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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The writing was terrible. Like someone with a poor grasp of storytelling trying to impress a coffee shop crowd.
I quite enjoyed this most of the way through. The denouement is absurd and just get more and more bananas, not really in a good way. It starts out delightful and intriguing but sort of ends up senseless and a little wearisome. But I was along for the ride. I’m sure it will be developed into a film/tv series. I’d watch it. I’d rate the first two thirds of the book more than four stars but they fizzle to 2-3 stars by the end.
So, imagine Keanu Reeves and this super creative writer, China Miéville, got together and thought, "Let's make something wild."
dark
emotional
medium-paced
In The Book of Elsewhere, China Miéville and Keanu Reeves have written a big ol' mess of a book that is both mesmerizing and perplexing. With three distinct writing styles and two authors, it's hard to even guess who wrote what parts of this. My feeling, from reading the book, and watching Reeves's interview with Colbert, is that Miéville did most if not all of the writing, and Reeves provided ideas, suggestions, and feedback.
Miéville, known for his mastery of the weird and the fantastical, brings his signature dark, lush world-building to the story. His prose of detailed, atmospheric descriptions pulls readers into the story which is filled with peculiar creatures and arcane mysteries. This is much better than the BRZRKR comics it is based on. The Book of Elsewhere adds a layer of introspection and emotional depth to the BRZRKR story. This novel brings a contemplative tone, adding complexity to B's internal struggles and his interactions with the world.
The novel’s complexity is not for everyone. The dense, layered storytelling demands patience and close attention, and those expecting a straightforward adventure will find themselves frustrated by the novel’s elaborate web of ideas. I'm a big fan of Miéville's work, and I find myself frustrated with most of it. Learning to be ok with not understanding everything is one of the big themes of this book.
Overall, The Book of Elsewhere is a unique literary experience that successfully combines Miéville's imaginative prowess with Reeves' BRZRKR comics. Fans of either should check this out.
Miéville, known for his mastery of the weird and the fantastical, brings his signature dark, lush world-building to the story. His prose of detailed, atmospheric descriptions pulls readers into the story which is filled with peculiar creatures and arcane mysteries. This is much better than the BRZRKR comics it is based on. The Book of Elsewhere adds a layer of introspection and emotional depth to the BRZRKR story. This novel brings a contemplative tone, adding complexity to B's internal struggles and his interactions with the world.
The novel’s complexity is not for everyone. The dense, layered storytelling demands patience and close attention, and those expecting a straightforward adventure will find themselves frustrated by the novel’s elaborate web of ideas. I'm a big fan of Miéville's work, and I find myself frustrated with most of it. Learning to be ok with not understanding everything is one of the big themes of this book.
Overall, The Book of Elsewhere is a unique literary experience that successfully combines Miéville's imaginative prowess with Reeves' BRZRKR comics. Fans of either should check this out.
Honestly still quite confused about what the fuck this story was about? If there even was a point to it? The premises sounded good but I didn't love it at all. I don't know, I was disappointed but it was still an okay book.
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I think I got lost at the ending there, still don’t know what happened, but was a fun ride nonetheless
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
This was an enjoyable book but as someone who loves China Mieville, it was also a disappointment.
Mieville's skill and inventiveness are still there, but you can almost feel him straining against the premise itself. I have not read the BZRKR comics because the concept is really boring to me: An immortal man who is really stoic and good at violence but feels kinda sad about it. He mostly feels bored and tired and wants to die.
...how daring.
I think in the end the fundamental problem of a character like "B" is that by virtue of being immortal, there's no physical stakes to anything that happens to him. And by virtue of being so detached from everything, there's no emotional stakes either. If your character's defining trait is that he's bored.... you'll make a boring story. I can't get emotionally invested in anything that the main character has no emotional investment on. To make things even harder for any author: B's only goal is to be mortal again. Unfortunately, he's a comic book character from a still running comic book series, so there's absolutely no chance that he would end this book being mortal.
If anyone was going to make this premise interesting to me it would have been China Mieville, but unfortunately he never quite managed it.
By far the most enjoyable bits of the book were the vignettes in between the "main" plot, of B's previous lives or things he did in the past. These vignettes are often from the point of view of other characters, people that he briefly had in his life. They're self-contained and reflective, and they're all different and creative in a way that the "main" plot never has room to be.
All in all, I didn't hate this book, it was enjoyable enough and Mieville's prose does a lot of heavy lifting here. But I don't think I'll be rereading it, and it did not make me want to pick up Reeve's comic.
If this is your first time reading China Mieville: welcome! It gets weirder and wilder, please explore more of his works, they're fun.
Mieville's skill and inventiveness are still there, but you can almost feel him straining against the premise itself. I have not read the BZRKR comics because the concept is really boring to me: An immortal man who is really stoic and good at violence but feels kinda sad about it. He mostly feels bored and tired and wants to die.
...how daring.
I think in the end the fundamental problem of a character like "B" is that by virtue of being immortal, there's no physical stakes to anything that happens to him. And by virtue of being so detached from everything, there's no emotional stakes either. If your character's defining trait is that he's bored.... you'll make a boring story. I can't get emotionally invested in anything that the main character has no emotional investment on. To make things even harder for any author: B's only goal is to be mortal again. Unfortunately, he's a comic book character from a still running comic book series, so there's absolutely no chance that he would end this book being mortal.
If anyone was going to make this premise interesting to me it would have been China Mieville, but unfortunately he never quite managed it.
By far the most enjoyable bits of the book were the vignettes in between the "main" plot, of B's previous lives or things he did in the past. These vignettes are often from the point of view of other characters, people that he briefly had in his life. They're self-contained and reflective, and they're all different and creative in a way that the "main" plot never has room to be.
All in all, I didn't hate this book, it was enjoyable enough and Mieville's prose does a lot of heavy lifting here. But I don't think I'll be rereading it, and it did not make me want to pick up Reeve's comic.
If this is your first time reading China Mieville: welcome! It gets weirder and wilder, please explore more of his works, they're fun.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore