China Mieville AND Keanu Reeves? I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this.

This is pretty much exactly what I expected when I read who the authors were. Mieville brings in his trademark Weird while Reeves supplies a great deal of gore; no complaints from me, as both a Mieville and John Wick fan!

This isn't an easy read; it's violent, sure, but as per Mieville's typical style the book has no interest in slowing down to match the reader's pace. But if you can hang on tight, you're in for a phenomenal ride! My one piece of advice would be that you definitely ought to read BRZRKR to get some context, though I'm not sure how necessary that may be.

I was so excited to read this book but it was on another level of weird, to the point where I couldn't necessarily get behind it.

Having read--and loved--China Miévile's book, Perdido Street Station, and just loving Keanu Reeves, I had to read a work co-written by them.
I was not disappointed although this genre, or combination of genres (science fiction and fantasy) is not something I usually read. But, as I said, I had read Miéville and although very different than my general interests, loved him.

This is at least in part because of his beautiful, lush prose and images. I cannot tell in The Book of Elsewhere who wrote what of course--or what the process of collaboration looked like--but certainly one of the pleasure of this book is the writing.

The book has a great deal of violence, some of which is quite gory, something that I actively avoid and was difficult for me to read but the power of the story -- perhaps more accurately the imagery and poetry of it -- helped me power through the challenging parts.

Unute (also known as B) has been alive for thousands of years and is apparently unkillable. A top-secret governmental organization has been formed to learn about him and from him--and to benefit from that knowledge (for power of course). Even studying him, employing him for warfare is dangerous.

But this brief introduction doesn't begin to capture the feel of this difficult but fascinating work. I had to work--or rather think--overtime to try to keep up. I couldn't do it and I was frequently and ultimately frustrated but it was a wonderful failure. It's a fascinating work, absorbing and tantalizing. Although it's not a long book it certainly wasn't a fast read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Del Rey. The Book of Elsewhere will be published on July 23, 2024. And thank you to China Miéville and Keanu Reeves for their brilliant, intoxicating, impossible work.

While I enjoyed the actual writing, I don’t think this story transferred from the comic book to the novel pages with the heavily figurative language. It was dense and difficult to get invested in, which ultimately led to me DNFing. I hate DNFing ARCs out of respect for the authors and publishers, but I realized that my review wasn’t improving as I continued reading.

I picked this book solely for Keanu as I’ve never heard of China M. It was a tough read for me, very disjointed and strange. I tried several times to get into it and ultimately skimmed the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

There’s an interesting premise here, but the execution isn’t my favorite. Overall, I found the book a bit boring and the overall story a mess. I liked the prose and thought there was potential, but this book feels like it tries too hard to be abstract and quasi-intelligent, alienating readers in the process. I think with a bit more time in the oven, this novel could have been a gem.

The Book to Elsewhere is a new book to me for both authors. I admit I requested it because I was curios despite many meh reviews. I do want to say I go into each book regardless of other reviews with a let’s see attitude and I don’t pass on a book simply because it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. This had a great premise and I was excited to see what the story had to share with me and what would unfold.

With that all said I wanted to love this book it sounded right up my alley. Sadly the disjointed writing styles of each other was very jarring and didn’t flow well m. That made us difficult to immerse myself into the world. Despite that I persevered and went deeper feeling I would get used to it. Sadly the lack of flow and cohesiveness in the end did me in I can’t say I hated it . But I can’t say I loved it the story was confusing and inconsistent and I did not connect to the characters and plot despite my best efforts to get there. It’s an ok read if you like Mieville’s writings you may enjoy this his voice is distinct odd and a bit fascinating (not so much in this book but I can see the draw) as for Reeves being a first effort tried to bring it. I think in time he can get there with more work and possibly a different collaboration. Thank you both for giving me something to ponder even if I didn’t really quite get it!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an advance copy of this prose novelization of a comic book character who has been trapped in a cycle of violence for thousands of years, a cycle that seems to show no signs of stopping.

