Saturday 20 February 2016

Sleeping Giants

28587880

Book Title: Sleeping Giants
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Series: Themis Files #1
Date Started: February 15th 2016
Date Completed: February 20th 2016
Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery
Quality Rating: Five Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Star
Final Rating: Five stars
Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

Sleeping Giants was a really engrossing and interesting read. I kept thinking as I was reading it how I was going to review it because it's really hard to pin down exactly how its all put together - I just know that it was so, so good. It creeps up on you a little bit, as I'm sure it's meant to, and suddenly you're completely lost in this crazy little conspiracy just as it starts to get out of hand.

I'm not usually a fan of using interviews and mission logs to tell stories, mainly because everything becomes bland and without description and it can be very hard to piece together what's actually happening. But there's a first time for everything, and Neuvel impressed me not only with the ease at which he built a tangible story despite the reader only really seeing things from one perspective, but also through his characterisation of people who are usually overlooked. Which brings me onto The Interviewer (I honestly have no idea what else to call him). I'll talk a bit more in my character section, but the real star of the show in this book is The Interviewer, and we don't even realise until everything's gone too far to turn back. It's almost like, as a reader, I wanted to be one step ahead of him, and try to work out what he was doing, but every time I tried, he came back with something new again. For a faceless, nameless, initially 'unimportant' character, he sure is devious.
Neuvel also uses quite a bit of science-talk, but I actually found it understandable, and it's not an exaggeration to say science is not my strong point. Admittedly, when you're talking about a mythological force unlike anything anyone's ever encountered there's some room to make some outlandish but believable explanations, but nothing stood out as outrageous or out-of-place.

Sleeping Giants caught me off guard a few times with its twists and drama. Most of the time I was too busy trying to work out what was going on with the mission that suddenly a huge, compromising situation with the characters (who are just as important - if not more - to the book) came as a surprise. But then it was always just gone, its effects undoubtedly still hovering in the air and messing up whatever smooth plan was originally in place, but the story kept moving and time kept passing. While I would have liked to soak in some of the effects a little more, it did a really good job of replicating what working on a project like this would be: you have to keep working, no matter what.
I think the management of the variety of nations, locations and people was good as well. It never felt like Neuvel was taking on too much for himself and everyone had a part to play - something that often annoys me with books that try to take in stories that affect the whole world is that they'll just throw the odd mention of another country in just to prove it's more dramatic than a few individuals, but often it doesn't fit or is done messily etc. Sleeping Giants tied in just enough to make the situation feel real, but not too many that it felt like name-dropping. I also think when it came to certain issues with other countries that The Interviewer played an interesting role: he's not particularly morally grounded, but he often has a very good point when it comes to making deals between nations and collateral damage.

While the characters in this book are definitely detached from the reader because of the style of writing, I still rooted for them regardless. I think inevitably you project onto The Interviewer, since that's the nameless character that comes face-to-face with these people while in a way you never do, but by the time you get to the end it feels like The Interviewer has turned the tables because now they have their own story to tell - well, hint at.
He starts off as a very passive character, but The Interviewer almost becomes the heart and soul of what's going on. The people he interviews realise it eventually, and start trying to turn questions back at him, and learn more to have power over him, but by this point his 'micro-managing' is so adept no one can really take it away from him. But at the same time he does seem to care. Of all the people included in this book, I'm still left trying to work him out.

The pacing is handled very well - especially considering the most we're given is speech between two people at a time. But I never really felt myself getting bored and there was never too much unnecessary rambling added in for the sake of it (sure there's some rambling here and there but it's part of the characterisation of individuals). In fact I read this book in a few sittings because every 'chapter' ended with its own little enigma, which led to the next mystery, to the next and the next and the next and I just wanted to figure it out.

I always say I hate drawing comparisons (and I really do) but to sum it up pretty quickly, Sleeping Giants like The Martian for fantasy lovers; that same level of uncertainty, science-talk, and improvisation from the characters, but a little closer to fantasy and ancient mythology. The little dance the various governments and individual characters are performing feels like a game, so if you like to engage with books by trying to stay one step ahead this should be fun - good luck besting The Interviewer.

Image Source - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28587880-sleeping-giants

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