The fourth book in The History of Arcadia series
by Tod Davies ($15.95)
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“Cleverly explores the motifs of Frankenstein. . . .Fans will appreciate the intriguing perspective on a familiar theme.”—Publishers Weekly
“A philosophical fable. . . . As much Faust as Frankenstein.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Readers will feel right at home in this crossover world of ‘wonder tales,’ which has been described as ‘Lewis Carroll with footnotes by Jonathan Swift.’ If that description alone doesn’t get your bachelor’s degree in English Lit all tingly, then you’re reading the wrong list.” —Westword
You can read Report to Megalopolis without having read the other books in the History of Arcadia (although why wouldn’t you?). —Deb Baker, BookConscious
“Look inside this world and find wonder.”—KATE BERNHEIMER, editor of My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me and Fairy Tale Review
“Innovative form and spellbinding content. . . . Stories, as Tod Davies’s History of Arcadia novels ultimately suggest, serve as civilization’s backbone, and it is therefore in stories too that we can discover the potential for fundamental change and a better society.” —Marvels & Tales
More aptly called “Wonder Tales” than “Fairy Tales,” the first three novels in The History of Arcadia series were embraced as crossover titles, prompting critics and booksellers to ask readers to “imagine Lewis Carroll with footnotes by Jonathan Swift” while others made comparisons to Nicholson Baker, the Spiderwick Chronicles, Susanna Clark’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell, Homer, C.S. Lewis, the New Testament, Descartes, L. Frank Baum, Doris Lessing, and Joseph Campbell. The author herself credits Ursula K. LeGuin, Mary Shelley, Octavia Butler, and J.R.R. Tolkien as noble ancestors of the world of Arcadia. With their strong and loving female protagonists, accessible storylines, fantastical settings, sophisticated illustrations, and powerful messages, each novel in The History of Arcadia series is truly visionary.
Readers, however, won’t need to have read any of the other The History of Arcadia books to become engrossed in the drama of Aspern Grayling, whose obsession with creating a new life form—in the person of ruthless adventurer Pavo Vale—could destroy his whole world. A compelling descendant of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, this is a tale of a man bent on conquest, and of an adversary that may yet defeat him: the ghost of the Arcadian Devindra Vale, the only woman he has ever loved.
Early Praise for “Report to Megalopolis”
“…it’s a simple tale, but as with all of Davies’ stories, it’s more complex than it seems. The message of resistance comes through loud and clear.”—Sects and Violence
“An allusive and face-paced tale. Report to Megalopolis blends the lyricism of fairy tales with knife-in-the-ribs social criticism, a dash of humor, and plenty of gruesome twists.” —Edwin Battistella, Editor, Literary Ashland, and author of Sorry About That: The Language of Public Apology
“Impressive. . . . Report to Megalopolis creates and makes believable its imaginative world, a world that is both original and rooted in classical works of fantasy. With its lavish settings and dramatic events, it plays in a quite novel way with the old myths/fairy stories of orphans, muddled generations and incestuous couplings.” —Janet Todd, author of A Man of Genius
“Spend a day in Megalopolis with Aspern Grayling. You’ll be captivated by his story—fascinating and unflinching in its depiction of human nature and our potential for breathtaking creation and unbridled destruction. Davies has imagined a future world populated with characters who charm and compel in equal measure.” —Gene Hayworth, Director of Social Sciences, University Libraries at the University of Colorado, and Owner, Inkberry Books (Niwot, Colorado)”
More About The History of Arcadia series
The History of Arcadia series tells the story of a world that was literally formed by a story, by one person discovering and claiming who she really is . . . and of the subsequent events that led first to a deceptively happy world, then to an inevitably tragic outcome, and finally to a slow rebuilding of the world on foundations more deeply and thoughtfully laid. Each book includes bonus Arcadian legends and fairy tales, and relates how the manuscript crossed the barriers between Arcadia and our own world to arrive at Exterminating Angel Press. The first three novels in the series are Snotty Saves the Day, Lily the Silent, and The Lizard Princess. The fourth, told by arch villain Aspern Grayling, is Report to Megalopolis or The Post-modern Prometheus.
