Le Maître des heures

Christophe Bataille's first novel, the jewel-like Annam, won France's Prix du Premier Roman in 1993, when he was only 21. Hourmaster is his third novel, and he continues to deliver his exquisite prose in small doses, belying the brevity of his work with the depth of his imagination. Sometime in the 17th century, Duke Gonzaga, who remains massively indifferent to the entropy that surrounds him, rules over an unnamed and decaying French port. The Duke tries to relieve his boredom by sleeping with his ladies-in-waiting and throwing decadent parties, but he only finds purpose when the 218 clocks that measure the slow passage of time in the palace begin to run down. More fable than novel, Hourmaster is a richly evocative work, echoing the Fisher King myth, the work of Edgar Allen Poe, and Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels, while retaining its own unique voice. Great things come in small packages.