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A review by rebeltheflow
The Book of Elsewhere by China Miéville, Keanu Reeves
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars
0_o wha–what? Did I just read?
*Disclaimer, I read this book with no knowledge of the comic series BZRKR, which this story is based on. However, I did learn before reading that while this shares characters & some plot from the comics, is its own continuity and tone.*
This book was pretty unique as it takes a blockbuster heavy-scifi, action-thriller, light-fantasy genre and flips into literary fiction. Imagine an over the top premise….like Fast & the Furious or Transformers or even Keeanu’s previous own work like John Wick. Then instead of talking about the story you’d expect; instead of feeding you the explosions, you read a side quest in which the main characters all go to therapy. Yeah, it’s like a self help philosophy book & a Michael Bay film had a baby. Oh but it’s also…. Weird (in a good way). Because the story is about immortality and eggs and pigs andimmortal pigs that hatch from eggs oh and also cults and living things that shouldn’t be alive like mops and planks of wood and wires and forks
Then there’s the writing style. Different. Difficult at first but then kind of addictive. I think the book gets easier to read as you read it and that’s because you learn to read the style but also probably because the author slowly mainstreams the style. The first few chapters were really hard, lots of pausing and looking up words…but eventually you start to learn the meanings of the words without having to look it up. Miéville does a great job of using context clues for the readers advantage.
There’s a part of me that wants to rate this book 5 stars because it will stick with me for a very long time and it was experimental and refreshing from the conventional or even linear methods of storytelling. There’s a part of me that wants to rate this book 2 stars because I think a lot of did not satisfy. Particularly the beginning was slow, and the end was rushed. The beginning at times was boring and as I previously said, difficult. The ending was inconclusive and confusing and left some unfinished plot (unanswered questions since this book is kind of a mystery to puzzle together I expected to figure it all out at the end). But as I right this review I’m thinking, perhaps that was the point and intentional. To be open-ended. But then I go back to thinking there could have been a better build up to the reveals.
Idk it was a weird book. I think I am settling at 3 stars. Which that in itself is weird to give such an average rating to such an (un-average) original novel.
0_o wha–what? Did I just read?
*Disclaimer, I read this book with no knowledge of the comic series BZRKR, which this story is based on. However, I did learn before reading that while this shares characters & some plot from the comics, is its own continuity and tone.*
This book was pretty unique as it takes a blockbuster heavy-scifi, action-thriller, light-fantasy genre and flips into literary fiction. Imagine an over the top premise….like Fast & the Furious or Transformers or even Keeanu’s previous own work like John Wick. Then instead of talking about the story you’d expect; instead of feeding you the explosions, you read a side quest in which the main characters all go to therapy. Yeah, it’s like a self help philosophy book & a Michael Bay film had a baby. Oh but it’s also…. Weird (in a good way). Because the story is about immortality and eggs and pigs and
Then there’s the writing style. Different. Difficult at first but then kind of addictive. I think the book gets easier to read as you read it and that’s because you learn to read the style but also probably because the author slowly mainstreams the style. The first few chapters were really hard, lots of pausing and looking up words…but eventually you start to learn the meanings of the words without having to look it up. Miéville does a great job of using context clues for the readers advantage.
There’s a part of me that wants to rate this book 5 stars because it will stick with me for a very long time and it was experimental and refreshing from the conventional or even linear methods of storytelling. There’s a part of me that wants to rate this book 2 stars because I think a lot of did not satisfy. Particularly the beginning was slow, and the end was rushed. The beginning at times was boring and as I previously said, difficult. The ending was inconclusive and confusing and left some unfinished plot (unanswered questions since this book is kind of a mystery to puzzle together I expected to figure it all out at the end). But as I right this review I’m thinking, perhaps that was the point and intentional. To be open-ended. But then I go back to thinking there could have been a better build up to the reveals.
Idk it was a weird book. I think I am settling at 3 stars. Which that in itself is weird to give such an average rating to such an (un-average) original novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Torture
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence
Minor: Gun violence, War