The Laughter of Carthage

The Laughter of Carthage is a historical fiction novel by English author Michael Moorcock published by Secker & Warburg in 1984. It is the second in the Pyat Quartet tetralogy, preceded by Byzantium Endures and followed by Jerusalem Commands.[1] It was written in tandem, one during the day, and one at night, with the second novel in the Von Bek series, The City in the Autumn Stars.[2]

The Laughter of Carthage
Dust-jacket from the first edition.
AuthorMichael Moorcock
LanguageEnglish
SeriesPyat Quartet
GenreLiterary Fiction
PublisherSecker & Warburg
Publication date
1984
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback)
Pages602 pp
ISBN0-436-28460-X
OCLC59237630
Preceded byByzantium Endures 
Followed byJerusalem Commands 

Reception

edit

Kirkus Reviews criticized the novel, saying: "...though Moorcock may want all the ugly rhetoric to be read as the ravings of a self-deluding liar and knave, the ironies--e.g., Pyat's own secret Jewishness--aren't as clear here as they were in Byzantium Endures. So this 600-page novel, for all its scene-by-scene skill, soon becomes a cold, tedious exercise--short on genuine character or charm, basically shapeless, faintly unpleasant".[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ Ian Davey. "Michael Moorcock Bibliography: The Laughter of Carthage". Retrieved 18 April 2006.
  2. ^ "The Terminal Cafe: Von Bek". Retrieved 18 May 2006.
  3. ^ "THE LAUGHTER OF CARTHAGE". Kirkus Reviews. 1 January 1985. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
edit