War and warriors who wage it have always been good fodder for stories, right from the very start of telling tales. People understood the uncertainty, the fear of the others. Especially those others who might be hungry and realize that farming takes to long. Better to go shopping where the food is, taking what is needed, leaving nothing behind. Most people probably knew people who had gone to war, once happy and full of life, after moody, violent, sad, changed. One could easily imagine a person long of life, who has fought war for thousands of years, for reasons lost even to himself. A person who wants only the peace that a final death can bring. The Book of Elsewhere is the novel debut of comic book BRZRKR, about a warrior who cannot die, written by the actor Keanu Reeves and famed science fiction writer China Miéville.

B has seen much in his long life. The first fights for caves, and for fire. Might cities rise to chase the skies, turned to powder and dust, forgotten by even history. B has forgotten more languages than linguists even think existed, and has seen the thousands of names he is known by written in everything from clay to text messages. B has died by rock to depleted uranium rounds, and yet B always comes back, always ready to fight again. B has found a group that might be able to grant him his dream. True death. However as they are private contractors with their own agenda, B has to do some work for them. And being this is the 21st century business in killing is very good. However things are not going to plan. People are trying to kill B, and for some reason certain mortals close to B are not dying like they are supposed to be. This concerns B, as B has pretty much seen everything this world can do. This enemy though is different. And life for B is about to get complicated.

A big, big book that builds on much of the comics developed and turned it up to 11. This is not a book with a celebrity's name on the cover, with the only writing being the star endorsing the big check from the publisher. One can see Reeves and Miéville working together, sharing ideas, with a bit of that's cool over and over. The story might be helped by reading the comics, but going in cold shouldn't be too hard for readers. This is not a story that goes A to B to C. This goes places the past, the human conscience, what humans can be. Time flows randomly here, and B might start in the future, suddenly he is sailing with ancient fisherman. This is a book that really should be read in a chair, with a notebook to write down some of the beautiful lines these two authors write. The story is almost secondary, the story is about the character, played by Keanu Reeves and how he reacts to suddenly being chased. Miéville really goes for it, mixing so many ideas, and ways of writing that make this bigger than a novel-tie-in-book. A one of a kind story.

This is a book that will take a bit to get into, but is really worth the effort. Finally a celebrity book that is actually good. It only took a thousand years of B's life to make it. Also fans of Miéville will enjoy this also.

3.5 stars

I knew this was going to be a wild ride.

As a fan of China's weird fiction, and a general sci fi and horror girlie, this was an instant add to the TBR and I was pretty thrilled to get an ARC. I had a look at some of the early reviews, and I knew going in that the book was polarising people and that lots of folk were struggling with the prose and narrative thread.

I think your enjoyment of this book is going to depend on what kind of reader you are and whether you’ve read Miéville before.

If you're a die-hard Keanu fan, hoping for a literary John Wick, you might find yourself sorely disappointed. This book is worlds away from a Lee Child or Tom Clancy, and while it is absolutely packed with action it’s also prone to philosophising and plays its cards very close to the chest.

Miéville devotees will recognise this penchant for pulling the rug out from beneath the reader. There’s a lot of anticlimax, plenty of bleak or grotesque descriptions, and a plethora of human weakness. China’s narrative style runs strongly throughout the book, even if it wasn't quite the same as his solo stuff. The writing is dry and utilitarian, which works for the story, but I did miss that playful, dark, Roald Dahl-for-grown-ups vibe I've come to adore.

Some parts did seem very heavy-handed or overwritten to me. Like, clanging us over the head with a cast iron frying pan heavy handed. And that phonetic French made me wince.

But, so much of the prose was perfectly honed – expedient, bleak, and pacey. Parts were beautiful – I’ve always enjoyed when China ponders the universe, and I enjoy that here too. I wondered how the authors would create depth and stakes for an immortal being, and I thought this was well managed – the passage with God-Son as an example was poignant and stirring. The writing style here really helps evoke the mental state of B/Unute - we knew what was coming, and it was not overly drawn out, but I still felt the sense of loss and disappointment.

