Lizard World
Publisher: Livingston Press
Published: October 31, 2011
Place of publication: University of West Alabama, USA
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 264
ISBN-13: 9781604890778
Description: "The writing in 'Lizard World is breath-taking beyond belief in this incredibly inventive, dark tale which spans and flahes back and forth among different eras. The story line is one of a kind and the character development shows the mark of a truly gifted writer: every roundly drawn character has unique aspects and comes to life brilliantly. The narrative voice transforms according to the era of the chapter to adopt the writing style in which it takes place. The author has perfect pitch in capturing the dialect of the era with realistic dialogue and a 3D narrative style which renders the images leaping off the page. The style is truly inventive and the craftsmanship is reminiscent of Pynchon in 'Mason & Dixon' and British novelists like Laurence Sterne in 'Tristram Shandy,' writing in the idiosyncratic voices of their own times. I found myself deeply engaged in the characters and caring about the fate of the protagonist and victims in the novel. The sense of time and place is incredibly real and is a feast for all the senses with a knack for conveying a realism which is also often uncannily surrealistic in its ultimate effect. The scope of the novel is ambitious and unravels admirably: this is a densely packed novel and I would advise you to read it slowly so that you may savour the pure beauty of the written language which is also off-the-charts. There is real genius at work in the narrative style of Terry Bazes in this novel, which is a big book packed densely into 264 pages. Obviously, the writer worked hard at the novel by virtue of its high originality and the literary craftsmanship clearly evident in the narrative. Parts of this book are truly dark but 'Lizard World' is a literary experience not to be missed. Ultimately, Bazes explores what it means to be human with a truly inventive perspective shed on this big question. If you are a serious reader of literary novels and value truly great invention in style and narration, then I cannot recommend this great novel more highly. There's genius in this writing and it has literary legs which appreciative readers will value for generations to come." -- David B. Lentz, Author of "Bloomsday"