“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

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Pretty Fly For A White Guy

Eoin Colfer? He’s flying right now. Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox isn’t due until next July but in the meantime Colfer is up, up and away on a whole new adventure. AIRMAN, due out on January 3, is the first of what will very probably be a million-selling series – the Artemis Fowl books have already sold over eight million copies in 40 countries. Talking with John Spain in the Irish Independent last week, Colfer offered an insight into his inspiration for his new hero. Unsurprisingly, it all goes back to his childhood reading and experiences, to wit:
“I loved the impossible tasks set for the hero and the appalling badness of the villain. AIRMAN is high adventure to the hilt of its various swords.” Colfer says that he has always had an interest in history (his father is a historian) and when he was a child the family spent every summer on Hook Head. “Our caravan was situated between a medieval castle and the oldest working lighthouse in Europe. I loved climbing the nearby castle and imagining the grand romantic adventures that could have taken place. Standing on top of the parapet of Slade Castle, it was very easy to pretend that you were part of some perilous undertaking, and I remember thinking that if the king’s guards were closing in on me, the only way to escape would be to fly.”
Blummin’ king’s guards, eh? A ruddy pest they are, and no mistake …
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