Daniel O'Thunder - Hardcover
Library Journal Best Books 2011: Historical Fiction selection
Finalist for the Commonwealth Writersâ Prize
Finalist for the Canadian Authors Association Fiction Award
Finalist for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award
Finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
1851. London, England. Once a well-known prize-fighter with a terrifying right fist (known as The Hammer of Heavenâ ), Daniel Oâ Thunder has seen the light, and now the protection of the poor and the weak is his lifeâ s work. He runs an establishment for those in need of food, shelter and counsel a place where virtue and vice rub shoulders uneasily. But an ancient evil is stalking the streets, preying on the vulnerable souls it finds there. It is an evil that takes different forms and hides behind many faces, threatening everything Daniel loves most. Driven to desperation, Daniel responds by issuing a breathtaking challenge to the Devil himself. Rich in humor and memorable characters, Daniel Oâ Thunder is a rollicking literary thriller set in the teeming slums of Dickensian London. Fast-paced and gripping, comic and tragic by turns, it is a spectacular fiction debut.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Ian Weir is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright and novelist. He is the writer and executive producer of the acclaimed crime-thriller Dragon Boys, a CBC mini-series that first aired in 2007. Other TV credits include episodes for more than 20 different series, including Flashpoint, Cold Squad, Edgemont, Odyssey, ReBoot, Beachcombers and One Life to Live. Weir's stage plays have been produced across Canada as well as in the U.S. and England. He has won two Geminis, four Leos, a Jessie and the Writers Guild of Canada Screenwriting Award. He lives in Langley, British Columbia.
Review:
"'Dickensian' is an adjective too often misused in describing books set in Victorian England. It is, however, the perfect word for this superb novel, nominated for the Commonwealth Prize. Weir, an award-winning screenwriter and playwright, takes us right to the centre of London in 1815 with as brilliantly constructed a band of reprobates as Dickens ever saw. Marvellous from the first paragraph." (Globe & Mail)
"Weir's plot steps smartly, and the language crackles with the immediacy of shifting first-person voices...There are murders, rapes, hangings, prizefights, a city-wide riot, and lots of thrilling escapes...By the time the novel reaches its dramatic conclusion...the story has landed in a place somewhere between dementia and the supernatural. All of which makes for an historical novel that is a lot more fun and thrilling than what we have come to expect." (Quill & Quire)
"If one unreliable narrator is enough to skew a book toward the fantastical, imagine the twists generated by four! In his first novel, veteran screenwriter Ian Weir calls on a quartet of witnesses to deliver the story of godly pug Daniel O'Thunder, proud son of Cork turned evangelical sermonizer, and it's a sign of his sure command that all are engaging, even when spinning bald-faced lies or subtle prevarications...This is wonderful stuff." (Georgia Straight)
"A pugilist-turned-preacher returns to the boxing ring with the ultimate goal of going toe-to-toe with the devil�what more could you want? Weir's unique retelling of the Gospels, set in mid-19th-century London, is Charles Dickens meets Thom Jones...A knockout debut." (National Post)
"Laced with blood thunder, sex, murder, rape, mayhem and miracles, Ian Wier's first novel is about good versus evil...from the outset, even if we haven't read the author's biography we know we are in skilled hands." (BC Bookworld)
"Ambitious in scope and structure, [Daniel O'Thunder] speaks in pitch-perfect Victorian diction through a wide range of characters to relate the ultimate-stakes quarrel between the pugilist preacher Daniel O'Thunder and his ultimate adversary: The Devil Himself." (Vancouver Magazine)
"A frightening, funny, moving, page-turning romp. " (Steven Galloway, author of "The Cellist of Sarajevo")
"Daniel O'Thunder smacks of London life a century and a half ago: drunken costermongers, beggars and whores, doing the Lord�s work amongst the dregs of the city, public hangings, Old Bailey, people with names like Nag and Fish...Weir's debut novel reads much like a play, moving from act to act, leaving the reader patiently waiting to get back to the next hair-raising episode." (Sun Times)
"Drenched in filthy Thames waters and coiffed in muttonchops, Weir’s outlandish tale is a top-shelf page-turner, with commentary on the fickle role of the writer thrown into the whole glorious, fractured mess." (Publishers Weekly)
"No tea parties or balls here; it is all about the blurred balance between the wretched and the righteous, set in dank boarding rooms, public drinking houses, and the cells of Newgate Prison. The battle between the great Hammer of Heaven and the evil stalking him climaxes in a fight that will leave readers breathless. VERDICT This robust historical novel by an award-winning Canadian screenwriter will captivate fans of Sarah Waters and Charles Dickens." (Library Journal)
"Weir's plot steps smartly, and the language crackles with the immediacy of shifting first-person voices...There are murders, rapes, hangings, prizefights, a city-wide riot, and lots of thrilling escapes...By the time the novel reaches its dramatic conclusion...the story has landed in a place somewhere between dementia and the supernatural. All of which makes for an historical novel that is a lot more fun and thrilling than what we have come to expect." (Quill & Quire)
"If one unreliable narrator is enough to skew a book toward the fantastical, imagine the twists generated by four! In his first novel, veteran screenwriter Ian Weir calls on a quartet of witnesses to deliver the story of godly pug Daniel O'Thunder, proud son of Cork turned evangelical sermonizer, and it's a sign of his sure command that all are engaging, even when spinning bald-faced lies or subtle prevarications...This is wonderful stuff." (Georgia Straight)
"A pugilist-turned-preacher returns to the boxing ring with the ultimate goal of going toe-to-toe with the devil�what more could you want? Weir's unique retelling of the Gospels, set in mid-19th-century London, is Charles Dickens meets Thom Jones...A knockout debut." (National Post)
"Laced with blood thunder, sex, murder, rape, mayhem and miracles, Ian Wier's first novel is about good versus evil...from the outset, even if we haven't read the author's biography we know we are in skilled hands." (BC Bookworld)
"Ambitious in scope and structure, [Daniel O'Thunder] speaks in pitch-perfect Victorian diction through a wide range of characters to relate the ultimate-stakes quarrel between the pugilist preacher Daniel O'Thunder and his ultimate adversary: The Devil Himself." (Vancouver Magazine)
"A frightening, funny, moving, page-turning romp. " (Steven Galloway, author of "The Cellist of Sarajevo")
"Daniel O'Thunder smacks of London life a century and a half ago: drunken costermongers, beggars and whores, doing the Lord�s work amongst the dregs of the city, public hangings, Old Bailey, people with names like Nag and Fish...Weir's debut novel reads much like a play, moving from act to act, leaving the reader patiently waiting to get back to the next hair-raising episode." (Sun Times)
"Drenched in filthy Thames waters and coiffed in muttonchops, Weir’s outlandish tale is a top-shelf page-turner, with commentary on the fickle role of the writer thrown into the whole glorious, fractured mess." (Publishers Weekly)
"No tea parties or balls here; it is all about the blurred balance between the wretched and the righteous, set in dank boarding rooms, public drinking houses, and the cells of Newgate Prison. The battle between the great Hammer of Heaven and the evil stalking him climaxes in a fight that will leave readers breathless. VERDICT This robust historical novel by an award-winning Canadian screenwriter will captivate fans of Sarah Waters and Charles Dickens." (Library Journal)
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- PublisherDouglas & McIntyre
- Publication date2009
- ISBN 10 1553654358
- ISBN 13 9781553654353
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages392
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Daniel O'Thunder
Published by
Douglas & McIntyre
(2009)
ISBN 10: 1553654358
ISBN 13: 9781553654353
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