The Stranger Times
Ratings24
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings24
Average rating4.1
'Wonderfully dark, extremely funny' proclaimed ADAM KAY, author of the No.1 bestselling This is Going to Hurt 'A filmic romp with great characters, a jet-propelled plot, and a winning premise' said the GUARDIAN JASON MANFORD thinks it's 'Hilarious. You'll never look at Manchester the same way again.' The Chronicles of St Mary's series author JODI TAYLOR declared 'I loved this . . . great premise - great story - great characters . . . hugely enjoyable.' And THE TIMES called it 'ripping entertainment from start to finish.' There are dark forces at work in our world (and in Manchester in particular), so thank God The Stranger Times is on hand to report them . . . A weekly newspaper dedicated to the weird and the wonderful (but mostly the weird), it is the go-to publication for the unexplained and inexplicable. At least that's their pitch. The reality is rather less auspicious. Their editor is a drunken, foul-tempered and foul-mouthed husk of a man who thinks little of the publication he edits. His staff are a ragtag group of misfits. And as for the assistant editor . . . well, that job is a revolving door - and it has just revolved to reveal Hannah Willis, who's got problems of her own. When tragedy strikes in her first week on the job The Stranger Times is forced to do some serious investigating. What they discover leads to a shocking realisation: some of the stories they'd previously dismissed as nonsense are in fact terrifyingly real. Soon they come face-to-face with darker forces than they could ever have imagined. The Stranger Times is the first novel from C.K. McDonnell, the pen name of Caimh McDonnell. It combines his distinctive dark wit with his love of the weird and wonderful to deliver a joyous celebration of how truth really can be stranger than fiction. Readers love The Stranger Times: ***** 'A delight from start to finish - laugh out loud funny yet with plenty of thrills.' ***** 'Full of wit and humour, and knows how to keep the reader hooked.' ***** 'You'll soon fall in love . . . fans of Pratchett, Gaiman, Aaronovich will be blown away.'
Featured Series
4 primary booksStranger Times is a 4-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2021 with contributions by C.K. McDonnell.
Reviews with the most likes.
This was... kind of a weird but good time? Some parts almost felt a little tedious with how completely crazy it was all the time, but tbh I still had a good time overall and wouldn't mind picking up the sequel at some point.
The humour in this one was pretty reminiscent of Terry Pratchett, if he wrote urban fantasy, except it was missing a little focus and pizzazz. Nevertheless, I do think McDonnell's a bit of a hidden gem and can't understand why this book hasn't been more shouted about. It's got pretty quirky and humourous writing, vivid characters, a fairly compelling magic system and backstory, as well as plot twists that, while not earth-shattering revelations., still give you enough of a jolt to be enjoyable.
We have a bit of a character ensemble here. I don't think we really get close enough to any one character to feel particularly attached, but I think that's okay. I enjoyed the superficial tableau of how their dynamics played out against each other. There are stakes in the story too, so it wasn't completely without tension.
Overall, would recommend to those who love urban fantasy with some strong humour!
Hannah used to be a wealthy wife, until her marriage fell apart and she kinda... went batshit on her cheating husband. Probably felt really nice at the moment, though right now she needs to start a new life, which involves getting a job.
Where? Well, at The Stranger Times, a newspaper that focuses on the paranormal and weird. They are eccentric people serving an even more eccentric reader base.
And that is really the selling point of this. The characters are just so crazy and all over the place that you end up having fun, often based on the fact that these people should not exist in the same place. They are all completely different in manners, how they deal with their issues, their work ethic. How they would normally probably murder each other...
And really, their boss is incredibly murderable in a total-asshole-why-do-you-exist, Bernard Black sort of way. Yeah, the guy is absolutely the character from Black Books, played by Dylan Moran. That show should speak to readers anyway, so it all connects there.
Talking about murder. That happens here. It focuses on the characters trying to investigate said series of murders, but it's not too depressing. Don't expect some grimdark type of a thing. This is not going to do that, the tone is overwhelmingly sarcastic, random-ish humour.
It all connects into the very real magical world in this universe. It's not extensive, I mean we are in book 1 of an urban fantasy series. On that front, this one is fairly standard. What's with humourous urban fantasy, by the way? What is with the rule that straight up fantasy needs to be serious, dark and political, meanwhile urban fantasy is goofy? Not like I minded here, it was competently done humour.
The whole thing was competent. You know, sometimes urban fantasy starts out a bit awkward, yet here it all worked just fine. I don't know how long this is going to go, though. We have seen a bit of some shadowy organization when it comes to the magical people and creatures, so there is potential to go that way, though I don't know how long you can keep that up with the characters being “just” normie human journalists who got drawn into this. Is it going to be a murder-of-the-week thing? We will see.
Some personal things connect some of them to the supernatural, but again, how long is the newspaper angle going to go? Because if things get serious with the characters embracing the weird, at some point the “type in articles, have a meeting” things are going to become frustrating. Not yet, though. I have zero idea how a newspaper works, so even that was fine.
Perfect if you want to have a fun time, relax and see the headless chickens run around and the weird shit to transpire.
This is one of the funniest books I've ever read, and listening to it on audio was an absolute delight!!
What a marvelous read. Straddles hilarious and macabre, the much craved funny fantasy! The back cover comparison is apt, I think if you like Terry Pratchett, you should try this. Cynical journalism, dry wit, supernatural mysteries and just a smattering of pathos and world building. 🤌🏻
I am overjoyed that this is a series I get to read more in, though I'll have to wait for interlibrary loans for each.
⚠️ Borderline offensive grumpy bastard.
