“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Cry Fowl, And Let Slip The Imps Of War

Chastised by Ann via the comment box last week on the basis that we haven’t been linking kiddie-crime supremo Eoin Colfer on Crime Always Pays, we had two choices: we could slink away to a corner with a pointy hat on, or we could plug Eoin’s latest, Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony, and then make with the whole corner-‘n’-pointy-hat deal. So here goes: The Lost Colony is the fifth in the Fowl series, and finds Artemis battling the twin evils of homicidal imps and puberty. Naturally, it’s been garnering the usual raves, to wit: “The cinematic scope of the cycle of stories is only added to here with the high action, time-bending finale … I’m twenty years older than the target audience, but to me and the more expected reader, Artemis Fowl is rollicking entertainment,” says John Lloyd over at The Book Bag, while Kay Weisman of Booklist, via Amazon.com, is equally impressed: “As always, Colfer delivers not only continuous action but also witty wordplay and dialogue, understated humour, and plenty of magical technology and gadgetry. A must for kids who have enjoyed Artemis’ previous escapades.” Okay, that’s us away to the corner for the day. Damn pointy hat … it’s such a good fit.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You do look good in that hat. But I'm so pleased you saw sense and mentioned Eoin. Didn't realise you'd be quite so compliant.
And next time you start thinking about the hat, will you mention Halfmoon, please, as he is much more "crime" than Artemis, although Artemis is a criminal so maybe it is crime after all.
Well done.
But remember, I'll be looking...

Anonymous said...

Hey, Dec!

Ye fergot to mention that Colfer's short story "Taking on P.J." is the cracker that opens the Irish crime collection, Dublin Noir.

Editor Ken Bruin did well to tap Colfer for this task. The pair of gurriers in that short did more than take on P.J. They put Colfer on my radar. The guy writes tight, funny exciting scenes. I'd love to see what he can do with a full-length crime thriller.