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Themis Files #1
Sleeping Giants
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Science Fiction (2016)A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square-shaped hole, its walls glowing with intricate carvings. But the firemen who come to save her peer down upon something even stranger: a little girl in the palm of a giant metal hand.
Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved - the object's origins, architects, and purpose unknown.
But some can never stop searching for answers.
Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top-secret team to crack the hand's code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the relic they seek. What's clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unravelling history's most perplexing discovery-and finally figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?
Seventeen years later, the mystery of the bizarre artifact remains unsolved - the object's origins, architects, and purpose unknown.
But some can never stop searching for answers.
Rose Franklin is now a highly trained physicist leading a top-secret team to crack the hand's code. And along with her colleagues, she is being interviewed by a nameless interrogator whose power and purview are as enigmatic as the relic they seek. What's clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unravelling history's most perplexing discovery-and finally figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?
320 pages, Hardcover
First published April 26, 2016
About the author
Sylvain Neuvel
21 books5,313 followersSylvain Neuvel dropped out of high school at age 15. Along the way, he has been a journalist, worked in soil decontamination, sold ice cream in California, and peddled furniture across Canada. He received a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Chicago. He taught linguistics in India, and worked as a software engineer in Montreal. He is also a certified translator, though he wishes he were an astronaut. He likes to tinker, dabbles in robotics and is somewhat obsessed with Halloween. He absolutely loves toys; his girlfriend would have him believe that he has too many, so he writes about aliens and giant robots as a blatant excuse to build action figures (for his son, of course).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 12,759 reviews
May 12, 2016
You have to understand that this flies in the face of everything we know about American civilizations.
Sleeping Giants is being compared to the bestseller and now successful Matt Damon film - The Martian - which is misleading, if not entirely inaccurate.
The two books' stories, narrative styles, characters and overall tones are actually very different. Almost all the details about this book do not resemble The Martian at all. However, they do share a key similarity.
For me, The Martian is not a great book because of the humour, detailed science, or its focus on survival against the odds - it's a great book because it makes you feel tiny. It's a breathtakingly extraordinary concept that we are forced to imagine: being stranded hundreds of thousands of miles away from anyone else. Trapped on a distant planet where pretty much everything can kill you. Putting myself in Mark Watney's shoes was overwhelming, feeling all alone in the vast expanse of space. Having no clue how this situation could possibly end in survival.
Sleeping Giants gave me a similar feeling. A feeling of wide-eyed wonder at the suggestion of this possibility: the discovery of giant metal body parts deep underground; giant body parts that predate the human technology necessary to create them. The implication being - if humans couldn't possibly have made this giant, who did?
The story is told through a series of interviews with a nameless interviewer, as well as the occasional journal entry and news article. Unlike The Martian, this isn't propelled by a single character's humourous narrative, but instead allows us a look at all the people involved in this project - in uncovering the body parts, finding out how they work, what it all means, and trying to keep their sanity as the world becomes more and more insane.
What I am is very much a function of what I am not. If the “other” is the Muslim world, then I am the Judeo-Christian world. If the other is from thousands of light-years away, I am simply human. Redefine alterity and you can erase boundaries.
We see how this discovery and the subsequent revelations affect the world. Imagine what this means for humanity. It is the suggestion that we are not alone and are not the most advanced creatures in the universe. What were these giant body parts created for? Are they a message or a weapon? What does this mean for religions? Is someone out there waiting for us?
It is perhaps not as "warm" a sci-fi novel as The Martian. It feels darker, more frightening, giving us less reason to believe the author owes us a happy ending. The ending is haunting and unexpected, paving the way for a sequel that should be equally thought-provoking. I, for one, really want to know what happens next.
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February 10, 2017
This sci-fi novel got a lot of buzz when it came out, and I see why. The basic story: pieces of a gigantic metal robot, thousands of years old, are discovered scattered around the earth, buried deep in the earth or under the sea. Where did they come from? What are they for? A team is assembled in top secrecy to rebuild the robot and figure out how it works. The story is told in a series of interviews -- reports submitted by an anonymous interviewer who is pulling most of the strings behind the project. This narrative structure is very easy to follow and pulls you in nicely. I finished the book in a single day, and I'm not a fast reader. I did think that toward the end, the limits of the transcript format began to show. The storytelling had to use some rather hard-to-believe contortions to report certain information, and by the end, you don't really feel like you've come to know the characters very well. Nevertheless, if you're looking for a quick, engaging sci-fi mystery, this one is a good choice!
