As much as I really liked Kiss Me, Judas, I loved Penny Dreadful that much more. To steal an overused cliché, this book was a "tour de force" (which I'm not really even sure what that means other than perhaps, tour of force?). Either way, overused descriptions aside, this book is in a word, awesome.Baer really outdid himself. I enjoyed the first entry but was a little weary about starting this one (despite the fact that I went on and on about how much I enjoyed it). I think it was partly due to the fact that I had so much to read as well as a general feeling it may be a let down. And, truth be told, I did feel that way starting out, I thought the subject matter was a little out there. An ongoing, seemingly never-ending fantasy based game involving the theft of one's tongue? Insanity. Basically, the way the book breaks down is that you enter the game, usually through an invitation from someone else, and are quickly established into a caste. Either you're a "Fred", which is someone not aware of the game and is being hunted by a Mariner (one who hunts tongues) or a self-aware "Fred", which is someone who knows they're in the game but unsure of where they belong. Along the way, you're given assignments and instructions by a "Glove" a person of supreme importance. You also have the ability to confess to a "Redeemer", someone whose sole job is to comfort those lost within the game. This of course is all fueled by a hallucinogenic drink called "The Pale", made mostly of herbs with a little heroin thrown in for good measure.As this is the second in the Phineaus Poe trilogy, Poe is our central character. He inadvertently gets drawn into the game while on the hunt for missing cops, most notably a missing cop named Jimmy Sky. While going undercover to gain some information, he encounters Eve, a central character from the first novel. The novel progresses as Poe is drawn deeper and deeper into the game of tongues.Honestly, it's not quite as screwed up as I initially thought. The way that Baer crafts the game, the structure, the rules; you really believe that this could actually work. It's clear that this is a genre that the author firmly belongs in as he has such conviction with the noir genre. His writing is so exceptional; the book is endlessly quotable.I'm starting Hell's Half Acre immediately. Jude makes her triumphant return and the series switches back to the sole point of view of Poe - something that had been mixed up a bit in "Penny Dreadful". Hopefully, it's just as good as the first two.
well i never heard of this author and after i read the excellent "smonk", yes i know books don't go in quotes, i looked on some of the user lists on amazon that list that book... anyway, tom franklin, of smonk fame, was listed by this guy as one of the edgy new authors akin to palahniuk and franklin. i will readily admit, the writing was strong, i had to reread many sentences in the first quarter of the book to figure out what exactly was going on, and the writing is just the way i like it... graphically descriptive but economical. meaning he acutely recreates a scene, but doesn't insult the reader with extraneous details that are inherit in said scene. i also enjoy that the story is told from many character's perspectives, and there is no clear indication, other than hanging with the writing a few sentences in, as to who is speaking. but that being said, the characters aren't as fleshy or as meaty as i'd like. i also did know this book was a sequel. or the middle book in a trilogy i guess. and i hope every book stands on it's own, cause this book seems to end ominously enough, a chapter being closed. but at the end of the day this is some kind of quasi cyber-punk/role playing game fantasy land switching pretty deftly between the two. at the end of the day it's a dark "thriller" or something like that, and that genre in itself is wholly disappointing, so maybe take this review with a grain of salt, light fiction is not my bag.
What do You think about Penny Dreadful (2006)?
In Penny Dreadful, the various identity crises from the first book are smashed to pieces. Without the security of being close to Jude, Phineas struggles to regain a foothold on his life back in Denver. His withered sense of self finds an outlet however: the vicious game of tongues, which at least half of Denver has succumbed to (including everyone from lowly video store clerks to cops). The disintegration of the characters' identities is what drives the plot. The narration in the chapters alternates between different characters' personalities. This tells us that while Phineas himself can be very transparent with his personal demons, his sanity may be better preserved than a lot of the people around him. We find out that a person's superficial strength and denial does not ensure their psychological stability. The rigidity of the caste system is believable. While most newcomers seem to enter the game fearing their superiors, Poe is oblivious to any sort of boundaries he's expected to adhere to. The question remains whether or not his alter ego Ray Fine will betray him, as have many of the other players have done to their former selves. During what is supposed to serve as Ray Fine's initiation, guided by Ray's old friend Griffin (aka Major Tom), Major Tom wonders if Ray is too "mentally competent" to be trusted as his new apprentice. During a heated conversation in the bathroom after Ray's "first tongue," Tom challenges his friend, asking him what he thought of the experience (of taking a tongue). Ray—or Phineas, it's left unspecified—doesn't answer. He is distracted and appears unaffected by the intensity of the game. Instead of answering Tom, looking in the mirror, he says, "Fuck me. This is a ugly hat." It would seem he doesn't identify with the actions of either Phineas, or Ray; rather, he is simply acting without questioning his thoughts.The story's arc is largely psychological, while Phineas responds violently to the events that take place around him. We are kept sated by his open letters to Jude, which he writes in a notebook taken from his friend Eve. One continually hopes for some kind of epiphany to be achieved, but instead there is just this constant want that can't be satisfied—not by him, or by the phantom of Jude.
—Linus
I was worried by the original Kiss Me, Judas that any follow-up wouldn't be able to to match up to the disturbing depth and noir nature of the book, and though not far off, Penny Dreadful is by no means something to pass on. The sequel contains what it should, with a rather original plotline from its predecessor and some new interesting style concepts thrown in. A for effort, but 3 stars because it just seems like Baer is trying too hard for a cynically-inspired philosophy to emerge, taking away from the actual story. The characters are developed, some hopefully actually having some sort of concluding storyline in the third book of the series.If this was a book to be read alone, then it could have scored higher with this reader, and so perhaps the mediocre rate is affected somewhat by some sort of disappointed fan bias. Alone, this booko is passable, but my suggestion is to go through the whole series, because it does have some reasonable adeptness to its pages.
—Michael
Weirdly fascinating.This novel holds its strange world together (barely!) with pure determination. Not everything makes sense, but then I don’t think it’s suppose to. Ultimately, you have to go along for the ride and cast aside all those nagging doubts that keep springing up. Will you be rewarded in the end? Meh. Sort of. Depends on how you accept nebulous packaged conclusions.It’s surely not a bad novel, I’m simply not sure it’s a great one. Yet, it keeps me reading. It pulls a few surprises. And overall it is fun.
—Jrubino
