Name: A Night in the Lonesome October
ISBN: 9780380771417

Roger Zelazny

Snuff, a guard dog who performs thaumaturgical calculations, accompanies his master, Jack, on collecting expeditions into the Whitechapel slums of nineteenth-century London

A Night in the Lonesome October

For the first time in many years, I am following the tradition of reading this 31 chapter book in October, completing 1 chapter a night.  It is fun to be doing this again!

Every October that has a Halloween with a full moon, the players in the game converge to play.  Some are those who want to open a gate between worlds, and others are those who want to keep it closed.  The story is told in first person narrative by the loyal dog of one of the closers.  This is a fun book that does not disappoint. 

shellybn

For the first time in many years, I am following the tradition of reading this 31 chapter book in October, completing 1 chapter a night.  It is fun to be doing this again!

Every October that has a Halloween with a full moon, the players in the game converge to play.  Some are those who want to open a gate between worlds, and others are those who want to keep it closed.  The story is told in first person narrative by the loyal dog of one of the closers.  This is a fun book that does not disappoint. 

Sarah Sammis

An excellent book!

http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2015...

Prashanth Srivatsa

A super fun book, peppered with familiar characters and strange, new ones, and perfect for a wintery year-end.

This is a very cute and spooky action-packed mystery for Halloween! Lots of references to all the classics.

Ashlyn

Celeste Richardson

Actual rating: 3.5

I actually managed to stick to the one chapter a day format of this book, which made for a fun little adventure. 

This is the second Zelazny novel I’ve read, having only dipped my toe into his Chronicles of Amber with the first book. Zelazny is a science fiction and fantasy forefather of the 1960s through the 1980s, having influenced the likes of Neil Gaiman and George R.R. Martin. He won 3 Nebula Awards and 6 Hugo Awards, and is most famous for his Chronicles of Amber. In other words, we have him to thank for some of the stories and authors that we as SFF fans love so much.

I didn’t love this little book, but I liked it. The aforementioned format was engaging and unique, and the plot was very original. But those were honestly my two favorite aspects of the book. Snuff, our canine narrator, was an entertaining and charming, and the Game he was involved in remained mysterious even at the novel’s end. All of the players were well known characters or tropes from classic horror fiction, which added to the fun factor. For a Game that had a possibly apocalyptic outcome, the way the story was told seemed very slice-of-life, which removed some of the tension needed to fully absorb a reader in a cosmic conflict. 

A Night in the Lonesome October was a light October read, perfect for getting into the spirit of the season. It just left me wanting a bit more.

Gahan Wilson

Snuff, a guard dog who performs thaumaturgical calculations, accompanies his master, Jack, on collecting expeditions into the Whitechapel slums of nineteenth-century London, as they both try to stay ahead of the Great Detective.

Sarah Escorsa

➽ 
  And the moral of this rererereread is
: Snuff's How to Perfect Your Idiot Slobbering Hound Expression 101 Class should be mandatory for all canine companions, methinks.



It sure looks like someone's already taken Snuff's upper-level course and graduated summa cum laude. Now if that isn't a winning Idiot Slobbering Expression, I don't know what is!

👋 See you next time and stuff.



[October 2020]

➽ 
  And the moral of this rerereread is
: there ain't nothing like the Grand Graveyard Decaying Body Part Swap Thingie (GGDBPST™), if you ask me. Now let's dance and stuff.





[October 2019]

➽ 
  And the moral of this rereread is
: pack rats named after the bubonic plague underestimate thou shalt not. 

➽ 
  And the other moral of this rereread is
: pack rats named after the bubonic plague and that are friends with dogs that are friends with cats Super Extra Especially Wary Of (SE²WO™) thou shalt be and stuff.



P.S. Jack and Jill did NOT go up the hill. I repeat, Jack and Jill did NOT go up the hill. Just so you know. You are quite welcome.