February 22, 2023
Sleeping Giants was such a delightful reading experience. Truly worthy of all the SCIFI stars.
When Rose Franklin is 11-years old, she falls into a giant hole whilst out riding her new bike.
After she is found and rescued, it is discovered that she is actually laying atop an enormous metal hand. Less than 8-hours later, the U.S. Military arrives to take over the scene.
Years late, adult Rose, now works at the University of Chicago.
As part of her position there, the opportunity arises for her to study that very same hand she stumbled upon in her youth. In addition to the hand, she will also have access to four giant metal panels that are riddled with writing from an unknown language.
Could the writing perhaps solve the mystery of where the hand came from and what it is?
Armed with a large grant from the NSA, Rose sets to work. Soon there is a world-wide search for the missing pieces of what was once apparently a ginormous robot.
Bringing action, mystery, political intrigue and entertaining science, this heart-pounding novel kept me glued to the pages from beginning to end!!!
I cannot wait to move on with the Themis Files and highly recommend this series to any SciFi fan, particularly those who enjoy a mixed media format!
Bottom line:
When Rose Franklin is 11-years old, she falls into a giant hole whilst out riding her new bike.
After she is found and rescued, it is discovered that she is actually laying atop an enormous metal hand. Less than 8-hours later, the U.S. Military arrives to take over the scene.
Years late, adult Rose, now works at the University of Chicago.
As part of her position there, the opportunity arises for her to study that very same hand she stumbled upon in her youth. In addition to the hand, she will also have access to four giant metal panels that are riddled with writing from an unknown language.
Could the writing perhaps solve the mystery of where the hand came from and what it is?
Armed with a large grant from the NSA, Rose sets to work. Soon there is a world-wide search for the missing pieces of what was once apparently a ginormous robot.
Bringing action, mystery, political intrigue and entertaining science, this heart-pounding novel kept me glued to the pages from beginning to end!!!
I cannot wait to move on with the Themis Files and highly recommend this series to any SciFi fan, particularly those who enjoy a mixed media format!
Bottom line:
October 20, 2015
In my humble opinion, this book was 320 pages of info dump. The Martian style except somehow more... overwhelming.
Please don't get me wrong, I am not new to this kind of format. Like World War Z and Illuminae (Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff), the story of Sleeping Giants is told in the form of interviews conducted by a mysterious, nameless person who seems to have a lots and lots and lots of power as well as in the form of oral diary entries. I loved it when it was used in WWZ and Illuminae because despite it being quite straight-forward and in the form of documentaries, these books were still able to touch me on an emotional and personal level. They showed many perspectives and angles about a particular, seemingly-but-absolutely dreadful situation, and they made me care - care about the characters, care about the outcome, care about how they would cope with their trials and tribulations.
Sleeping Giants made me feel... indifferent, at best.
Here's the thing: the premise is fantastic. I love the idea of aliens having visited the Earth thousands of years ago, back to that time we were still grunting and snorting to each other in order to communicate, and having left this gigantic monstrosity of a robot for us to find when we have progressed and evolved enough. In paper, that really sounds intriguing. Think of all the political drama that can come out of this! Think of all the philosophical, moral, ethical discussions! The drama! The panic and the riot and the coming together of mankind as they realize its potential as a defensive manuever against extraterrestrial forces! In an ideal world, I would have loved this to pieces and I would have paraded this all over my street saying, "Science fiction fans, come get your mama!"
But alas, it is not an ideal world, and this book lacked the emotional pull needed for me to completely and deeply immerse myself in it.
1.) Nameless interviewer.
80% of the book is comprised of interviews with a cast of characters. There's Kara Resnik, a well-trained pilot. There's Ryan Mitchell, her co-pilot; Rose Franklin, a motherly figure who leads the project of finding all the robotic parts, putting them together again, and finding out what it can do; Vincent Couture, an introvert linguist who hails from Quebec, among others. The anonymous interviewer is connected with all of them, yet we don't find anything at all about him. He's their Daddy Long Legs, funding their research and making sure everything is going smoothly, taking care of "problems" - people or otherwise - as how you would expect an ultra rich guy would take car of them. But... what else? We see the story through his interviews, and we get to "know more" about the characters through his questions, and then that's it? He was definitely a pragmatist, and he was definitely very objective in his questions. "What did this scenario make you feel (even though I already know about it but we'll need to repeat it again just so our beautiful readers here are aware)? What happened to you when this thingy happened (even though I already know about it and we're just wasting our time here reminscing about it?)" Non-verbatim, but you get the picture.
