Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Del Rey (2006), Edition: 1St Edition, 480 pages
Description
It's 2017 and the end days are coming, beings that were once human are gathering to fight in one last great war for control of the Vellum - the vast realm of eternity on which our world is just a scratch. But to a draft-dodging Irish angel and a trailer-trash tomboy called Phreedom, it's about to become brutally clear that there's no great divine or diabolic plan at play here, just a vicious battle between the hawks of Heaven and Hell, with humanity stuck in the middle, and where the easy rhetoric of Good and Evil, Order versus Chaos just doesn't apply. Here there are no heroes, no darlings of destiny struggling to save the day, and there are no villains, no dark lords of evil out to destroy the world. Or at least if there are, it's not quite clear which is which. Here, the most ancient gods and the most modern humans are equally fate's fools, victims of their own hubris, struggling to save their own skins, their own souls, but sometimes, just sometimes, sacrificing everything in the name of humanity.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member GingerbreadMan
For me, it’s not necessarily a bad thing when I discover a book has almost as many very low ratings as very high ones on LT. Deep in my blackest, most secretly elitist heart, I always believe I’ll be amongst the ones “getting” the book. I might even assume it’s better for it.
What *is*
Hal Duncan’s book is about…um. A war between heaven and hell, between a Covenant of Angels and a hoard of little Devil barons. Which is a very local affair, merely a skirmish, in the Vellum, which is the vast tapestry where our universe is just a tiny spot on the map. But mostly it’s about a group of unkin (a sister, a brother, a lover and maybe a child) getting caught in between when they don’t want to take sides. Because this war is like any war, mainly fought in trenches by foot soldiers (metaphorically speaking). The murder of Matthew Shepard has to do with this. And the Prometheus myth.
If that sounds somewhat straight, you’re mistaken. Duncan juggles dozens parallel planes of stories, overlapping or sharing characters or mirroring each other. There are several people in different times with the same names. There are also a number of myths relating to the main characters. And a few meta planes, including an interesting one about a fellow travelling for millennia through a completely empty Vellum, and one that implies this whole thing might be a psychosis. (Are you confused yet?)
This book is kind of what might be the result of Neil Gaiman and William S. Burroughs having a child together, who thinks it’s lame-ass to tell a story. There’s no question Duncan knows his stuff – mythology, allusion, postmodern cut-up… It just too bad he seems completely uninterested in letting me in. There are moments of genuine interest from this reader – a sudden outburst of ten coherent pages or a elegant twist at the end of chapter. There are also hints, I suppose: subtle changes in fonts, and chapter headings moving left, right or centre. But it doesn’t help me. I still feel like I’m stuck at a jazz concert, glancing at my watch way too often. 221 pages to go, 220…
So Hal Duncan, it’s been an interesting three (damn) weeks, but I don’t think we should see each other anymore. I’m removing Ink from my list of candidates. It’s not you, it’s me. You deserve someone who appreciates you for you, you know?
What *is*
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necessarily a bad thing though is when I discover I’m counting “224 pages to go, 223 pages to go, 222 pages…” when reading a book. Especially when the damn thing is 500 pages long.Hal Duncan’s book is about…um. A war between heaven and hell, between a Covenant of Angels and a hoard of little Devil barons. Which is a very local affair, merely a skirmish, in the Vellum, which is the vast tapestry where our universe is just a tiny spot on the map. But mostly it’s about a group of unkin (a sister, a brother, a lover and maybe a child) getting caught in between when they don’t want to take sides. Because this war is like any war, mainly fought in trenches by foot soldiers (metaphorically speaking). The murder of Matthew Shepard has to do with this. And the Prometheus myth.
If that sounds somewhat straight, you’re mistaken. Duncan juggles dozens parallel planes of stories, overlapping or sharing characters or mirroring each other. There are several people in different times with the same names. There are also a number of myths relating to the main characters. And a few meta planes, including an interesting one about a fellow travelling for millennia through a completely empty Vellum, and one that implies this whole thing might be a psychosis. (Are you confused yet?)
