A wonderful, brutal, utterly compelling book ... Barry is the most miraculous writer. -- Russell T Davies

This book still stays with me. I think about it now and it affects me. It's a beautiful, important book. -- Laura Whitmore - BBC Two, 'Between the Covers'

'There is a kind of writing so rare and accomplished that it seems to erase the very nuts and bolts of its own construction. Reading it can produce an experience that feels close to miraculous ... I don't expect to read anything as moving for many years.' -- Melissa Harrison - Guardian

There are moments in Old God's Time that will take your breath away ... [Barry] has crafted a meditative, mournful masterpiece, with the pace of a whodunnit. -- Helen Davies - Sunday Times

'A profound, important book. . . gorgeously crafted: rich, serpentine, deceptive, original, expansive, moving . Dark novels sometimes burn brightest; Old God's Time, harrowing and spectacular, burns brighter than most.' -- Kevin Power - Irish Independent

'Rare indeed are those novels worth cherishing and keeping close. Sebastian Barry's Old God's Time is one of them.' -- Ian Sansom - Daily Telegraph

'In practically all of his works [Barry] turns human frailty into an art form. . . The story weaves, with supreme artistry, back and forth over Tom's life. . . a masterpiece.' -- Anne Cunningham - Sunday Independent

'An extraordinary piece of work; to borrow a word that recurs in its pages, it is stupendous, in the sense that it shocks and astonishes.' -- Alex Clark - Irish Times

'What distinguishes Barry's work is his exquisite use of language. . . Grief is threaded through this story but alongside it is stitched great strength and endurance. As Tom's story reaches a conclusion and the horrors recede like the lights of the pier behind him, it is the love at the heart of the novel that remains.' -- Sinead Crowley - RTE Guide

One of Sebastian Barry's extraordinary gifts as a writer is his boundless capacity for empathy. -- SUSAN CAHILL - Irish Times

'Nobody writes like, nobody takes risks like, nobody pushes the language, and the heart, and the two together, quite like Sebastian Barry does.' -- ALI SMITH

'A book of aching and sorrow written with an ear to the poetry of common words from the master of the form. I didn't want it to end, I very much wanted it to end. I was worried and exhilarated in equal measure. In short, I loved it.' -- KIT DE WAAL

'Few can write like Sebastian Barry, there is a real thrill as each sentence unfolds. Old God's Time is a portrait of a good man facing the failings of his past. It is wonderfully alive because Barry is so attuned to the human condition, to the poetry in ordinary lives. Full of love and grief and heartache, this is an unforgettable novel from one of our finest writers.' -- DOUGLAS STUART

His work reminds us how much we need these rare gifts of the natural storyteller. -- TESSA HADLEY

Barry is the laureate of empathy. -- PAUL PERRY - Sunday Independent