Rakesfall

Having been very impressed with "The Saint of Bright Doors," I was certainly very interested in Chandrasekera's next work. When I first saw the blurbs for "Rakesfall," my initial thought was that this was either going to be very good, or something that I was just going to bounce off. Once I actually got my hands on the book, and was slowly paging through it, I noticed that a considerable portion of this novel had been published in bits and pieces going back to 2016; my thought then became, oh boy, the dreaded "trunk novel." Now that I've finished it my report is that while there is considerable evidence of the author's dry wit and excellent word crafting, this book reads like a cross between scripture and chronicle and never really show more engaged me emotionally; too bad, better luck next time. show less

I struggled with many parts of this book. It was not an ideal audio read in some ways because of the lyrical sections, but the narrator was a good that she also helped me understand. I wanted less abstraction and more grounded story, but I know that's my preference usually. I also know I missed some things because I didn't know the references/myths/history. The beginning was slippery, and the Lamb and Bird sections--most of the Emby stuff--floated away from me. But the stories like the Hero and the Wasp, and the section on Sri Lanka after the war were captivating. The ending as well.

Annelid and Leveret (sometimes their names) reincarnate over the ages, starting (?) with a Sri Lankan civil war. They move through bodies both human and mechanical, chasing each other and looking for answers. It was too dreamy and disconnected for me, though that may also come from my lack of familiarity with the philosophy behind reincarnation combined with my disinterest in extended sequences where skins are removed (painlessly, possibly metaphorically) and skinless people walk around doing things.

i was disappointed in this one, although i liked his last book very much. to me it needed a couple more editing passes, but also the main writing styles clashed, and too much of the narrative was dry and overblown. too bad, as the thrust of the book's ideas appeared to be quite interesting. i will still buy his next book gladly, but i think this one represents an interesting failure.

too weird for me, I couldn't focus enough to follow what was going on so gave up early. Maybe I should have read his earlier book first, might try again after I get to that one.

DNF

This is a case of the writing style/story just isn’t for me.
I felt utterly confused and could not get into it.

A wild ride. Very inventive.