This book is kind of what might be the result of Neil Gaiman and William S. Burroughs having a child together, who thinks it’s lame-ass to tell a story. There’s no question Duncan knows his stuff – mythology, allusion, postmodern cut-up… It just too bad he seems completely uninterested in letting me in. There are moments of genuine interest from this reader – a sudden outburst of ten coherent pages or a elegant twist at the end of chapter. There are also hints, I suppose: subtle changes in fonts, and chapter headings moving left, right or centre. But it doesn’t help me. I still feel like I’m stuck at a jazz concert, glancing at my watch way too often. 221 pages to go, 220…
So Hal Duncan, it’s been an interesting three (damn) weeks, but I don’t think we should see each other anymore. I’m removing Ink from my list of candidates. It’s not you, it’s me. You deserve someone who appreciates you for you, you know?
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LibraryThing member matociquala
I *really* liked this. I found it reminiscent of The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath and Roadmarks and Creatures of Light and Darkness, not in a derivative fashion, but in an evolutionary fashion. (Upcoming opinion piece in ASIM on just this topic, actually). I loved the fragmentary nonlinear
I did find the last hundred pages or so sort of anticlimactic. I was hoping for a bit more oomph in The Big Reveal, as it were, but it may just be that (a) I've been writing along similar thematic (although very different structural) lines and (b) I'm a trained professional.
All that aside, however, this book is An Achievement.
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narrative, and the repetitions, and the alterations, and the inconsistencies, and the complexities, and the wonderful headbendiness of it all. I thought it was a courageous and sharp book; I wonder if it will retain its power in ten or fifteen years, when it's no longer quite so topical, however.I did find the last hundred pages or so sort of anticlimactic. I was hoping for a bit more oomph in The Big Reveal, as it were, but it may just be that (a) I've been writing along similar thematic (although very different structural) lines and (b) I'm a trained professional.
All that aside, however, this book is An Achievement.
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LibraryThing member oracleofdoom
It's hard for me to put my finger on my exact feelings of this book. If I had one word in which to describe it, I suppose the word would be "disjointed." It was very clever, expertly written, and I loved the mythology and the correlations between everyone.
The problem I had with it is more a matter
This had been recommended to me by someone on a House of Leaves forum, and I was very excited, as that was one of my favorite books. But House of Leaves was extremely focused on its characters, giving one a very deep look inside their heads. Where with this one, I couldn't always guess what a character's true feelings are.
If one likes a challenge and a lot of mythology, and doesn't mind not getting to know characters very well, then this is very much worth reading. Actually, it is worth reading no matter what, I'd say.
The problem I had with it is more a matter
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of my own personal taste than a true criticism of the book. With such a convoluted story and so much jumping from one reality to another, one version of the same character to another, I never felt like I really knew the characters and I was unable to get attached to them. To me, the most important thing in any story is the characters, so this hindered my enjoyment and made it hard for me to force myself to continue.This had been recommended to me by someone on a House of Leaves forum, and I was very excited, as that was one of my favorite books. But House of Leaves was extremely focused on its characters, giving one a very deep look inside their heads. Where with this one, I couldn't always guess what a character's true feelings are.
If one likes a challenge and a lot of mythology, and doesn't mind not getting to know characters very well, then this is very much worth reading. Actually, it is worth reading no matter what, I'd say.
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LibraryThing member astaines
Vellum is a real rarity - a genuinely stunning first novel, built by a superb writer, on a wildly imaginative concept.
Duncan's book is dense, with a complex, non-linear plot, and a mass of slightly obscure external and intenal references. There's nothing that I spotted that will baffle Google
His style, while lucid is quite dense, and lyrical. He resembles in tone some of the earlier fantasy writers, Dunsany, Morris, McDonald and sometimes even Lovecraft, but his voice is his own, and is worth listening to.