2.) Telling than Showing
And then there's the problem. Because of these questions, we are forced into reading a narrative that is 100% telling than showing. "I was doing this, I was doing that, I felt this, I felt that, I didn't like this, etc. etc." It was absolutely dreadful to know that these people were experiencing these things and yet *I* couldn't feel them. I don't know, maybe because of the format it was hard to do so? Maybe because it was just so limited and there's no other way of showing them otherwise? But then, how did World War Z and Illuminae do it amazingly? There's also the problem that things would happen in this book, but we would never, ever, EVER see them happening. We're only told that it happened post-situation, when the interviewer is asking them to tell us about their feeeewings. It was hard to just care when I was never with them when that happened, when I never felt the adrenaline or the tension that they experienced that would make me relate to what they were doing.
3.) THE SCIENCE MADNESSSSSS
Now, let's draw a line here: I love science. I love talking about aliens. I find space and the universe and everything that is in it fascinating. If I could, I would love to die floating in the vastness of empty space. But the science here made me cringe. There were just so much that it became overwhelming. The process of how to get the robot pieces? EXPLAINED IN DETAIL. The process of how they are trying to get the robot to work, all the theory and the steps? EXPLAINED IN DETAIL. The process of how they plan to do this and that, and then this and then that? EXPLAINED IN DETAIL THAT IT HAS BECOME PAINFUL. I get the need for science to be incorporated but it alienated the reader in me so much because so much of it were jargon. So many big words, and none of them resounded with me. Maybe I'm just stupid? Maybe I'm just not the target audience? But I DO love science, and I love it when it weaves together with the character's personal lives, so maybe it's just the book being a huge-ass info-dump?
In conclusion, I'm actually very sad that I didn't like this book more. The ending was interesting, if not a little too "positive" for me to take seriously. But these three factors up there? They totally ruined my reading experience. The only reason I plowed on was because of obligation. I may still check out the next book though seeing as this is a series, in hopes that the narrative in that one will be a lot more personal and emotional than distant. However, if you're the type of person who is a science geek and just want to get your science mood on with or without the emotional touch, maybe this will appeal to you.
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Please don't get me wrong, I am not new to this kind of format. Like World War Z and Illuminae (Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff), the story of Sleeping Giants is told in the form of interviews conducted by a mysterious, nameless person who seems to have a lots and lots and lots of power as well as in the form of oral diary entries. I loved it when it was used in WWZ and Illuminae because despite it being quite straight-forward and in the form of documentaries, these books were still able to touch me on an emotional and personal level. They showed many perspectives and angles about a particular, seemingly-but-absolutely dreadful situation, and they made me care - care about the characters, care about the outcome, care about how they would cope with their trials and tribulations.
Sleeping Giants made me feel... indifferent, at best.
Here's the thing: the premise is fantastic. I love the idea of aliens having visited the Earth thousands of years ago, back to that time we were still grunting and snorting to each other in order to communicate, and having left this gigantic monstrosity of a robot for us to find when we have progressed and evolved enough. In paper, that really sounds intriguing. Think of all the political drama that can come out of this! Think of all the philosophical, moral, ethical discussions! The drama! The panic and the riot and the coming together of mankind as they realize its potential as a defensive manuever against extraterrestrial forces! In an ideal world, I would have loved this to pieces and I would have paraded this all over my street saying, "Science fiction fans, come get your mama!"
But alas, it is not an ideal world, and this book lacked the emotional pull needed for me to completely and deeply immerse myself in it.
1.) Nameless interviewer.
80% of the book is comprised of interviews with a cast of characters. There's Kara Resnik, a well-trained pilot. There's Ryan Mitchell, her co-pilot; Rose Franklin, a motherly figure who leads the project of finding all the robotic parts, putting them together again, and finding out what it can do; Vincent Couture, an introvert linguist who hails from Quebec, among others. The anonymous interviewer is connected with all of them, yet we don't find anything at all about him. He's their Daddy Long Legs, funding their research and making sure everything is going smoothly, taking care of "problems" - people or otherwise - as how you would expect an ultra rich guy would take car of them. But... what else? We see the story through his interviews, and we get to "know more" about the characters through his questions, and then that's it? He was definitely a pragmatist, and he was definitely very objective in his questions. "What did this scenario make you feel (even though I already know about it but we'll need to repeat it again just so our beautiful readers here are aware)? What happened to you when this thingy happened (even though I already know about it and we're just wasting our time here reminscing about it?)" Non-verbatim, but you get the picture.
