Gormenghast

By Mervyn Peake,

Book cover of Gormenghast

Book description

Enter the world of Gormenghast...the vast crumbling castle to which the seventy-seventh Earl, Titus Groan, is Lord and heir. Gothic labyrinth of roofs and turrets, cloisters and corridors, stairwells and dungeons, it is also the cobwebbed kingdom of Byzantine government and age-old rituals, a world primed to implode beneath the…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

3 authors picked Gormenghast as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mervyn Peake’s writing is unusual. In Gormenghast he creates a bizarre world of weird hierarchical rituals, peopled by eccentric characters, each one singular in a different way. What really brings this novel to life is Peake’s wonderfully rich prose, as he describes the destruction of an ancient social structure.

From Leigh's list on wanting to read about murder.

Of all the fantastical worlds I have been drawn into, Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy has stayed with me the longest, in all its gothic, gloomy glory. It's the story of young Titus Groan (the name says it all!), the next Lord of Gormenghast, a claustrophobic, decaying, sprawling castle cut off from the outside world and steeped in bizarre rituals and dark intrigue. I suspect that J.K. Rowling was influenced by Gormenghast when she began the Harry Potter series. Don't expect heart-stopping adventures, though; read it for the atmosphere and the stunningly imaginative writing.

Regarded by many as one of the best fantasy series of the twentieth century, Gormenghast is a gothic masterpiece. The setting is a vast, isolated and largely empty castle in a remote earldom, ruled by the Groan family since time immemorial. The eccentric inhabitants rarely venture beyond the castle walls and engage in Machiavellian intrigue. They live out their lives performing numerous rituals whose purpose is long forgotten.

The story spans the first seventeen years of the life of Titus Groan, heir to Gormenghast, who begins to question his pseudo-medieval surroundings and what lies outside.

The book draws the reader…

If you love Gormenghast...

Ad

Book cover of The Last Whaler

The Last Whaler By Cynthia Reeves,

This book is an elegiac meditation on the will to survive. Tor, a beluga whaler, and his wife, Astrid, a botanist specializing in Arctic flora, are stranded during the dark season of 1937-38 at his remote whaling station in the Svalbard archipelago when they misjudge ice conditions and fail to…

Want books like Gormenghast?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 69 books like Gormenghast.

Browse books like Gormenghast

Book cover of The Power and the Glory
Book cover of The Great Gatsby
Book cover of Cloud Atlas

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,588

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Gormenghast, you might also like...

Book cover of In Human Shadow

In Human Shadow By Gregory J. Glanz,

Born the half-breed, bastard son of an orc chieftain, Wrank tries to survive life in OrcHome among ignorance and spite aimed at his human heritage even as he develops a Talent for folding shadow. When life is no longer viable among the clans, he escapes into the world of humans…

Book cover of Girl of Light

Girl of Light By Elana Gomel,

A girl of Light in a world of darkness.

In Svetlana's country, it’s a felony to break a mirror. Mirrors are conduits of the Voice, the deity worshiped by all who follow Light. The Voice protects humans of MotherLand from the dangers that beset them on all sides: an invading…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in nobility, inheritances, and castles?

Nobility 88 books
Inheritances 93 books
Castles 37 books