This is fantasy as a powerful novel, written by someone who has clearly read a lot of other novels. Unlike many recent fantasy writers, who only grasp the surface of what Tolkien tried to do, Ducnan understands what he really meant by 'Fairie' and goes there. If you find people like Eddings, Brooks and Feist a bit tedious, and a bit repetitive, as I do, try Duncan - fantasy writing for grown-ups.
Summary :- This is the best fantasy novel I've read this century. Do yourself a favour and read it too.
Duncan's book is dense, with a complex, non-linear plot, and a mass of slightly obscure external and intenal references. There's nothing that I spotted that will baffle Google
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though.His style, while lucid is quite dense, and lyrical. He resembles in tone some of the earlier fantasy writers, Dunsany, Morris, McDonald and sometimes even Lovecraft, but his voice is his own, and is worth listening to.
This is fantasy as a powerful novel, written by someone who has clearly read a lot of other novels. Unlike many recent fantasy writers, who only grasp the surface of what Tolkien tried to do, Ducnan understands what he really meant by 'Fairie' and goes there. If you find people like Eddings, Brooks and Feist a bit tedious, and a bit repetitive, as I do, try Duncan - fantasy writing for grown-ups.
Summary :- This is the best fantasy novel I've read this century. Do yourself a favour and read it too.
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LibraryThing member mzonderm
This book was actually painful to read. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't just put it down. It was like reading modern art or listening to modern music, which, if you're into it, is fine, but if you're not, you just see something meaningless or hear disharmonies, that's only art or music because
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someone said so. Reading this, I felt like Duncan wrote bits of assorted stories on cards and then shuffled them together and called it a book. Some of the bits are chronological, some of them even make sense. Some involve the same characters, although it's hard to always be sure, since everyone seems to have the same name, or to change names several times. But it's not a narrative. There are bits, no more than a few pages each time that tell a coherent story, and the only reason I give this book even part of a star is because some of these bits are good. If he'd stuck with one of these ideas and fleshed it out, instead of flitting all over the place, Duncan might have had something worth reading. Show Less
LibraryThing member electric
Beautifully crafted sentences pull you through what is almost an impelling premise. Unfortunatley the plot is shattered across the ages and the characters aren't ones you care about either way... ultimately this book falls short of what seems like a good idea.
LibraryThing member Noisy
Boring. Very boring. Extremely boring.
There's only so much repetition I can take, and this exceeded the limit, and then some. I've managed three hundred pages, so it's not as if I didn't give it a fair try. A few books I've not finished through laziness, but this joins the ranks of those (half a
There's only so much repetition I can take, and this exceeded the limit, and then some. I've managed three hundred pages, so it's not as if I didn't give it a fair try. A few books I've not finished through laziness, but this joins the ranks of those (half a
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dozen, I'd estimate) I've consciously decided not to waste my time on. The writing style is very mannered, but I suppose that is acceptable, but the book just doesn't go anywhere. Show Less
LibraryThing member Excalibur
This book was not enjoyable. Duncan may have accomplished something, but that something is not great. For a book to achieve true greatness it cannot be as leaden and indecipherable as this book. If there was a focused point to this novel it is lost in the Vellum. I understand that this may be the
Note: At times this author shows potential. There are scenes scattered throughout the novel (although broadly) that are interesting and well written. I think that this story would have been much better if the author hadn't treated it like a sandbox to play in. I realize that the author shifts time, character, and perspective because he is showing us the non-linear and yet eternal nature of the vellum. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work. You leave this work feeling as if nothing has been gained. Instead, this novel feels like a very long writing excercise.