2.) Telling than Showing
And then there's the problem. Because of these questions, we are forced into reading a narrative that is 100% telling than showing. "I was doing this, I was doing that, I felt this, I felt that, I didn't like this, etc. etc." It was absolutely dreadful to know that these people were experiencing these things and yet *I* couldn't feel them. I don't know, maybe because of the format it was hard to do so? Maybe because it was just so limited and there's no other way of showing them otherwise? But then, how did World War Z and Illuminae do it amazingly? There's also the problem that things would happen in this book, but we would never, ever, EVER see them happening. We're only told that it happened post-situation, when the interviewer is asking them to tell us about their feeeewings. It was hard to just care when I was never with them when that happened, when I never felt the adrenaline or the tension that they experienced that would make me relate to what they were doing.
3.) THE SCIENCE MADNESSSSSS
Now, let's draw a line here: I love science. I love talking about aliens. I find space and the universe and everything that is in it fascinating. If I could, I would love to die floating in the vastness of empty space. But the science here made me cringe. There were just so much that it became overwhelming. The process of how to get the robot pieces? EXPLAINED IN DETAIL. The process of how they are trying to get the robot to work, all the theory and the steps? EXPLAINED IN DETAIL. The process of how they plan to do this and that, and then this and then that? EXPLAINED IN DETAIL THAT IT HAS BECOME PAINFUL. I get the need for science to be incorporated but it alienated the reader in me so much because so much of it were jargon. So many big words, and none of them resounded with me. Maybe I'm just stupid? Maybe I'm just not the target audience? But I DO love science, and I love it when it weaves together with the character's personal lives, so maybe it's just the book being a huge-ass info-dump?
In conclusion, I'm actually very sad that I didn't like this book more. The ending was interesting, if not a little too "positive" for me to take seriously. But these three factors up there? They totally ruined my reading experience. The only reason I plowed on was because of obligation. I may still check out the next book though seeing as this is a series, in hopes that the narrative in that one will be a lot more personal and emotional than distant. However, if you're the type of person who is a science geek and just want to get your science mood on with or without the emotional touch, maybe this will appeal to you.
FOLLOW ME ALL OVER THE INTERWEBZ!
The Social Potato | Xpresso Reads | Not So Literary | Youtube | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Ask.fm
February 17, 2018
Update 2/17/18:
Boy, I keep re-reading this stuff and I never seem to have any problems doing so. I'm still having fun and it's still popcorn fun!
WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?
So why did I re-read? I just got the pre-release of book three, Only Human. It's CALLING TO ME! :)
Update 12/10/16:
Just re-read and what can I say? I still love it. Didn't really miss anything from the first time, but that certainly doesn't matter when I'm just having fun. :)
Robots! ROBOTS!!!! *squeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
And now that I've got the ARC for the sequel, it's more like *double squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee* :)
Old review 2/2/16:
A big thank you goes to Netgalley, and I can only ask for an apology for holding off so long before reading this novel. I suppose I figured that anything that would give away such a long lead-time is either playing the really hopeful card or the really cautious one.
I'm here on the other side of reading it to say that I had a great time!
I do hate blurbs that say misleading things to link an author to other big items like The Martian or World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, and honestly, this novel is really nothing like them.
It deserves to stand on its own. And thanks to a little reconstructive surgery, I'm sure it will! ;) Sorry. That's a little inside joke. Read it and I'm sure that'll become crystal clear. :)
No, if I really HAD to make a connection with this and some other media, then it's closer to Pacific Rim or Neon Genesis Evangelion than some space adventure or a zombie apocalypse. Indeed, in some ways it's better written than either of those novels.
I've had the pleasure to review a few novels with epistolary writing recently, and this one happens to clock in at one of the easiest and interesting, based entirely on transcripts, so it's completely a novel of dialogue. I loved it.
Out of all the characters, I think I loved the interviewer best. He or she, whatever the person's name is, has got to have one hell of a head on his or her shoulders. All I can say is, "Bravo on the Long Game!" I wanted to cheer!
