I agree. Bigger than Jesus!
Skallagrigg by William Horwood. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it many more times. One of my favourite books - no longer in print and not available as an ebook.
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The story concerns Arthur, a young boy suffering from cerebral palsy, abandoned in a grim hospital in the north of England and subject to extreme cruelty and neglect; Esther, a keenly intelligent teenager who also suffers from CP but whose talents are recognised in these enlightened days; and Daniel, an American computer-gaming genius. They are linked by the Skallagrigg; whatever or whoever it is will transform their lives. Esther sets out on a quest to find the truth of the Skallagrigg, founded in the life and experiences of Arthur. She encapsulates what she finds in a tortuously complex computer game, knowing that the truth is never likely to be uncovered. A man named Martin has heard the word Skallagrigg from his senile grandmother and when he hears of Skallagrigg the game, he is determined to solve it and discover what it means...
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Absolutely bloody marvellous. I have the hardback which was hunted down for me as a gift and I really need to read it again one of these days.
Also, not an obscure author as such, but A. A. Attanasio's
Wyvern is another one of my favourite adventure novels that doesn't seem to have stayed in print - Attanasio's debut novel as I understand it. It's available quite cheaply as an ebook. Usually $2.99 - but watch for Amazon sales where the price drops to $0.00.
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Headhunters, sorcerers, pirates and Indian princes thrive in this exciting and poetic tale of a young outcast in Borneo. Born in 1609, son of a native woman and a Dutch sea captain he never knew, Jaki Gefjon grows up in the jungle as a sorcerer's apprentice. Later kidnapped by pirates, he befriends his captor, Trevor Pym, notorious for his dreaded man-of-war, Wyvern. The scientific marvels on the European privateer become the young soul-catcher’s passion—until he falls for Lucinda, the headstrong daughter of Pym's sworn enemy. Propelled by intrigue, pirates' battles, curses and visions, this seafaring saga takes Lucinda and Jaki from the South Seas to India—and to a bold, unforeseen destiny in the New World. Join the journey!
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