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sharonleavy 's review for:
The Death I Gave Him
by Em X. Liu
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Death I Gave Him by Em X. Liu caught my eye when it was described as a "A lyrical, queer sci-fi retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet as a locked-room thriller". I mean, come ON?!
The year is 2047, and something is rotten in Elsinore Labs. Hayden Lichfield has walked into his father's laboratory and found him dead. There are several hours of camera footage missing from Horatio, the lab's AI operating system.
As the building quickly goes into lockdown, shutting the five remaining living people inside, Hayden tries to figure out what exactly happened his father. More importantly, he needs to protect the research that he and his father were working on - The Sisyphus Project could be the secret to eternal life. If someone would kill for it, then everyone there is in danger. He's relying on Horatio (his constant companion throughout the project) and the questionable loyalty of an ex in order to protect his work and avenge his father's death - but does he have enough time?
As the story progresses, we have extracts from interviews given after the event, and a book written by Felicia, the aforementioned ex. This makes for an engaging, yet tense reading experience as we go back and forth between waiting for the characters to catch up with us, and us to catch up with the characters.
The queer element of the story comes from the (frankly adorable) operating system, Horatio. He was such a fantastic character, and I got really emotionally attached to him (I cried 😌)
It's definitely full of action and deception, but it's also full of emotion. If you're familiar with the plot of Hamlet, you'll likely know what's happening from the off - if you're not, I would not look it up. Just go with it and enjoy this for what it is - an unusual, clever sci-fi adventure with a lot of heart.
I did get an advance copy of the book from Netgalley, but I had pre-ordered it the second I heard about it in 2023.
Nonetheless, I sincerely thank @solarisbooks for granting me eARC approval! I read this a couple of weeks ago and it's one I keep thinking about. I really liked it.
#sharonreadthis24 #TheDeathIGaveHim
The year is 2047, and something is rotten in Elsinore Labs. Hayden Lichfield has walked into his father's laboratory and found him dead. There are several hours of camera footage missing from Horatio, the lab's AI operating system.
As the building quickly goes into lockdown, shutting the five remaining living people inside, Hayden tries to figure out what exactly happened his father. More importantly, he needs to protect the research that he and his father were working on - The Sisyphus Project could be the secret to eternal life. If someone would kill for it, then everyone there is in danger. He's relying on Horatio (his constant companion throughout the project) and the questionable loyalty of an ex in order to protect his work and avenge his father's death - but does he have enough time?
As the story progresses, we have extracts from interviews given after the event, and a book written by Felicia, the aforementioned ex. This makes for an engaging, yet tense reading experience as we go back and forth between waiting for the characters to catch up with us, and us to catch up with the characters.
The queer element of the story comes from the (frankly adorable) operating system, Horatio. He was such a fantastic character, and I got really emotionally attached to him (I cried 😌)
It's definitely full of action and deception, but it's also full of emotion. If you're familiar with the plot of Hamlet, you'll likely know what's happening from the off - if you're not, I would not look it up. Just go with it and enjoy this for what it is - an unusual, clever sci-fi adventure with a lot of heart.
I did get an advance copy of the book from Netgalley, but I had pre-ordered it the second I heard about it in 2023.
Nonetheless, I sincerely thank @solarisbooks for granting me eARC approval! I read this a couple of weeks ago and it's one I keep thinking about. I really liked it.
#sharonreadthis24 #TheDeathIGaveHim