I was thrilled to be offered this book via netgalley, as I’d seen the wonderful trailer by Dave McKean and thought it looked great.
(This is the trailer, in case you’ve missed out.)
I’d also had S F Said recommended to me in the past, so was hopeful this would be an enjoyable experience.
It was.
But.
I’m not sure a kindle is the right medium for this novel.
Now, obviously, when you get a book from netgalley, you’re getting a proof, even if it is an electronic proof. So it could well be that the final kindle version will be different to the one I read. But I felt that I missed out on the artwork of the book – it was there, but couldn’t be there in the kind of quality I imagine it is in the finished version. And this is an immersive and visual novel – I think that the artwork probably adds massively to the experience.
I am not a visual person. In fact, I’m about as non visual as it’s possible to be. Nevertheless, I could tell that this story is told on at least two different levels, that are entwined, and each as important as the other. The words and the pictures link to expand the ideas. And I feel that I missed out on a part of that, to the extent that I’ve told Tim and Big to wait until we can get our hands on a paper copy, as I think they’ll enjoy it much more.
What’s the book about?
It’s Sci Fi. Aliens, battles, technologies, and strange strange happenings in and amongst the stars. The stars themselves sing, and there are people who hear them. There is love and loss, romance and pain. It’s a sweeping novel that takes you on a whirlwhind journey, and even though I finished reading it several weeks ago, and have read various other things since, it keeps bobbing back up to the top of my mind.
Are you getting the impression that I enjoyed it? That I would recommend it? Absolutely. But get your hands on the real thing, and let me know how the pictures work for you?
Let me know what you’ve been reading this week – if you’ve got a review or round up post, please drop it in the linky.
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