The majority of fantasy readers will be familiar with Nick Harkaway, the highly acclaimed author of The Gone-Away World and Angelmaker – both of which were smothered with awards.
This week though comes what many reviewers – and Nick himself – are calling his best work to date, Tigerman. It is a novel about ex-colonies, superheroes and paternal love. Here’s the blurb:
Lester Ferris, sergeant of the British Army, is a good man in need of a rest. He’s spent a lot of his life being shot at, and Afghanistan was the last stop on his road to exhaustion. He has no family, he’s nearly forty and burned out and about to be retired.
The island of Mancreu is the ideal place for Lester to serve out his time. It’s a former British colony in legal limbo, soon to be destroyed because of its very special version of toxic pollution – a down-at-heel, mildly larcenous backwater. Of course, that also makes Mancreu perfect for shady business, hence the Black Fleet of illicit ships lurking in the bay: listening stations, offshore hospitals, money laundering operations, drug factories and deniable torture centres. None of which should be a problem, because Lester’s brief is to sit tight and turn a blind eye.
But Lester Ferris has made a friend: a brilliant, internet-addled street kid with a comicbook fixation who will need a home when the island dies – who might, Lester hopes, become an adopted son. Now, as Mancreu’s small society tumbles into violence, the boy needs Lester to be more than just an observer.
In the name of paternal love, Lester Ferris will do almost anything. And he’s a soldier with a knack for bad places: “almost anything” could be a very great deal – even becoming some sort of hero. But this is Mancreu, and everything here is upside down. Just exactly what sort of hero will the boy need?
In addition to being an incredible read, Tigerman has been getting a lot of attention for its BEAU-TI-FUL cover that started out as a finger-print painting inspired by a passage in the book:
‘He plunged his hand into the black paint and across the face of the ballistic shield, fingers shaping the pigment. He slashed one way, then the other, and screamed, hammered his fist down onto the worktop. Paint splashed. His other hand delved into the yellow pot and clapped down dotting and slicing, and suddenly a tiger’s face leaped from the flat surface, made real by the contrast. The eyes were luminous.’
Here’s a video that the publishers, Windmill Books, have been kind enough to share with us:
Nick says of Tigerman that ‘this book is from the heart in a huge way. The story is about geopolitics, the 24 hour news culture, comic books, drug smuggling and the search for justice. But underneath that it’s about being a dad, and about how we do anything for those we love … I truly believe it’s my best.’
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In addition to giving us permission to share some insight into the cover’s creation, Windmill Books have been good enough to offer up three copies of the book in a Fantasy-Faction giveaway competition. All you have to do in order to win one is tell us why you’d like to read it in the comments below. We will pick three names at random, so you don’t need to be too creative about how you answer; whether it is because you are a fan, the blurb has you intrigued, the cover is awesome or something else – just submit that comment and you may be one of the lucky three getting Tigerman through your door very soon!
Richard Marpole
Jennie Ivins
I would like to read this book because I think the story sounds amazing!
Loved The Gone-Away World. Can’t wait to get my claws into this!
I’d love to read this, seeing as Gone Away World is one of my favourite books!
It’s a captivating premise and I know Nick will bring it home.
….well, I would love to read this for the name which somehow appeals a lot to me, lol…..
Angelmaker made me laugh out old in public places and kept me reading for hours. Gone-Away World frightened me for days after I was done. I cannot wait to read this next book.
The cover looks beautiful and i can’t wait to read this after having read his other works!
I would love to get a copy of the book since it’s highly unlikely that it will reach retailers in Belgium, and for financial safety reasons I stay away from Amazon 🙂
Love the cover, love the title, and it sounds like an interesting premise…
I anagrammed his name on twitter, I joined a goodreads pool and now I am leaving a comment. I WANT THIS BOOK!
The Hitlearature nazis aren’t allowing me to have my way… 🙁
The Gone Away World is one of my favorite novels ever, and Angelmaker wasn’t too shabby.
Loved both of Harkaways previous books. Really excited about reading this.
I liked his first 2, really looking forward for this to come out.
I loved his first two books so much he won’t be disappearing from my must-read list any time soon : )
I would absolutely love to read this book because it looks and sounds brilliant, I would also have to fight the rest of the family for a first read of it!
Gone-Away World was fantastic, I think this will probably also be great.
The cover is so, so pretty. Yap. I judged it.
Love to read it because Harkaway’s the most exciting new writer I’ve read in a decade.
I love Nick’s work. He is one of my favorites. I would love to win a copy. Thanks!
Mr. Harkaway has a wonderful way with words and emotion. I am very much looking forward to the ride this time.
Because Nick Harkaway writes with free flying imagination, precise evocative language, huge intelligence, engaging asides, and genuine love for his characters
The Gone Away World was awesome so I would love to read this new book! (If you will send it to me in Canada that is!)
Always looking for something good to read. Knock my socks off!
Love to read this, not least because my son is nicknamed Tigerboy 🙂
The backstory for the cover might be enough, but it’s the fictive kinship angle that has me wanting to read this book. I empathize with the need to embrace a child not of one’s body.
Never tried this author before. Downloaded samples of Gone away world and Tigerman, looking forward to giving them a go after I finish No harm can come to a good man by James Smythe.
I love giveaways!
Sooooooooo I win now right? Sounds like a pretty good read 😀
I absolutely love Gone Away World, would love this too I’m sure!
I’d really like to read this book because the blurb has gotten my full attention and it would be great to plunge in this story!
Angelmaker was so great, I just have to read this one too. And there are superheroes. What do you want more? 🙂
I’d like to read it because I’m interested in both scifi-fantasy and period historical fiction, and this book sounds like something unique and different from most offerings of either genre.