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. Here's the blurb:

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.