Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #217873 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 600 pages

The Guardian
'Duncan has gone all out to break the rules in a debut that is... brave, and occasionally brilliant.'

Dreamwatch
A Confident debut...a compelling alternative look at the world and its history

The Good Book Guide
prepare to be amazed..this is a truly monumental work which should set the standard for 21st century science fiction

Customer Reviews

An important work
Given the current state of fantasy literature, one can only admire the nerve to publish such an ambitious book as this. Spanning mythologies, crossing styles and dimensions, this isn't for the light-hearted, that's for sure. This is active reading at its most rewarding.

Breathtaking.
I'm reading the reviews, and can't believe that any would deem this work "lazy". In view of the incredibly disparate, but connected, storylines I consider that some considerable effort has gone in to make some semblance of narrative from this whorling dervish of dreams, nightmares, mundanities and mythologies.

This is one of those books which I picked up having no idea what to expect. If it is a space opera you're after, or a 'whoddunit' tale, all nicely rounded up at the end - if you want a book that will do all the work for you, then forget this.

If, on the other hand, you want to be challenged, if you want something to think over, to chew over in quieter moments, then this is for you. It is hard work, be in no doubt, but the rewards for that work are immense - because the author has clearly put a whole heap of work into making it so. The imagery invoked is stunning, the breadth of 'canvas' upon which it is writ is vast. Truly.

This book does not offer a simple story, one told with a beginning and an end buttoned up, and tied with bows ready for you open up and consume as a thing in and of itself. No chocoalte box this. No, this is a book one almost has to participate in, reach down into the depths of your own fears and desires in order to reach in and grab what is hidden within it. A book of ingredients and recipes, for you to make and take from it what you will, what you can or are willing to.

True art is completed by it's observer, and this work fulfills that, it is only truly completed by the mind of the reader. Lazy? No way. Crafted, intelligent, expansive and yet human. Laziness could not have accomplished what Hal Duncan has here.

I look forward to reading Ink, and would recommend this first "Book of all Hours" to anyone willing to take a journey with the author.

Absurdly original and executed to perfection.
I found this book simply wonderful. Amazingly vivid, pefectly written and with a profoundly intricate and wide ranging plot. I have never read another book like this, except Ink of course. The first read through was a little rough, because I wasn't expecting the non-linear narrative, and how Hal Duncan moves between different times, places and realities in the space of a paragraph. But on the second read through I found loads of little details that escaped me the first time. It still sends shivers down my spine when I read it (for instance, the part where Jack Carter enters the Kur), and the interrogation of Seamus Finnan and the revealing of his archetype (I won't spoil it but...wow). Anyway put simply this is my favourite book and I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind and a taste for any genre ranging from myth, high fantasy, realism and a bit of cyberpunk thrown into the mix. In short, a classic.