Lonely October Night — the last novel by the amazing Roger Zelazny; considered one of the best in the work of the author (nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1994).
A watchdog named Snuff (English Snuff — Scent) keeps his diary, where (not without humor, judiciously and at times with some even English stiffness) tells about a certain Great Game taking place in London and its environs, the result of which should be opening or closing the Gate.
“The dog helps Tom-Jack. By which is meant both Jack the Ripper, and Jack-from-the-Shadow of Zelazny himself, and Jack — the hero of English folklore, and Jack the legend — the ever-living Cain, wandering around the world for redemption and always standing on the same side.
[…]
The world presented in the novel … sums up almost half of the English gothic and fantastic tradition. The author uses counterpoint to draw images created by colleagues through the plot. [указанными в посвящении], and finds common ground for everyone and all together.
Sherlock Holmes and Lovecraft’s ancient monsters, Count Dracula, Frankenstein [и много других известных персонажей] organically and naturally coexist with each other in the foggy cooling October ”.
Anton Karelin
From the last novel by Roger Zelazny, the very one for which he received two prestigious literary awards at once, that is loved by critics and adored by fans, which is considered the best work of the master, almost the pinnacle of his work, I was expecting something, if not transcendent, then how minimum amazing. And, damn it, how I was afraid to be disappointed.
But then I read it.
I closed the book.
I exhaled …
And it feels like I inhaled for the last time when I started reading. Captured. Really, firmly, firmly, as nothing has grasped for a long, long time.
The syllable of the novel can be characterized in one word: gracefully! «Night in Dreary October» is one of the few novels I have seen where there is not a single superfluous word …
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a magnificent piece, which is simply impossible not to fall in love with!
Vladvik
Mary Shelley,
Edgar Allan Poe,
Bram Stoker,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
Howard Phillips Lovecraft,
Ray Bradbury,
Robert Bloch,
Albert Payson Terhune
and the creators of good old films
with sincere gratitude.
Publisher: «Glagol» dubbing studio, 2017
Translation: Alexander Zhikarentsev
Reader: Dmitry Orgin
Editing: Grigory Sokovikov
Proofreader: Lyubov Germanovna Karetnikova
Cover: Anna Kolesnichenko.
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