Gigantic by Ashley Stokes
I would like to thank Laura from Unsung Stories for an advance copy of this novella in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher – Unsung Stories
Published – 2/9
Price – £4.99 Kindle eBook £9.99 paperback via http://www.unsungstories.co.uk/gigantic
I wasn’t sure you would get this far, so thanks a million already. You opened the mystery bag… Inside the bag, along with this letter, is a dossier that describes the whole story.”
Kevin Stubbs is a Knower. He knows life hasn’t always treated him fairly. He knows he wants to be allowed access to his son again. But most of all, he knows that the London Borough of Sutton is being stalked by a nine-foot-tall, red-eyed, hairy relict hominid – the North Surrey Gigantopithecus.
Armed with a thermal imaging camera (aka the Heat Ray) and a Trifield 100XE electromagnetic field reader (aka the Tractor Beam), Kevin and his trusty comrades in the GIT (aka the Gigantopithecus Intelligence Team) set out to investigate a new sighting on the outskirts of Sutton. If real, it will finally prove to the world that the infamous Gartree-Hogg footage was genuine, and a British Bigfoot is living in suburban London: FACT.
But what he discovers undermines everything he believes in – and forces Kevin to face up to his own failures, and the very real, very scary prospect that he might have got it all terribly wrong.
I think geekiness does lend itself to obsession. Parts of my brain can reference Doctor Who and various other shows to scary degrees and yes there are books to tempt you with aplenty. When I talk with other bloggers, we throw terms around such as ARCs, DNF, TBRs and can discuss the finer points of algorithms when we need to. To the outsiders this can be either amusing, engaging or scary. For the group of fans all know the dangers of the uber-fan the one who sets themselves up as THE authority and gatekeeper who judges if you are worthy or need to be tested forever and the one who very much wants it all at the expense of everything or everyone else in their life. In Ashley Stoke’s highly amusing yet poignant novella Gigantic we get a tale of one such ‘expert’ and a few weeks in their life when they finally are made to face the reality of their situation.
Banstead is not normally thought of as the home of Cryptozoological Marvels, but Kevin Stubbs knows the truth. It is home to Giganto aka Gigantopithecus aka missing link the real Piltdown Man, relation to Bigfoot and many other urban legends. However, few believe Kevin and the wider Gigantopithecus Intelligence Team (GIT) comprised currently of two other members a schoolteacher keen for Kevin to admit he is wrong and a man who may or may not be a Satanist/fan of Alistair Crowley. Kevin’s separated wife would like her husband to face reality and focus on his only child, but Kevin knows his nightly patrols and search for clues and witnesses will bring about a new age of discovery and fame. The GIT is closer than ever and the latest encounter near woods in front of a late-night barbecue may finally hold the answer.
If I was to describe Kevin, I would say he is the man who completely without hesitation or shame will say FACT in capitals to make their point. That tells you a lot. He has decided he must be a Knower a holder of sacred knowledge and driving the mean streets with the King Kong soundtrack loud in his car is the best thing possible. For Kevin the obvious is that an ancient species lives in the shadows and the world is wrong. This story is a beautiful study in obsession and its darker sides. The vast majority of the book is in Kevin’s words, and we get to experience his unique worldview and ego. Stokes brings humour as this one man completely sees a world very different to our own even when the truth is flashing bright lights and wailing sirens. What makes it work is that although we see he is an unusually oblivious unreliable narrator we also get to understand how he became this person. A lonely childhood, family grief and feelings of never fitting in made Kevin seek solace in this world of cryptozoology. If this was simply making Kevin an unpleasant person, it may have been overly cruel laughing at someone’s self-importance but by seeing what led him here the reader gets some sympathy and hope that just possibly he may sort himself out by the end of the book. Ultimately this is about his choices though as he didn’t have to do what he does.
Humour in fantasy is I think very tricky to get right but this is a genuinely funny read using a combination of a very weird set of characters and the situation they find themselves in. In terms of characters alongside the mess that is Kevin is his sceptical GIT Boss Maxine (nickname not to her face Sci-Borg) trying to bring the scientific method to monster-hunting while backing up Kevin is his long-term master of the Lore ‘The Funnel’ who slightly tends to see ancient powers and alternative dimensions when everyone else…doesn’t. Stokes throws the story into two competing narratives Maxine’s dry factual reporting of each day’s investigation and Kevin’s far more colourful counterpoint to Maxine’s views of no strangeness as Kevin sees all the signs. Making it work is the team’s own reliance on jingo and knowledge even Maxine is enjoying her moments of seeing is the world is still logical. Scarily the world of Kevin is familiar to me a world of Arthur C Clarke’s Mysterious World and various books and tv shows in the 80s and 90s saying the world was a lot weirder than it looked and I can sympathise with that desire a lot more than I expected to.
When these three then meet the world of estates, drug dealers and the less than sober the collision is more amusing than you’d expect! The juxtaposition of urban London and a mystery like this is well crafted and the ultimate solution very satisfying to see.
Stokes keeps you guessing as to what is going on in the not quite wooded areas of Sutton and reminds us that obsession while can be admirable can also be incredibly destructive that you learn this while laughing at the action of GIT make it an immensely satisfying read. Highly recommended!
