As always, an honour to be part of a blogtour for any book, but books from Everything With Words always seem to be extra special!
This new release, The Narzat, by Luke Marchant, is a funny, heart-warming tale with a cast of hilarious characters bound to raise a smile and make young readers laugh out loud at their antics and their depictions in Rory Walker's great illustrations.
The Narzat lives in the Jumble Jungle Wood with his friends the Looky Lizard (a feisty reptile who communicates through sign language) and the Chatty Chirper (a comically talkative bird who never shuts up). Little is known about how the Narzat arrived there, but he wears a necklace bearing a meaningful inscription.
The Jumble Jungle Wood is full of animals you’d love to meet because they’re fun and friendly but some, like the roaring Ravenoserous are absolutely lethal.
One day two villains arrive, Lord and Lady Snide, armed with guns and a fierce desire for furs and the Narzat’s necklace…
I'm thrilled that author, Luke, has kindly written the following guest piece for this stop on the blogtour. Check out other stops on the dates below for more insights...
Favourite comic characters and books
Books are really quite special. They can take you anywhere in the world but, as I’ve grown a little older, I’ve realised they can take you back in time.
Recently, I opened a Discworld novel and, within moments of reading Terry Pratchett’s witty and eloquent words, I was back in my childhood. There’s something so wonderfully clever and magical about his prose—he mingles the spectacular with the every day—and I truly am in awe. From his sprawling cast of hilarious characters, it’s hard to pick a favourite. But, if you were to push me, I’d choose the character of Death—Pratchett has taken a potentially dark figure and made him wise yet bewildered, deadly but deeply kind.
Sometimes, my favourite comical characters are not quite as pleasant.
My son recently read the Twits with me. Deep belly laughs soon followed (from me as well as him). Again, I was taken back to my first time reading about two vile villains with their laughably devious schemes. But this time, the laughter was more special because I was sharing it with my son. I wonder if he’ll have a similar experience in the future years, and I hope it takes us back to his room, laughing about wormy spaghetti at bedtime.
In terms of more adult fare, I absolutely loved Friedrick Backman’s Bear Town trilogy. There’s some profound themes, important discussions and it is deeply moving. There is also a great vein of humour running throughout, and a lot of comedy comes from the character of the town itself. Bear Town residents have a no-nonsense way of doing things, and the reader is swiftly is let in on the joke. My face would light up at the terse and tough Ramona—I think she and Pertinax would get on well.
I probably could go on for another few thousand words about the books and characters who have made me smile. In their own way, they’ve all inspired me to try to create a world and a cast where readers find themselves enjoying a quiet chuckle. And I hope that, in years to come, they can pick up the Narzat once more and find themselves enjoying that chuckle again.
Find out more and order a copy at www.everythingwithwords.com/books/the-narzat/
Follow Luke on Instagram as @lukemarchantauthor
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