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A Scruffian Primer
Meet the Scruffians, workhouse tykes and street arabs scrobbled by the Waiftaker General, dragged to the Institute and put to the Stamp, Fixed ageless, imperishable... the perfect child labour. Meet the scruffs escaped to live free & fight back.
Orphans, foundlings, latchkey kids...
Meet: Flashjack and Puckerscruff; Squirlet Nicely and Vermintrude Toerag; Yapper, the Scruffian what speaks Dog; Whelp, the dog Fixed as a scruff; and Rake Jake Scallion, not a scruff, but the finest friend a scruff ever had. Yeah, park yer arse, stray, and we'll learn yer the ABCs of being a scruff.
We'll learn yer how us Scruffians STAMP.
Urchins, changelings, live-by-wits...
Like fugitives from the musical Oliver! by way of Clive Barker, like some queer punk bastard brat born of Neil Gaiman and William Burroughs, the anarchic Scruffians should appeal to readers of dark fantasy with a wicked sense of black humour and a fierce passion for social justice. Ain't no escapism without equality, mate, far as scruffs are concerned, so for those who've lost their spoons to the fuckeries of power and privilege, well, yer new cribmates have spoons to spare, innit. Sharpened to shivs, natch. Wielding whimsy in the service of satire then, with a wink to Peter Pan, a nod to The Borribles, and a salute to Sweeney Todd, this is punk fiction for yer inner feral child.
Or yer literal feral child, for that matter, if ye'd rather have em foul-mouthed and big-hearted than ever-so-polite but bigoty little twerps. Just don't blame me if yer eight year old decides she's Squigglet Muckentuff the Third now and wants to tackle institutional racism with a pennywhistle blowpipe and poison darts.
Rascals, scallywags, ruffians, scamps...
From short stories boiled down to pack the punch of a three-minute garage rock song to sprawling novellas as the pint-sized picaresque adventures of scallywag heroes of yore, here you'll find a panoply of postmodern fabbles ("it's like a fable with a bit of fib and a bit of babble thrown in for fun, innit!") packed full of the profane and the poignant. Offering humour in the face of horror, farcical and slapstick as a Punch and Judy show, solace in the face of sorrow, heartwarming as a locket from a dead mum set in a sniffly orphan's hand at Christmas, these are tales to break yer heart and remake it bigger than ever.
Scoundrels, hellions, Scruffians STAMP!
Whether it's a quiet contemporary fantasy story of gay foster kid runaways drawn into this queer found family or a riotous historical fantasy yarn told by the fabbler of their new crib to "explificate" the Dire Situation of waifs down the centuries scrobbled and Fixed to serve as mill workers, chimney sweeps or worse, every story stands alone, self-reliant as a Whitechapel guttersnipe. Across and between these stories though, in the sneaky hints and clues of a Big Picture, there's shenanigans and malarkey afoot too, for any reader ready to play along and delve ever-deeper into the world of the Scruffians.
Praise for the Scruffians:
“The post- post- modern Victorian fables that comprise Hal Duncan’s A Scruffian Survival Guide inhabit a unique dark fantasy world – a feral dream. The language is mad genius.” — Jeffrey Ford on A Scruffian Survival Guide
“Hal Duncan's cheeky and charming Scruffian stories hide a steely shiv of inspection that digs uncompromisingly into the ribs of the establishment. This latest volume, populated as always with wonderful characters old and new, deepens that exploration and brings it bang up to date.
Orphans, foundlings, latchkey kids...
Meet: Flashjack and Puckerscruff; Squirlet Nicely and Vermintrude Toerag; Yapper, the Scruffian what speaks Dog; Whelp, the dog Fixed as a scruff; and Rake Jake Scallion, not a scruff, but the finest friend a scruff ever had. Yeah, park yer arse, stray, and we'll learn yer the ABCs of being a scruff.
We'll learn yer how us Scruffians STAMP.
Urchins, changelings, live-by-wits...
Like fugitives from the musical Oliver! by way of Clive Barker, like some queer punk bastard brat born of Neil Gaiman and William Burroughs, the anarchic Scruffians should appeal to readers of dark fantasy with a wicked sense of black humour and a fierce passion for social justice. Ain't no escapism without equality, mate, far as scruffs are concerned, so for those who've lost their spoons to the fuckeries of power and privilege, well, yer new cribmates have spoons to spare, innit. Sharpened to shivs, natch. Wielding whimsy in the service of satire then, with a wink to Peter Pan, a nod to The Borribles, and a salute to Sweeney Todd, this is punk fiction for yer inner feral child.
