Gormenghast

Peake's ""Gormenghast Trilogy""--the chronological order is Titus Groan, Gormenghast, Titus Alone--was published in Britain between 1946 and 1959, then in the US en bloc in 1967, by Weybright & Talley. Now, however, it's announced that the trilogy has ""never before been available in America in the accurate restored editions""--so here is Gormenghast again, with a brief introduction from Anthony Burgess at the start of Titus Groan. (He calls the trilogy ""a rich wine of fancy chilled by the intellect to just the right temperature. . . a modern classic."") And though those in possession of the 1967 edition probably won't want to rush to replace it with this new one (a selective comparison shows few significant differences), others will welcome the return of Peake's elaborate, inventive saga--which follows Titus, heir to the House of Groan, from a long castle childhood (duels, arson, murders whirl around him) through his explorations of the world Outside the Gormenghast troll-land (where the prematurely aged Mud Dwellers dwell) to ascent and abdication. Volume I, Titus Groan, remains by far superior to its more amorphous, allegorical sequels--but enthusiasts will certainly want to wade through the whole Tolkien-esque set. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.