The Spear Cuts Through Water
Ratings117
Average rating4.3
the entire book has some beautiful prose and a fascinating narrative structure and world. I loved everything about the book except for the main perspective, the longer you get to know the character the less consistent he seems, sometimes lacking depth, and other times seeming to have certain emotions or feelings solely to accentuate the more interesting characters of the novel.
In many ways it is a beautifully written book, yet I found it nigh unreadable. It was such a struggle for me to read that it took all enjoyment out of it.
I've read books before that I found hard to read or slow-placed that still managed to click sooner or later. That is what I hoped for the entire time I continued to struggle with this book. Unfortunately it never clicked for me.
It felt like a tale being told in excruciating detail by a quickly rotating cast of story tellers, while the other story tellers, or ‘random passers-by', would often interject to add their side of the story.
4.25🌟
A book that takes you on a journey, through its brilliant and unique prose.
The most striking part of this book is its innovative use of perspective and prose. It's unlike anything else I've read in terms of storytelling, and can take a bit of disorientation and re-reading to grasp how the story's being told- an investment well worth it in my opinion. The prose lent itself to creating a immersive and magical reading experience that left me feeling entangled with the characters and story.
The stories of established characters and the relationships they had with themselves, each other, and the overall world/society, I found very refreshing and unique. Unfortunately the rest of the story left me slightly uninterested. The book world-builds the entire novel, which I'm personally not very keen on. During the later parts of the novel I found myself growing bored of the ever expanding world, and cast of characters that felt flat.
I would recommend this book to anyone on the prose alone, and look forward to future books from Simon Jimenez.
+1 star for: the style of prose! the little sentences between the paragraphs hold so much weight i felt like i was on the edge of a gasp the whole time. i am like beyond speechless. i don't think ill ever read anything like this ever again!
+1 star for: THE BIRD REVEAL (specifically the riverside massacre???) and THE TORTOISE REVEAL!!! god i was mouth AGAPE in SHOCK at these parts. just so so so good.
+1 star for: jun and keema!! not only was the ensemble cast so full and well developed i felt like i was falling in love with this two boys as they fell for each other. absolutely masterful character development and the scene where their minds connect??? i was SCREAMING
+1 star for: the reveal of them entering the inverted theater??? i have never read anything with so much disbelief and shock. the way this story weaves in and out of its self whilst still remaining understandable is just so incredible.
+1 star for: “and so he lay down that night by the dying fire with little thought as to the inner workings of his body—the chemistry of bequeathment and inheritance that began as the acids of his stomach met the gnarled and potent flesh of a god” LIKE???? WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE???
This was such a good read! I originally was so confused and considered DNF'ing but so glad I pushed through. It's written from a very unique perspective that you're the main character watching a story told in a theater set up by God's, that you can only watch in a dream state. It's written from 2nd person perspective as watching the play about an event hundreds of years prior. It's such a beautiful love story between two male protagonists.
Look, I'd been thinking of leaving my book club because we'd just had a run of duds, and I hadn't really attached to anything they picked this year. But this? This is a book that I might have passed up that has become definitely in my top three books this year.
Someone in the club referred to it as a dream within a play within a myth, and that's the best I can describe it. The writing is fantastic, the mythology raw, and the romance subtle and beautiful. I love the chorus elements. I love the weave of the different narratives. I loved this book. It took me a long while to get through because it really required my whole attention to read which is a hard for me to do these days, but boy is it worth it.
If you're in need to trigger warnings, I'd take the ones on this book with a grain of salt. While they are all definitely true, the book is rarely graphic and only one scene actually disturbed me (looking at you, Second Terror).
This is confusing and random. Half the time I have no idea whats going on, who is speaking to whom, what it is about or why I am even reading this instead of a better book.
This story is absolutely an experience that I would highly suggest to anyone who enjoys Myths and old stories. The best way I could describe this book is an old lesser known myth come to life in one of the most tremendous formats I've ever seen in a book. The POV being told as a play to the main character watching the story take place in front of your eyes is SUCH an interesting component to the story. I wish that I had read the book and not listened to it (To no fault of the voice actor he does a phenomenal job with all voices and perspectives, I was rarely confused the time). In any case I would highly recommend this book to anyone, it was truly unique and an outstanding story, although it did have its slow points the last half of the book and the POV / format was well worth the experience.