Selected Praise for The History of Arcadia series
“With Mike Madrid’s illustrations throughout (appropriately compared to Arthur Rackham’s). [The History of Arcadia series] reads fast and furious and promotes love and friendship, all while making sure readers never forget to keep a solid head on their shoulders.” —Bookslut
“Smartly explores the power of storytelling in our lives.” —Largehearted Boy
“Blends folklore, fairy tales, fantasy, and even oral tradition—and does so brilliantly.”—New York Journal of Books
“Told in lush but specific language, that reminds seasoned readers to seize their destiny.”—Library Journal
“Absorbing.” —Publishers Weekly
“Fascinating.” —Foreword Reviews
“Imaginative.” —JACK ZIPES
“Blending the magic of fairy tales with the great existential mysteries, Tod Davies leads us into a phantasmagorical world that resurrects the complex lore of times past with vibrant narrative energy.” —MARIA TATAR, author of The Annotated Brothers Grimm and other volumes, and chair of the Program in Folklore and Mythology at Harvard University.
Extras from The History of Arcadia series
- View the three-part trailer for Snotty Saves the Day, filmed in the mountains, along the beach, and at independent bookstores, including Powell’s Books, Orca Books, Village Books, Books, Inc., and Gallery Bookshop & Bookwinkle’s Children’s Books:
- Part 1: http://vimeo.com/32174481
- Part 2: http://vimeo.com/32270009
- Part 3: http://vimeo.com/26738744
- Check out Tod Davies’ playlists for the first three History of Arcadia books at Largehearted Boy: (Snotty Saves the Day: http://bit.ly/fdsAvs , Lily the Silent: http://bit.ly/VMTv4a , and The Lizard Princess: https://tinyurl.com/yd44p939 )
- Listen to Tod Davies discuss Lily the Silent and the ways stories shape our culture on KBOO’s Between the Covers: http://kboo.fm/node/50581
- Read more about Tod Davies and the series in the Oregonian http://bit.ly/hbZtY1 and discover why she takes inspiration from the mustang at TNBBC: The Next Best Book Blog: http://bit.ly/T3kFwM
- Find out what links Snotty, from Snotty Saves the Day, has to the Harry Potter series’ Hermione and Meg of A Wrinkle in Time by downloading Carmen Nolte-Odhiambo’s Children’s Literature Hawai’i” conference presentation: http://bit.ly/1QrVqqU
- Hear Report to Megalopolis take the p. 69 challenge from TheNextBestBookBlog, or do it the old-fashioned way, and read it for yourself!
- Join Literary Ashland in talking to Tod about Arcadian Resistance, dark fairy tales, and evolution over revolution.
- On KBOO’s Between the Covers, Ken Jones and Tod talk fairy tales, myth, religion, economic theory, visionary literature, with a pinch of Le Guin, a dash of Octavia Butler, a touch of C.S. Lewis, and a soupçon of Marcel Proust, not to mention the bicentennial of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, thrown in for good measure. All in a half an hour!
About the Author
TOD DAVIES lives with her husband, the filmmaker Alex Cox, and their dogs, in the alpine valley of Colestin, Oregon. She is the author of Snotty Saves the Day, Lily the Silent, and The Lizard Princess, the first three books in The History of Arcadia series, as well as the cooking memoirs Jam Today: A Diary of Cooking With What You’ve Got and Jam Today Too: The Revolution Will Not Be Catered. Unsurprisingly, her attitude toward literature is the same as her attitude toward cooking—it’s all about working with what you have to find new ways of looking and new ways of being.
Report to Megalopolis or The Post-modern Prometheus
Trade Paperback Original ISBN: 978-1-935259-31-2 / $15.95 / 240 pages / August 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-1-935259-32-09
$15.95 / 240 pages / August 2018