Genre: Science Fiction Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Tor (February 11, 2014)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy's Rating: 2 of 5 stars
Not for the first time, I wish I had a system in place for giving two ratings to a book: 1) An objective rating in which I give a book stars based on its own merits, uninfluenced by my personal feelings, and 2) A subjective rating which is based on how a book worked for me personally, or how well it meshed with my personal tastes. This is going to be a very tough review for me to write, simply because I've never read a book like this, where those two ratings could not be any more different, but I'm also glad I have the chance to explain why.
The
book begins with a young man named Cooper waking up in an unfamiliar
place to two strangers fussing over his sudden appearance, and the
answers he gets are decidedly not reassuring. Apparently, he is dead.
Contrary to what we know about death, when someone dies they merely wake
up as themselves somewhere else, appearing on one of a possible million universes where they will once again live out their lives and the whole
process repeats itself. That is, until you reach the end and wind up at
the City Unspoken, also known as the City of the Dead, because only on
this world a person can find true death.
This
is where Cooper wakes up. But he has also come at a very unsettling
time, where something seems to be preventing True Death from happening,
leading to widespread frustration and panic among the denizens of the
city. There are some who believe Cooper may be the solution to the
problem, as he is different. For one thing, he has a belly button. A
navel is really nothing but a scar left over from the attachment of the
umbilical cord, and because all are born only once but die many times,
waking up on new worlds with their bodies whole and unmarred, the fact
Cooper has one holds great significance. He may not be really dead.
And
from here on out, it gets even stranger. But hey, you'd be strange too if you were
Cooper, dragged across the metaverse by a goddess, kidnapped by
faeries, drugged by Cleopatra, engulfed by a machine-flesh creature, and
pursued by undead monsters and evil elf beings. I love it when I find a
unique book with very different, offbeat ideas, but The Waking Engine
treads into seriously bizarre territory. More bizarre than I could
handle, perhaps. It's the kind of book I can't tackle at night right
before bed, because I wake up in the morning and can't remember if I
actually dreamed or read these weird images. I tried really hard to
embrace the weirdness, but it soon became clear that I was in way over
my head.
And that's a real shame, too. It
almost breaks my heart to say I didn't like this one as much as I
thought I would. The ideas in this story are some of the most original
ones I've ever encountered in science fiction and fantasy, and the
characters are unconventional and diverse as well. Unfortunately, the
strangeness was a barrier for me, preventing me from appreciating all of
the positive aspects of this book to its fullness. It's difficult to
connect to a character, for instance, when instead I'm putting all my
effort into trying to make sense of everything that's happening. The
world is also wildly imaginative, which is another huge plus to this
book, but words cannot describe just how amazing and fantastical it is. I
mean that literally in this case; I get the sense from Edison's writing
that the environments he pictures in his mind are so vast and visionary
that they transcend mere language.
I wanted to
like The Waking Engine so much because objectively, it is a great book,
deftly and beautifully written with ground breaking ideas, interesting
characters, and incredible world building. But I have to be honest, it
was just not my style. There's lots to love about this book, but it just
has to find its intended audience, which unfortunately is not me. On
the other hand, I think fans of "un-reality" or the metaphysical or more
abstract elements in their speculative fiction will be very well
pleased with this one. Give it a shot if that's the type of stories you
like, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
A review copy of this book
was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Tor Books!