So, the writing style for me was not an issue – I enjoyed it, and often found myself highlighting passages and thinking about the reasoning behind certain choices. However, there were some other issues in this book that have ultimately impacted my rating:

Mystery Solving

I enjoyed trying to piece together the puzzle surrounding Thakka, the Pig, and other enigmatic figures, and I found myself constantly wondering how these elements would fit into the larger narrative. However, as I eagerly anticipated the revelations, I couldn't help but feel a bit let down when some of the pieces didn't quite fall into place as satisfyingly as I'd hoped. Because I was in "mystery solve mode," I was paying close attention to how everything was coming together, and I found myself more acutely aware of the loose ends and anticlimactic reveals.

Miéville loves to disappoint his readers, it’s probably some kind of allegory about our capitalist nation or the patriarchy or something, but when he does it you always feel a very deliberate sting. Some elements of the plot here were literally just slapped down on the table like a dead fish – no deductions from the readers, no silly assumptions we had jumped to, just a random side-character we meet solely for her to deliver a monologue at her kitchen counter info-dumping all the back story needed for the final sequence. Woof.

The Pacing
For a good chunk of the book, we're just meandering through these side stories and flashbacks into Unute's past, which, don't get me wrong, are pretty interesting. Some of my favourite passages were flashbacks. But, they don't always feel super relevant to the main plot (I’m looking at you, wife lady) and while I enjoy these little detours, they're slowing down the overall momentum of the story – and we learn very little from them.

Then it's like the authors realized they only had 30 pages left to wrap everything up, and they just started throwing all these new plot points and revelations at us. It's kind of whiplash-inducing, to be honest. A lot of these developments come pretty much out of nowhere – no foreshadowing or breadcrumbs for mystery-solving-me to pick up on.

Ultimately, that left me with all these questions and feeling like the resolution is a bit unearned. Like, I want to know more about why certain things happened the way they did, and what the bigger implications are for the story and the characters, but the groundwork just wasn't laid out earlier in the book to make those revelations feel satisfying.

It’s going to be a movie

I read it’s going to be made into a movie and I guess that makes a lot more sense. Like if this book was ultimately written to be a movie script, then I see why things unfold so abruptly at the end and why we jump around so much in flashbacks and why there is such a lengthy side story about B being a shitty husband (everyone likes filming in Europe, right?).

So basically if you’re happy to go along for the ride, leave a bit unfulfilled, and forgive an overly generous editor then it’s a fun and engaging read and I recommend it. But if not then maybe just wait and watch the movie?

The Book of Elsewhere is a side project of the BRZRKR comics created by Keanu Reeves.
It tells the story of B, an immortal warrior.
I’ve read some of the BRZRKR comics and enjoyed them well enough. This book takes the story to pure prose.
I was interested in this book from the first moment I heard about it. After reading it, I can definitely say that I was not disappointed in it. Nor was I completely satisfied.
The writing by Mieville was top notch, as always. In reading it, the prose seemed more like a stylistic choice rather than straightforward. There was definitely some hopping going on. Not that that is a bad thing. It just made it hard to follow from time to time. I prefer a straight line in my reads rather than a twister that may (or may not) make sense by the end if the book.
Now that I’ve finished it, I may give it another try to see if it was just my excitement that caused the problem. Read it at a less excited pace. Or maybe try the audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this one just did not connect with me. I ended up DNFing at about 37%.

I was very excited to receive an early copy of this book and the cover and authors drew me in. However, upon reading the first chapter I realized I was in over my head and this specific genre doesn’t really resonate with me. The writing itself reminds me more of a screenplay than a novel. The action and descriptions felt removed and I didn’t find myself connecting with any of the characters. I DNF at 34%.

Thanks NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy!

Note: I received a free unpublished proof of this book, for a limited time, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.

