London, 1812 | Yount, Year of the Owl
What would you give to make good on the sins of your past? For merchant Barnabas McDoon, the answer is: everything.
When emissaries from a world called Yount offer Barnabas a chance to redeem himself, he accepts their price to voyage to Yount with the key that only he can use to unlock the door to their prison. But bleak forces seek to stop him: Yount's jailer, a once-human wizard who craves his own salvation, kidnaps Barnabas's nephew. A fallen angel, a monstrous owl with eyes of fire, will unleash Hell if Yount is freed. And, meanwhile, Barnabas's niece, Sally, and a mysterious pauper named Maggie seek with dream-songs to wake the sleeping goddess who may be the only hope for Yount and Earth alike.
What would you give to make good on the sins of yourpast? For merchant Barnabas McDoon, the answer is: everything. When emissariesfrom a world called Yount offer Barnabas a chance to redeem himself, he acceptstheir price to voyage to Yount with the key that only he can use tounlock the door to their prison. But bleak forces seek to stop him: Yount'sjailer, a once-human wizard who craves his own salvation, kidnaps Barnabas'snephew. A fallen angel a monstrous owl with eyes of fire willunleash Hell if Yount is freed. And, meanwhile, Barnabas's niece, Sally, and a mysterious pauper named Maggie seek withdream-songs to wake the sleeping goddess who may be the only hope for Yount andEarth alike.
Praise for Daniel A. Rabuzzi "[Rabuzzi exercises] an exuberance, an ebullience, a delight in language."
-Mythopoeic Society
"An ambitious chimera of a tale. Rabuzzi instills his prose with considerable wit, humor and a joyous use of language, his love of literature and history filling every page."
-The Crow's Caw
"(A)n auspicious debut . . . a muscular, Napoleonic-era fantasy that, like Philip Pullman's Dark Materials series, will appeal to both adult and young adult readers. There's a Dickensian vibrancy . . . to Rabuzzi's book; it's filled with outsized characters, colorful slang, outrageous coincidences, buried secrets, stunning revelations, and star-crossed lovers."
-Paul Witcover, Realms of Fantasy Magazine
"The Choir Boats mixes all the best elements of folklore, Georgian romance, and fantasy to produce an eloquently crafted tale. . . . The tale is a significant contribution to the field of fantasy. . . . The Choir Boats is Gulliver's Travels crossed with The Golden Compass and a dollop of Pride and Prejudice. Rabuzzi has a true sense of wonder. . . . I cannot praise Daniel Rabuzzi or The Choir Boats enough. This story is unique (and) an instant classic of fantasy, and perhaps even the co-progenitor (with Novik, Clarke, and a few others) of a new subgenre in speculative fiction."
-John Ottinger, Grasping for the Wind
"It's clear that Rabuzzi had an immense amount of fun writing the book, and I think most readers who enjoy a fantastical and playful yarn will have as much fun reading it. It's a story that can be read aloud or to oneself, breezed through quickly or slowly savored a chapter a night. The novel will appeal to both young and older readers."
-Katherine Petersen, The Specusphere
