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A review by tobin_elliott
The Book of Elsewhere by China Miéville, Keanu Reeves
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.
Yeah, this one's a hard no.
Now, I've read every single issue of the BRZRKR comic series that this book is based on, and I catch the references. And no, no one will ever mistake any issue of that series as Important Literature. But the comic has two things going for it that are completely missing here.
The first is, the series tells a story and for the most part, it's clear and understandable. The second is, the series is written well. Not overwritten, not underwritten. Not fantastic, but not terrible.
This book though? I have no idea how much—if any—input Reeves had in it, and I do get the impression they wanted to both broaden and deepen the mythos of Unute (aka B) which isn't a bad thing. But—and again, I'm guessing here, but I'm guessing China Miéville is the sole writer—the various narrative voices in this book, because we're literally bouncing from narrator to narrator, is both confusing as hell, as well as terribly written.
I tried, because I'm a fan of the comic. I really tried.
But with every book that ultimately ends up a DNF, there's a point where I stop reading and just ask myself, "do I care what happens next? Have I cared at any point in this story?" And if the answers are "no" to both, as they were with this book, I stop reading.
But you know what? Typically, I still usually keep the book, or donate it. This one? This one's getting returned for a refund.
No rating, because of the DNF.
Now, I've read every single issue of the BRZRKR comic series that this book is based on, and I catch the references. And no, no one will ever mistake any issue of that series as Important Literature. But the comic has two things going for it that are completely missing here.
The first is, the series tells a story and for the most part, it's clear and understandable. The second is, the series is written well. Not overwritten, not underwritten. Not fantastic, but not terrible.
This book though? I have no idea how much—if any—input Reeves had in it, and I do get the impression they wanted to both broaden and deepen the mythos of Unute (aka B) which isn't a bad thing. But—and again, I'm guessing here, but I'm guessing China Miéville is the sole writer—the various narrative voices in this book, because we're literally bouncing from narrator to narrator, is both confusing as hell, as well as terribly written.
I tried, because I'm a fan of the comic. I really tried.
But with every book that ultimately ends up a DNF, there's a point where I stop reading and just ask myself, "do I care what happens next? Have I cared at any point in this story?" And if the answers are "no" to both, as they were with this book, I stop reading.
But you know what? Typically, I still usually keep the book, or donate it. This one? This one's getting returned for a refund.
No rating, because of the DNF.