This book threw me for a loop in how it dealt with tense, however. Liss’s hero has the myopia of his class, but in time, his eyes are opened. Far too many neo-Victorian novels are loftily uninterested in matters of class, particularly those novels taking a romantic approach to magic.

I hadn’t expected the treatment of class issues to please me so much. My View is that it’s all right in its place, which is in the hands of the moneyed, the educated, and the idle.) (Every magician has Views about how magic works, or should work, particularly in fiction, and every one of us is right. I was pleased to find that the author’s take did not clash wildly with mine. My first concern, walking into The Peculiarities, was to see how ceremonial magic was portrayed. His loves and loyalties will suffer change. Thomas’s heritage will be revealed, along with its dreadful purpose. He is being herded toward more than marriage: Somehow he finds himself enrolling in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and finds the work absorbing, his progress hampered by staider members and accelerated in secret by the irrepressible Crowley, who acts as Puck and goad when Thomas’s Victorian lethargy of character threatens to immobilize him.Įvil forces are at work. He is increasingly afflicted with symptoms of the epidemic of magical transformations that London is looking hard away from. His brother oppresses him intensely, not omitting to force him toward an arranged marriage with a wealthy and homely Jewess. Thomas Thresher, a formerly well-heeled idler now enslaved in his family’s bank, has a lot of problems. The Peculiarities ARC 6567 SCI FI LB tile 2LBS 4lecco.The Peculiarities by David Liss is a strong steampunk story about Victorian magicians, featuring Aleister Crowley and other lights of the era. LAXVespa, Los Angeles - maybe this will do it!-At least you know what you're getting into-Media Mail USPS-you get the copy pictured - carefully Drop kick-packed to protect it - in - transit. New novel by David Liss features the tale of a clueless young man embroiled in a deadly supernatural mystery in Victorian London. Pages clean, crisp, unmarked, no creasing on spine, book appears unread. Very Good paperback book covers are bright glossy colorful with no use wear. Cover design Elizabeth story, interior design John Coulthart, author photo Chantel Nasits.

The Peculiarities, David Liss, Advanced Reader Copy (uncorrected proofs), First Edition, Paperback, published by Tachyon Publications, LLC, San Francisco CA (September 7, 2021).