Harvey Click's Blog - Posts Tagged "dark-comedy"
My new novel, Magic Times
I’m happy to announce the release of my new novel,
Magic Times. Kindle and paperback editions are now available.
Unlike my other novels, this one isn’t horror, and in fact it’s difficult to categorize or even describe. It’s a dark comedy that makes fun of intellectuals and idiots alike, but it has moments of sadness and pain and even a touch of the horrific, so maybe it shouldn’t be called a comedy. It involves magic, including a witch and a sorcerer, but there are no elves, dragons, or shape-shifters, so it bears little resemblance to an ordinary fantasy novel. Maybe it should be called magical realism, though it has little in common with One Hundred Years of Solitude or other novels commonly branded as such. It’s a coming-of-age novel, but that label would probably mislead readers even more than the others. I’ve given up on trying to find a neat pigeon hole for it, because this crazy bird won’t fit into any of them. It’s just going to fly around chirping madly and ruffling its wildly colorful feathers while making its own oddball nest that looks like no others.
I set the novel in the not-too-distant past (1979) because I didn’t want its characters to have computers or smartphones. People today enjoy instant connection to the immaterial world of the Internet, and because of this there may be less interest than there used to be in the immaterial world of the mystical. Most of the characters of Magic Times are looking for some kind of magic or miracle to improve their lives; they’re seeking a non-Internet sort of connection to the immaterial, a hyperlink to a supernatural reality. Of course their quest doesn’t necessarily lead to enlightenment or bliss because, after all, this is a Harvey Click novel.
Despite the impossibility of finding any sort of genre to squeeze this book into, or maybe because of the impossibility, I’m quite proud of it, and I think it will please readers who like unusual novels that can’t be pigeon-holed. I can promise a quick-paced yarn with plenty of laughter and surprises, some chills and thrills, and maybe even a hint of demented wisdom flitting around in the madness.
Magic Times. Kindle and paperback editions are now available.Unlike my other novels, this one isn’t horror, and in fact it’s difficult to categorize or even describe. It’s a dark comedy that makes fun of intellectuals and idiots alike, but it has moments of sadness and pain and even a touch of the horrific, so maybe it shouldn’t be called a comedy. It involves magic, including a witch and a sorcerer, but there are no elves, dragons, or shape-shifters, so it bears little resemblance to an ordinary fantasy novel. Maybe it should be called magical realism, though it has little in common with One Hundred Years of Solitude or other novels commonly branded as such. It’s a coming-of-age novel, but that label would probably mislead readers even more than the others. I’ve given up on trying to find a neat pigeon hole for it, because this crazy bird won’t fit into any of them. It’s just going to fly around chirping madly and ruffling its wildly colorful feathers while making its own oddball nest that looks like no others.
I set the novel in the not-too-distant past (1979) because I didn’t want its characters to have computers or smartphones. People today enjoy instant connection to the immaterial world of the Internet, and because of this there may be less interest than there used to be in the immaterial world of the mystical. Most of the characters of Magic Times are looking for some kind of magic or miracle to improve their lives; they’re seeking a non-Internet sort of connection to the immaterial, a hyperlink to a supernatural reality. Of course their quest doesn’t necessarily lead to enlightenment or bliss because, after all, this is a Harvey Click novel.
Despite the impossibility of finding any sort of genre to squeeze this book into, or maybe because of the impossibility, I’m quite proud of it, and I think it will please readers who like unusual novels that can’t be pigeon-holed. I can promise a quick-paced yarn with plenty of laughter and surprises, some chills and thrills, and maybe even a hint of demented wisdom flitting around in the madness.
