Oddity O'Clock

In ‘Oddity O’Clock, Rhys Hughes invites you into a cheerfully off‑kilter world where measuring instruments wander the landscape on tiny legs, solving mysteries, dodging authority figures, and generally making a glorious muddle of things. Oddity O’Clock and the Knick Knack Irregulars may be made of gears and glass, but their adventures sparkle with warmth, whimsy, and the kind of surreal logic only Hughes can conjure. Mixing the old tradition of the It Narrative with playful riffs on artificial intelligence and the secret inner lives of objects, Hughes delivers a tale that is bright, funny, and full of imaginative mischief. This novella brims with puns, paradoxes, and delightfully skewed perspectives — a joyful reminder that even the silliest stories can carry surprising depth. It’s Rhys Hughes at his most buoyant: inventive, curious, and irresistibly entertaining. “Hughes is the Spike Jones of fantastika.” —Paul di Filippo