Authority

I imagine literature teachers would love this book. And as a former lit kid, I loved it too. I can picture me and my old classmates (a class of only 5 kids) picking this apart and having so much fun with it.

As Luen said, there's not a single wasted word in the novel. The selection of each word, the construction of the passages is absolutely brilliant. There are layers to this writing, it lends itself to interpretation and doesn't treat it's readers like idiots.

Within just a few sentences you know exactly what kind of character Control is. As the story progresses you get to feel what he's feeling. When he's losing grip the sentences start to fall apart. When he's confused the paragraphs can feel jumbled. When he's comfortable at home with his cat he wisecracks more often. It's masterful writing.

The story itself is atmospheric and interesting HOWEVER the abrupt ending threw me off. The last bit of the book was noticeably less gripping than the rest of it. I was forewarned that this book and the third should be treated as two parts of the same story so I'm looking forward to that.

Regardless, Jeff VanderMeer is very talented.