Steerpike Steerpike Steerpike is a fictional character in Mervyn Peake's novels "Titus Groan" and "Gormenghast". Steerpike might be called the antagonist of the Gormenghast trilogy, but in truth he is more of an anti-hero; the first book for example is largely focused on him, only covering the first year of the eponymous hero Titus's life. Steerpike could also be considered an archetypal Machiavellian schemer: a highly intelligent, ruthless character willing to justify any and all means to reach his end. In the books, Mervyn Peake describes his personality as follows: if ever he had harboured a conscience in his tough narrow
Titus Alone Titus Alone Titus Alone is a novel written by Mervyn Peake and first published in 1959. It is the fourth work in the Gormenghast series. The other works in the series are "Titus Groan", "Gormenghast", the novella "Boy in Darkness", and the fragment "Titus Awakes". It was re-edited by Langdon Jones in 1970 using more of the original manuscript. The story follows Titus as he journeys through the world outside Gormenghast Castle, having left his home at the end of the second book. Titus bumbles through a desert for a time, then uses a canoe to row down the river,