Dispatches From Wondermark Manor

by David Malki

Victorian adventure -- an era full of top-hatted intrigue, dirigibles galore, all-too-demure sensuality and completely unironic classism. Now there's an antidote: Dispatches from Wondermark Manor, a rollicking, absurd, completely ridiculous yarn from the author of the celebrated comic strip "Wondermark."

Taking the tropes of Conan Doyle-style adventure fiction and ramping them way over the top, Malki's story brings together: Ghosts (of course) Airships (of course) High society intrigue Old men in salt barrels Horses that cannot fly Frightful moustaches aplenty Cheese handling as an artform General bad decisions, and Casual mass murder

All in a stunningly-designed package evocative of the grandest pulp style. Praised by many for its strangeness and wonder, Dispatches from Wondermark Manor is offered here for the very first time in a complete omnibus edition, including all three volumes of the novels (originally available only as long out-of-print chapbooks)plus a separate prologue from Malki's book Beards of our Forefathers, plus all-new hand-drawn maps of the locations in the story.

Buy with confidence! This edition is guaranteed at least 48% opium-free by law.

492 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2011

About the author

David Malki ! spells his name with an honorofic exclamation point. He is the author of the comic strip "Wondermark", which since 2003 has been repurposing illustrations and engravings from 19th century books into sarcastic, silly, and surreal collage-style comic strips.

Malki also co-edited the fiction anthology Machine of Death, which, thanks to a 100% grassroots campaign, became the #1 bestselling book on Amazon.com for 36 glorious hours.

He lives in Seattle with his wife Nikki (a stop-motion puppet fabricator), and their one son.

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever at first but I just got tired of the joke.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely hilarious and full of some of the craziest descriptions I have ever read. It starts off with shorter chapters detailing strange and comical occurrences in the manor, then seems to grasp a thread of an actual continuous storyline and follows through to the end. Malki ! is not afraid to take completely unexpected turns with characters, usually to their detriment but always for the greater good of the plot. Any fans of Victorian novels will love this parody and the many stabs Malki ! takes at the genre/time. Highly recommended!

[Brian Coldridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could not finish. The Wondermark comics are good, but this book was dreadful.

The author seemed barely able to finish a sentence without adding ten or twenty extra words, which left the prose unreadable at best. It's supposed to be a parody of Victorian novels, but as someone who enjoys this genre, it did nothing more than point out just how hard a Victorian novel is to write correctly.

Skip this abomination and get the Wondermark comics instead, which are readable and funny. This book is not.

[Natasha M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book thinking that, as I enjoyed the Wondermark comics I might like this as well.

Big mistake.

If I could give this a negative rating I would. As it is I think it a miracle I even brought myself to finish this book. If I wasn't part of a book-reading challenge I would've chucked this book across the room a long, long time ago.

[Jerfus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is highly irreverent and rather amusing but I still find myself at a loss here... while it is entertaining I'm afraid it's hardly enticing enough to make me feel truly interested in the story, I read it merely for the randomness and black humor and while the story itself is at times alluring I am still not drawn into it.

[Miasma Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very very strange book. It initially starts of as a collection of disconnected short stories and then the plot comes out. It seems to be set in Victorian England however towards the end a few modern bits and pieces start to appear.

[Josh Ronsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely fun and silly book! It's very weird. From previous comments it seems you'll either adore or detest this book. If there is the chance that you could be in the former category, you have to read this.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read this as the three separate volumes, and there is definitely a variable quality of writing and story between them, but on the whole made for a very entertaining parody of Victorian novels.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely the best parody Victorian novels I have ever encountered. Nowhere else will you find such a depiction of cheese-twirling nor such a look into the secretive society of the Yam-Runners.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book when in the mood for a Victorian parody!

[Roxanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, weird book. I enjoyed it but would not recommend it.