{"title":"Brian Catling","description":"\u003cp\u003eDiscover the extraordinary world of Brian Catling, a visionary author who merges the boundaries of fantasy and reality. Renowned for his inventive storytelling, Catling’s works transport readers into realms filled with mystery, wonder, and dark enchantment. His books frequently explore intricate themes, revealing layers of a universe where the fantastical and the familiar collide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne of his notable works, \u003cem\u003eEarwig\u003c\/em\u003e, delves into a haunting adventure that plays with the subtle fringes of psychological tension and peculiar fantasy. In \u003cem\u003eHollow\u003c\/em\u003e, Catling crafts a narrative that invites readers on a journey through the recesses of an eerie world, captivating imaginations with its original blend of mystery and magic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eThe Vorrh\u003c\/em\u003e series, comprising \u003cem\u003eThe Vorrh\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Erstwhile\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Cloven\u003c\/em\u003e, is a landmark in the Sci-Fi \u0026amp; Fantasy genre. Here, Catling unfolds an epic tale set in a mythical universe that challenges the very essence of reality. These narratives are adorned with rich descriptions and profound philosophical insights, ensuring an engaging reading experience for lovers of the genre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrian Catling’s profound ability to weave together elements of the surreal with poignant storytelling makes his collection an essential journey for any reader seeking to explore the expansive possibilities of fiction. Whether you're a dedicated science fiction and fantasy fan or a general fiction enthusiast, Catling's works offer something uniquely compelling to explore.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"earwig-by-brian-catling-9781473687127","title":"Earwig","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eA standalone novel by iconic artist and author of cult bestseller, THE VORRH\u003c\/b\u003e\n\n\u003ci\u003eNot since Edgar Allan Poe and Bulgakov's \u003cem\u003eThe Master and Margarita\u003c\/em\u003e has there been such a masterly tale of feline evil.\u003c\/i\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEarwig got his nickname from his grandfather. At the start of this story, he is employed to look after a strange little girl in a flat in Liège. He spies on her, listening by holding a glass up to the wall. But he never touches her except when, as part of his duties, he is required to make teeth of ice and insert them in her gums.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEarwig takes a rare day off, which he spends drinking by himself in Au Metro, a seedy bar full of drunks, dancers, and eccentrics. It is St Martin's Day, and in the evening, as crowds parade through the street carrying lanterns through the snow, he is drawn reluctantly into a conversation with a sinister stranger called Tyre. As a result, Earwig accidentally maims a waitress with a broken bottle. He understands that on some level, Tyre meant this to happen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eShortly afterwards, a black cat is delivered to the flat, unasked for. The girl forms an immediate bond with it, but Earwig identifies it as the enemy. Travelling across the country by train, transporting the girl and her black cat, Earwig is increasingly caught up in a web of unfortunate and increasingly violent coincidences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46418440782060,"sku":"9781473687127","price":26.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781473687127.jpg?v=1746484064"},{"product_id":"hollow-by-brian-catling-9781529366464","title":"Hollow","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Brilliantly wrought... Wonderful... Catling's expertise, imagination and linguistic flair are well matched by his wit and enthusiasm. \u003cem\u003eHollow\u003c\/em\u003e is never less than tremendous fun... Catling is a great and wild talent... a raucous novel that thrills and unsettles in equal measure.\" - \u003cem\u003eTLS\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Prose that's sprinkled with neologisms and archaisms, and as crunchy and bitter-cold as snow... it's a nigh unclassifiable work, and all the better for that.\" - \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"As with all the best fiction, there is a terrifying inevitability about \u003cem\u003eHollow\u003c\/em\u003e... Let it devour you.\" - \u003cstrong\u003eIain Sinclair, author of \u003cem\u003eGhost Milk\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Unsettling and delightful... very clever fun... a sheer, shuddering delight... both frightening and hilarious. Catling is a rare kind of writer.