The Book of Elsewhere: A Novel

3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars | 1,043 ratings

Price: 19.69

Last update: 12-24-2024


About this item

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An “action-packed [and] profoundly stylish” (Los Angeles Times) epic from Keanu Reeves and China Miéville, unlike anything these two genre-bending pioneers have created before, inspired by the world of the BRZRKR comic books

She said, We needed a tool. So I asked the gods.

There have always been whispers. Legends. The warrior who cannot 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.

In a collaboration that combines Miéville’s singular style and creativity with Reeves’s haunting and soul-stirring narrative, these two inimitable artists have created something utterly unique, sure to delight existing fans and to create scores of new ones.


Top reviews from the United States

  • michael anschel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and thought provoking
    Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2024
    The book is well written. It is engaging and draws you into the characters and story quickly. The pace of storytelling is nearly perfect, and the shifts between time and place are handled with skill. It's a fun read that is also thought provoking. You'll wish there were another 100 pages.
  • Debra Omiatek,MD
    4.0 out of 5 stars Deathless or Immortal
    Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2024
    The Book of Elsewhere is actually quite good. The novel is long and detailed. Unute or B is struggling to understand his real purpose. He is part of a covert military operation trying to develop materials to prevent the death of soldiers or bring them back. Unute is centuries old, he is either immortal or deathless. He can die but is reborn shortly. The storyline is intricate, there is tremendous history intermingled to explain the characters and the origins. Cults and religions are invested in the fight of life and death. The supernatural aspect of lightning instilling life or permitting resurrection is intriguing, it calls to mind Frankenstein. The use of Unute or B as a weapon was expected. The story is long and intense, but a good read.
  • Larisaandshen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Fiction is a Win
    Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2024
    I found this an enjoyable read, and nice that it has its own strength and own voice; you do not need to know anything about the comic books to follow the story, however I'm alittle bit perplexed by the run-on sentences throughout. Characters take awhile to get to know, and some are just emotionless and detatched, almost borderline. Flows nicely, totally impressed by the nicely descriptive chaos of some "scenes". More horror and standard fiction than sci-fi or fantasy in my opinion. It reminds me of Jean Claude from the Anita Blake series by Laurell k. Hamilton, although B is not a vampire (he is immortal however). It took me 10 days to read. I agree that there's a need for a dictionary when you read it. The only characters that have a real substance is the characters of B, and Diana. I find this book emotionally blunt for the most part. Left wondering about the lack luster psychiatrist.
    Customer image
    Larisaandshen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Fiction is a Win
    Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2024
    I found this an enjoyable read, and nice that it has its own strength and own voice; you do not need to know anything about the comic books to follow the story, however I'm alittle bit perplexed by the run-on sentences throughout. Characters take awhile to get to know, and some are just emotionless and detatched, almost borderline. Flows nicely, totally impressed by the nicely descriptive chaos of some "scenes". More horror and standard fiction than sci-fi or fantasy in my opinion. It reminds me of Jean Claude from the Anita Blake series by Laurell k. Hamilton, although B is not a vampire (he is immortal however). It took me 10 days to read. I agree that there's a need for a dictionary when you read it. The only characters that have a real substance is the characters of B, and Diana. I find this book emotionally blunt for the most part. Left wondering about the lack luster psychiatrist.
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    Customer image
  • D.Lavin
    3.0 out of 5 stars Left wanting more.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2024
    Overall I enjoyed the book. The story was great and inspired great imagination.
    However, the writing. I was worried to begin with because I have encountered China's writing before and did not enjoy it. Just like in Perdito Street Station it's word soup.
    Two other things really did it in for me. The first being that I found it a bit hard to feel invested in any character beyond B. This may have been intentional. The authors might have been trying to emphasize how "mortal" were fleeting to someone as long lived as B, and as such hard to invest in. Though the story itself would dictate otherwise.
    My biggest gripe is that the story was often difficult to follow, and left far more questions than it gave answers. Perhaps their is a plan for a sequel, but it feels as though the story stops where it should have only paused for breath.
    I really wanted to like this book. I may take a look at the BRZRKR comics by Reeves to see if they can fill the gaps for me.
  • bluegreensamurai
    5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic black-ops mystery-thriller
    Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2024
    A very good book. Because I am no poet I describe this novel as a black-ops thriller-mystery mixed with the supernatural. Period-pieces in the form of vignettes add a larger historical drama.

    Mieville shines here, not only with his style and vocabulary (I had to look up words in the dictionary), but he takes the trope of an immortal man into really cool speculative fiction: having sex with lightning was probably a metaphor but the crazed immortal pig was literal... Death and gruesomeness abound so weak-stomached readers should be wary, but interestingly much of the violence happens off-page (and on that note, Mieville is very good at describing action scenes - writers take note).

    While "The Book of Elsewhere" may be my least favorite of Mieville's novels, it is still a great read (which tells you how much I appreciate this author). I read it straight-through.
  • jhbandcats
    4.0 out of 5 stars Really dense writing
    Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2024
    This book was really dense. Sometimes I would read a sentence or a paragraph two or three times before I understood what it was saying. I think I would have liked this more had I read the BRZRKR comics. I spent a lot of time in the first half trying to figure out who was who, when was when, and what was going on.

    I wasn’t bothered that the book was told in several tenses, mostly second and third person. However, as the story takes place in different time periods, after each change it took a while till I knew where I was and who the characters were. I found the contemporary timeline more interesting, maybe because I like spy / mystery tales.

    There’s good depth of character where Unute is just tired, tired of all the death, tired of all the repetition of life. Despite his being an agent of horrific destruction, he’s actually a sympathetic character.

    Supposedly the comics are being made into a movie starring, of course, Keanu Reeves. I confess that throughout I pictured him as Unute, even hearing the dialogue in my head in Keanu’s voice.

    I’m not sure this book would appeal to a general audience. It’s pretty abstruse, and the violence might be a dealbreaker for some readers.
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Science Fiction
    Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2024
    Well thought out story, great language, and history. Interesting characters. Lots of the Occult. Great message to end the book.
  • trevasaurus wrecks
    4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, good story, but could be more engaging.
    Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2024
    I wanted to love this, but I just like it. Would be great as a movie, but is just good for a novel. Could use some better flow.

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