I went into this book completely blind - at the time I had not even read a blurb. But the combination of authors intrigued me and the writing style pulled me in immediately. B, the immortal warrior, wanting the ability to die (but not death), the black ops team "helping" him in order to carry out their own research, and the strange events that follow them, all combined into a story that was confusing at times but still interesting. While the format took some getting used to and I never did have every character and timeline clear in my mind, it felt intentionally blurry. As if that helped to give the reader a sense of what living eighty thousand years might feel like. Recommended for readers that appreciate mind-bending and do not mind violence/gore (military + Berserker)

Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for my review copy.

I wanted to read something different, not just a break from my usual genre but truly something unique...well, The Book of Elsewhere definitely fits that request. An immortal wanting mortality, a clandestine government team who are willing to help, with motives of their own and a pig-deer are the characters in a story that I'm not sure that I completely understand or am even meant to understand. Reading this felt a bit like looking at hypnotic circles, it kind of twists my head but I can't look away.. I don't know if this is indicative of China Miéville's style since I have had Perdido Street Station on my "To Read" list for a while now, but for me this story was definitely different from anything I've read before. I'd suggest it for anyone looking for a one-of-a-kind sci-fi singularity or anyone curious what a collaboration between the two authors would produce.
I received advanced digital access to this book thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.

B. An enigma. A myth. He who cannot die. But he wishes to have that ability.

And a black ops part of the U.S. government says they will help him do that in exchange for his assistance with certain tasks and experiments. But then there’s a dead soldier who comes back to life. Could there be another with powers similar to B?

I’ve read and enjoyed China Mieville before, so, in this case, adding Keanu Reeves to the mix was not an improvement. Not to say that it was a bad book, it wasn’t, and I quite enjoyed some aspects of it (glimpses of what B’s life span really entailed, the characters of Diana and Keever), but it he villains were a bit too comic bookish for my taste and I’m not entirely sure I understood everything that happened in the final fifteen pages of the book.

Anyway, if it seems like it would appeal to you, give it a try.