A review by bibliophile80
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

4.0

I was terribly intrigued by the premise of this book when I heard about it (recommended by the Writing Excuses podcast). The story lived up to the hype in my opinion. It was refreshingly original, and though it's solidly sci-fi, I never felt out of my element or uncomfortable with the technical aspects. The characters were really cool, and such a wide variety of well-drawn personalities was great to read. The only aspect of the book that truly bothered me was the format of interviews and diary entries. I would have liked to see a third-person narrative (or a first-person narrative from the POV of the mysterious, anonymous interviewer) throughout punctuated by transcripts and diary entries instead. Perhaps it wouldn't have been effective, it's hard to say. Regardless, it's a small quibble about an otherwise fantastic novel. And though I think I'll try to read the sequel, I do consider this a pretty successful standalone without a teasingly cheap cliffhanger.