Reviews - The Book of Elsewhere

957 reviews for:

The Book of Elsewhere

China Miéville, Keanu Reeves

3.4 AVERAGE

g_c's review against another edition

3.0

Loveable characters: No

coltonwjackson's review against another edition

2.5

dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

You know, I just rather enjoyed this. I think Reeves nicely covers some of the weaknesses I tend to feel in Mieville's writing. At times I wondered if Reeve's imagines himself starring in the movie based on this.

nicolenhart's review against another edition

3.0

medium-paced

violentoceans's review

5.0

Take my money.

siskoid's review against another edition

4.0

Described as an "alternate take" on Keanu Reeves' BRZRKR comic, The Book of Elsewhere enjoys the participation of a top-tier novelist in China Miéville, so, no shade on the comic's co-writer, Matt Kindt, who is one of my favorites, but liked the novel better (especially the ending - the last 200 pages were a freight train). It's partly a question of medium - the comic's strengths included the art, but the novel shines through prose alone. Miéville once said he wanted to write a book in every conceivable genre. This is his "tie-in novel", something that most often reads as disposable, but The Book of Elsewhere is too strong for that epithet. What he finds interesting in the world of the immortal warrior Unute creates a nemesis for the character and a war between Life and Death that isn't cut and dried, and when other creatures start appearing to resurrect like Unute does, things grow more and more existential. The story chapters are separated by intriguing pieces set in the past (like the comic), either told by those whose lives intersected Unute, or focusing on his perceptions directly, revealing things in the past as they relate to the present. Since it's not actually connected to BRZRKR, yes, it can be read without any knowledge of the comic. It helped me center the characters, however, so I'd recommend reading both for the best experience.