honeyman's death is believed to be a suicide. But Moon believes it's murder. I really liked the mystery set up and the way that Moon and the Somnambulist were first brought into the mystery, then attempts were made to scare them off, then they were forced back into it. All the while the police were buzzing arou

Edward Moon is a stage magician who occasionally does detective work on the side accompanied by his partner, the Somnambulist. Not having a case in a while, Moon has become complacent and bored with his life. So when a murder case is presented to him, Moon jumps at the chance to use his adept detective abilities. But for this strange case, Moon may have to call upon less than favorable characters for answers to his questions. Set in a dark and ominous London, Moon and the Somnambulist will come across a dangerous conspiracy that threatens the heart of London itself. Narrated by a mysterious character with a distinct sense of humor, The Somnambulist is a cleverly written mystery with elements of fantasy. Written in the era of great detectives such as Sherlock Holmes, this dark, exciting story reminded me often of the movies The Prestige and The Illusionist. Though, The Somnambulist takes a decidedly unique tone towards the end. With imaginative and vivid characters, I found myself fascinated by each one and immersed in the narrative. My favorite lines from the book are from the first paragraph: "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 wilfully bizarre. Needless to say, I doubt you'll believe a word of it." It's that paragraph that had me hooked from the start!