ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Raymond St. Elmo is a programmer of artificial intelligences and virtual realities, who has no time for literary fabrications of fictitious characters and world-building. And yes, that was meant to be ironic.
A degree in Spanish Literature gave him a love of Magic Realism. Programming gave him a job. The job introduced him to artifical intelligence and virtual realities; as close to magic as reality is likely to get outside the covers of a book. And yes, that was meant to be cynical.
The author of several first-person comic-accounts of strange quests for mysterious manuscripts, mysterious girls in cloaks whose face appears SUDDENLY IN THE FLASH OF LIGHTNING. And yes, that was meant to be dramatic.
Publisher: St. Elmo Labs (April 14, 2025) Length: 414 pages Formats: ebook, paperback
Dunstan The Wanderer is an oddball fantasy-romance-adventure that opens in the dusty corners of reality and ends somewhere just shy of Hell. Quite literally. It's the story of a lonely, book-obsessed man whose best friend is an imaginary ten-year-old and whose idea of a good time involves cataloging ancient manuscripts. He’s not unhappy, mind. Dunstan’s the kind of person who lives mostly in his head, buried in books and scrolls, happy to spend quality time with himself. He’s got a quiet life he appreciates. And then, everything changes.
He meets a girl. There's a portal. And then there's Hell.
If you like your fantasy whimsical yet sincere, romantic but not saccharine, this book will scratch the itch. The love it depicts is far from cliche - Dunstan and Kath chase each other across worlds while dodging unhinged gods, interdimensional bureaucracy, and their own madness. Sometimes you'll wonder if they need therapy or an exorcist more. Anyway, it's part love story, part fever dream. The world building has a dreamlike feel. Additionally, grown-up versions of characters chime in from time to time to judge their past selves, and I enjoyed their comments. Basically, it's a fairytale for adults who like footnotes, metafiction, and existential dread seasoned with hope.
There’s a lot going on. Possibly too much at times. St. Elmo’s writing is sharp, strange, and packed with more clever turns of phrase than strictly necessary. Sometimes you simply have to reread a paragraph five times to figure out what’s happening. But when it hits (and it often does), it really hits.
There were moments that made me smile, sigh, roll my eyes, but also yawn. Dunstan himself is a charming protagonist, the kind of introvert who retreats into books not out of misery but out of contentment. Watching him get dragged - emotionally and literally - out of his comfort zone is part of the book’s appeal.
This is the third installment in the Wanderers series, but it works perfectly well as a standalone. Fans of the previous books will enjoy seeing familiar characters return, though newcomers can jump in here and still catch the full ride to the gates of hell and back. Bonus points for acknowledging that love isn’t just star-crossed passion - it’s arguing over groceries, garden pests, and who gets the last word.
Smart, strange, and romantic in the most chaotic way. A bit wordy, yes, but well worth the detour through the Inferno.
3:00 AM | 
Posted by
Łukasz |
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