Via fan osmosis, I’ve been left with the impression that the Gormenghast trilogy (not a trilogy) is a difficult read, with purple prose, unlikeable characters and a dull, snail’s pace plot. And, I’m sure if I’d read Titus Groan in my early twenties, I’d have probably come to the same conclusion.* But reading it on the cusp of fifty, I must say it’s a remarkable book. Yes, the language is on the baroque side, but gorgeously so. Yes, the pacing is sedate, but only because Peake immerses you in his world. And, yes, some of the characters are unlikeable, but they’re also tragic, flawed, and fabulous. And. Most importantly. It’s fucking hilarious. I cackled. Multiple times.

Do I need to provide a plot precis? I’ll keep it short. Titus Groan is set in a secondary world (I assume it’s a secondary world; that’s how it’s presented in this novel), with the action centred around the castle of Gormenghast. We join the action on an auspicious day: the birth of Titus Groan, the heir to Lord Sepulchrave, the seventy-sixth Earl of Groan and ruler of Gormenghast. But Titus’s birth is a bringer of change and a harbinger of doom, as the devious Steerpike, once a kitchen boy and now an arch manipulator, plans to overturn Gormenghast’s stagnant society.

I don’t have the literary chops to connect the dots between Peake and the broader fantasy community. Is Peake an influence on Grimdark? There are certainly moments of moderately “gory” violence, and Swelter is as grotesque a character as you’d like to encounter (in the mould of Baron Harkonnen). Did he influence Pratchett, Adams and those who approach the genre from a satirical perspective? There are the over-the-top rituals (a piss-take of Catholicism?), and the character’s multiple eccentricities suggest that Peake wasn’t aiming for po-faced authenticity. Or is it a novel (or a series) that stands alone, that is sui generis? It’s probably all of these things, which is what makes it such a fascinating read.

I love the names, each memorable and a near-perfect representation of the character. I loved the weirdness, not just the ossified rituals but the Gothic-inspired architecture of Gormenghast with its nooks and crannies and stone gardens in the sky. The library scene (you know the one) is as gripping as it is shocking, while the intense hostility between Flay and Swelter is jaw-droppingly memorable (I’m not going to forget their fight in a hurry).

Awesome. That’s what I think of Titus Groan, and I look forward to reading the second volume, Gormenghast (when time permits).

*I say it’s a consensus. I’ll bet everyone tells me that, no, Gormenghast is much loved, and I’m delusional. Which, you know, is fair enough.