The Gormenghast Trilogy (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Mervyn Peake
- First Published: 1946
- Type of Work: Novels
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—high fantasy
- Time of Work: Undefined, on another world
- Setting: Gormenghast Castle and various locations on another world
- Genres: Long fiction, Fantasy
- Subjects: Freedom, Family or family life, Self-discovery, Tradition, Politics, Crime or criminals, Murder or homicide, Other worlds, Brothers and sisters, Inheritance or succession, Castles, Aristocracy or aristocrats, Adventure, Fire, Twins or multiple-birth siblings, Zoos, Arson, Parallel universes or alternate dimensions
- Locales: Gormenghast (mythic)
The Plot
The Gormenghast trilogy was never meant to be a trilogy. Mervyn Peake published the first novel, Titus Groan, in 1946. Gormenghast appeared in 1950, and in 1959 the first edition of Titus Alone came out. Peake was in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease and could not edit it. In 1970, a second edition of Titus Alone came out, restoring much of what the first editor had left out, and this is the accepted version. The fragmentary, posthumously printed “Titus Awakes” (1990) consists of a few pages and an outline Peake left, showing...
[The entire page is 1517 words long]
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