This book almost pulled ‘The Hero of Ages' at me. I was screaming till I wasn't. Thank youuuuuu for not making me read the ending in a haze of tears!!! Anyway, this is the best book I've read in a while. The writing style, the story, the narrative style, the characters, they were all amazing. It's a bit confusing in the beginning but it pays off tenfold if you stick with it. The tortoise
This book was the August read for the Sword and Laser podcast. Set in what feels like ancient/mythical China, the bulk of the story follows two warriors who must free and return the Empress (who is also the moon) to her home. It is a story of battles and intrigue and the relationships between our warriors and the Empress. What makes this novel different is the story structure. While you are following the main story, you are also following the story of a magical theater which is showing a play of this story, and you are also in the personal life of one of the members of the audience in the play.
You know how some books are really easy and just fly by? Popcorn/beach reads? Yeah, this was not that. Which is not to say that the book was not good. It's just....thick. It took me a while to really get into the book, although once I was in I was invested. The prose is very pretty, and the unusual structure is a nice departure (although again requires a bit of concentration). I'm glad I read it, totally recommend it, just don't expect to fly through this one in a few days.
Epic fantasy following two warriors guarding the moon goddess as she tries to escape from her despotic grandsons after a life of emprisonnement. What a stunning book this was !! The writing was lush and evocative, with some great descriptions of a rich and original world peppered throughout the tale, with some dark and gorey elements added to it. The structure was truly inventive, reminiscent of a theatre play from ancient times, mixing 1st/2nd/3rd point of views in a tale that was inspired by oral tradition and folklore. Each character's thoughts were detailed in italics, giving it a Greek chorus feel to it. The characters were all compelling and complex. Themes of family, tradition, identity, legacy, storytelling, power were expertly woven into the story. A gorgeous and original novel, I'm looking forward to read more of Simon Jimenez's other books.
one of the most interesting books I've read in a long time - full of fascinating characters & gorgeous, painful, multi-faceted relationships
not really sure how to feel about this one! it is well written and the characters and their relationships are compelling, but also: it's confusing due to the switching POVs, and more graphic than I was expecting.
though the POV switching was often confusing, I did like how personal the short one-or-two sentence ones were. I just wish there was a better way to differentiate between Her thoughts, the others' thoughts, shared thoughts, etc.--they're all italicized! it might have worked better with small caps and/or bolding.
A really original and beautifully told story. The structure takes some getting used to but it's ultimately worth it.
A rounded up 3.5. This book is a mythical tale with a poetic flavor, highlighted by well-crafted moments of action. The prose is beautifully written, but the pacing is inconsistent. It swings wildly between engaging action and painfully slow sections. The last 5% of this was like pulling teeth.
Really enjoyed this multivoiced and imaginative fairytale. The execution is hugely original, the character work is believable, the action scene are gripping, and overall it's one of the best fantasy novels in years
(If you've played Skyrim you're going to recognise a major plot element though...)
This book was really good. The only problem I have with it is how long it took to understand the flow of the book. If not for that, I would give it 5 stars.
OK, this was a pretty great and engaging read but it's also really complex that I can't even think of how to write a review. Like even writing a review requires some mental bandwidth that I don't feel like I have at the moment.
So I'll just summarize my experience: I enjoyed it. This was fun and satisfying. It wasn't always the most pleasant read because some graphic, horrible things do happen in it (nothing too triggering for me thankfully), but overall it all seems to serve a purpose and comes together in a pretty cohesive whole. I'm due to read The Vanished Birds some time early next year and I look forward to it.
Beautiful, lyrical prose. Fascinating structure: story-within-story-within story (which comes together in the end), use of all persons (i.e. first, second, third), and stage-like asides for minor and major characters alike. Very interesting world (e.g. psychic turtles!). Compelling characters. The atmosphere is part epic folk tale, part dream. Somehow also a love story.
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator was great and gave the story so much life, but I found myself having to rewind periodically, especially in the beginning while I acclimated to the POV switching. In hindsight, I would have preferred reading it.