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A review by moon_daisy
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
You should know, going in to this book, that it takes a sort of "found footage" approach in that the whole story is presented in a series of "documents". Most of these are interviews between an unnamed character and various others.
This is definitely an interesting way to do it. However, I would have liked to see more diary entries, of which there are very few, or even more first-person passages like at the very beginning. The interview format means most of the book is entirely dialogue, which makes it very hard to see the characters introspections or private opinions, or feelings, and feels a little "tell and don't show". (Mostly) everything we hear about has already happened. Anticipated events come and go without all that much build up. It's hard to build attachment to characters in this way, and it's even hard to be compelled by the mysterious discoveries/developments in the story.
I originally picked up the book because I really love this kind of story - sci-fi mixed with global conspiracy and making discoveries that may change the way we think about things. And this does deliver on that, even if I did wish there was more build up sometimes. There's a lot of interesting questions and ideas in here that make you think about them. And I'm aware there is a sequel which I need to check out, which may change how I see this book, I'm not sure.
This is definitely an interesting way to do it. However, I would have liked to see more diary entries, of which there are very few, or even more first-person passages like at the very beginning. The interview format means most of the book is entirely dialogue, which makes it very hard to see the characters introspections or private opinions, or feelings, and feels a little "tell and don't show". (Mostly) everything we hear about has already happened. Anticipated events come and go without all that much build up. It's hard to build attachment to characters in this way, and it's even hard to be compelled by the mysterious discoveries/developments in the story.
I originally picked up the book because I really love this kind of story - sci-fi mixed with global conspiracy and making discoveries that may change the way we think about things. And this does deliver on that, even if I did wish there was more build up sometimes. There's a lot of interesting questions and ideas in here that make you think about them. And I'm aware there is a sequel which I need to check out, which may change how I see this book, I'm not sure.