Book Review: The Book of Elsewhere

One of my goals this year is to keep track of what I read. Whether I enjoy the book or not, I'll post a blurb and brief review. Most will be speculative fiction in some form—genres I gravitate toward in my own writing. Today, it's the collaborative effort of Keanu Reeves (who had the idea) and China Mieville (who did all the writing), The Book of Elsewhere:

There have always been whispers. Legends. The warrior who cannot be killed. Who’s seen a thousand civilizations rise and fall. He has had many names: Unute, Child of Lightning, Death himself. These days, he’s known simply as “B.” And he wants to be able to die. In the present day, a U.S. black-ops group has promised him they can help with that. And all he needs to do is help them in return. But when an all-too-mortal soldier comes back to life, the impossible event ultimately points toward a force even more mysterious than B himself. One at least as strong. And one with a plan all its own.

I've read every novel that China Mieville has written. This one is unique. Equally experimental, but with a lot more pulp. Which is to be expected, since it's based on the BRZRKR comics developed by Keanu Reeves. 80,000-year-old killing machine / anti-hero + top-secret military group + vengeful babirusa + time jumps, narrative shifts & chaotic violence = better than I thought it would be, based on all the negative reviews I've seen. Yet I still found it lacking, even though there's really too much story here for one book. 

Unfortunately, the overarching present-day plot is not nearly as engrossing (or as well-written) as the flashbacks (the opposite problem Bannerless had), and some of the backstory could have been fleshed out in a series of novels with characters as riveting as Unute and the pig. I did appreciate the ending and the inventiveness, as well as Mieville's ability to make a ridiculous story serious. (Otherwise, it might've been confused with the Chronicles of AGROTHARN.) 3 out of 5 stars.