[October 2018]

🎃 Impromptu and Not So Lonesome October Buddy Reread (IaNSLBR™) with Tadiana, Evgeny and OhWell 🎃

Original rating: 3 stars. 
New rating: 5 stars. Does that mean there might be hope for me yet? Oh dear. We are all doomed, methinks.

➽ 
  And the moral of this reread is
: hallelujah to our Lord Shrimp and stuff! I finally saw the light! And read the book right! (Yes, I know, it rhymes. Yes, I know, I’m a poet.) The Evil Russians™ Someone should give me a lifetime achievement award or something. 



Okay, well, yeah, that’s very nice and stuff, but I was thinking more along the lines of a, um, you know, liquid, amber-colored “or something” from Scotland, you know.

➽ 
  And the other moral of this reread is
: I’m doing the Poof Gone Harem™ on Snuff, and he will be joining the rest of the scary, creepy as fish fluffy, cuddly creatures mongrels in my Most Wondrous If Slightly Freakish High Security Petting Zoo (MWISFHSPZ™) pronto. So yay and stuff.

➽ 
  And the other, other moral of this reread is
: this book features the mostest bestest and wittiest animal familiar dialogues in the history of Mostest Bestest and Wittiest Animal Familiar Dialogues (MBaWAFD™). And that is a scientifically proven fact.



See, even Gertrude agrees with me on that one. And Gertrude knows loads about scientifically proven facts. LOADS. 

P.S. I do stand by what I said the first time around: body part transactions FTW!
P.P.S. Only 334 days to go until we ritually rereread this book and stuff. The countdown has begun and stuff. Not that I look forward to it and stuff. Just stating a fact and stuff. Obviously and stuff.



[October 2017]

• Everyone Luuuuurved It But Me Now that's a Surprise Buddy Read (ELIBMNtaSBR™) with Evgeny (aka The Culprit), Tadiana, Choko, Layla, Maria and Robin •

So this was me while I was reading this book:

 

Shrimpless Needless to say, I wasn't in the best of dispositions to read this classic Halloween read. By the way, worry not for I am not going to explain again how slightly pointless the whole Halloween read thing is to me, because been there done that and all that crap. Anyway, Halloween + Evgeny's disastrous influence on my reading life = here we are. 

First off, I should mention that I've had too much whisky I usually have a very low tolerance for animals in books (view spoiler)[
  except for IA beasts and creatures. But, as we all know, IA doesn't count. Because, whatever it is, IA does it better
 (hide spoiler)]. So imagine my cry of utter delight when I realized this story was told from a charming dog's POV. I mean, I was totally, like, YAY and stuff (view spoiler)[← this might or might not be a slightly ironic statement (hide spoiler)]. BUT. I must admit that Snuff, the dog in question, is pretty cool. He happens to be Jack the Stripper Ripper's dog, which worked a lot in his favor, for obvious homicidal reasons. You would think that good old Jack would have picked a more badass name for his dog, by the way. Llike, I don't know, Cleaver or Butcher or Cutter or something. But I guess you can't have everything. Anyway, the dog is pretty smart and witty and bearable for a pathetic animal, so I survived reading from his POV. Not only that, I also managed to make it relatively unscarred to the very last page, despite half of the cast being bloody shrimping fauna material! Nothing short of a miracle, if you ask me. Allellujah to our Lord Shrimp and stuff.



So yes, as much as I am loathe to admit, the animals in this story are pretty cool. They are actually more interesting than the, um, human characters in the story. Which is a shame considering the cast consists not only of our chum Jack, but also of Count Premolar Dracula, Dr It's Alive Frankenstein (and his baby, of course), Rasputin of the Super Hot Sexy Beard, Benedryl Cabbagepatch Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock Himself, a guy called Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler (not his real name) and a whole bunch of other people. A whole bunch of very male people, I might add, and only one bloody shrimping woman. Which is slightly not cool, Mr Zelazny. The shrimps are not pleased. And neither am I (view spoiler)[
  

  

  
  

  

  I'm pretty hot in that outfit, I know.
  

