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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
- It's a competent book!
- It gets a little heady when, every other chapter or so, it wades in slipstream territory but that's something I expected with China Miéville's name attached.
- It also reads like an adaptation, which I think it is, of Keanu's previous work on the BRZRKR comic. By that I mean, it feels like a world that's been filled in elsewhere and, since I hadn't read BRZRKR, it meant the world just wasn't all the way filled in for me.
- Broadly, I have to imagine if you enjoyed the BRZRKR comics this is going to be satisfying, there's a lot of exposition and lore. If you haven't read the BRZRKR comics, it will feel a bit foreign but if you're into surreal, borderline psychedelic, immortality tales, this may do the trick!
- Candidly i do think the book is too long and the affectation of some of the narrators is cringe and eye-roll worthy but I feel more positively about the book than not so this isn't necessarily a deal breaker
Spoiler
And after the God Pig is introduced, there's some real fun to it! (maybe that's a spoiler? it happens in the first 10% of the book and was the main reason I felt compelled to keep reading)- It gets a little heady when, every other chapter or so, it wades in slipstream territory but that's something I expected with China Miéville's name attached.
- It also reads like an adaptation, which I think it is, of Keanu's previous work on the BRZRKR comic. By that I mean, it feels like a world that's been filled in elsewhere and, since I hadn't read BRZRKR, it meant the world just wasn't all the way filled in for me.
- Broadly, I have to imagine if you enjoyed the BRZRKR comics this is going to be satisfying, there's a lot of exposition and lore. If you haven't read the BRZRKR comics, it will feel a bit foreign but if you're into surreal, borderline psychedelic, immortality tales, this may do the trick!
- Candidly i do think the book is too long and the affectation of some of the narrators is cringe and eye-roll worthy but I feel more positively about the book than not so this isn't necessarily a deal breaker
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this book in parts and what I mean by that is I enjoyed the storyline which focuses itself in the present but not the flashbacks. The flashbacks were a little slow for my liking.
dark
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
This book has a few good ideas and approaches the concept of immortality with a unique lens, but is presented with an odd and difficult-to-digest form prose that hampers the enjoyment of it. The usage of run-on sentences and unusual placements of sentence spacers become annoying after the first time it’s used. But I firmly enjoyed the plot and short stories placed throughout.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
This was very much a trust in the process kind of book for me. The writing was way over my head, but I got enough of the gist to keep me engaged. The military aspect wasn't really my thing either. Because the writing was over my head, the format of the book wasn't the easiest for me to follow either. It is choppy and jumps from different perspectives and happenings in the story. It also jumps from present to past at different points in B's existence. Likewise, it switches from first to second to third person. That said, I enjoyed the story itself (even though I couldn't fully grasp it) and loved a lot of the mini stories where B is telling parts of his past or other people are telling parts of their stories where they insected B. I liked the kind of mythological elements combined with the sci-fi and military aspects. While reading, it wasn't the best, I could see myself very much enjoying this in show format.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm a big fan of Miéville, and was looking forward to this novel. Unfortunately, I found it a struggle to get through, with the second half being better than the first half. I grew to enjoy the alternating perspectives that developed throughout the novel between the primary story line and the vignettes telling previouse lives of Beserker, but therein lies some of the difficulty; this is a story composed of an original work of Keanu Reeves, and not of China Miéville.
The book ultimately feels weighed down by the existing canon of Beserker (who's name I only know because of external research, but maybe I just missed that in the story itself). I think there is something interesting in the core of the story, and I can see some thematic linings throughout, but they didn't feel fully composed. The book felt challenging to read, and I'm left wondering how this book contributes to the story of Beserker, but not interested enough to explore anymore of this universe.
The book ultimately feels weighed down by the existing canon of Beserker (who's name I only know because of external research, but maybe I just missed that in the story itself). I think there is something interesting in the core of the story, and I can see some thematic linings throughout, but they didn't feel fully composed. The book felt challenging to read, and I'm left wondering how this book contributes to the story of Beserker, but not interested enough to explore anymore of this universe.
Couldn’t get past the writing. Literally thought it was a collection of short stories at first, then realized I had zoned out for parts and didn’t catch it’s a single narrative. Easy DNF.
Mieville's writing is excellent as always, but it's not really enough to salvage what is a stale story and premise.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes