Looking for some good sf pulp fiction

September 28, 2009 6:41 PM

Looking for suggestions for stories, novels, or comics in the vein of Mervyn Peake and China Mieville.

I read Peake's Gormenghast novels years ago, and loved them. I've also read Perdido Street Station, and am aiming to pick up The Scar and Iron Council by Mieville.

I guess I'm looking for stories which have that unique crossover of fantasy, technology, and maybe elements of grand guignol body horror.

I'm open to stories in any format, including graphic novels and comic books. I'm even interested in non-English stories.

posted by Ritchie to Writing & Language (11 answers total)

See my wife's question on this topic. Lots of good suggestions there.
posted by Paragon at 6:44 PM on September 28, 2009

Response by poster: Ah yes, Vandermeer. I've read City of Saints and Madmen, and liked it a lot.
posted by Ritchie at 6:52 PM on September 28, 2009

E. R. Eddison and M. John Harrison are good bets, and I loved Little, Big. You may also want to consider Mary Gentle's Ash: A Secret History. Tim Powers' The Anubis Gates does that fantasy / technology / grand guignol blend very well.
posted by Paragon at 7:00 PM on September 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

In both comics and novels, I'd recommend Neil Gaiman... Sandman and Neverwhere would probably be right up your alley.

Also in comics: Mike Mignola's Hellboy; almost anything by Grant Morrison or Warren Ellis; some European stuff, especially Jacques Tardi, François Bourgeon, or Enki Bilal.
posted by zompist at 7:12 PM on September 28, 2009

From left field: Walter Moers, especially Rumo and The City of Dreaming Books. Though loaded with puns and sometimes sentimental comedy, they have an odd and sometimes gory edge. They're probably even funnier in the original German.
posted by scruss at 7:21 PM on September 28, 2009

Best answer: I just finished Felix Gilman's Thunderer. It's excellent and absolutely fits the bill. Huge, ancient, magical city, creepy monsters, strange, baroque, steampunk social structure and architecture...I highly recommend it to you if you like Mieville and Peake--those two authors definitely came to mind when I was reading (along with the computer game Planescape: Torment, if that means anything to you).
posted by col_pogo at 7:42 PM on September 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh, and there is a certain amount of body horror. Not totally central to the plot, though.
posted by col_pogo at 7:44 PM on September 28, 2009

The Etched City by K.J. Bishop reminded me quite a bit of Perdido Street Station.
posted by mingo_clambake at 11:36 PM on September 28, 2009

@col_pogo, Wow, I played Planetscape: Torment YEARS ago - possibly the only game I've ever completed :) I'm going to look up Thunderer presently :)

I'd also recommend Michael Moorcock's Gloriana - it's very much like Gormenghast.

As for comics, Girl Genius is very, very good steampunk but not really horror. Jenny Finn is victorian gothic with horrible sea-creature-men.
posted by cardamine at 4:58 AM on September 29, 2009

That genre is often referred to as New Weird. Actually, I guess I posted in the former thread (absolutely no recollection of that!). All of the suggestions still stand. I loved The Etched City. Also, Sean Williams Books of the Cataclysm are pretty good (though the series is unfinished). The anthology I mentioned in the other post is okay, if a bit uneven and worth the read if you are interested in that type of literature.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 6:40 PM on September 29, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I chose the best answer in what may seem a fairly arbitrary fashion - I'm a big fan of Planescape: Torment, and my local library has a copy of Thunderer on the shelf!

The Etched City also looks interesting, and K.J. Bishop seems to be an Australian author as well. Library doesn't carry it, unfortunately :(
posted by Ritchie at 9:57 PM on October 11, 2009