The Book of the Dead
core novel 1991 The Secret Books of Paradys
Record
| First published | 1991 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.90 (535 ratings, collected 2026-10-28) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780879514402 |
| Internal chronology | 3 |
Synopsis
The third of the Secret Books of Paradys gathers eight Gothic stories in the atmosphere of fin-de-siecle France. An unnamed narrator walks through the cemeteries and crypts of Paradys and tells the stories of those buried there: tales of enchantment, misfortune, corruption and death, among them that of a vengeful orphan who tracks down his parents' killer only to find a treacherous nightmare. The stories are linked loosely by the city and by death rather than by a single plot, and in the final book an artist turns out to have written stories that seem to be these very tales.
Where it sits
- Universe: The Secret Books of Paradys
- Series: The Secret Books of Paradys core; position 3 of 4 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Tanith Lee
Notes
- A collection of linked stories set in Paradys.
- From the series record (The Secret Books of Paradys): Four books set in Paradys, a Gothic shadow of Paris across the centuries.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings, but they resolve to the exact same sequence for this book, so one combined line is shown instead of two identical ones.
- Reading order, within the series The Secret Books of Paradys: position 3 of 4: previous The Book of the Beast (1988) · next The Book of the Mad (1993)
Sources
- Black Gate: The Novels of Tanith Lee, The Secret Books of Paradys
- Reader ratings: Secret Books of Paradys series page
- Reader reviews: The Book of the Dead
- Bookshare: The Secret Books of Paradys (publisher description)
- Black Gate: Tanith Lee's Secret Books of Paradys
- ISFDB: The Book of the Dead (Overlook 1991)
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