The Spear Cuts Through Water is a book that asks you to be patient, but can, at any point, reward your patience with moments that make you feel as if you have suddenly taken flight. And when this book flies, it soars. I’ve never read a story quite like this that benefits so greatly from the way it is presented, in this case as a story within a story through the lens of both an audience viewing a play in an impossible theater, an individual audience member, and Jun and Keema’s tale which is the subject of the play itself. The rhythm of the book is also just incredible, with a beat that reminds me of being told a long story or national myth that must be broken up and picked up again at convenient points, which somehow doesn’t feel like chapters in a book at all.

A truly great read for lovers of sweeping fantasy sagas and more serious questions of identity, belonging, and storytelling.

unconventional, unique storytelling. phenomenal execution. brilliant prose. Simon Jimenez does it again! that was excellent. experimental and ingenious storytelling. it's nothing like you've ever read before. NOTHING. and so i will say that if you are not a patient and open-minded person, i beg you to stay away from this book. if you get it, YOU GET IT. this will not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is mine.

the narrative structure fits so perfectly, only Simon Jimenez can think of this and execute it so; the storytelling was amplified, the emotions heightened by various sensory experiences, and yet again Jimenez shows us his writing and storytelling skills. the concept was so unbelievably creative, you would not know what to expect even if i told you. i had so much trust and faith in the author's skills to deliver an amazing and unique reading experience, and was not disappointed at all! like he's just so fucking brilliant, i am both angry and in awe.

i think for this book, as with Jimenez's previous work, saying less is more. so, i will only say two more things:
1. the storytelling is phenomenal, unlike any other, and inviting. it pulls you into the story and enchants you and you will not leave wanting after
2. the prose is absolutely insane. it's actually so fucking hysterical how Jimenez puts together words like this. he shows fantastic control and mastery of the language, i will read anything he writes

anyway, you will still not get what i'm saying until you read this yourself and experience what i'm trying to describe. this novel is exceptional and i don't think i can ever do it justice even if i try. this is my first 5 star of the year, thank you Simon Jimenez!

The things you need before starting this book: patience and an open mind.

From the very first line, I knew this was a book I'd devour. The description you see on websites doesn’t do it justice. It's like you standing on the shore of a beach, not touching your toes to the water, not wading in; barely the surface. The Spear Cuts Through Water was a story within a story, of sorts. All POVs you can experience here: first, second, and third. Although, a fair warning, if The Vanished Birds disturbed you, this won’t hold back and for me, was more brutal.

First, it begins with an unnamed character (these parts narrated in second person). This person gets introduced to the cruel, brutal world Simon Jimenez created, through the stories of their Lola (do say it as loh-la, not low-la). Like Jimenez’s previous novel, this book starts as compelling as ever. Other books you’d describe as a movie playing in your head, but this one was a theater play. It was a performance through and through; it starts with the introduction of an Inverted Theater after all. A theater for dreamers, where the story of the two warriors gets acted out. And as it begins, the prose seems to follow a rhythm, seems to flow in tandem with the drumbeats in that theater.

In this fantasy world, ruled cruelly by an emperor - the Smiling Sun – and his sons, the First, Second, and Third Terror. Two warriors are tasked with sending a “package” from the west to the east, over the course of five days. One chapter for each day, which is why I said you need patience because one might think five chapters is nothing. I’ll say right now that nearly every chapter is as long as a published novella (those over 100 pages) and there is a chapter BEFORE the first day which is EQUALLY as long. In terms of pace, this is slow but does not necessarily mean that nothing was happening. There were a LOT of things that took place. As the two warriors travel, they meet a lot of characters, both friend and enemy. I was shocked when they passed by rice terraces that seemed to be a nod toward the Banaue Rice Terraces in the Philippines.

The plot was intricately woven and complex. I was honestly convinced the author’s brain was from another dimension entirely. Here rise the themes of power: what happens when it’s given to the wrong hands, and allowed to be used, allowed to prosper and endure in these wrong hands. I won’t deny that there isn’t a level of insanity here. If you’ve read The Vanished Birds, you’d be familiar with how insane things can get. Here it was relentless. But despite everything, I think the author “knots the threads” well.

What I didn’t much appreciate about this were the long chapters, as mentioned. And the violence, I’m still thinking if they were all necessary but hmm maybe that opinion would vary with each reader.

The Spear Cuts Through Water is not a book for everyone. In the same way Simon Jimenez’s previous novel was not. I’d say these books are on opposite ends of a spectrum, but they hold each other’s hands anyway. I don’t want to say too much because I think it will also work if you dive in knowing close to nothing. At any rate, try this book! Enter the theater and experience this tale yourself.

Content & trigger warnings: blood, gore, torture, war, ableism, body horror, dismemberment, cannibalism, murder, genocide