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point, which would force you to decide whether or not you want to read a novel that is trying to show you that life is pointless. Personally I don't believe that this is the case. I do think that the author is trying to show us something, but that it is lost within the layers of his academic pretentiousness. I enjoy an academic read as long as it doesn't feel as if the author is just trying to impress you with their genius. At times this book feels that way. If you want to read a book that plays with mythology you should read Gaiman's American Gods. I personally didn't enjoy that book much either, but it is a far better read than this novel. Do not read this book unless you appreciate experimental literature that feels at times like an experiment gone awry. Note: At times this author shows potential. There are scenes scattered throughout the novel (although broadly) that are interesting and well written. I think that this story would have been much better if the author hadn't treated it like a sandbox to play in. I realize that the author shifts time, character, and perspective because he is showing us the non-linear and yet eternal nature of the vellum. Unfortunately, it just doesn't work. You leave this work feeling as if nothing has been gained. Instead, this novel feels like a very long writing excercise.
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LibraryThing member colbud
An unruly mess of bad ideas mashed together and wrapped in angst-ridden narration and meaningless dialogue. Duncan sat down and said, "I'm going to take every idea I have about the world and scribble it on little pieces of paper, lay them in order while blindfold, mix them up for good measure, and
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see if I can get someone to publish it because it's original and includes such an impossible number of loosely-connected ideas, I think it'll apply to everyone."PUKE Show Less
LibraryThing member dudara
Vellum is a book that I'd been meaning to read for quite a while. It was always on prominent display in my nearby bookshops and the rough textured cover of the paperback version hinted at a great read.
On one hand this book is rich with cultural references, old legends and a grand scale. On the
The lack of distinct characters in this book, their replacement with overarching characters that transcend time and location is confusing and for me, offputting. It's clear that this is a book into which the author invested a lot of time and research. It's just not for everyone and it's not for me. I definitely won't be picking up the sequel.
On one hand this book is rich with cultural references, old legends and a grand scale. On the
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other hand, it moves back and forth through time and rambles from character to character. After an initially intriguing opening section (which lured me in) the book deteriorated. I gave it the 100 page test (read 100 pages and see how you feel then) and because I don't like giving up on books, it got the 200 page test. Then due to having to wait in a hospital for 2 hours it got to over 300 pages. It was then I realised how many of the seemingly disparate threads in the story were being woven together, but at that point I didn't really care anymore. The non-linear narrative was just too disjointed for me.The lack of distinct characters in this book, their replacement with overarching characters that transcend time and location is confusing and for me, offputting. It's clear that this is a book into which the author invested a lot of time and research. It's just not for everyone and it's not for me. I definitely won't be picking up the sequel.
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LibraryThing member gcoupe
I gave up on this after a few hundred pages. There were flashes of storytelling but I got fed up of the endless repetition and riffs on the same themes that never seemed to get anywhere. A triumph of style over substance, but this style is not what I look for in a book. After we had the retelling
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of the Matthew Shepard story for what seemed the nth time - either as the original true story or the Puck or the Thomas versions - I felt as though I was being bashed over the head by the author. Well, enough, already. Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
It was interesting and worth reading. Not a book I'd really read again but I'm not sorry I read it. I'm still not completely sure what it was about.
It would probably appeal to people who prefer the more magical realism end of the fantasy spectrum, and if you're looking for a plot forget it, well
It is interesting in how some people seem to tap into archetypes and become something beyond normal.
It just wasn't my kind of book.
It would probably appeal to people who prefer the more magical realism end of the fantasy spectrum, and if you're looking for a plot forget it, well
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it has a plot, just not a linear plot.It is interesting in how some people seem to tap into archetypes and become something beyond normal.
It just wasn't my kind of book.
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LibraryThing member dulac3
How do you make the novel _Vellum_? Mix one part Michael Moorcock, add in a dash of old Saturday morning serials, combine with Roger Zelazny and a final heaping helping of an undergrad po-mo survey course. Mix to a turgid mess and voila!