  

 (hide spoiler)]. Anyway, with such an awesome clique of awesome characters, you'd think the book would be, you know, awesome and stuff, right? Right. Ha. Wrong. I mean, it's definitely not bad, and the writing is really good and humorous and witty and clever and stuff but the whole thing felt kind of *looks around to make sure Evgeny isn't on the premises* *whispers* meh. I guess I was expecting something darker and scarier and creepier and horrifyinger (yes, that is a word) and this just felt terribly *checks behind her back in case Evgeny is trying to cunningly sneak up on her* *whispers* light and decaf and sugar-free and stuff.



Yes, that's pretty much how spooky this book was. Ew ew ew. 

Some barnacles might say that I didn't fully appreciate the book because it takes bloody ages half of the story for under-performing shrimps like me the reader to understand what the fish is going on. Wrong wrong wrong. The King of Totally Confusing Befuddlement (KoTCB™), aka Glen Cook, is my master and, let me tell you, I have come out unscathed of much more perplexingly confounding tales than this one. It's the lack of confusion I usually find confusion. So QED and stuff. 

Anything else? Apart from the fact that I obviously read this book wrong, you mean? Nah, don't think so. 

» And the moral of this Eagerly Apprehensively Waiting for Evgeny's Revenge Now That I've Gone and Done the Unthinking Unforgivable and Rated this Much Beloved Book of His Three Pathetic Little Stars Crappy Non Review (EAWfERNtIGaDtUUaRtMBBoHTPLSCNR™) is: I am not worthy. Obviously. 



P.S. Body parts transactions FTW!
P.P.S. What kind of botched-up ending is this, Mr Zelazny? Just asking for a friend.
P.P.P.S.S.S. Gahan Wilson's illustrations for this book are slightly awesome. And you are slightly welcome.



[ Pre-review nonsense]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

Subcontracting this crappy non-review to Graymalk the cat. She's hard at work right now, and should be able to deliver a most entertaining reading report post haste. 



➽ Full Please Forgive Me Evgeny For I Have Sinned and Failed to Give this Decidedly Not Spooky Tale a 5 Star Rating Blame the Tourist Hordes of Doom Don't Blame Me Crappy Non Review (PFMEFIHSaFtGtDNTTa5SRBtTHoDDBMCNR™) to come.

Cole Stoots

Ian Mukherjee

Luca Masters

Vladimir

Joey Baker

Didi Chanoch

Ashley Janssen

Kelsey Lynn

Night in the Lonesome October

Greg Park

Merry

Rosie Qua

"One of Zelazny's most delightful books: Jack the Ripper's dog Snuff narrates a mad game of teams to cause or prevent armageddon." NEIL GAIMAN All is not what it seems. In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff – gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate. Some have come to open the gates. Some have come to slam them shut. And now the dread night approaches – so let the Game begin. Praise for A Night in the Lonesome October: “. . . this book is unique; the premise, Zelazny's writing and the atmosphere conjured up are something very special indeed.” “A geek fest extraordinaire with huge wit, warmth and intelligence.” “An absolute gem – how can you not to like something written from the perspective of Jack the Ripper's super-intelligent dog?! An outstanding example of truly original fiction.” “This is pure brilliance . . . Highly recommended.” Editorial reviews: “The last great novel by one of the giants of the genre.” George R.R. Martin “A madcap blend of horror tropes and fantasy. . . There aren’t many authors who would set out to write a novel in which the Wolfman and Jack the Ripper were the two heroes . . . And I’m not sure anyone else could have made it work.” Science Fiction Chronicle “Sparkling, witty, delightful. Zelazny’s best for ages, perhaps his best ever.” Kirkus Reviews “A cheerful, witty, well-crafted fantasy . . . Its deft, understated good humor and spare, poetic prose reaffirm Zelazny as one of fantasy’s most skilled practitioners.” Publishers Weekly

A Night in the Lonesome October

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