Gormenghast Series by Mervyn Peake, Rupert Degas, David Louis Edelman, Maeve Gilmore

Starts with the birth and ends with the first birthday celebrations of the heir to the grand, tradition-bound castle of Gormenghast. A grand miasma of doom and foreboding weaves over the sterile rituals of the castle. Villainous Steerpike seeks to exploit the gaps between the formal rituals and the emotional needs of the ruling family for his own profit.

A doomed lord, an emergent hero, and a dazzling array of bizarre creatures inhabit the magical world of the Gormenghast novels which, along with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, reign as one of the undisputed fantasy classics of all time... moreA doomed lord, an emergent hero, and a dazzling array of bizarre creatures inhabit the magical world of the Gormenghast novels which, along with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, reign as one of the undisputed fantasy classics of all time. At the center of it all is the seventy-seventh Earl, Titus Groan, who stands to inherit the miles of rambling stone and mortar that form Gormenghast Castle and its kingdom, unless the conniving Steerpike, who is determined to rise above his menial position and control the House of Groan, has his way.In these extraordinary novels, Peake has created a world where all is like a dream - lush, fantastical, and vivid. Accompanying the text are Peake's own drawings, illustrating the whole assembly of strange and marvelous creatures that inhabit Gormenghast.Also featuring:Introductory essays by Anthony Burgess and Quentin CrispTwelve critical essays, curated by Peake scholar Peter G. WinningtonFragment of the unpublished novel, Titus Awakes less

Titus Groan is seven years old. Lord and heir to the crumbling castle Gormenghast. A gothic labyrinth of roofs and turrets, cloisters and corridors, stairwells and dungeons, it is also the cobwebbed kingdom of Byzantine government and age-old rituals, a world primed to implode beneath the weight of centuries of intrigue, treachery, and death... moreTitus Groan is seven years old. Lord and heir to the crumbling castle Gormenghast. A gothic labyrinth of roofs and turrets, cloisters and corridors, stairwells and dungeons, it is also the cobwebbed kingdom of Byzantine government and age-old rituals, a world primed to implode beneath the weight of centuries of intrigue, treachery, and death. Steerpike, who began his climb across the roofs when Titus was born, is now ascending the spiral staircase to the heart of the castle, and in his wake lie imprisonment, manipulation, and murder.Gormenghast is the second volume in Mervyn Peake’s widely acclaimed trilogy, but it is much more than a sequel to Titus Groan—it is an enrichment and deepening of that book.The Gormenghast Trilogy ranks as one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable feats of imaginative writing. less

The final book in the Gormenghast trilogy. “Mervyn Peake is the master of the macbre and a traveller through the deeper and darker chasms of the imagination.” – The TimesAs the novel opens, Titus, lord of Castle Gormenghast, has abdicated his throne. Born and brought to the edge of manhood in the huge, rotting castle, Titus rebels against the age-old ritual of which he is both lord and prisoner and rushes headlong into the world... moreThe final book in the Gormenghast trilogy. “Mervyn Peake is the master of the macbre and a traveller through the deeper and darker chasms of the imagination.” – The TimesAs the novel opens, Titus, lord of Castle Gormenghast, has abdicated his throne. Born and brought to the edge of manhood in the huge, rotting castle, Titus rebels against the age-old ritual of which he is both lord and prisoner and rushes headlong into the world. From that moment forward, he is thrust into a stormy land of a dark imagination, where figures and landscapes loom up with force and vividness of a dream - or a nightmare.This final installment in the Gormenghast trilogy is a fantastic triumph - a conquest awash in imagination, terror, and charm. less

Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels are widely acknowledged to be a classic work of high fantasy, on a par with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. In the Gormenghast novels, Peake created the vividly detailed world - at once gothic and surreal - of Castle Gormenghast, ruled by the noble family of Groan, whose heir is bound by the house's ancient rules and rituals. When Peake died in 1968, he left behind a few tantalizing pages of a fourth book in the series... moreMervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels are widely acknowledged to be a classic work of high fantasy, on a par with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. In the Gormenghast novels, Peake created the vividly detailed world - at once gothic and surreal - of Castle Gormenghast, ruled by the noble family of Groan, whose heir is bound by the house's ancient rules and rituals. When Peake died in 1968, he left behind a few tantalizing pages of a fourth book in the series.Maeve Gilmore, Mervyn Peake's widow, wrote the present novel based on those pages left behind by Peake. Fans of the Gormenghast novels will relish this continuation of the world Peake created and the lives of unforgettable characters from the original novels, including the scheming Steerpike, Titus's sister Fuchsia, and the long-serving Dr. Prunesquallor. The book picks up the story of Titus, the 77th Earl of Groan, as he wanders through the modern world. Published exactly one hundred years after Peake's birth, this strikingly imaginative novel provides a moving coda to Peake's masterwork. less