Product Description

When Ariel Manto uncovers a copy of The End of Mr. Y in a second-hand bookshop, she can't believe her eyes. She knows enough about its author, the outlandish Victorian scientist Thomas Lumas, to know that copies are exceedingly rare. And, some say, cursed. With Mr. Y under her arm, Ariel finds herself thrust into a thrilling adventure of love, sex, death and time-travel.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #766 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 396 pages

Observer
Thomas carries her readers through her wilder flights

Sunday Times
'Thomas pulls off this intellectual rollercoaster of a novel with dry humour and panache'

Sunday Herald
'Enjoyable bunkum, as brainy as it is fantastical...Thomas has produced a contemporary fantasy novel worth reading.'

Customer Reviews

Never judge a book by its cover!
They say you should never judge a book by its cover and that is certainly confirmed with this offering! I judged the book by its cover, bought it at London Heathrow, and began to read on the long haul transatlantic flight to LA. Things started well, it seemed a great idea for a story - the long lost book with a sinister magical secret but things were unraffling by the time we reached Iceland. Ploughing on through the author's efforts to show how clever she is I gave up as we crossed the eastern USA coast. And that was that really. The storyline of this book is 'all at sea' - and that's exactly where I left it. I abandoned this book in the library of the Diamond Princess cruise ship - at least it'll look nice on the shelf but I suggest that's where you leave it! I have a new rule after reading this....never judge a cover by its book!

Fascinating, quirky and entertaining.
An ambitious book that really does cover pretty much everything - life, death, sex, time travel and the fabric of the universe. The book's protagonist Ariel - flawed, entertaining and brilliantly drawn - is obsessed with a seemingly cursed book ("The End of Mr Y") which claims to reveal the secrets of telepathy and time travel. As she struggles to understand the world revealed by the book (and to evade others who want to find it), Ariel has to try to untangle the connections between matter, time and consciousness.

Part thriller, part metaphysical journey, the story never gets bogged down as it touches on some deep themes. Sure, you have to think a little as you read it, but is that such a bad thing ? A great read that will stay with you long after you finish it.

A magical, mysterious story
The cover's great (and we all judge books by them, don't we?) but luckily the inside lives up to it. Some of the science/philosophy made my brain ache, or maybe that was Ariel inside it, but once I got over feeling a bit dense, I really enjoyed the story itself. Just enough pace and action to keep it zipping along, and Ariel's a great leading lady. more of the same, please Scarlett.