The Gargoyle - Andrew Davidson

With beautiful use of language and stories within stories, in many respects fairy tales, this book is an engrossing read.

The narrator keeps your feet on the ground throughout with his very calm, realist perspective on everything happening to him, with such vivid descriptions and imagery created throughout. These really kept me gripped and kept me questioning exactly where the author was going to take me. Weaving into all of this the thread of Dante's 'Inferno' as a constant theme and reference, you feel in many respects that the journey the narrator is sharing is a version of the rings of hell.
This is an incredibly accomplished first novel and deserves the hype that it received upon its release.