Author:Arthur Conan Doyle

'... that strange internal kingdom of which we are the hapless and helpless monarchs.'
From the master of the detective story and creator of Sherlock Holmes, the first ever tale to feature a supernatural Egyptian mummy.
One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.
Mr Peake's first novel holds one with its glittering eye - It has a genuine plot in the strictest sense, and it persuades you to read on simply in order to know what will happen - its gallery of characters is wonderful
—— NationA gorgeous volcanic eruption... A work of extraordinary imagination
—— New YorkerThe Gormenghast Trilogy is one of the most important works of the imagination to come out of [this] age
—— Anthony Burgess , SpectatorVibrant...an intense, sun-drenched story. The prose veers dizzily between the poetic and the convoluted, spreading a hallucinatory patina of weirdness over everything. This is a writer for whom ordinary language just will not do.
—— The TimesAn extraordinary novel, beautifully rich, vividly atmospheric and psychologically complex. Every woman should read it
—— Bernardine Evaristo, author of MR LOVERMANSo mesmerising that reading it is to be under a spell...Sex suffuses the novel, with pleasure frequently crossing into pain
—— Independent on SundayA smart, seductive and utterly beguiling read
—— Mail on SundayElegant and deeply strange [and] hummingly funny throughout
—— SpectatorWhat makes the book so good is Ms. Levy's great imagination, the poetry of her language [and] moving gracefully among pathos, danger and humor
—— New York TimesGripping... an elegant and eerie tale.
—— ShortlistMcCarthy’s crisp, clean prose is stimulating, his concepts original and his visual imagery powerful.
—— Leyla Sanai , Independent on Sunday[An] entertaining slice of experimental fiction.
—— Sunday ExpressBooker-nominated author Tom McCarthy’s latest offering is lean, smart and infuriating.
—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday ExpressMcCarthy's writing is cool and elegant, descriptive, yet informal and conversational.
—— Curious Animal MagazineAn intellectually challenging and highly engaging work of art.
—— JP O’Malley , Washington PostIt is dead-clever, very funny, insanely ambitious, sometimes insane, essentially brilliant and commendably engaged with the way we’re living our lives right now.
—— Stuart Hammond , Dazed DigitalReading a McCarthy novel is like being in a McCarthy novel: everything is part of a fizzing network, the scope of which can never be fully apprehended.
—— Duncan White , TelegraphWithout beginning, middle, end – and especially lacking centre! – the novel comes to a halt, leaving the reader in a gorgeous daze of symbol and cypher, whose meaning is so clear, and yet tantalizingly opaque.
—— Aisling O’Gara , Totally DublinSatin Island is clever, vogue, slick and sleek.
—— Tamim Sadikali , Book MunchPacked with intriguing and intellectual ideas… refreshingly thought-provoking.
—— Good Book GuideSlender, foxily postmodern.
—— Sam Leith , Radio TimesThe bleeding edge of science fiction is Satin Island.
—— InterzoneIn Satin Island the narrator, U, takes us on a journey through the modern world of ideas, theories and references. It’s a wonderfully intense experience – as soon as I’d finished I wanted to read it again.
—— Edith Bowman , Radio TimesConvincing proof that the best writers of our time are anthropologists.
—— Anna Aslanyan , The SpectatorFavourite novel of 2015.
—— John Banville , ObserverA darkly funny and disturbing meditation on the intricacies and insubstantiality of our technology-ridden times. McCarthy is one of the most daring, most ambitious and most subtle of what at my age I can all the younger generation of writers.
—— John Banville , Irish TimesThe novel often reads like a dramatic monologue, a very modern stream of consciousness, akin to Joyce’s Finnegans Wake… McCarthy’s novel is innovative, well crafted and challenging… This novel is breaking new ground, a breath of fresh air, at times a tour de force.
—— Vincent Hanley , Irish TimesMcCarthy has put his finger on something, and he’s nailed it very precisely. It’s how we live now. All the information we process every day. What it’s doing to us.
—— William Leith , Evening Standard