This book contains a great deal of violence, blood, gore, sex, abuse, war, suicide, and other mature themes, hence I only recommend it to adults (18+).

When I saw there was a new China Mieville book to review, I had to request it on NetGalley, because while I still haven’t finished any of his books—my ability to actually sit down, pay attention, and finish books before library due dates has been compromised for the past three years, if only by other books—I love his writing style based on what I’ve read. I noticed that Keanu Reeves, that one actor guy from “The Matrix”, whose character in said film has been stuck in my mind for the past four months for some reason, co-wrote the book, but truthfully I had no idea that he even wrote things, and had no idea whether he even enjoyed reading books, so I didn’t really have any positive or negative expectations. (It’s not that I think performing artists aren’t “smart” or don’t know how to read, it’s that from what I know about the theater/film industry it is nigh-impossible for them to fit anything else around those brutal filming schedules, tech rehearsals, and random actor nonsense, so there is presumably not much time for reading.)

China Mieville, for the uninitiated, has written many acclaimed novels, most notably a few Hugo-nominated works including Embassytown, Perdido Street Station (followed by The Scar and Iron Council, also nominated), and The City & the City (one of two 2010 winners for Best Novel). His work is highly imaginative and descriptive, with all sorts of unique ideas from the linguistic structures of aliens to the biology of beings that can only be described as the product of steampunk/cyberpunk and body-horror character design. Mieville’s novels go beyond the quirky and whimsical, however, to make thought-provoking statements about people, society, politics, relationships, and other harder, chewier real-world stuff.

To put it another way: When I saw that the two people responsible for most of my random authorial sci-fi musings involving people with technological powers teamed up to write a book, I had to read the thing.

I didn’t think my request to review this would be accepted, if only because Random House is a massive publisher and I figured a lot of people would want to review this book. I realize that most copies of books by well-known authors are going to go to people who have written multiple reviews of similarly well-marketed titles for a large audience, and there are good reasons for this. But some way, somehow, I managed to get one.

Though The Book of Elsewhere is a continuation of an existing storyline from a comic series called “BRZRKR”, the entire book is readable by someone (like me) who has not read these comics. I suppose if you’ve read the comics, those might enhance your appreciation of the book, as I’m sure there are characters, events, settings, and other things in this book that were introduced in the comics, but that background knowledge isn’t essential to parse the story. The book tells a complete story on its own, and while I plan to read the comics because I’m interested in the characters and the world, I quite enjoyed the book on its own merits.

(Note: There is another book series with a similar title, the middle-grade series The Books of Elsewhere by Jacqueline West, that is completely unrelated to this book. This series is about a young girl and some magical paintings, and is considerably more family-friendly than the title I am reviewing here.)

The Book of Elsewhere tells the story of an immortal, demigod-esque character, usually referred to as B, who sometimes slips into a superpowered killing rage outside of his control. On the rare occasions he “dies”, he simply comes back again, quickly reborn into his original form. After thousands of years of this, B wants answers—why is he immortal? Why does he lose control and start killing people? Why does he sometimes disappear after his “deaths” and reappear somewhere else? More importantly, can he become mortal and thereby end the cycle? This is a relatively short book, so I will not go into much further detail on the plot.

The nonlinear narrative jumps between the central narrative taking place in the modern day, scenes from B’s (often distant) past in which he attempts to become mortal, and minor characters’ accounts of their encounters with B and other major characters over the years. I liked this structure as, while nonlinear structures are quite common nowadays, the approach taken here was unique and made the narrative feel more thoughtful and philosophical than a great deal of more traditional action-focused books on the market. The different sections are spaced nicely enough to give a good bit of time to each narrative beat, while automatically creating cliffhangers for the main story to build suspense, like a commercial break that’s filled by something you actually want to watch and not an overdramatic toy advertisement featuring a bunch of 10-year-olds in an underground Beyblade fight club.