LibraryThing member macha
i wanted to love this book, i did, but in the end i just couldn't. the immortal stuff just didn't work, though it had the placement advantage of the non-linear timelines. the endless war stories weren't my cup of tea - it's a relentlessly male kind of a book. and the ventures into mythology seemed
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a bit forced, sadly. the Supernatural series made a more coherent narrative out of Metatron and the angels' war in heaven a few years later, and the Inanna assault on the underworld never really gels, largely because both his mythic and his character stand-in for Inanna are written as too weak and passive to execute a plan. planning in fact may be the problem overall; could his association with a writer's group described as an "anarchist collective" suggest a reason? "operation: focus narrative", reads the author's internal note on the text at p. 314, but he never quite does, and as a result i had terrible trouble staying awake in the middle of the book; i kept nodding off, from one line to the next, and finally realized i was busy in my sleep rewriting lines and finishing paragraphs to my own satisfaction, and no reader ever reads a book in order to write one. so now i have to decide whether to read Ink, the second book, which i have on hand, because i was expecting to want to. sigh. Show Less
LibraryThing member AltheaAnn
Might as well talk about 'Ink' and 'Vellum' together, since they're really one work.
Conveniently, Duncan describes his work himself, within the text of the book:
"...the Book has as many histories as the world itself, and it contains them all in its Moebius loop of time and space, of contradicting
At least, that's the goal.
It starts off promisingly: a student seeks to steal a secret vellum manuscript - the Book of All Hours - a book which determines and reflects reality, which contains all possible realities... a book written in the language of angels, upon the skin of angels, which contains the entirety of the time-space continuum. This is connected to a War in Heaven, agents of the angels that walk upon the earth, and a lot of Sumerian mythology. It began by reminding me of Storm Constantine's Grigori books, and Catherynne Valente's Palimpsest. Neither of those is a bad thing.
However, there's a problem with writing a book about a book that is supposed to contain all things, when you intend the format of your book to reflect that of your fictional book. How do you edit it? What should go in, and what shouldn't? I would have had trouble editing this book, I have to admit. And, in the end, I don't think it worked.
It's obvious that Duncan wrote several reasonably coherent narratives, then chopped them up at mostly-random, and mixed them together. He also wrote a lot of random Other Stuff (thoughts in his head that day?) and stuck those in too. (It reminded me of doing college creative writing assignments, when I sometimes pieced disparate pieces of my writing together in order to make up a page count by a deadline.)
Yes, the reader can piece the narratives together as s/he goes along, but do the "inconsistencies and digressions, spurious interpolations and interpretations" serve a purpose? I kept hoping that they would. I have to admit that my interest was waning by the end of the first book, but I read the whole second book with the hope that it would all get pulled together. I don't feel that that happened.
Duncan is obviously a smart guy. He's very obviously well and widely educated. There are a lot of interesting ideas in these books, and many of the small vignettes are expertly and beautifully written. He has a nice command of the English language. However, I couldn't help feeling that he might be more suited to writing essays than novels. I bet he's good at academic papers, too.
About halfway through the second book, I was thinking about why I really wasn't enjoying it, and I realized that all of the characters, no matter which reality they're currently in, whether they speak in a broadly-written accent, are young or old, or even (in one case) female, seem like they're actually the same person: Hal Duncan(?)
I kid you not, after I realized that, on the very next page, I came across this quote: "there's a deeper connection between them - Jack, Puck, Anna, Joey, Don and himself...Finnan too, wherever he is. The seven of them, seven souls, but maybe really only one...identity."
Yep. They're all the same person. And they're too busy being archetypes, metaphors or mouthpieces most of the time, to be convincing characters.
Duncan says, "Let us consider reality itself as a palimpsest." OK, consider that considered. I even really like the idea. I like a LOT of the ideas in this book. But I feel that those idea would have come through better through the use of a more consistent format - not even necessarily a traditional format, but just a more consistent one. For example, part 3 (the first half of 'Ink') is largely taken up by the characters putting on a performance of a version of 'The Bacchae.' However, Greek drama plays little part in any of the other sections of the book. It feels out-of-place. As do many of the other "spurious interpolations" within the text.
