The Vorrh

Catling’s richly textured and enigmatic fantasy trilogy opener (first published in the U.K. in 2012) is centered on a legendary African forest, known as the Vorrh, that’s rumored to be “older than humankind.” As no person has returned from attempting to reach its center, “nothing was known of its interior, except myth and fear.” According to some, the Vorrh is populated by cannibals and monsters, while others believe that “God walks there” in “his garden on Earth.” Against this mid-19th-century backdrop, reminiscent of Robert Holdstock’s Mythago Wood, Catling weaves an intricate story with a diverse cast of characters. They include Eadweard Muybridge, a real-life photographer best known for proving that all four legs of a running horse leave the ground while the animal is in motion, and Ishmael, a cyclops raised by automatons. It’s not easy to keep all the plots and subplots straight, but even those who struggle to navigate the labyrinth will still find the twisted journey thought provoking, full of memorable imagery and language. (May)