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embereye's review against another edition
4.0
This is not for the faint of heart, or for those who do not enjoy non-linear plotlines or exploration of the story as a form. In this book, many stories may seem to be repeated, but each time it is a definite variation on the original. Themes of love, heartbreak, betrayal, revenge, lust, fear, questing and hunting come through time and again. References to ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Greek, Syrian, and Hebrew mythologies, classic stories from the British Isles, H.P. Lovecraft, and (my guess is) Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451 and maybe as well some references to ideas from Philip K. Dick. Other themes included the death of Matthew Shepard, the trenches in France during World War I, the introduction of socialism to the men returning from Worl War I and Prometheus.
Overall a hell of a ride that does not end with this book. You do have to read Ink to continue and conclude the story. These are not for everyone as the narrative is dissected and spread out in a fashion that is actually more linear than it initially seems, but not in a historical timeline sense.
Overall a hell of a ride that does not end with this book. You do have to read Ink to continue and conclude the story. These are not for everyone as the narrative is dissected and spread out in a fashion that is actually more linear than it initially seems, but not in a historical timeline sense.
dianelikesfrogs's review against another edition
3.0
I made it through all 5 million pages of this book. And I still have no idea what happened.
Beautifully written. Beautifully envisioned. Completely, totally, utterly incomprehensible.
Beautifully written. Beautifully envisioned. Completely, totally, utterly incomprehensible.
tani's review against another edition
4.0
The premise of this book shapes it tremendously, so let me start by laying that out. Basically, as far as I can tell, there are certain people who can become more than people. These are called unkin. They have an ability to step outside the bounds of reality and time, to see things and remember things that normal people can't. Throughout history, they've been kings, emperors, gods. They've been good, bad, and everything in between.
However, eventually some of them get tired of the way things are. They want to force a better world, and so they form a Covenant. These are the angels, and they fight the demons. And it's war, a war that no unkin can be allowed to abstain from. Those who try? They will regret it.
This book follows a number of unkin that refuse to take part in the war, and what happens to them, based on their refusal and as a result of their attempts to escape. Basically, time comes undone, and they find themselves (or lose themselves) inside the fabric of the world, reliving the same basic stories throughout a multitude of lifetimes.
It's a fascinating concept, but not an easy one. As others have said, this book is hard to follow. Like, seriously. I just recently finished a read of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, a series that is famed for its 'sink-or-swim' philosophy of story-telling, and I had trouble following this book. Part of that is because it's written in the first person, and yet has a multitude of narrators. Sometimes, you get pages into a section before you're able to figure out which character you're reading about. That, I will admit, was frustrating. Part of that is just the nature of the story. Unkin are not immune to death and destruction, and when one of them does die or get severely wounded, it rips time. Things change. History is made new. So, yes, just when you think you're getting a grip on things, they can easily be ripped entirely into a new vein.
Duncan also uses a number of archetypal stories to shape this book, and if you're like me and only mildly familiar with some of those stories, it can get hard to follow. Prometheus, I at least know the basic outlines of, but Inanna? Never heard of her before this book. That complicated things for me, but not so much that I couldn't get a basic understanding of what was going on.
Despite the difficulties, the times that I was able to piece things together were really great. I have to admire the way that Duncan shaped this story out of such disparate pieces. Still, I'll admit that I was torn on whether to rate this a 3 or 4 stars. Ideally, I'd say it's right at 3.5 stars. Forced into a choice, my headache said 3 stars and my admiration said 4. I let admiration win, as I feel that the average Goodreads rating could use a little boost. I've read much worse books with much higher ratings, after all.
Anyway, I've heard that the sequel, Ink, really brings the story together wonderfully, so I'm definitely looking forward to that!
However, eventually some of them get tired of the way things are. They want to force a better world, and so they form a Covenant. These are the angels, and they fight the demons. And it's war, a war that no unkin can be allowed to abstain from. Those who try? They will regret it.
This book follows a number of unkin that refuse to take part in the war, and what happens to them, based on their refusal and as a result of their attempts to escape. Basically, time comes undone, and they find themselves (or lose themselves) inside the fabric of the world, reliving the same basic stories throughout a multitude of lifetimes.
It's a fascinating concept, but not an easy one. As others have said, this book is hard to follow. Like, seriously. I just recently finished a read of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, a series that is famed for its 'sink-or-swim' philosophy of story-telling, and I had trouble following this book. Part of that is because it's written in the first person, and yet has a multitude of narrators. Sometimes, you get pages into a section before you're able to figure out which character you're reading about. That, I will admit, was frustrating. Part of that is just the nature of the story. Unkin are not immune to death and destruction, and when one of them does die or get severely wounded, it rips time. Things change. History is made new. So, yes, just when you think you're getting a grip on things, they can easily be ripped entirely into a new vein.
Duncan also uses a number of archetypal stories to shape this book, and if you're like me and only mildly familiar with some of those stories, it can get hard to follow. Prometheus, I at least know the basic outlines of, but Inanna? Never heard of her before this book. That complicated things for me, but not so much that I couldn't get a basic understanding of what was going on.
Despite the difficulties, the times that I was able to piece things together were really great. I have to admire the way that Duncan shaped this story out of such disparate pieces. Still, I'll admit that I was torn on whether to rate this a 3 or 4 stars. Ideally, I'd say it's right at 3.5 stars. Forced into a choice, my headache said 3 stars and my admiration said 4. I let admiration win, as I feel that the average Goodreads rating could use a little boost. I've read much worse books with much higher ratings, after all.