Or yer literal feral child, for that matter, if ye'd rather have em foul-mouthed and big-hearted than ever-so-polite but bigoty little twerps. Just don't blame me if yer eight year old decides she's Squigglet Muckentuff the Third now and wants to tackle institutional racism with a pennywhistle blowpipe and poison darts.
Rascals, scallywags, ruffians, scamps...
From short stories boiled down to pack the punch of a three-minute garage rock song to sprawling novellas as the pint-sized picaresque adventures of scallywag heroes of yore, here you'll find a panoply of postmodern fabbles ("it's like a fable with a bit of fib and a bit of babble thrown in for fun, innit!") packed full of the profane and the poignant. Offering humour in the face of horror, farcical and slapstick as a Punch and Judy show, solace in the face of sorrow, heartwarming as a locket from a dead mum set in a sniffly orphan's hand at Christmas, these are tales to break yer heart and remake it bigger than ever.
Scoundrels, hellions, Scruffians STAMP!
Whether it's a quiet contemporary fantasy story of gay foster kid runaways drawn into this queer found family or a riotous historical fantasy yarn told by the fabbler of their new crib to "explificate" the Dire Situation of waifs down the centuries scrobbled and Fixed to serve as mill workers, chimney sweeps or worse, every story stands alone, self-reliant as a Whitechapel guttersnipe. Across and between these stories though, in the sneaky hints and clues of a Big Picture, there's shenanigans and malarkey afoot too, for any reader ready to play along and delve ever-deeper into the world of the Scruffians.
Praise for the Scruffians:
“The post- post- modern Victorian fables that comprise Hal Duncan’s A Scruffian Survival Guide inhabit a unique dark fantasy world – a feral dream. The language is mad genius.” — Jeffrey Ford on A Scruffian Survival Guide
“Hal Duncan's cheeky and charming Scruffian stories hide a steely shiv of inspection that digs uncompromisingly into the ribs of the establishment. This latest volume, populated as always with wonderful characters old and new, deepens that exploration and brings it bang up to date.
- GenresFantasy
72 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2018
10 people want to read
About the author
Hal Duncan
77 books132 followersHal Duncan is the author of Vellum, which was a finalist for both the William H. Crawford Award and the Locus Award for Best First Novel. He is a member of the Glasgow SF Writers’ Circle. He lives in the West End of Glasgow.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 16, 2017
New collection of all the basic stories, suitable for new Scruffian readers.
I love Hal Duncan's writing style. It makes you want to read them all out loud.
I love Hal Duncan's writing style. It makes you want to read them all out loud.
January 14, 2019
This is an introduction to the universe of the Scruffians, including major players, lore, elements of culture, and an idea of how "members" are initiated. I would highly recommend reading it before diving into this universe!
What strikes me as especially brilliant is the use of language, and the creation of a just-off-kilter vernacular.
An understanding of Classical Mythology would also be a benefit - the layering over myths is doubly brilliant for the reader who knows mythological figures!
This certainly whet my appetite for more more of the Scuffians' adventures! (I also not-so secretly yearn to have a Scruffian alter-ego - or at least a name!)
I received a copy of this book through the author.
What strikes me as especially brilliant is the use of language, and the creation of a just-off-kilter vernacular.
An understanding of Classical Mythology would also be a benefit - the layering over myths is doubly brilliant for the reader who knows mythological figures!
This certainly whet my appetite for more more of the Scuffians' adventures! (I also not-so secretly yearn to have a Scruffian alter-ego - or at least a name!)
I received a copy of this book through the author.
June 20, 2018
Raw and darkly humorous and queer. An introduction to the series and characters, that led me to immediately pick up the next one.
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May 21, 2020A punk found family in a dark but adventuresome world. The pervasive Scruffians’ lingo of hellions, groanhuffs and fabbles is really fun, and it’s managed brilliantly - I never once got lost in it.
March 12, 2019
Punk. Odd and affecting. Duncan’s style with word play is always a delight. There wasn’t really enough story here to hook me, but it’s a good intro to the world.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews