[STARRED REVIEW] “Readers will find themselves delighted, intrigued, and often moved by the love, pain, and wonder of these finely written drabbles”
—Kirkus
The internationally bestselling author of Griffin & Sabine returns with his newest literary mystery—a charming assemblage of his own illustrated stories. Each of the invitingly strange tales is paired with its own glyphic creature (perhaps created by Sabine herself?). These delightful “drabbles,” enjoyable in any sequence, allow the reader to bask in them—or even to solve the conundrum they imply.
Available Format(s): Trade hardcover, digital formats
[STARRED REVIEW] “Readers will find themselves delighted, intrigued, and often moved by the love, pain, and wonder of these finely written drabbles . . . thoroughly extraordinary.”
—Kirkus
The internationally bestselling author of Griffin & Sabine returns with his newest literary mystery—a charming assemblage of his own illustrated stories. Each of the invitingly strange tales is paired with its own glyphic creature (perhaps created by Sabine herself).
Little is known of the fascinating manuscript that Nick Bantock has come to possess. It was discovered in an attic in North London, stuffed into a battered cardboard box, and unceremoniously delivered directly to Nick’s doorstep. Inside the package lay one hundred evocatively absurd stories, one hundred humorous drawings of strangely familiar, quirkish glyphs, plus a cryptically poetic note signed only as “HH.” (Possibly the well-known, eccentric billionaire, Hamilton Hasp?)
In these stories-each consisting of precisely 100 words-strange creatures slip through alleyways, and eerie streets swallow people whole. Taken altogether, they may constitute a puzzle that no one has been able to solve thus far. Could there even be one missing story?
For those perceptive readers with a curious mind, the celebrated author of Griffin & Sabine cordially invites you to find your own path through his beguiling conundrum of drabbles—or even to contribute one of your very own.
Kirkus 20 SFF Novels That Will Blow Your Mind NUVO Gift Guide for the Book Lover
[STARRED REVIEW] “Bantock tells us in his introduction that the box containing these 100 stories, each 100 words long, and a group of petroglyphic images was ‘reportedly found in an attic, in North London’ and sent to him by the bemused homeowner. The stories have no known author or key to their enigmatic content and images, so Bantock decides to publish them, hoping a reader can solve the puzzle posed in a note found in the box with the manuscript. It seems the idea is to find one word from each tale that will then create a final, 100-word story that belongs to the reader themselves. The whimsical, often humorous, tales are a mixture of SF, fantasy, historical, mythological, mild horror, and/or paranormal fiction, as well as simple vignettes of relatable lives. A woman trying on lingerie receives a tattoo from a passing jellyfish. A man places stars in space using his cabinet of curiosities. Angels are captured and bottled to make quality perfume. A group of 1903 settlers find a crashed starship. God’s Uncle Albert once thought about creating sentient life, but eventually decided it was a bad idea. There are beach-going ghosts, an orangutan pilot from WWII, surrealists playing chess, and a girl who starts chewing her nails and can’t stop until she’s eaten herself. A woman cleverly thwarts a misogynistic tailgater trying to intimidate her. An accountant escapes the Great War via embezzlement. A court jester sacrifices himself for his beloved queen. A small clown appears in a fish tank. The Sandman, Leda and the Swan, and the infamous cat Pangur Ban make appearances. With each turn of the page, one never quite knows what to expect. The mischievous illustrations, saturated with color, only hint at something recognizable, usually a bit of an animal or plant. Even if the puzzle remains unsolved, readers will find themselves delighted, intrigued, and often moved by the love, pain, and wonder of these finely written drabbles. Spec Fic at its best: accessible and inventive, while remaining thoroughly extraordinary.”
—Kirkus
“A tapestry of exquisite miniatures, the kind of stories you might hear told in one of Calvino’s invisible cities. Microfictions are seldom this inventive or persistently pleasurable.”
—John Coulthart, World Fantasy Award-winning graphic artist, illustrator, author, and designer
“Bantock’s fans will appreciate his fresh stylistic approach. This beguiles.” —Publishers Weekly
“I have always been fascinated by artists who manage to invent imaginary creatures and worlds, and Nick Bantock does it with extreme elegance and a unique freshness of sign, managing to combine cave paintings with Flemish art in a contemporary key.”
—Daniele Serra, three-time winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Artist
“100 Stories. 100 words each. 100% captivating. In The Corset & The Jellyfish, Nick Bantock weaves tales that are wholly fantastical and yet absolutely believable. Talking lampposts, bottled angels, and dancing dice are just a few of the magical characters that you will meet along the way. Accompanied by 100 illustrations that are equally mysterious, be ready for a journey to places far beyond your imagination.”
—Seth Apter, author of The Mixed Media Artist
“The Corset & The Jellyfish recalls a Grimm’s fairytale crossed with a Salvador Dali painting.”