The writing of the book felt a bit awkward at first as you’re dropped into the action with little context, but once you have enough information to get invested it’s remarkably readable and keeps you flipping the pages. The awkwardness is actually a plus as you want to fill in the blanks with more information, but the suspense isn’t overly forced. That is, it doesn’t feel like a book where you get dragged along for 200 pages just to find out the wine mom protagonist’s mysterious best friend killed her next-door neighbor so nobody would find out that the best friend was cheating on her husband with the wine mom’s fiance. Vivid, dripping, and visceral at times without being overly purple, the prose drags you into the story, taking you on a darkly-fascinating journey through time and space. While the work undeniably highlights Mieville and Reeves’ signature stylistic choices, there is a Douglas-Adams-meets-Clive-Barker vibe to the whole production that I really like.

Despite the characterization-light style typical of the genre, the characters are interesting and believable, and the authors balanced the exploration of characters’ thoughts and motives very well with the greater motive of moving the plot along. I could easily picture these people and places while I read and there was a great sense of atmosphere throughout, albeit a morose one, that piqued my morbid curiosity enough to keep me turning the pages. B is not a morally good character, per se, but he is neither glorified as some anti-heroic vigilante nor framed as a villain protagonist. He sometimes does things that we as the readers would agree with and sometimes does things that we very much wouldn’t. Amidst numerous popular franchises centred around the Good Guys and the Bad Guys, it was remarkably realistic to see a character who has obviously done a lot of bad things and a few good things, and who we can nevertheless get a bit invested in.

The action-based fighting scenes, a key hallmark of action-based fantasy, made sense and were easy to follow. This approach was refreshing in a genre where I often can’t keep up with who’s moving the sword where and how the armies are arranged on the platform on top of the building on the hill, next to the other building, next to the lake, west of the woods—I didn’t feel like I was playing a 90’s era text-adventure RPG. However, despite its rich descriptions, engaging atmosphere, and striking action sequences, the book did not fall into the fully-escapist tone of, say, early science fiction, pulp fantasy, or Andy Weir-type works. The narrative leaned heavily into philosophical and thematic ideas rather than remaining preoccupied with the violence and gore. This extra depth reassured me that Mieville has not descended into the sea of largely-forgettable modern space operas during his hiatus.

Mieville’s trademark twisted takes on history as it may have happened in a world similar, but not quite identical, to ours shine through despite the fact he’s writing in another author’s pre-existing universe. He never loses his narrative voice or the traits that make his work stand out creatively. B is clearly similar to multiple characters that Reeves is known for portraying, but he is nonetheless a unique character with his own backstory and motives. There really is a case to be made, I believe, for writing what you know and doing it well, and a work like this that nicely showcases the authors’ bread-and-butter tropes is infinitely more pleasurable than many authors’ weak attempts to write about cultures, historical periods, social dynamics, scientific ideas, or abstract concepts of which they clearly don’t possess more than a surface-level understanding. Originality, alas, is not everything, though there was certainly a good bit of that here as well for those looking for something classic in tone yet remarkably fresh.

Overall, I’d recommend this book to adult readers who are interested in comics, action literature, and high-stakes fantasy with a philosophical bent. I wouldn’t call it the best book I’ve read this year because that’s a tall order and that title usually goes to a purely standalone book or strong series opener, but The Book of Elsewhere is very good for what it is and I think that fans of the authors and the related comics will especially enjoy it.

Went into this with absolutely no knowledge...leaving with the same.

This totally missed the mark for me. I couldn't connect with it at all. It felt like it was written with the Obscure Dictionary close by. Felt almost unintelligible.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and Net Galley, and my review is being left freely.

