Dylan Palmer

One of the astonishing pieces of literature that I have come across. It's scale and scope matches a science fiction novel while it's writing contests with the greatest of writers. At times I plodded but then strode through this novel of vivid and dark imaginings and I'm left thinking 'what have i just read?', or is that too shallow of a question.

Bolano is special, his writing pure. It's a tragedy that his talent and life was taken before this was released, particularly as I would have loved to see how he would have wanted this to be printed- in separate parts or as one connected novel? Each part smoothly negotiated with eachother, leaving new crumbs of knowledge littered throughout which became staggering to piece together.

My only qualm is the last part, part 5. The writing was immaculate and the story fantastic, but the complete tonal shift from part 4 where murder was bleak threatened to nearly capsize my growing love for this work. Nevertheless, the last 20 pages saved this for me, but did it feel a little too late? I'm unsure.

Regardless of this, I'm glad I got to appreciate these stories and to read a master at work in Bolano, what a mysterious legacy to leave.

Is this a 3 and a 1/2 or a 4? Unsure.

Brilliant read. At times it truly felt as if the cornerstones of modern sci-fi were all here. Wanted to keep going on and on which made the ending seem slightly forced upon? Of course there are sequels but still imagine what explorations could have been made further.

Bbrilliant book. The ideas and follow through with it are pretty staggering. The blend of SF and History was brilliant to see and it allowed the word to become lived in, even if it was only devoted to particular aspects of Chinese/international communities. However, the dialogue at times can feel clunky and the science, particularly towards the last 50 pages became quite unrelenting and hard to track.

Nevertheless, highly recommend!

Brutal.