I feel like Duncan said, "well, it's inconsistent because I want it to be inconsistent." But I still prefer consistency. And characters with individual identities.
I often really like things that others describe, negatively, as "pretentious." But this is one of those rare occasions where I am feeling moved to use "pretentious" in a negative sense. This book is pretentious.
Conveniently, Duncan describes his work himself, within the text of the book:
"...the Book has as many histories as the world itself, and it contains them all in its Moebius loop of time and space, of contradicting
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stories somehow fused as one confused and rambling tale, a sort of truth but full of inconsistencies and digressions, spurious interpolations and interpretations, fiction told as fact, fact told as fiction..."At least, that's the goal.
It starts off promisingly: a student seeks to steal a secret vellum manuscript - the Book of All Hours - a book which determines and reflects reality, which contains all possible realities... a book written in the language of angels, upon the skin of angels, which contains the entirety of the time-space continuum. This is connected to a War in Heaven, agents of the angels that walk upon the earth, and a lot of Sumerian mythology. It began by reminding me of Storm Constantine's Grigori books, and Catherynne Valente's Palimpsest. Neither of those is a bad thing.
However, there's a problem with writing a book about a book that is supposed to contain all things, when you intend the format of your book to reflect that of your fictional book. How do you edit it? What should go in, and what shouldn't? I would have had trouble editing this book, I have to admit. And, in the end, I don't think it worked.
It's obvious that Duncan wrote several reasonably coherent narratives, then chopped them up at mostly-random, and mixed them together. He also wrote a lot of random Other Stuff (thoughts in his head that day?) and stuck those in too. (It reminded me of doing college creative writing assignments, when I sometimes pieced disparate pieces of my writing together in order to make up a page count by a deadline.)
Yes, the reader can piece the narratives together as s/he goes along, but do the "inconsistencies and digressions, spurious interpolations and interpretations" serve a purpose? I kept hoping that they would. I have to admit that my interest was waning by the end of the first book, but I read the whole second book with the hope that it would all get pulled together. I don't feel that that happened.
Duncan is obviously a smart guy. He's very obviously well and widely educated. There are a lot of interesting ideas in these books, and many of the small vignettes are expertly and beautifully written. He has a nice command of the English language. However, I couldn't help feeling that he might be more suited to writing essays than novels. I bet he's good at academic papers, too.
About halfway through the second book, I was thinking about why I really wasn't enjoying it, and I realized that all of the characters, no matter which reality they're currently in, whether they speak in a broadly-written accent, are young or old, or even (in one case) female, seem like they're actually the same person: Hal Duncan(?)
I kid you not, after I realized that, on the very next page, I came across this quote: "there's a deeper connection between them - Jack, Puck, Anna, Joey, Don and himself...Finnan too, wherever he is. The seven of them, seven souls, but maybe really only one...identity."
Yep. They're all the same person. And they're too busy being archetypes, metaphors or mouthpieces most of the time, to be convincing characters.
Duncan says, "Let us consider reality itself as a palimpsest." OK, consider that considered. I even really like the idea. I like a LOT of the ideas in this book. But I feel that those idea would have come through better through the use of a more consistent format - not even necessarily a traditional format, but just a more consistent one. For example, part 3 (the first half of 'Ink') is largely taken up by the characters putting on a performance of a version of 'The Bacchae.' However, Greek drama plays little part in any of the other sections of the book. It feels out-of-place. As do many of the other "spurious interpolations" within the text.
I feel like Duncan said, "well, it's inconsistent because I want it to be inconsistent." But I still prefer consistency. And characters with individual identities.
I often really like things that others describe, negatively, as "pretentious." But this is one of those rare occasions where I am feeling moved to use "pretentious" in a negative sense. This book is pretentious.
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LibraryThing member viking2917
Interesting concept and some great characters. Started well, last 1/3 of the book really got bogged down in the parallel story lines...
