A review by bibliophile80
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

3.0

This was an interesting book, and I'm torn as to how to review and rate it. On the one hand, it was amazing. Incredible settings, characters, plot, and language. On the other hand, it was depressing. I read something halfway through that called the book "existential," and that certainly rang true for me. I can recall reading Sartre's "Nausea" when I was much younger, and I hated it. (Perhaps "Angelmaker" is also absurdist, in that I felt the same way about Camus's "The Stranger.") It had moments that made me feel uneasy and sick, but at other times I wanted to stand up and cheer. The pacing occasionally was slower than I'd have liked, but I really liked the flashback scenes of Edie's experiences. In fact, she might have been my favorite character. The premise is completely novel to me: a high-tech beehive that releases mechanical bees around the world and either will make the world infinitely better (or 9% better) or will reveal so much truth that men will go mad. And poor Joe Spork, a humble clockmaker trying to deny or refute the mobster lifestyle of his father--his rightful inheritance--and lead a humdrum, respectable life, is at the center of it all, capable of saving the world but at risk of losing his sanity, his safety, and his very life. The many layered references to British culture often escaped my grasp, but that didn't bother me overmuch. Fantasy/sci-fi fans might well adore this book, but it's big and dense, so at least go into it with a healthy respect for its demands on your time and energy.