Niels Saunders

I received an Early Review copy of this book.
A snow monkey and a cat Saru and Neko -two of the most engaging protagonists I've met in a while Every one of Mr. Saunders' characters has a life of their own, however;I cared about each.
Valley of Orchids had me immediately, opening with a haiku. In a setting of mythic Japan populated with mythic characters, Saunders weaves a well-crafted tale of growth and discovery
Hopefully, the second book at least meets the same level. I look forward to continuing rge journey.

'“Neko is my name. And just like you, there’s only one of me. It’s a
long and lonely life, but beautiful at times. There’s no real name for
what we are, but humans, ever grandiloquent, have been known to
call us gods. Not the ethereal spirits of the land the priests venerate,
but living breathing gods, misunderstood but true. In my wandering,
I’ve met others. A crow, a turtle and rat—to name but a few. It’s
possible you’re the last. I haven’t met a newborn in over fifty years.”
She licked her paw and washed her face. “Now tell me, snow
monkey. Do you have a name?”
Saru started writing with his paw in the dirt.'… (mehr)

There is one thing that we are promised in life if you live long enough to be employed -- a boss you loathe. Dennis is the uber awful boss. He uses humiliation and intimidation as his sole management skill set. He insists on absolute fidelity to incomprehensible rules. And excruciatingly, his personality drips with the poison of equal-opportunity hatred. He despises them all.

Mervyn, is the employee we all wish we could have been. He despises Dennis so much that he doesn't even try to hide it. His rudeness backfires though and convinces Dennis that Mervyn's overtures to his coworkers is an elaborate ruse to hide his own spit-flecked, rabid tirades. Mervyn's new colleagues greet him with frigid distance. He is so hopelessly unqualified for the job of video game software tester that the other employees, most of whom have slaved in hellish conditions just for the opportunity to test games, resent.

Eventually the coworkers warm a bit after Mervyn befriends one of the employees particularly repugnant to the hated boss.The relationship with his boss remains complicated. Mervyn repeatedly expresses contempt to his hypochondriac, panphobic boss and yet Dennis continues to play paramour to his imagined protege.

In the real world i.e. not the office, Mervyn is a frustrated author and pushes himself mercilessly to complete his third unpublished and likely unread novel. The software testing is just a day job. However the continued harassment from his boss pushes enough buttons that a final showdown with Dennis becomes an attractive option.Through a complicated series of events Mervyn finds himself living with the literal contents of a bar. A party is the obvious solution to his problems with his caricature of a boss, his desired love interest and his much-needed floorspace.

The party includes Dennis' boss who enlivens all gatherings with white powdered mountains dumped on the nearest mirror. Yes, this party sports a commercial enterprise of free booze a pharmacy's worth Columbia and Afghanistan's finest and a hate spewing boss whose taste in music would bore a Lawrence Welk audience.

The "you-can't-make-this-stuff-up" feeling in the novel continues. Honest, I haven't revealed anything that will make the book feel like an also-read.

I realize that a book with all this happening can sound like a joke setup at macro length. In order to get some perspective I took several days after finishing the book to write this review to see if my opinion changed. It hasn't. It was fun and funny and oddly heartwarming. I know, I can't believe it either.


I received a free copy of this book from ReviewSt in return for an honest review.… (mehr)