Napier's Bones
by Derryl Murphy
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Pub Date Mar 15 2011 | Archive Date Sep 01 2012
Description
What if, in a world where mathematics could be magic, the thing you desired
most was also trying to kill you? Dom is a numerate, someone able to see and
control numbers and use them as a form of magic. While seeking a mathematical
item of immense power that has only been whispered about, it all goes south for
Dom, and he finds himself on the run across three countries on two continents,
with two unlikely companions in tow and a numerate of unfathomable strength hot
on his tail. Along the way are giant creatures of stone and earth, statues come
alive, numerical wonders cast over hundreds of years, and the very real
possibility that he won’t make it out of this alive. And both of his
companions have secrets so deep that even they aren’t aware of them, and
one of those secrets could make for a seismic shift in how Dom and all other
numerates see and interact with the world.
Advance Praise
"Murphy's vision of numbers as the secret, driving engine of
the physical world is striking—he plays right into the mind's own
propensity to ascribe pattern to the patternless, significance to the
random. The resulting mystical system feels very convincing, and forms
the basis for as fun and intense an adventure novel as you could hope to
find. The physical book, produced by Canadian specialty press ChiZine,
is a smart and beautiful little package with striking, subtle use of
embossing and type-design that makes it a fine artifact in its own
right."
– Cory Doctorow, boingboing.net ". . . Napier's Bones is a consistently compelling and inventive read. Think of it as literary prog-rock, stretching the bounds of what is possible. . ."
– Ian Daffern, Quill & Quire "[A] clever lark full of free-wheeling adventure and odd intellectual borrowings; a sort of winking DaVinci Code for the math set bracketed in magic and uncertainty."
– Alex Good, The New York Review of Science Fiction "The numerological stuff in the novel is as good as anything I've read and the action is fast and furious with no let-up till the powerful climax."
– Liviu Suciu, Fantasy Book Critic "While Napier’s Bones is a blend of sci-fi and fantasy, there are enough scientific and religious undertones to make it a true original. Readers will have no problem accepting Murphy’s tight prose, which not only keeps the story flowing at a quick pace, but makes these magic mathematical abilities seem (at times) frighteningly real."
– Nick Cato, The Crow's Caw
– Cory Doctorow, boingboing.net ". . . Napier's Bones is a consistently compelling and inventive read. Think of it as literary prog-rock, stretching the bounds of what is possible. . ."
– Ian Daffern, Quill & Quire "[A] clever lark full of free-wheeling adventure and odd intellectual borrowings; a sort of winking DaVinci Code for the math set bracketed in magic and uncertainty."
– Alex Good, The New York Review of Science Fiction "The numerological stuff in the novel is as good as anything I've read and the action is fast and furious with no let-up till the powerful climax."
– Liviu Suciu, Fantasy Book Critic "While Napier’s Bones is a blend of sci-fi and fantasy, there are enough scientific and religious undertones to make it a true original. Readers will have no problem accepting Murphy’s tight prose, which not only keeps the story flowing at a quick pace, but makes these magic mathematical abilities seem (at times) frighteningly real."
– Nick Cato, The Crow's Caw
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781926851099 |
| PRICE | $15.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 259 |
