Reviews - The Book of Elsewhere

959 reviews for:

The Book of Elsewhere

China Miéville, Keanu Reeves

3.39 AVERAGE

rachstae's review

2.75

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I liked the concept and some of the execution, but boy, oh boy, is it muddled in parts in such a way that it can be difficult to follow the narrative throughline.

eli_kempema's review against another edition

3.25

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

China Miéville writes a novel set in the same universe as Keanu Reeves's hyper-violent action comic: BRZRKR. Edoardo Ballerini narrates most of it along side a smattering of other talented narrators. Its quite the combination.

You'd probably expect a butting of heads between China Miéville, an author known for his dense pros, absurd premises, and deep characterization, and Keanu Reeves, an actor known to play brooding, angsty tough guys who shoot the bad guys and blow things up. Unute is an immortal warrior who enters violent, mindless blood-fugues, a premise which begs to be explored in the visual medium. I've not read BRZRKR, so I can't compare the two version of Unute, but Miéville characterizes him as a contemplative individual. You'd want to call him a loner, but Miéville shows that Unute is not a person without emotions. He feels sorrow when his friends die, and he has spent lifetimes deeply involved with other people emotionally. He thinks a lot about his predicament, but he thinks he has seen everything mankind has to offer, and is surprised when that isn't the case.

The idea of the immortal warrior is very cool. A man who has lived thousands of lives certainly has endless stories to tell. His destructive drive, while core to his character, isn't what makes Unute interesting. Miéville knows this, and spends very little time focusing on hyper-violence. Most of the narrative is exploring Unute's past, witnessing the testimony of those who have met him, and watching the US Government interact with him in the present. The story is very philosophical, with Unute and his compatriots contemplating the nature of what he his. Ballerini's narration of him is beautiful. Not to throw shade at Reeves, but I don't think he will ever be able to match Ballerini's soft spoken and unintentionally humorous interpretation of Unute.

While interesting, the plot moved slow. The modern day narrative was broken up by flashbacks, which where disconnected and made the story stall out at random moments. I wish the plot moved a bit faster and read more like a thriller. I'm glad the book wasn't any longer than it currently is.