infinity plus

Hairy London by Stephen Palmer

Hairy London
Hairy London

What is love?

One evening at the Suicide Club three gentlemen discuss this age-old problem, and thus a wager is made. Dissolute fop Sheremy Pantomile, veteran philosopher Kornukope Wetherbee and down-on-his-luck Velvene Orchardtide all bet their fortunes on finding the answer amidst the dark alleys of a phantasmagorical Edwardian London.

But then, overnight, London Town is covered in hair. How the trio of adventurers cope with this unusual plague, and what conclusions they come to regarding love is the subject of this surreal and fast-paced novel.

And always the East End threatens revolution...


Extract:
Fine blonde hair growing on Waterloo Bridge makes it impassable. The young man, trapped by a rampant beard on the southern banks of the river, looks to the stanchions on the northern side that once were grey stone, but which now are hirsute. He cannot see how he will cross, but he must, because the hair beneath his feet is so luxuriant he is in danger of sinking into it, drowning, smothering in that yellow tide.

In his pocket he finds a rope with a grapnel on the end, and this he uses to haul himself up to the thinly haired bridge parapet. Like a monkey on a branch he moves along the parapet, slipping on clumps of hair, ducking when the wind gusts, almost losing his balance - but not quite. In ten minutes he is on the northern side. He leaps down into the mass of blonde hair that waves in the breeze coming up Victoria Embankment. The locks cover him to waist level.

With no other alternative he begins forging his way towards High Holborn, where he has an engagement...

Cover by Stephen Palmer

Published: 12 Mar 2014

"Stephen Palmer is a find." Time Out

"Science fiction has gained a distinctive new voice." Ottakar's

"Stephen Palmer's imagination is fecund..." Interzone

"... (a) supremely odd yet deeply rewarding experience." CCLaP

Stephen Palmer

Stephen Palmer is the author of fifteen novels: Memory Seed (Orbit 1996; Infinity Plus ebooks 2013), Glass (Orbit 1997; Infinity Plus ebooks 2013), Flowercrash (Wildside 2002; Infinity Plus ebooks 2013), Muezzinland (Wildside 2003; Infinity Plus ebooks 2011), Hallucinating (Wildside 2004; Infinity Plus ebooks 2011), The Rat & The Serpent (as Bryn Llewellyn, Prime Books 2005; Infinity Plus ebooks 2012) and Urbis Morpheos (PS Publishing 2010). His eighth novel, the surreal and fast-paced Hairy London, was published by Infinity Plus Books as a paperback and ebook in 2014, while the ninth, Beautiful Intelligence, was published in 2015, as was the subsequent short novel No Grave for a Fox. In 2016 Infinity Plus Books published his Edwardian steampunk trilogy, Factory Girl. His most recent novel, published in 2019, is The Conscientious Objector. His short stories have been published by Spectrum, Wildside, NewCon, Unspoken Water, Mutation Press, Solaris, Theakers, Eibonvale, Dog Horn, Manchester Speculative Fiction, Woodbridge Press and elsewhere. He lives and works in Shropshire, UK.

more infinity plus books by Stephen Palmer:

The Conscientious Objector The Autist Tommy Catkins The Girl with No Soul (The Factory Girl Trilogy #3) The Girl with One Friend (The Factory Girl Trilogy #2) The Girl with Two Souls (The Factory Girl Trilogy #1) No Grave For A Fox Muezzinland: the author Beautiful Intelligence Flowercrash Glass Memory Seed: 25th Anniversary Edition infinity plus: quintet The Rat and the Serpent Hallucinating

the infinity plus shuffle:

One Step Closer Little Sisters of the Apocalypse Fish Eats Lion A Restless Wind The Time-Lapsed Man The Accord Moby Jack and Other Tall Tales Blue Shifting Falling Over Picking Blueberries