The Bedlam Stacks: From the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

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If you need an example of the cruelty of man and empire you have to look no farther than the slaughter and slavery of the Congo rubber trade. It's hard to root for a guy who is super chill about the Congo. And for a book which tosses that in there as an aside. More 'blink and you miss it' but with massacres. The history of quinine and the East India Company was fascinating, as were the stone statues which moved. A hint here - do not read this book if you dislike magical realism. There is a whole lot of fantastical stuff going on which you may not be able to swallow if you like your fiction real. If that sounds a bit much, that is because it is. In the end it did not surprise me, but did disappoint me, when we have a “giant eagle” style save by a Inca community floating in the clouds.

The world he travelled through was so well realised, and the Peruvian jungle and the town of Bedlam felt wonderfully real and alive. The imaginative elements worked well because they came out of the natural world and old traditions, and they spoke of what makes up human. I particularly liked that way that those things sat against practical concerns, particularly the importance of a good cup of coffee. To write more detail of the story may spoil it for a first-time reader. Everything in this finely crafted world makes its own perfect sense. There’s magic in this place, and mystery. There is also the brief appearance of one character from ‘The Watchmaker of Filigree Street’.Definitely recommended for anyone to whom a queer platonic historical fantasy set in Peru sounds interesting. :) I will likely read this and Watchmaker again before Pulley's next book comes out. I was smitten when I read Natasha Pulley’s first book, ‘The Watchmaker of Filigree Street’ a year or two ago, and so when I saw that a second book was being sent out into the world I knew that I had to rush out and buy a copy.

This book is a historical yet spellbinding journey about a group of smugglers sent on a journey to obtain the purest form of malaria antidote-medicine from the 18th century Peruvian quinine trees found deep within the mountains. There is a certain serene nonsensicalness to this. It has an edge of surrealism and fantasy added to a historical novel and a travelogue. In addition there is an element of steampunk as well. It is mainly set in Peru in and around the 1860s. It revolves around quinine and the attempts to steal some to be grown in other parts of the world. This is also an excuse for introducing plenty of references to Incan culture and mythology. So there are statures that move, pollen that does odd things, cloud cities, obsidian and much more. The characters here are interesting enough, though at times their words didn't seem to suit the time period. There's also a guest appearance from a character those who've read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street will recognise. A sweet inclusion, but ultimately just another weird moment for me. I cannot pin down what this story was trying for. I must say that in terms of imaginative concepts and world building I thoroughly did like this book, if a bit overcrowded at times. I also suspect the anticipation of the building relationship might be key to it's success. I went into both this and Watchmaker expecting to get a low key but definite gay relationship, and I think someone who didn't could easily miss some of those subtle moments or not read into them the same meaning and therefore deprive them of their power.

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I was drawn into this story from the very beginning – I loved the way that the fictional Tremaynes were insinuated into the family history of the real Tremayne family that used to live at Heligan – but even if I hadn’t known that very real place, where the lost gardens are open to visitors, I still would have been captivated. The two men reacted quite differently to these things, to other remarkable things they encountered and to the people they met. It became clear that they had different destinies … Thus begins a slow-paced epic journey. Others have undertaken this journey before and few have survived it. And they were able-bodied men, whereas Tremayne can barely walk. Tremayne and his companion, his former naval colleague, Clements Markham. They are being sent to: A sequel to "Just Us Girls" by hahafool Language: English Words: 2,691 Chapters: 1/1 Collections: 1 Comments: 5 Kudos: 5 Bookmarks: 1 Hits: 21

I nodded. He could have. But it felt good to have stood in front of him without flinching and, however stupid it was, I wanted to do it again. At this point I should explain that this isn’t a sequel or part of a series, that there is a character who appears in both books, but that this is a different story set at a different time in that same world. But you are supposed to root for him, I think, he is so damned affable (a flaw - if he'd been less affable at key moments the book would have been more interesting!) and yet at one late point he agrees to go off to the Congo rubber plantations should he survive Peru, and, well. I received an ARC of this novel from Bloomsbury Publishing in exchange for an honest review – all thoughts are my own. This expedition isn’t really about the trees at all, is it? It’s about getting a decent map, for if – when – the army has to go?’The cover alone made me desperate to get hold of this book, not to mention the description. Exploding trees? Strange events in Peru? Sign me up now, please! The eagerly anticipated new novel from the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - a treacherous quest in the magical landscape of nineteenth-century Peru.