\" - \u003cem\u003eScotland on Sunday\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the author of the \u003cem\u003eVorrh\u003c\/em\u003e Trilogy comes an epic odyssey following a group of mercenaries hired to deliver a church's ultimate power—a sacred oracle—as the decadence of carnival gives way to the gravity of Lent and the mystic landscape grows ravenous, all set within a Bosch painting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe history of art contains no more imaginative or mysterious paintings than the landscapes of Hieronymus Bosch. Art historians ask where the weird creatures depicted there came from, and so too do the central characters of \u003cem\u003eHollow\u003c\/em\u003e as they fight their way across these landscapes and encounter these creatures. Author B. Catling is the first novelist to engage fully with Bosch's vision and climb imaginatively into it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this novel, it emerges that Bosch gave colour and form to monsters, 'letting them in' to the real world, and that they were still infesting the landscape when it was painted by Bosch's follower, Pieter Bruegel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow, a wild bunch of mercenaries with a mission to deliver an oracle made of cloth, bones, and a loud voice take a dangerous journey to the monastery at the base of the Tower of Babel, where the most terrifying secret in the world is kept. As they travel through a country painted first by Bosch and then by Bruegel, they are confronted and seduced by monsters and see scenes painted by them. These include the devil playing dice, a lewd mock wedding with a dirty bride, an unholy being living inside a hollow tree and riding a giant rat, and creatures indulging in inter-species sexual play as depicted in \u003cem\u003eThe Garden of Earthly Delights\u003c\/em\u003e. A local marauding woman called Mad Meg with a small army of looting women from Bruegel's \u003cem\u003eDull Gret\u003c\/em\u003e is one of this novel's stranger characters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46711846994156,"sku":"9781529366464","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/14086363482732.jpg?v=1754250462"},{"product_id":"the-vorrh-by-brian-catling-9781473606630","title":"The Vorrh","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Vorrh\u003c\/em\u003e is described as \"one of the most original and stunning works of fantasy that has ever been my privilege to read\" by Alan Moore.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the tradition of China Miéville, Michael Moorcock, and Alasdair Gray, B. Catling's \u003cem\u003eThe Vorrh\u003c\/em\u003e is a literary dark fantasy that wilfully ignores boundaries, crossing into surrealism, magic realism, horror, and steampunk.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eB. Catling's twisting, poetic narrative features Bakelite robots lying broken, their hard shells cracked by human desire, and an inquisitive Cyclops waiting for his keeper and guardian, growing in all directions. Beyond the colonial city of Essenwald lies the Vorrh, a forest that sucks souls and wipes minds. There, a writer embarks on a giddy mission to experience otherness, fallen angels observe humanity from afar, and two hunters—one carrying a bow carved from his lover, the other a charmed Lee-Enfield rifle—fight to the end.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThousands of miles away, famed photographer Eadweard Muybridge attempts to capture the ultimate truth, while rifle heiress Sarah Winchester erects a house to protect her from the spirits of her gun's victims.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46817171210476,"sku":"9781473606630","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/18203823482712.jpg?v=1757883908"},{"product_id":"the-cloven-by-brian-catling-9781473636415","title":"The Cloven","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the tradition of China Miéville, Michael Moorcock, and Alasdair Gray, B. Catling's \u003ci\u003eThe Vorrh\u003c\/i\u003e is literary dark fantasy which wilfully ignores boundaries, crossing over into surrealism, magic-realism, horror, and steampunk.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Cloven\u003c\/i\u003e is the final book in the Vorrh trilogy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46991611035884,"sku":"9781473636415","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/18501673482712.jpg?v=1763072228"},{"product_id":"the-erstwhile-by-brian-catling-9781473636408","title":"The Erstwhile","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Vorrh is a vast, unmapped and very mysterious jungle in Africa. No-one comes out of it \u003cem\u003ein one piece\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSurvivors report strange, mind-bending phenomena and horrific monsters. It is rumoured that the Garden of Eden still exists somewhere in the middle of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThe Erstwhile\u003c\/em\u003e, it transpires that some angels have escaped Eden and the Vorrh and are living in hiding in London, some in disguise as lunatics in Bedlam. It's also revealed that William Blake, a character in these novels, is interacting with these angels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGood and evil angels and humans, including William Blake, are heading towards a final, Miltonic apocalyptic battle for the soul of humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Erstwhile\u003c\/em\u003e is the second book in the Vorrh trilogy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46991703310572,"sku":"9781473636408","price":27.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/18501603482712.jpg?v=1763072337"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/brian-catling.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}