—Literary Review of Canada
“This book is an excellent example of just how powerful so few words can be.”
—The Book Lovers Boudoir
“Bantock’s illustrated, epistolary novel Griffin and Sabine was an international sensation. His latest book, The Corset & the Jellyfish, recaptures all of its idiosyncratic charm. . . . Complete with whimsical illustrations, The Corset & the Jellyfish is a unique and magical curio to get lost in.”
—NUVO
“[Bantock’s] Griffin & Sabine books told entirely through correspondence mesmerized me so I was thrilled to see he had come up with a new, intriguing format. . . . How can you not be fascinated by a story that starts, ‘During the night the cat and the clock traded identities.’”
—Musing
Praise for the Griffin and Sabine series
“Wondrous, ingenious, gorgeous.”
—USA Today
“Extremely original . . . classical myth, reality, and fantasy are blended artfully in this modern allegory.”
—Los Angeles Times
“It’s like no book experience you’ve had before and every detail is so thoughtfully crafted and executed. The story itself is magical and whimsical and leaves you cheering on Griffin and Sabine to find happiness together. And even all these years later, I have kept them because they are so unique and special.”
—Oh Joy!
“Griffin & Sabine, by the Canada-based British artist Nick Bantock, seemed to have no precedent. It was as marvellous and mysterious as the story it contained.”
—The Telegraph
“A powerful read.”
—Vancouver Sun
“The immersive experience of this book can be enjoyed on its own or in conjunction with the six other books in the series. However it is read, Bantock’s conclusion to the epistolary epic is beautiful and truly singular.”
—Publishers Weekly
“These are enjoyable, lovely books that appeal to incurable romantics and people who like to open mail.” —Washington Post
Nick Bantock has authored thirty books, including the internationally bestselling Griffin and Sabine series. His works have been translated into thirteen languages. and over five million copies have been sold worldwide. Bantock has worked in a betting shop in the East End of London; trained as a psychotherapist; and designed a house that combined an Indonesian temple, an English cricket pavilion and a New Orleans bordello. He was also one of the twelve committee members responsible for selecting Canada’s postage stamps. Among the things Bantock can’t do: he can’t swim; has never ridden a horse; his spelling is dreadful; and his singing voice is flat as a pancake. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
The Corset & The Jellyfish
Nick Bantock
[STARRED REVIEW] “Readers will find themselves delighted, intrigued, and often moved by the love, pain, and wonder of these finely written drabbles”
—Kirkus
The internationally bestselling author of Griffin & Sabine returns with his newest literary mystery—a charming assemblage of his own illustrated stories. Each of the invitingly strange tales is paired with its own glyphic creature (perhaps created by Sabine herself?). These delightful “drabbles,” enjoyable in any sequence, allow the reader to bask in them—or even to solve the conundrum they imply.
The Corset & The Jellyfish
by Nick Bantock
ISBN: 978-1-61696-407-8 (print); 978-1-61696-408-5 (digital)
Published: November 7th, 2023
Available Format(s): Trade hardcover, digital formats
[STARRED REVIEW] “Readers will find themselves delighted, intrigued, and often moved by the love, pain, and wonder of these finely written drabbles . . . thoroughly extraordinary.”
—Kirkus
The internationally bestselling author of Griffin & Sabine returns with his newest literary mystery—a charming assemblage of his own illustrated stories. Each of the invitingly strange tales is paired with its own glyphic creature (perhaps created by Sabine herself).
Little is known of the fascinating manuscript that Nick Bantock has come to possess. It was discovered in an attic in North London, stuffed into a battered cardboard box, and unceremoniously delivered directly to Nick’s doorstep. Inside the package lay one hundred evocatively absurd stories, one hundred humorous drawings of strangely familiar, quirkish glyphs, plus a cryptically poetic note signed only as “HH.” (Possibly the well-known, eccentric billionaire, Hamilton Hasp?)
In these stories-each consisting of precisely 100 words-strange creatures slip through alleyways, and eerie streets swallow people whole. Taken altogether, they may constitute a puzzle that no one has been able to solve thus far. Could there even be one missing story?
For those perceptive readers with a curious mind, the celebrated author of Griffin & Sabine cordially invites you to find your own path through his beguiling conundrum of drabbles—or even to contribute one of your very own.
