Ade Grant

I'll start by saying that this is an incredible book. Really I should just be able to say that and people will read it :-) Where to start? Well the story is of the Mariner, lost at sea in a world that has fractured into islands seperated by a vast ocean. The Mariner himself is not a nice character, in fact he indulges in terrible acts and fantasy's, but he's on a quest.

The journey he takes is fascinating and while I kind of figured what was going on it still kept me guessing to the end. The writing itself is superb, it really captures the confusion and perversion of the world the Mariner finds himself in.

On the note about perversion be warned this book does contain some extreme sex scenes, some of a violent nature. On the face of it the story is one of pysocho-sexual fantasy (not a good kind of fantasy), but lurking in the words is something a bit more profound.

As well as the Mariner there is a number of secondary charcters who all fit into the story nicely and provide a greater understanding of the world. The Tasmanian Devils are wonderful and add a bit of needed humour to often bleak world.

The conceit used is one I have encountered only once before, but it is presented much better in this book than my previous encounter (I won't reveal the exact nature as that would spoil the book!). Suffice to say that some thinking has gone on in how the story has been layered together.

As I said at the beginning this is an amazing book.… (mehr)