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pudseyrecommends 's review for:
The Death I Gave Him
by Em X. Liu
I read Em X. Liu's The Death I Gave Him as pat of a buddy read in Reading Rainbow book club. The Death I Gave Him is a modern-day reimagining of the famous Hamlet story, but with a sci-fi touch and a locker-room thriller, murder mystery vibe. Ambitious? Yep. But, Liu's effort to breathe new life into an age-old tale I, ultimately, found both commendable and entertaining.
Centered around the collective fear of death and the lengths we'll go to hold on to life, we're introduced to Hayden and his father Graham, who are engrossed in creating the Sisyphus formula. Enter the world of mind uploading, neuromapping, and the tantalizing promise of immortality.
The book starts with Hayden Lichfield, our main character, discovering his father murdered in his lab. Soon after, Hayden and a few other folks find themselves locked in, until they can catch the murderer. This setup gives Liu the perfect backdrop for a unique storytelling method that ropes in different perspectives and styles. It is a fragmented relay race, and Liu herself says so in the book’s foreword: “[…]The story is fragmentary, I admit. But I implore you to embrace the experience, see what you may uncover between the lines.”
One of the perspectives we get is from Hayden's ex, Felicia Xia, who's written her own book "Tell Me A Tragedy". Liu jumps between the main story and Felicia's book, building a story within a story. It is super 'meta', and I love that. Most chapters are kicked off with quotes from lawsuits and author interviews; there are also phone transcripts and descriptions of security camera footages. It is all very clever and works pretty well, though trying to read it on an e-reader was a struggle. All the footnotes were crammed at the end of chapters which broke up my reading rhythm. The prose was, at times, however, a little off.
And then we have the character of Horatio, which is actually Elsinore Labs Operating System. Horatio adds an intriguing twist to the tale. He isn't just a robotic voice; he teems with emotions, and even builds a deep love relationship with Hayden. This subplot explores some of the highs and lows of their queer relationship, making it a captivating read.
The book's atmosphere scores high for offering a palpable sense of tension and isolation, thanks to the maze-like lab setting. There are some pretty uncomfortable moments that add an extra eerie factor to the story. At one point, it almost felt like we were going into sci-fi horror territory.
And while I found the narrative's variety of surprises interesting — like the doubts about Charles and Helen's relationship, and the evolving bond between Hayden and Horatio — Horatio's emotional depth sometimes felt misplaced.
And there you have it. The Death I Gave Him is scoring a solid 3.5 stars from me. This is an audacious fresh spin on a classic tragedy. Part love story, part betrayal, part suspense, this tale is wrapped in a cosmos of sci-fi. It comes with its ups and downs and may not be for everyone, especially if you prefer more traditional narratives. But if you love the buzz of a modern interpretation of tragedy, peppered with queer narrative and dipped in a light sci-fi pot, then it's definitely worth the read!
#pudseyrecommends
Centered around the collective fear of death and the lengths we'll go to hold on to life, we're introduced to Hayden and his father Graham, who are engrossed in creating the Sisyphus formula. Enter the world of mind uploading, neuromapping, and the tantalizing promise of immortality.
The book starts with Hayden Lichfield, our main character, discovering his father murdered in his lab. Soon after, Hayden and a few other folks find themselves locked in, until they can catch the murderer. This setup gives Liu the perfect backdrop for a unique storytelling method that ropes in different perspectives and styles. It is a fragmented relay race, and Liu herself says so in the book’s foreword: “[…]The story is fragmentary, I admit. But I implore you to embrace the experience, see what you may uncover between the lines.”
One of the perspectives we get is from Hayden's ex, Felicia Xia, who's written her own book "Tell Me A Tragedy". Liu jumps between the main story and Felicia's book, building a story within a story. It is super 'meta', and I love that. Most chapters are kicked off with quotes from lawsuits and author interviews; there are also phone transcripts and descriptions of security camera footages. It is all very clever and works pretty well, though trying to read it on an e-reader was a struggle. All the footnotes were crammed at the end of chapters which broke up my reading rhythm. The prose was, at times, however, a little off.
And then we have the character of Horatio, which is actually Elsinore Labs Operating System. Horatio adds an intriguing twist to the tale. He isn't just a robotic voice; he teems with emotions, and even builds a deep love relationship with Hayden. This subplot explores some of the highs and lows of their queer relationship, making it a captivating read.
The book's atmosphere scores high for offering a palpable sense of tension and isolation, thanks to the maze-like lab setting. There are some pretty uncomfortable moments that add an extra eerie factor to the story. At one point, it almost felt like we were going into sci-fi horror territory.
And while I found the narrative's variety of surprises interesting — like the doubts about Charles and Helen's relationship, and the evolving bond between Hayden and Horatio — Horatio's emotional depth sometimes felt misplaced.
And there you have it. The Death I Gave Him is scoring a solid 3.5 stars from me. This is an audacious fresh spin on a classic tragedy. Part love story, part betrayal, part suspense, this tale is wrapped in a cosmos of sci-fi. It comes with its ups and downs and may not be for everyone, especially if you prefer more traditional narratives. But if you love the buzz of a modern interpretation of tragedy, peppered with queer narrative and dipped in a light sci-fi pot, then it's definitely worth the read!
#pudseyrecommends