Thank you to NetGalley, the authors, and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Impossible to truly describe, cerebral, dense, morose, meditative, and dark, The Book of Elsewhere almost requires a second, or even a third read to really "get it." It's very intelligent, deep sci-fi for a reflective audience. It's absolutely not for everyone, it's never going to be a crowd pleaser. Elsewhere is too surreal and weird to have broad appeal. It's a masterwork in literary devices; flashbacks, changes in POV and voice, nonlinear storytelling, foreshadowing, you name it it's here. B/Unute has been alive more or less as long as humanoids have existed, and rather than be an Anne Rice diary of immortals, its much more common to see the story through the eyes of people that have the (mis)fortune of interacting with B. Calling it "enjoyable" completely misses the point of this novel. It's a dreamy nightmare journal meditation on the nature of life and death with American military paint slapped over it. I can't talk about it enough, and I can't find the words to talk about it either. It's a fever dream about the history of the world and what it means to be a living thing. In the hands of the right reader, it's a dream come true.

This book is a bit like eating a fresh pineapple. It's very dense and at surface level hard to break through, and you may have to wash it with a little salt, but after that, it's very worth it. Reeves and Mieville's voices blend very well and I very much enjoyed learning about the world they crafted. Reeves' characters are interesting and I very much want to read more in this world.

The Book of Elsewhere is a prime example of the surreal nature of non-linear storytelling. I found myself thinking a lot about Samual Beckett's work while reading.

The Book of Elsewhere follows 'B', a man who can't be killed and has seen the rise and fall of many civilizations. But what happens when a deathless man craves death? Better yet, what happens when a spec ops group offers to help kill him in exchange for work on a mission to save one of their own?

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for giving me early access to #TheBookofElsewhere.

Just not for me... Finally DNF at about 38%.

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the advanced reader's copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early copy. Unfortunately, I can't say I enjoyed this book. It took me a 3rd of the book for me to figure out what was actually going on, and who this story was about. I probably would have caught on a little quicker if I had realized this was basically a novelization of Reeves' comic book series "BRZKR." At least I could've looked up what that was about to give me some clue about the book. Once I figured it out, though, there was still the slow pace and confusing writing style. This is a problem I've had with Mieville before, so I wasn't surprised. But, for a story about an immortal, unbeatable warrior, there was very little action. While I may check out the comic in the future, I won't be recommending this book.

The Book of Elsewhere introduces us to Unut, a legendary warrior who has witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations. Known simply as "B," he has an unusual wish: to die. But not death itself—just the ability to experience it.

The collaboration between authors Keanu Reeves and China Miéville weaves a complex narrative. B's immortality and quest for death are intertwined with the mysterious investigation conducted by the Black Ops Team. The sometimes intentionally vague writing style immerses the reader in the burden of eighty thousand years of existence.

While the character's timeline may remain elusive, the convoluted plot and occasional violence make this book an engaging read. If you appreciate unconventional storytelling and don't shy away from gore, The Book of Elsewhere awaits your exploration.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group.

There have always been whispers. Legends. The warrior who can not be killed. Who’s seen a thousand civilizations rise and fall. He has had many names: Unute, Child of Lightning, Death himself. These days, he’s known simply as “B.”

And he wants to be able to die.

In the present day, a U.S. black-ops group has promised him they can help with that. And all he needs to do is help them in return. But when an all-too-mortal soldier comes back to life, the impossible event ultimately points toward a force even more mysterious than B himself. One at least as strong. And one with a plan all its own.

That is the synopsis from the book. While it is technically accurate, I don't think it gives a realistic expectation of what you're about to read. There are chapters that feel irrelevant in the moment, and some still feel irrelevant now that I've finished the book. Some of the chapters feel like there might be a secret third author because the writing style seems to change with every flashback. You're going to get confused, but don't let that distract you. It's a weird book that gives a unique view of immortality. It deals with death and grief, love, and loneliness.. it was more emotional than I expected.
I really liked B, I liked all of the characters. I liked how the author flipped back and forth between the main plot and Bs memories as a way to slowly tie everything together. Overall, this book was enjoyable and thought-provoking. I haven't read any of the graphic novels Keanu wrote, and I wonder if reading them prior to this would have changed my opinion at all.
This book isn't going to be for everyone, but if you can handle weirdness, dont mind being confused, then this book might be for you!