Anyway, I've heard that the sequel, Ink, really brings the story together wonderfully, so I'm definitely looking forward to that!
lerat42's review against another edition
3.0
Gave up about 1/3 of the way in. Very interesting book, but the prose style was just too dense for my current distracted brain. Some one, some where, wrote that the only way to read this book was in huge pieces. I think they are right.
aleffert's review against another edition
4.0
There is a quality of prose that is often described as vivid or maybe electric. Compared to the prose of your average novel, Vellum is like being struck by lightning. It might hurt and you might not enjoy it, but damn is it an experience. Narrative perspective jumps from page to page, paragraph to paragraph and in Vellum, with its dozens of alternate realities, mythic interludes, and characters more like leitmotifs, following what's going on can be pretty confusing. But scenes recur with different props and the whole thing makes a sort of patchwork sense.
There is a plot, a very Miltonian one, though coming more from an angle more like Philip Pullman's, of war among angels, a scheming Metatron, and some plucky antiheroes who can't avoid getting sucked in to the fight. Still, due to the schizophrenic perspective and slow spiraling plot advancement, it's hard to stay interested in what's actually going on. That makes this the sort of book where you start reading, read fifty pages, decide it's great, then never pick it up again.
Still, I liked it enough that having lost my copy a while back, when I found a copy in a used bookstore, I picked it up and decided to reread it.
There is a plot, a very Miltonian one, though coming more from an angle more like Philip Pullman's, of war among angels, a scheming Metatron, and some plucky antiheroes who can't avoid getting sucked in to the fight. Still, due to the schizophrenic perspective and slow spiraling plot advancement, it's hard to stay interested in what's actually going on. That makes this the sort of book where you start reading, read fifty pages, decide it's great, then never pick it up again.
Still, I liked it enough that having lost my copy a while back, when I found a copy in a used bookstore, I picked it up and decided to reread it.
carmiendo's review against another edition
3.0
First off, this author's writing style kicks ass.
The plot situation is super convoluted and crazy, though, in a way that's pretty hard to describe. I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I had read it in one or two big chunks, so that I could have kept all of the crazy shit in my head better.. instead, I had to read it in bits and pieces so I'm afraid that some of the details were probably lost on me.
I have the second book in the series and now I'm really nervous about starting it.
The plot situation is super convoluted and crazy, though, in a way that's pretty hard to describe. I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I had read it in one or two big chunks, so that I could have kept all of the crazy shit in my head better.. instead, I had to read it in bits and pieces so I'm afraid that some of the details were probably lost on me.
I have the second book in the series and now I'm really nervous about starting it.
holly_117's review against another edition
3.0
Whew - I finally finished this one!
This book IS good - don't get me wrong. The prose is great and I really liked the non-linear storytelling. I thought it really added to the idea of the book. I'm not sure why it took me so long finish this. Don't ask me to describe the plot, though. It's hard to explain, given the looping nature of the story line. This really is one of those books you just have to read to understand what I'm talking about.
This book is definitely not for everyone. I haven't decided if I'll continue the series or not, but I may give the next book, "Ink," a try, because the story is interesting and this was really well written.
I would recommend this book to people that like the fantasy genre and are interested in non-linear storytelling.
This book IS good - don't get me wrong. The prose is great and I really liked the non-linear storytelling. I thought it really added to the idea of the book. I'm not sure why it took me so long finish this. Don't ask me to describe the plot, though. It's hard to explain, given the looping nature of the story line. This really is one of those books you just have to read to understand what I'm talking about.
This book is definitely not for everyone. I haven't decided if I'll continue the series or not, but I may give the next book, "Ink," a try, because the story is interesting and this was really well written.
I would recommend this book to people that like the fantasy genre and are interested in non-linear storytelling.
jelundberg's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant and startling debut novel of 3-D time. Set in the past, present and future (sometimes all at once), Duncan has created a mythology of mythologies, conflating stories of the gods from many cultures (but especially the old ones), weaving the stories together until the connections between them are illuminated like Heavenly fire. Smart, maddening, and intricate. One of the most original books I've read in recent memory.
shane_tiernan's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not sure what I thought this was going to be like but it wasn't like that at all. It's experimental and I don't mind that. The problem is the length. If you're going to write in a style that's completely non-linear, where characters have multiple names and exist in multiple dimensions/continuums as sometimes completely different people - then it shouldn't be 460 pages long. It just got to be a little much.
There were definitely tons of cool ideas and great visuals but really a whole nother book could have been written about this book just interpreting what happened and what certain passages meant.
I really like the overlaying of myths over the characters in the story and their situations. Very cool stuff. Just a little more coherence would have made this a four or five star book. Instead after about 300 pages I pretty much knew there was going to be no closure, it wasn't going to suddenly make sense at the end. I was right. There wasn't and it didn't.
There were definitely tons of cool ideas and great visuals but really a whole nother book could have been written about this book just interpreting what happened and what certain passages meant.
I really like the overlaying of myths over the characters in the story and their situations. Very cool stuff. Just a little more coherence would have made this a four or five star book. Instead after about 300 pages I pretty much knew there was going to be no closure, it wasn't going to suddenly make sense at the end. I was right. There wasn't and it didn't.