The Course of the Heart

The author of Things That Never Happen (starred review, Publishers Weekly) and Light (Tiptree Award winner) delivers an extraordinary, genre-bending novel that weaves together mythology, sexuality, and the troubled past and present of Eastern Europe.It begins on a hot May night, when three Cambridge students carry out a ritualistic act that changes their lives.Years later, none of the participants can remember what exactly transpired; but their clouded memories can't rid them of an overwhelming sense of dread. Pam Stuyvesant is an epileptic haunted by strange sensual visions. Her husband Lucas believes that a dwarfish creature is stalking him. Self-styled Sorcerer Yaxley becomes obsessed with a terrifyingly transcendent reality.The seemingly least effected participant in the ritual (who is haunted by the smell of roses) attempts to help his friends escape the torment that has engulfed their lives.Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

From Publishers Weekly

An unspoken secret that warps the lives of three Cambridge graduates is a springboard into mysteries of the heart and spirit in British author Harrison's enigmatic dark fantasy. Lucas Medlar, Pam Stuyvesant and the novel's unnamed narrator are all middle-aged intellectuals mired in the entropy of their lives. Lucas and Pam are in a deteriorating marriage, and the narrator uses work as a refuge from family and friends. All three are beholden to Yaxley, a creepy acquaintance from their schooldays who shows up periodically, always speaking in metaphysical riddles about a sensual realm called "the Pleroma." Meanwhile, Lucas entertains Pam with a fanciful history of "the Coeur," a symbol-laden quest that spans centuries and continents and is linked to the understanding of the Pleroma. The meaning of the Pleroma and the Coeur, and how they relate to visions of awe and terror that taunt all three characters over the course of the story, are just part of the weird aura that cloaks all the novel's events and points back to a strange shared experience from their youth. Harrison (Things That Never Happen) tantalizes the reader with explanations that are always just out of reach, and this sense of imminent revelation heightens the tale's mystery and suspense. Readers who like fantasies tinged with the transcendent will find much to enjoy. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Michael John Harrison (born 26 July 1945), known primarily by his pen name M. John Harrison, is an English author and critic. His work includes the Viriconium sequence of novels and short stories, (1982), Climbers (1989), and the Kefahuchi Tract series which begins with Light (2002).

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