Little Gods

Meng Jin's debut novel, Little Gods, is such a gorgeously constructed story. It's built on a sturdy frame, decorated beautifully, but it will have some readers scratching their heads saying, but what is it? What does it mean? And that is to say that it is mysterious, clever, thought-provoking, and may leave you with several questions.

Su Lan is a brilliant physicist with an eye always to the future. Liya is gifted with language and searches for answers about her mother's past. That's all you need to know about this novel. It is the marriage of science and language, the meeting of past and future. And though this novel featured less hard science than I'd expected up until the final moments, it never ceased to be intelligent. Equally, the lush language and the perfectly joined story elements came together into a story was that altogether very moving.

Little Gods is a poetic and intellectual debut that may have a little trouble finding its audience. It's one for those who don't mind having to put some thought into their read, but who also hope to experience emotion. Personally, I'd recommend it to readers of Light from Other Stars and Asymmetry.

Thanks to HarperCollins for providing an advanced copy through Goodreads Giveaways.