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gabz25 's review for:
The Book of Elsewhere
by China Miéville, Keanu Reeves
A big thank you to Netgalley for letting me read and review this book.
The Book of Elsewhere is a big release since this is a collaboration of two massive names in their respective spheres - Keanu Reeves and China Miéville. This book was one that I've seen very divided reviews on, and I understand why.
The book centers around a character named B who, along with his 'brother', have the ability to be reborn every time they get killed. And they get killed a lot. It is told through multiple points of view, and the timeline jumps with each one. This does make the story a little bit harder to follow, and I don't recommend listening to the audiobook of this title (I did take a look at it), since each POV is voiced by another actor and it can get quite confusing.
Overall this book is not a bad book. It takes a look at different periods in history and how each of them reacted to these beings. It also explores how our society today would approach someone like this - either by studying them for science or using them as a tool for warfare. It also takes a look at what this being represents. And that's where the twist in this book comes in. The further you get into this book the more you see how the original purpose of something can be distorted with time and with retellings.
This book really is for the serious science fiction reader, and unfortunately I don't really fall into that category. Therefore this book was not really enjoyable for my own reading preference. I do think that it is a very good exploration of humankind and how we react to the other. It also does explore balance in the universe as well, which is a very interesting concept for a scifi book.
The Book of Elsewhere is a big release since this is a collaboration of two massive names in their respective spheres - Keanu Reeves and China Miéville. This book was one that I've seen very divided reviews on, and I understand why.
The book centers around a character named B who, along with his 'brother', have the ability to be reborn every time they get killed. And they get killed a lot. It is told through multiple points of view, and the timeline jumps with each one. This does make the story a little bit harder to follow, and I don't recommend listening to the audiobook of this title (I did take a look at it), since each POV is voiced by another actor and it can get quite confusing.
Overall this book is not a bad book. It takes a look at different periods in history and how each of them reacted to these beings. It also explores how our society today would approach someone like this - either by studying them for science or using them as a tool for warfare. It also takes a look at what this being represents. And that's where the twist in this book comes in. The further you get into this book the more you see how the original purpose of something can be distorted with time and with retellings.
This book really is for the serious science fiction reader, and unfortunately I don't really fall into that category. Therefore this book was not really enjoyable for my own reading preference. I do think that it is a very good exploration of humankind and how we react to the other. It also does explore balance in the universe as well, which is a very interesting concept for a scifi book.