Maddie Fisher's Reviews > The Book of Elsewhere

RATING BREAKDOWN
Characters: 4⭐️
Setting: 5⭐️
Plot: 3⭐️
Themes: 5⭐️
Emotional Impact: 4⭐️
Personal Enjoyment: 4⭐️
Total Rounded Average: 4.25⭐️

Those of us who know Keanu Reeves from his artistic movies will be stoked for this collaborative fiction with China Mieville. I went in with high hopes that this would deliver an original, compelling, and intellectually and emotionally evocative narrative. My hopes were not in vain.

Because this book is so stylistically different, it's tough to review following my normal formula of plot, characters, and setting. Instead, I want to talk about how immersive and trippy it was to read the three branches of the narrative. The first branch is the present: a futuristic setting where B, the main character, is over 80,000 years old, and part of a military special force. This part of the story is told in a traditional format, in third-person past tense. The second branch of the story is specific flashbacks of B's experiences, but these are told in second-person narrative. And finally, some of my favorite pieces of the story are delivered as first-person memoirs from individuals who had interactions with B. Each of these branches is given its own tone and had me reading like I was piecing together a mystery as I gathered the threads that wove the tale.

Specifically, the first-person memoirs read like short stories. The character voices were so strong, and the subplots in these chapters had their own satisfying and poignant arcs. The language was beautiful, they were emotionally evocative, and they helped to develop B as a layered, tragic, and complex character.

The second-person flashbacks are the most creatively bold aspects of the narrative, and they help to convey the bizarre and alien experiences B has lived. Again, it helped to flesh out this singular character and reveal his innermost longings and pain.

The artistic delivery worked to make me care about a character, that otherwise feels so alien, he could be tough to relate to or care about.

In the meantime, this plot moves like a horror mystery, as we try to understand how weird instances and coincidences are related and discover that B is a target. It's not clear whether he should be a target or not. It's also not clear what he represents symbolically. That exploration is at the heart of this story. If B represents Death, is he evil? Can life thrive while Death is incarnate, invincible, and eternal? This story explores the paradox of wanting to kill Death itself, the need humans have for death and endings, and the terror they feel at not being in control. It explores rebirth, the phoenix process, the longing for change, and the role death plays in the human ability to experience life, how eternity is its own entropy unless change and connection are present. This book achingly conveys a desperation for connection, for kin. It does all of this on a sometimes bizarre landscape.

Ultimately, the book worked for me. I don't think it will be for everyone, as it is more artistic and existential in nature, and deals with themes that are quite mysterious at their core. If you want to engage with the unseen mysteries of life, if you want to feel things deeply, and engage in hypotheticals that are at once deeply human but also weird and bizarre, this will be a rich and memorable ride. I think it marks a successful and beautiful partnership by two experimental and creative artists, who are bravely original and show exquisite literary range.

Note: I was compensated for an honest review of this book on another platform. This written review is not sponsored and I am posting it of my own volition.