• Malarkoi by Alex Pheby (Tor, 2023)

By Warner Holme: Alex Pheby’s Malarkoi is a sequel to his Mordew. As a result it is the second book in his Cities of the Weft series. Meticulously written, this volume picks up with an assortment of characters dealing with the strangeness of this new city, while all of the old problems seem to have steadily built into a new set of monstrous issues.

There is a long dry, and yet not without humor, dramatis personae as well as an explanation of the events of the first book. These would work well enough as a catch up, and while they don’t necessarily prepare a reader for the tone of the book, they certainly give a basis for understanding the situation at the beginning. The quick summary of some of the events within the pages, on the other hand, is clearly there primarily for humor.

A nice mark of the quality the pearls of text can reach comes on page 361. When it is noted that “Sirious collapsed, the realm that he was in came tearing it to pieces with the force of his loneliness” in a both metaphorical and literal, look at the harm and damage that can be done to an individual and his surroundings through difficult emotions. Context does little to add or subtract from this bit of raw and delightful emotion.

In spite of this the book works hard to be darkly comic, human-headed animals talk, talking dogs have crisis in faith, and individuals with magical powers weigh the uselessness of their options. In many cases, it’s almost creating humor by playing absurdism straight to unusual or outright bizarre results.

There is still a large amount of dark material appearing throughout, and the book continues on for many pages after the narrative proper has ended. A lot of this is due to a particularly peculiar appendix as well as detailed explanations of various other individuals, and they are stranger aspects connecting to this world. 

For a fan of the style, these are delightful treatises, but for anyone who doesn’t enjoy pseudo-academic commentary and false footnotes, they will quickly cause a mental drift. Some of the snippets work quite well as shorts in their own right. Still, they do provide some tantalizing treats and amusing changes in tone which are appreciated and contribute well to the overall effect.

While fans of the first book will almost undoubtedly enjoy this book, those who have not experienced the preceding one can readily skip it. This is because while well-written and featuring a fairly large introduction explaining the characters and previous plot, it very much does not do anything to prepare the reader in a true sense for what is to come. To someone curious and on the fence, just start with the first book and see how that shakes out the mental cobwebs.