Crandolin

Anna Tambour

Language: English

Publisher: Chomu Press

Published: Jan 1, 2012

Description:

In a medieval cookbook in a special-collections library, near-future London, jaded food and drink authority Nick Kippax finds an alluring stain next to a recipe for the mythical crandolin. He tastes it, ravishing the page. Then he disappears. The World Fantasy Award finalist from a critically acclaimed writer.

The only novel ever committed that was inspired by postmodern physics AND Ottoman confectionery.

“I don't think that you can really review an Anna Tambour book, you can merely sort of hang on for the ride and hope that your literary senses are still intact when you're done ... Yup, CRANDOLIN is essentially a cookery book. A cookery book of cosmic proportions ... CRANDOLIN is fabulation at its most exciting ... Anna Tambour is a rogue punk-prophetess whose writings not only stray from the beaten path; some of them are so far out there that you can hear the distant drums of strange story-tribes being awakened by her prose.”
— I. O'Reilly, Review, British Fantasy Society

“Immerse yourself in the magical world of Anna Tambour’s Crandolin,
a delirious journey that takes the reader through Central Asia and Russia with some fascinating strangers and a donkey, a demanding musical instrument, and delicious hints of nougat and honey.” — Ellen Datlow

“By turns lyrical and absurdist, whimsical and elegantly true, Crandolin is unlike any novel you will ever have read. Anna Tambour is brilliant, a true original.” — Lucius Shepard

“At heart Crandolin is a rich confectionery, a tapestry woven out of dreams and nightmares, an Arabian Nights tale for the twenty first century with Tambour as Scheherazade, lulling us with her mellifluous voice and artistry. I loved it, and didn’t want it to end.” — Peter Tennant, Review, Black Static

**

Review

"At heart Crandolin is a rich confectionery, a tapestry woven out of dreams and nightmares, an Arabian Nights tale for the twenty first century with Tambour as Scheherazade, lulling us with her mellifuous voice and artistry. I loved it, and didn't want it to end."
- Peter Tennant, Black Static

"...with the appearance of her new novel, Crandolin, [Anna Tambour] will surely register Richter-powerful on the delighted synapses of all patrons of weird, funny fabulism. The lively and bold Chômu Press, which touts its catalogue as offering 'new vistas of irreality,' deserves much credit for presenting this out-of-the-ordinary, highly accomplished foray into the Weird...But what's really central to Tambour's tale is the romance of food."
- Paul Di Filippo, Locus Online

"Funny and compelling, strangely wise about its worlds ... It can seem like a fun ride or a maze, yet Crandolin is never just a joke. When Tambour finally invokes one storyteller's sense of 'fear and joy,' it's genuine; we can share in the feeling, at the end of a long, strange trip."
­- Faren Miller, Locus

"I don't think that you can really review an Anna Tambour book, you can merely sort of hang on for the ride and hope that your literary senses are still intact when you're done ... Yup, CRANDOLIN is essentially a cookery book. A cookery book of cosmic proportions ... CRANDOLIN is fabulation at its most exciting ... Anna Tambour is a rogue punk-prophetess whose writings not only stray from the beaten path; some of them are so far out there that you can hear the distant drums of strange story-tribes being awakened by her prose."

- I. O'Reilly, British Fantasy Society Reviews

  • Locus* Notable New UK Book, November 2012, a Locus 2012 Recommended Reading List selection

"A fairy tale Dostoevsky would have liked... It's like it was written by a demented chef." -- David Kowalski

About the Author

Anna Tambour has worked as an industrial designer, graphic designer, scent developer, cook, and as a grower of fruits too daunting for most purported gourmets. Of no fixed nationality, she currently lives in the Australian bush with a large family of other species, including brayers, medlars, quinces, and a man. Her stories have appeared in an anarchy of places, including infinity plus,The HMS Beagle: BioMedNet Magazine, Scary Food: A Compendium of Gastronomic Atrocity, the Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology & Life Sciences, Strange Horizons, Rudy Rucker's Flurb; and numerous anthologies including The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Paper Cities, and Bloody Fabulous.