Book notes - For the First Time, Again, by Sylvain Neuvel

RichardAbbott

This is one I gave up on when almost half way through. It says it's the third book in a trilogy and maybe it makes more sense if you'd read the previous two. In fact I nearly gave up several times before but seeing the rather feverish list of superlative accolades I thought I must be missing something, or else that at some point the book changed gear. If it does, I never reached that point. There's a vaguely von Daniken feel to the book in terms of alien astronauts impacting cultures here on Earth, but at least in the portion I read this is not developed enough to make a coherent story.

The writing style is quirky, and I think is supposed to reflect the thought patterns of a person who is both a pre-teen and a very old alien. It might work for some people, but to me it just came over as jerky and chaotic. There's no attempt at elegance or richness of prose. I really disliked it and found it just gimmicky: perhaps some people would find it more accessible.

Oddly (for a third book in a series) there seems little or no reference back to prior events. I'm assuming that the previous two books shed some light on what appears to be a age-old conflict between two alien races (or maybe factions within a single race?). But the mostly first person disjointed narrative disconnected me from any bigger picture. I presume, from occasional short sections, that there's an early series of events in the ancient near east, around the transition between the Late Bronze and Iron ages. This is a time period I'm very fond of, but I don't think the author was especially interested in writing about that period in a historical sense. These fragments felt like they were only a convenient placeholder for some preliminary events which - presumably - at some point would get joined up with the contemporary ones.

Who would like it? Well, I think that hypothetical person would have to be someone who had read the previous two books and still wanted more. It's not a book to start with. Nor, I think, is it a book for adult readers who are enthusiastic about SFF. Perhaps more YA in outlook? Or perhaps someone into console gaming, with its quickfire and rather superficial way of telling the story? I don't think it would appeal to anyone who reads or games in a more narrative style.

PS I just had another thought overnight... maybe it's trying to be a kind of superhero story? Certain of the characters have abilities and survive things far beyond normal human talents. Maybe Sylvain is trying to fuse multiple story types or genres into one? Or maybe isn't quite sure what kind of novel he's writing? Clearly this mashup of techniques works for some people but as mentioned yesterday, I just found it confusing and chaotic.

PPS I just looked him up and found Sylvain to be a Canadian man, whereas I'd been assuming a European woman! Not that that changes my feelings about the book, but it was fun to find that particular presupposition so far off base...