> Skip to content
  • Published: 21 November 2018
  • ISBN: 9780857666734
  • Imprint: Angry Robot
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $34.99

The Body Library



Jeff Noon returns with a staggering hallucinogenic sequel to A Man of Shadows, taking hapless investigator John Nyquist into a city where reality is contaminated by the imagination of its citizens

In a city dissolving into an infected sprawl of ideas, where words come to life and reality is contaminated by stories, John Nyquist wakes up in a room with a dead body… The dead man’s impossible whispers plunge him into a murder investigation like no other. Clues point him deeper into an unfolding story infesting its participants as reality blurs between place and genre.
 
Only one man can hope to put it all back together into some kind of order, enough that lives can be saved… That man is Nyquist, and he is lost.

File Under: Science Fiction

  • Published: 21 November 2018
  • ISBN: 9780857666734
  • Imprint: Angry Robot
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 384
  • RRP: $34.99

About the author

Jeff Noon

Jeff Noon trained in the visual arts and drama and was active on the post-punk music scene before becoming a playwright, and then a novelist. Most recently publishing a crime novel, Slow Motion Ghosts, his other novels include Vurt, Pollen, Automated Alice, Nymphomation, Needle in the Groove, Falling Out of Cars, Channel SK1N, Mappalujo (with Steve Beard), A Man of Shadows, and the The Body Library. He has also published two collections of short fiction, Pixel Juice and Cobralingus. He lives in Brighton.

Also by Jeff Noon

See all

Praise for The Body Library

“A moody, grimy, ruthlessly funny read… its sense of play and sly manipulation of reader expectations – about metafiction, weird fiction, and noir—is still quite the trip.” – Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog “By writing a novel set in literature itself the author has created a new psychedelic meta-genre as well as a fantastic story that sticks in the mind long after the novel itself is read.” – British Fantasy Society “There is a fluidness to Noon's writing that initially made me think The Body Library would be like Ishiguro's dream-like The Unconsoled. As I read further, however, I felt more like I was in the atmosphere of 1408 by Stephen King or the movie Dark City – the noir settings and slip-away realities where what's around the corner can't be articulated and yet ... Things change and reality is different but the writing is well-structured so it's easy to follow. The writing is as much of a treat as the setting and the story and the characters.” – Ephemeral Digest “Lordy, this was one HELL of a trip. Not for the faint of heart. Or the impatient. But by Bradbury in heaven, I swear this is the spiritual godson of The Illustrated Man on PCP. Noon’s imagination is TOP NOTCH. I think I’ve just found my new favorite to-go guy for cutting edge and brilliant Weird fiction.” – Brad K HornerThe Body Library is a brilliant piece of writing that does a satisfying job of merging noir, magical realism, and a love of all things literary.” – SF Revu “An ingeniously manufactured art object, directing the reader’s attention with a concatenation of smoky-eyed dreamlike imagery punctured by the Pavlovian responses of its actors – like a film noir mystery directed by Luis Buñuel and edited by Lev Kuleshov.” – The 1000 Year Plan “Underneath the beautiful madness The Body Library is wittily observant, creepy and disconcerting, occasionally humorous, always on message even as it goes off on tangents and is a wonderfully hypnotic and completely mesmerizing story. I loved every single insane moment of it, just riveting. Completely riveting.” – Liz Loves Books Praise for A Man of Shadows “This superb novel of light, glass and blood proves again that Jeff Noon is one of our few true visionaries.” – Warren Ellis “A disturbing and bizarre journey by one of the great masters of weird fiction.” – Adrian Tchaikovsky, Arthur C Clarke Award-winning author of Children of Time “Manchester’s delirious prophet returns with scripture written in shadow and light.” – Kieron Gillen, co-creator of The Wicked + The Divine “Noon has written a kaleidoscopic noir novel of dizzying dream logic.” – Publishers Weekly