Kirkus 20 SFF Novels That Will Blow Your Mind
NUVO Gift Guide for the Book Lover
[STARRED REVIEW] “Bantock tells us in his introduction that the box containing these 100 stories, each 100 words long, and a group of petroglyphic images was ‘reportedly found in an attic, in North London’ and sent to him by the bemused homeowner. The stories have no known author or key to their enigmatic content and images, so Bantock decides to publish them, hoping a reader can solve the puzzle posed in a note found in the box with the manuscript. It seems the idea is to find one word from each tale that will then create a final, 100-word story that belongs to the reader themselves. The whimsical, often humorous, tales are a mixture of SF, fantasy, historical, mythological, mild horror, and/or paranormal fiction, as well as simple vignettes of relatable lives. A woman trying on lingerie receives a tattoo from a passing jellyfish. A man places stars in space using his cabinet of curiosities. Angels are captured and bottled to make quality perfume. A group of 1903 settlers find a crashed starship. God’s Uncle Albert once thought about creating sentient life, but eventually decided it was a bad idea. There are beach-going ghosts, an orangutan pilot from WWII, surrealists playing chess, and a girl who starts chewing her nails and can’t stop until she’s eaten herself. A woman cleverly thwarts a misogynistic tailgater trying to intimidate her. An accountant escapes the Great War via embezzlement. A court jester sacrifices himself for his beloved queen. A small clown appears in a fish tank. The Sandman, Leda and the Swan, and the infamous cat Pangur Ban make appearances. With each turn of the page, one never quite knows what to expect. The mischievous illustrations, saturated with color, only hint at something recognizable, usually a bit of an animal or plant. Even if the puzzle remains unsolved, readers will find themselves delighted, intrigued, and often moved by the love, pain, and wonder of these finely written drabbles. Spec Fic at its best: accessible and inventive, while remaining thoroughly extraordinary.”
—Kirkus
“A tapestry of exquisite miniatures, the kind of stories you might hear told in one of Calvino’s invisible cities. Microfictions are seldom this inventive or persistently pleasurable.”
—John Coulthart, World Fantasy Award-winning graphic artist, illustrator, author, and designer
“Bantock’s fans will appreciate his fresh stylistic approach. This beguiles.”
—Publishers Weekly
“I have always been fascinated by artists who manage to invent imaginary creatures and worlds, and Nick Bantock does it with extreme elegance and a unique freshness of sign, managing to combine cave paintings with Flemish art in a contemporary key.”
—Daniele Serra, three-time winner of the British Fantasy Award for Best Artist
“100 Stories. 100 words each. 100% captivating. In The Corset & The Jellyfish, Nick Bantock weaves tales that are wholly fantastical and yet absolutely believable. Talking lampposts, bottled angels, and dancing dice are just a few of the magical characters that you will meet along the way. Accompanied by 100 illustrations that are equally mysterious, be ready for a journey to places far beyond your imagination.”
—Seth Apter, author of The Mixed Media Artist
“The Corset & The Jellyfish recalls a Grimm’s fairytale crossed with a Salvador Dali painting.”
—Literary Review of Canada
“This book is an excellent example of just how powerful so few words can be.”
—The Book Lovers Boudoir
“Bantock’s illustrated, epistolary novel Griffin and Sabine was an international sensation. His latest book, The Corset & the Jellyfish, recaptures all of its idiosyncratic charm. . . . Complete with whimsical illustrations, The Corset & the Jellyfish is a unique and magical curio to get lost in.”
—NUVO
“[Bantock’s] Griffin & Sabine books told entirely through correspondence mesmerized me so I was thrilled to see he had come up with a new, intriguing format. . . . How can you not be fascinated by a story that starts, ‘During the night the cat and the clock traded identities.’”
—Musing
Praise for the Griffin and Sabine series
“Wondrous, ingenious, gorgeous.”
—USA Today
“Extremely original . . . classical myth, reality, and fantasy are blended artfully in this modern allegory.”
—Los Angeles Times
“It’s like no book experience you’ve had before and every detail is so thoughtfully crafted and executed. The story itself is magical and whimsical and leaves you cheering on Griffin and Sabine to find happiness together. And even all these years later, I have kept them because they are so unique and special.”
—Oh Joy!
“Griffin & Sabine, by the Canada-based British artist Nick Bantock, seemed to have no precedent. It was as marvellous and mysterious as the story it contained.”
—The Telegraph
“A powerful read.”
—Vancouver Sun
“The immersive experience of this book can be enjoyed on its own or in conjunction with the six other books in the series. However it is read, Bantock’s conclusion to the epistolary epic is beautiful and truly singular.”
—Publishers Weekly
“These are enjoyable, lovely books that appeal to incurable romantics and people who like to open mail.”
—Washington Post
Nick Bantock has authored thirty books, including the internationally bestselling Griffin and Sabine series. His works have been translated into thirteen languages. and over five million copies have been sold worldwide. Bantock has worked in a betting shop in the East End of London; trained as a psychotherapist; and designed a house that combined an Indonesian temple, an English cricket pavilion and a New Orleans bordello. He was also one of the twelve committee members responsible for selecting Canada’s postage stamps. Among the things Bantock can’t do: he can’t swim; has never ridden a horse; his spelling is dreadful; and his singing voice is flat as a pancake. He lives in Victoria, British Columbia.