Novel, LA CAMPANA (November 2018)
1888. Ric-Ric is a poor devil, a ragged anarchist without a pot to piss in, except for his cave deep in the Catalan Pyrenees. In these mountains, crisscrossed by smugglers and criminals, he happens upon a mushroom species unknown to the civilised world: the Fungi, gigantic anthropomorphic mushrooms that Ric-Ric accidentally brings to life. Marvelling at the Fungi’s extraordinary abilities and sense of community – except for Petitó, who’s been marginalised for being small and a free thinker – Ric-Ric sees them as his definitive weapon for realising his desires. He wants to win the heart of the lovely Mailís, a reluctant femme fatale; establish an anarchist society of true brotherhood; and get revenge on everyone who’s treated him cruelly, from the Civil Guard to the local innkeeper who thinks he’s lord and master of the Pyrenees. With the monstrous Fungi under his command, Ric-Ric manages to bring together an invincible army to take into epic battles, along with a meticulous military strategy to use against the Spanish and French armies.
Albert Sánchez Piñol defines this novel as “A 19th-century winter western set in the Pyrenees.” This book marks his return to the unclassifiable genre full of adventures, boundless imagination, and not without humour that he himself coined with Cold Skin and Pandora in the Congo.