Here is a book that does the impossible: it combines Mark Twain, Thomas Pynchon, and Little Miss Sunshine. Good novels entertain; great ones come as a gift to the readers who are lucky enough to find them. This book is a treasure

Larsen has made an impressive mark ... spectacularly funny

Reif Larsen's wonderful original debut, destined to please readers of all ages, is the Next Big Thing... echoes of Thomas Pynchon, Robert Coover and Nicholson Baker... a lively sophisticated narrative that looks to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Impossible to put down. Engagingly poignant and charmingly quirky ... Larsen is an accomplished writer, but he's also a hugely gifted illustrator ... It's a genius debut.

Fantastical, funny and delightfully original

A wilfully original and diverting book ... you can see exactly why it caused publishers to sit up. It is charming and kooky

Think Tom Sawyer with a passion for empirical science... one of the most original books of the year

Reif Larsen's debut novel combines meticulous eccentricity with an amazingly broad appeal ... the book is a thing of beauty in itself... TS's voice - and scientific pencil - enchant the reader ... TS's journey - towards forgiveness, understanding, adulthood, love - is a familiar one, but the views are spectacular.

We believe in Spivet because Larsen gives us so much that is elegant and even pretty to look at. The book is beautifully produced with drawings and maps, yet the account of the train journey in this attractively naïve voice would be admirable even if it were not framed and accompanied by sketches

It has the makings of a cult classic...a deliciously ambitious book, a confident blast of ideas - and a beautiful object

Highly entertaining journey...Larsen will go on great things

Something very special...pure genius

a mind-bending journey into the strange world of Spivet [...] Magical

The real star of the show is Reif Larsen, a first time American novelist...Some of the sly coming-of-age humour is reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn, but it is also very much a modern novel

An endearing and original coming-of-age story

A wilfully original and diverting book, full of carefully penned ephemera.

The tale of map-obsessed outcast TS Spivet is captivating but it's the intricate illustrations - from the temperamental family toaster to the trajectory of his father's whiskey sips - that make this a rewardingly unique read.

Larsen's achievement is to have created a quirky, engaging, painfully vulnerable hero - not to mention a book that's truly lovely to look at, heavily illustrated throughout with examples of T.S.'s prize-winning maps and charts.

Larsen's debut is engaging... plenty of intelligent perceptions, and a generous smattering of Spivet's drawings

The Selected Works of TS Spivet is a joy; a colourful feast of a book... few [books are] as bold as refreshing as Reif Larsen's debut... The account of [Spivet's] adventure is engrossing and full of allusions to classic American literature... There's a lovely hand-crafted quality to the book, and even in paperback form it is a beautiful object

Has an eye, and ear, for music culture that few of even the best rock journalists can match

I’ve seen some reviews bill The Thrill of it All as being a book for anyone who’s dreamt of being a rock star, but I’d say it’s appeal is far wider than that: it’s for anyone who loves music — blues, ska, New Wave, punk and rock especially

Humour and poignancy are woven into the fabric of this warm, well-crafted novel, all the way to its cathartic conclusion

a warm-hearted, funny and moving novel for anyone that’s ever loved a song

Some of the funniest, most tender moments are the exchanges between Robbie, the rebellious son, and his staid but loving father, Jim...less a tale of pop dissolution than of family

The key to Harkaway’s writing is the incredibly textured depth and imaginative characterisation. It is one of those books whose character are so rich that by the climax, you feel like they’ve penetrated your reality and you want to keep them close, even after the book is over.

Original and exciting, full of humanity and comedy, Tigerman by Nick Harkaway is a beautiful piece of work

Original, exciting, full of humanity and comedy, Tigerman by Nick Harkaway is a beautiful piece of work.