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jelundberg's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant and startling debut novel of 3-D time. Set in the past, present and future (sometimes all at once), Duncan has created a mythology of mythologies, conflating stories of the gods from many cultures (but especially the old ones), weaving the stories together until the connections between them are illuminated like Heavenly fire. Smart, maddening, and intricate. One of the most original books I've read in recent memory.
shane_tiernan's review
3.0
I'm not sure what I thought this was going to be like but it wasn't like that at all. It's experimental and I don't mind that. The problem is the length. If you're going to write in a style that's completely non-linear, where characters have multiple names and exist in multiple dimensions/continuums as sometimes completely different people - then it shouldn't be 460 pages long. It just got to be a little much.
There were definitely tons of cool ideas and great visuals but really a whole nother book could have been written about this book just interpreting what happened and what certain passages meant.
I really like the overlaying of myths over the characters in the story and their situations. Very cool stuff. Just a little more coherence would have made this a four or five star book. Instead after about 300 pages I pretty much knew there was going to be no closure, it wasn't going to suddenly make sense at the end. I was right. There wasn't and it didn't.
There were definitely tons of cool ideas and great visuals but really a whole nother book could have been written about this book just interpreting what happened and what certain passages meant.
I really like the overlaying of myths over the characters in the story and their situations. Very cool stuff. Just a little more coherence would have made this a four or five star book. Instead after about 300 pages I pretty much knew there was going to be no closure, it wasn't going to suddenly make sense at the end. I was right. There wasn't and it didn't.
miikka's review against another edition
1.0
This book does this weird stylistic trick, where the story is told simultaneously in different settings through the ages. At first I thought it was cool, but soon it became confusing and annoying. Go ahead and try reading it, if it piques your interest, but if it starts to annoy you, do not hesitate to abandon this book. It won't get better.
ornithopter1's review against another edition
1.0
The.. most.. exhausting.. book. The novel presents a small number of archetypes (the word 'characters' wouldn't be appropriate) who repeat somewhat analogous actions in different incarnations: for example, a Sumerian goddess might create a statue to act as her idol in an ancient temple and a modern-day biker chick might create an A.I. within cyberspace to act as her avatar. Each little vignette may give you a sliver of information you didn't have before, summing (supposedly) to a composite tale. However, sometimes the pieces contradict, sometimes characters merge, or become different characters entirely to who you thought they were. It was a mess. Just when you think you've built a picture of what's going on, the story moves on, the tide comes in and washes it all away. I kept hoping the story fragments would coalesce into something comprehensible but it never quite happened.
The writing is very fine, Hal Duncan has a stylish cast to his sentences. The imagery is particularly vivid in the sole linear subplot - that of a lone man trekking through eternity in search of an answer - those linear sections had the effect of reviving me between the arduous incoherence of the rest of the book. Its sad to think, given how I liked the language, that I really tried to persevere and actively WANTED to like this book, yet it wouldn't let me. Sadly the relentless, exhausting, frustrating, obfuscatory fracturing of both plot and character leaves you completely hollow. I reached the point, where I felt daunted every time I thought about picking the book up again. In the end I simply gave up at the halfway mark!
I doubt I'll ever return to this one to finish the job. Despite the fine language its a truly awful novel.
The writing is very fine, Hal Duncan has a stylish cast to his sentences. The imagery is particularly vivid in the sole linear subplot - that of a lone man trekking through eternity in search of an answer - those linear sections had the effect of reviving me between the arduous incoherence of the rest of the book. Its sad to think, given how I liked the language, that I really tried to persevere and actively WANTED to like this book, yet it wouldn't let me. Sadly the relentless, exhausting, frustrating, obfuscatory fracturing of both plot and character leaves you completely hollow. I reached the point, where I felt daunted every time I thought about picking the book up again. In the end I simply gave up at the halfway mark!
I doubt I'll ever return to this one to finish the job. Despite the fine language its a truly awful novel.
senqin's review
3.0
★★★
One of those books where you somehow both love and hate it at the same time. I liked the concepts, the experimental structure of the narrative, and the sheer scope of the story that was being told. There were also some truly brilliant moments in Vellum especially in the first half. However, the author has this tendency to...ramble? It's clear that he is incredibly skilled with language and wordplay in particular, but for the life of me I just could not keep my eyes from glazing over by the middle of every single chapter. I am still super interested in Hal Duncan's short story collections though because he really is an incredible writer with some truly unique ideas.
One of those books where you somehow both love and hate it at the same time. I liked the concepts, the experimental structure of the narrative, and the sheer scope of the story that was being told. There were also some truly brilliant moments in Vellum especially in the first half. However, the author has this tendency to...ramble? It's clear that he is incredibly skilled with language and wordplay in particular, but for the life of me I just could not keep my eyes from glazing over by the middle of every single chapter. I am still super interested in Hal Duncan's short story collections though because he really is an incredible writer with some truly unique ideas.
jsimpson's review
3.0
I don't have too much to add from what the reviewers have already said on this. I read this a few months ago, and did thoroughly enjoy and appreciate it, especially seeing as how it was Hal Duncan's first novel. I think, however, that he was a bit ambitious in scope, bit off more than he could chew. There's like 5 plots going on, winding through a myriad of alternate universes, which makes for a rather disorienting read. It was hard work at time, but i stuck through, mainly because i am obsessed with the topics Duncan was writing about. Angels, Qaballah, the nature of reality, ancient Babylon (kind of a neat take on the Ishtar myth, in there), archetypes, mixed in with some futuristic Sci-Fi stuff. An ambitious project, and he succeeded rather admirably. I also found out about some other really cool Fabulist writers via Hal Duncan, namely Jeff VanDermeer and Italo Calvino, both of whom i would recommend and i will review more later, as the time becomes available. I recommend this read for fans of weirdo speculative fiction/fantasy/horror, for fans of ambitious experimental art and would rather see someone take risks than to play it safe.
donnatart's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
zeezeemama11's review
2.0
First off, yes i struggled through this book and yes i finished it. When i test out authors i usually suffer threw a few of their books before i make a decision - this one i'm good after one. Too much time jumping. The characters are intriguing and barable. But you never get into the book cause almost every other paragraph your taken to some other point in time. Wonderful idea but very badly done. Choppy at best, I would not recommend this book to anyone with out a bottle of advil to go alone with it. To fully understand everything in this book at best you would have to read it two times, and once was too much for me. The only reason i rated this book at all is because i liked his orginal ideas concerning his character.