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A review by lizardgoats
Bats of the Republic: An Illuminated Novel by Zachary Thomas Dodson
5.0
I bought this book on a whim. I was browsing through the bookstore one day and came across this hefty volume in the sci-fi section (if I do believe). It caught my imagination immediately, though I’m not sure I’d term it sci-fi, myself. It feels much more like speculative fiction.
Regardless of it’s actual genre, it’s just the type of novel I love: an illustrated one. Or, in this case, illuminated.
There’s something so catching about a novel full of diagrams, books within books, stories that interconnect, secret languages, and hidden codes. I want to decipher my books. I want them to be puzzles.
And Bats of the Republic did not disappoint. Designed by Dodson himself, a book designer by trade, this book is an object worthy of all your bookish drool. Diagrams, maps, inserts, ephemera. It’s all here. So if you’re like me and you want your novels to be interative, gorgerously designed, objects d’ art, then Bats of the Republic wil lmake all your dreams come true.
Set in both the 19th and the 21st century, Bats of the Republic tells the tale of single family, the Thomases, and how two of their numbers: Zoddock and Zeke’s, paths intertwine through time.
Or something.
Honestly, the end (NO SPOILERS!) still has me a little confused. But in a good way? I have no problem with a book (or TV show) leaving me with no idea what’s been happening. Think the Battlestar Galactica reboot or the end to Lost. What have I even been watching this whole time? That’s not an ending! Also, I love it.
That’s what I want my books to do to me. Leave me questioning, thinking, wanting more. Is this book science fiction or is it a historical novel? Is the author the main character because everyone’s name starts with the letter Z. There’s a lot of information about bats and now I have a whole new appreciation for them.
And is this time travel? Are we our ancestors? Can we change our lots in life?
All the important questions with none of the answers.
So the best kind of book, because it forces you to answers all these many questions on your own. Or not. Personally, I like not knowing. It’s half the fun.
Regardless of it’s actual genre, it’s just the type of novel I love: an illustrated one. Or, in this case, illuminated.
There’s something so catching about a novel full of diagrams, books within books, stories that interconnect, secret languages, and hidden codes. I want to decipher my books. I want them to be puzzles.
And Bats of the Republic did not disappoint. Designed by Dodson himself, a book designer by trade, this book is an object worthy of all your bookish drool. Diagrams, maps, inserts, ephemera. It’s all here. So if you’re like me and you want your novels to be interative, gorgerously designed, objects d’ art, then Bats of the Republic wil lmake all your dreams come true.
Set in both the 19th and the 21st century, Bats of the Republic tells the tale of single family, the Thomases, and how two of their numbers: Zoddock and Zeke’s, paths intertwine through time.
Or something.
Honestly, the end (NO SPOILERS!) still has me a little confused. But in a good way? I have no problem with a book (or TV show) leaving me with no idea what’s been happening. Think the Battlestar Galactica reboot or the end to Lost. What have I even been watching this whole time? That’s not an ending! Also, I love it.
That’s what I want my books to do to me. Leave me questioning, thinking, wanting more. Is this book science fiction or is it a historical novel? Is the author the main character because everyone’s name starts with the letter Z. There’s a lot of information about bats and now I have a whole new appreciation for them.
And is this time travel? Are we our ancestors? Can we change our lots in life?
All the important questions with none of the answers.
So the best kind of book, because it forces you to answers all these many questions on your own. Or not. Personally, I like not knowing. It’s half the fun.