Book
Strange cargo / Jeffrey E. Barlough.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780441011605 (pbk.)
- ISBN: 0441011608 (pbk.)
- Physical Description: xii, 481 p. ; 23 cm.
- Edition: Ace trade pbk. ed.
- Publisher: New York : Ace Books, 2004.
Content descriptions
- General Note:
- "A western lights book"
Search for related items by subject
- Subject:
- Young women > Fiction.
Glacial epoch > Fiction.
Good and evil > Fiction. - Genre:
- Fantasy fiction.
Search for related items by series
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gibsons Public Library | SF FIC BARL (Text) | 30886000045456 | Adult Speculative Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2004 August #1
Young Mr and Mrs. Cargo are displeased with the substantial legacy left to a stranger by their grandfather's will, and must journey to Nantle to resolve the matter. Miss Wastefield receives a threatening gift on her twenty-first birthday, and flees to Nantle, hoping to dispose of it. And what is the meaning of the mysterious flying coach-house that keeps appearing along the coast? Barlough has allowed himself plenty of room to develop and resolve all these questions in an interesting manner and, on the way, to confuse a certain percentage of readers with an abundance of detail in events, characters, and settings. But tenacity will pay off, and many will find Barlough's well-composed novel, arriving in America two years after its British publication, well worth reading, especially if they fancy a plot that is rather a cross between Dickens and Verne, spiced by a touch of John Myers Myers of Silverlock [BKL Mr 15 03] fame. ((Reviewed August 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2004 June #2
Another fantasy set in a world where a huge, mysterious object struck the Earth, causing the "sundering," a new Ice Age, and the reappearance of megafauna. Civilization, socially and technologically Victorian, clings to a narrow strip of coast.A dreadfully slow-footed introduction acquaints us with a mundane array of garrulous eccentrics and comic-opera scoundrels-and, more to the point, a number of people who are drawn to the cathedral city of Nantle. Assistant lighthouse-keeper Hake Jobberly beholds a flying coach-house-a story later corroborated by the Reverend Giddeus Pinches. Said levitating coach-house is the property of Malachi Threadneedle and his young assistant, Tim Christmas, who, utilizing a set of seemingly magical stones, have persuaded the coach-house to navigate the airways. Frederick Cargo, his wife Susan, her companion Aspasia Veal, and their lawyer, Arthur Liffey, seek a certain Jerry Squailes. To the fury of Mrs. Cargo and Miss Veal, Mr. Interloper Squailes inexplicably has been bequeathed a considerable sum of money in Frederick's late grandfather's will. Also arriving in this busy city is the beautiful Jane Wastefield and her clever monkey, Juga. Miss Wastefield's doom is an ancient bronze mirror. Not only does it show her tantalizing or horrifying scenes, but certain of the creatures lurking within view promise dire repercussions. Worst of all, Miss Wastefield is unable to rid herself of the object: no matter how she disposes of it, it returns the moment she sleeps.These not entirely auspicious plot elements unfortunately fail to cohere, and the separate resolutions, while apposite, will not fully gratify expectant readers. After the demented dazzle of Dark Sleeper (2000), Barlough plummets back to Earth with an audible thump. Copyright Kirkus 2004 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2004 July #1
On an alternate Earth still planted firmly in the Ice Age, where a quasi-Victorian civilization exists on a narrow strip of coast, the lives of three individuals converge in the cathedral city of Nantle. The fortunes of Frederick Cargo, who searches for a heretofore unknown heir; Tim Christmas, who seeks a strange and potentially dangerous magical mechanism; and Jane Wastefield, who flees an object that she carries with her at all times, reveal themselves in Barlough's latest novel set in a 19th century filled with magic, science, and Ice Age monsters. This elegant tale by the author of Dark Sleeper belongs in most libraries. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2004 July #2
Flying buildings, fortune-telling cooks and dwarf mastodons are the least of the marvels that spice Barlough's latest entry in the Western Lights series, another robust stew of fantasy, horror and SF themes that gives off the aroma of a 19th-century scientific romance. Like its predecessors Dark Sleeper (1998) and The House High in the Wood (2001), this sprawling saga is set on an alternate Earth where Ice Age wonders coexist alongside a fragment of Victorian society. Two converging plot threads center the action in Nantle, a coastal town full of magic and surprises: in one, ghost-haunted lawyer Arthur Liffey leads clients Jeffrey and Susan Cargo on a search for a mysterious heir who has claim to one-quarter of their grandfather's fortune; in the other, orphan Jane Wastefield seeks a mysterious correspondent who has offered to relieve her of a magic mirror that reflects disturbing images of an eerie alternate world. The complex development of both mysteries allows Barlough to introduce a large cast of eccentric grotesques whose decadent quirks he describes in lavish detail. Despite the narrative's shaggy-dog aimlessness, Barlough's eye for the nuances of Victorian life and his ear for the slang and idiomatic expressions of the era give the wildest events an authentic period flavor. Even readers new to the series will enjoy this leisurely tale in an original fantasy realm. (Aug. 3) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.