Gormenghast (novel) Gormenghast (novel) Gormenghast is a fantasy novel by British writer Mervyn Peake, the second in his Gormenghast series. It is the story of Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Groan and Lord of Gormenghast Castle, from age 7 to 17. As the story opens, Titus dreads the pre-ordained life of ritual that stretches before him. To Titus, Master of Ritual Barquentine and his apprentice Steerpike are the embodiment of all he wants to rebel against. An important sub-plot involves Titus at school, where he encounters the professors, especially Bellgrove, who becomes Headmaster of Gormenghast school. Steerpike, despite his position of authority,
Mervyn Peake Drawings" (1965), and "A Reverie of Bone" (1967). After his death came "Selected Poems" (1972), followed by "Peake's Progress" in (1979 – though the Penguin edition of 1982, with many corrections, including a whole stanza inadvertently omitted from the hardback edition, is to be preferred). "The Collected Poems of Mervyn Peake" was published by Carcanet Press in June 2008. Other collections include "The Drawings of Mervyn Peake" (1974), "Writings and Drawings" (1974), and "Mervyn Peake: the man and his art" (2006). A collected edition of the works, issued to celebrate Peake's centenary year, has been announced for publication by Queen