#are also featured!! but that’s all im gonna say for now 🤐

[thepratandtheidiot]

CALLING ALL POLAR EXPLORATION NERDS, AMC TERROR FANS, and people who enjoy a damn good book: 

i was recently privileged to pre-read Dorian Ravenscroft’s novel This Savage Kingdom, and devoured it in the space of days like a starving beast.

What: a slowly-unravelling mystery that creeps through the slums and drawing-rooms of Victorian London, lurks in the murky bowels of ship’s holds, and culminates in bloodshed on the icy shale of the Arctic Circle, Ravenscroft’s prose is meaty and visceral.

Who: Kingdom’s protagonist Harry Lambert is a Victorian-era journalist, with all the frustratingly requisite biases intact: i often found myself muttering “oh for CHRIST’S SAKE, HARRY” while reading, which is possibly the highest compliment i can bestow on a fictional character. determined to uncover the truth in the aftermath of arctic shipwreck Melpomene, Harry soon finds himself tangled in a sinister web of spiritualism, dueling narratives, and erotic obsession. as contradictions in each tale coaxed from the handful of mutineers survivors begin mounting—with deadly results—a ghost from Harry’s past returns to haunt him when he least expects it. 

Why You Should Read: laced with a deeply unsettling sense of growing claustrophobia, This Savage Kingdom is one of those rare gems that had me second-guessing myself all the way to the last page. a twist in the third act had me itching to throw my laptop across the room, in the best way possible. 

Ravenscroft’s attention to historical detail (scattered throughout like breadcrumbs, and stacked into a gorgeous bibliography of an end-note) will have polar exploration buffs grinning from ear to ear. mystery lovers will find themselves (delightfully) stymied at every turn by the most unreliable of narrators…. and as an admirer of AMC’s The Terror, i’m especially keen for my fellow fans to enjoy a subversion of familiar archetypes as much as i did.

a story intimately acquainted with hunger in all its forms, you can practically taste the sooty grime of polluted London air at the back of your throat as you keep pace with Harry; feel your lips crack and peel in the frigid wind alongside Melpomene’s scorbutic survivors as they trek miserably into the Arctic wilderness. best read with chapstick & perhaps a glass of orange juice close at hand.

highly recommended for: franklin expedition enthusiasts, devotees of amc’s the terror, boat media™️ aficionados, fans of sarah waters’ victorian novels (especially fingersmith and affinity), gay people, gay people who BITE, readers who love when the conses quence, Ice Mummy Monday observers, and anyone who enjoys a bloody good mystery.

if any of the above applies, you may be entitled to financial compensation i am begging you to leave space on your bookshelf for This Savage Kingdom, coming soon to a publisher near you. in the meantime, go say hi to author @dravenscroft here on tumblr & ask them about their novel <3

and finally, a few ~Live Slug Reactions~ from yours truly under the cut:

“harry is doing the most in his role as a victorian gentleman & i want to hit him over the head with a 2x4 in the most complimentary way possible”

“ooooooh love a good bit of cannibalism foreshadowing, me”

“lieutenants who could probably use a xanax hours”

“[my Mary Anning senses are tingling]”

“historical john hartnell??? My best friend john hartnell of Beechey boy fame?????”

“return of the king (the thylacine)”

“are u forever haunted by the ghost of your boy best friend who perished horribly on a doomed arctic expedition or are you normal”

“everyone at this seance is like. Wow weird energy in here tonight”

“HARRYYYYYYYYYY i realise you’re having a bad time but it’s about to get worse because i am going to punt you out a window”

“congratulations, miserable new puppy play unlocked”

“oh i am stamping and cheering and clapping STANDING OVATION FOR LIARS WHO LIE”

“i love you complex characters i love you weird flawed dudes i love you fucked up little codependent romance arcs”

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“The love was there. It saved absolutely no one but the love was there :(”

if any of the above zero-context reader’s notes sound right up your alley, you’re going to fucking LOVE this book. can’t wait for y’all to read <3

Since this baby is going out to publishers soon, thought it was time to drop the trailer again.

THIS SAVAGE KINGDOM is THE TERROR meets ALIAS GRACE. Partly inspired by the true story of HMS Wager. Queer and twisty, with dual timelines, set in both the Arctic and 1860 London.