LibraryThing member SChant
Some interesting ideas but way too long and seemed to go round and round without any clear storyline or plot. I ended up skipping a lot of the last third. Unlikely to bother with the second book.
LibraryThing member Wiszard
This is one of those rare books that I could not finish. The story line bumps rapidly. The characters are not well developed. I really wanted to like this book. The prologue grabbed my attention. After that, I read the first 5 chapters and then began skimming to halfway through before I finally
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gave up. This book is too dark and graphic for my tastes and I cut my teeth on Stephen King. Show Less
LibraryThing member adpaton
I tried with this book - I really did try. I went so far as to leave it in the car so that when I was waiting and bored I'd have no alternative but to read it and, I hoped, get into it. It never happened though. A dense, non-linear story with not much plot and constantly changinf points of view,
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peopled by unlikeable characters, and involving the war between demons and angels, all proved a bit much Show Less
LibraryThing member pagemasterZee
First off, yes i struggled through this book and yes i finished it. When i test out authors i usually suffer threw a few of their books before i make a decision - this one i'm good after one. Too much time jumping. The characters are intriguing and barable. But you never get into the book cause
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almost every other paragraph your taken to some other point in time. Wonderful idea but very badly done. Choppy at best, I would not recommend this book to anyone with out a bottle of advil to go alone with it. To fully understand everything in this book at best you would have to read it two times, and once was too much for me. The only reason i rated this book at all is because i liked his original ideas concerning his character. Show Less
LibraryThing member ragwaine
I'm not sure what I thought this was going to be like but it wasn't like that at all. It's experimental and I don't mind that. The problem is the length. If you're going to write in a style that's completely non-linear, where characters have multiple names and exist in multiple
There were definitely tons of cool ideas and great visuals but really a whole nother book could have been written about this book just interpreting what happened and what certain passages meant.
I really like the overlaying of myths over the characters in the story and their situations. Very cool stuff. Just a little more coherence would have made this a four or five star book. Instead after about 300 pages I pretty much knew there was going to be no closure, it wasn't going to suddenly make sense at the end. I was right. There wasn't and it didn't.
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dimensions/continuums as sometimes completely different people - then it shouldn't be 460 pages long. It just got to be a little much. There were definitely tons of cool ideas and great visuals but really a whole nother book could have been written about this book just interpreting what happened and what certain passages meant.
I really like the overlaying of myths over the characters in the story and their situations. Very cool stuff. Just a little more coherence would have made this a four or five star book. Instead after about 300 pages I pretty much knew there was going to be no closure, it wasn't going to suddenly make sense at the end. I was right. There wasn't and it didn't.
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LibraryThing member mdbento
fascinating, surreal, but seriously needs a good editor--too repetitive and rambling
LibraryThing member AlexDraven
dense and chewy, multi-layered, fractured and disorienting at first - if I hadn't already read and adored some of his short stories I might have given up, but I'm so glad that I stuck with it long enough for the patterns to start coming together, the structures and stories to emerge, or possibly
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just long enough for my head to click into the right gear. Once I'd hit that point though - wow! Show Less
LibraryThing member Jeanine
An extremely esoteric type of fantasy fiction. An interesting story but often very difficult to get through. If you can get beyond all of the jumping back and forth, it is a book that gives you an alternative way of viewing connections. Worth the read in my opinion.
LibraryThing member cindywho
I was just not in the mood for this one - twisted reality and a gaggle of boys and one girl/goddess on a motorcycle. It just kept going around in circles and I got bored.
Subjects
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — First Novel — 2006)
World Fantasy Award (Nominee — Novel — 2006)
British Fantasy Award (Nominee — August Derleth Fantasy Award — 2006)
Gaylactic Spectrum Award (Winner — Novel — 2007)
SF Site Editor's Choice (2005)
IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award (Finalist — 2006)
Locus Recommended Reading (First Novel — 2005)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2005-08-05
Physical description
480 p.; 6.05 inches
ISBN
0345487311 / 9780345487315