This is an absolutely delightful and pure SF novel that doesn't dumb down to us, expresses true joy at revealing the nature of the universe, and for the rest of us who are in it for a grand adventure with high stakes and much, much higher stakes to come thanks to the Titans, you're in for a treat.
I was never bored. Not even once. I loved the scientific progression that led to the political horrors all the way to the ruthless exploitations. But what really sparked my fire was the quick return to something wonderfully idealistic, even if, or despite its being paraded about as an absolute necessity.
There's something delightfully evil about it.
If this isn't a brilliant start to a wonderful new SF series, then I'll be a monkey's uncle. I'd read the living hell out of the entire series and chortle all the way, knowing that SF is not dead or dying... it's just preparing for a new and JUST life as a Giant.
Is this a Heroic novel? Hell yes. I think that's what we've been missing all these long years. :)
Wonder and heroism and a nice handful of mythology to boot.
Read this. Read it, everyone. We need more stories like this on the market. :)
Boy, I keep re-reading this stuff and I never seem to have any problems doing so. I'm still having fun and it's still popcorn fun!
WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?
So why did I re-read? I just got the pre-release of book three, Only Human. It's CALLING TO ME! :)
Update 12/10/16:
Just re-read and what can I say? I still love it. Didn't really miss anything from the first time, but that certainly doesn't matter when I'm just having fun. :)
Robots! ROBOTS!!!! *squeeeeeeeeeeeeee*
And now that I've got the ARC for the sequel, it's more like *double squeeeeeeeeeeeeeee* :)
Old review 2/2/16:
A big thank you goes to Netgalley, and I can only ask for an apology for holding off so long before reading this novel. I suppose I figured that anything that would give away such a long lead-time is either playing the really hopeful card or the really cautious one.
I'm here on the other side of reading it to say that I had a great time!
I do hate blurbs that say misleading things to link an author to other big items like The Martian or World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, and honestly, this novel is really nothing like them.
It deserves to stand on its own. And thanks to a little reconstructive surgery, I'm sure it will! ;) Sorry. That's a little inside joke. Read it and I'm sure that'll become crystal clear. :)
No, if I really HAD to make a connection with this and some other media, then it's closer to Pacific Rim or Neon Genesis Evangelion than some space adventure or a zombie apocalypse. Indeed, in some ways it's better written than either of those novels.
I've had the pleasure to review a few novels with epistolary writing recently, and this one happens to clock in at one of the easiest and interesting, based entirely on transcripts, so it's completely a novel of dialogue. I loved it.
Out of all the characters, I think I loved the interviewer best. He or she, whatever the person's name is, has got to have one hell of a head on his or her shoulders. All I can say is, "Bravo on the Long Game!" I wanted to cheer!
This is an absolutely delightful and pure SF novel that doesn't dumb down to us, expresses true joy at revealing the nature of the universe, and for the rest of us who are in it for a grand adventure with high stakes and much, much higher stakes to come thanks to the Titans, you're in for a treat.
I was never bored. Not even once. I loved the scientific progression that led to the political horrors all the way to the ruthless exploitations. But what really sparked my fire was the quick return to something wonderfully idealistic, even if, or despite its being paraded about as an absolute necessity.
There's something delightfully evil about it.
If this isn't a brilliant start to a wonderful new SF series, then I'll be a monkey's uncle. I'd read the living hell out of the entire series and chortle all the way, knowing that SF is not dead or dying... it's just preparing for a new and JUST life as a Giant.
Is this a Heroic novel? Hell yes. I think that's what we've been missing all these long years. :)
Wonder and heroism and a nice handful of mythology to boot.
Read this. Read it, everyone. We need more stories like this on the market. :)
February 25, 2019
This book is a work of art.
Even though it was written in interviews, journal entries, articles and transcripts, the details were never once left out and there was not a single moment when a certain interview felt detached from the rest of the book, which is extraordinary. All the files merged together very well and once you finish reading a chapter, the part of the story revealed in that chapter adds to everything you already know and forms a steady timeline of events which is amazing.
It was put together incredibly well, the amount of planning that must have gone into this book is mindblowing. The book is was very original and even though it was a new, the concept, the details, the facts, the science, and the characters were very well thought out. The amount of research that must have been done is tremendous.
It is definitely very intriguing and kept me on my toes through its entirety. The fact that the story is narrated in interviews makes it all the more interesting because we don’t know what happened in the time between the previous interview and the interview you are reading till you get to the core of the interview you’re currently reading. It was a very engaging book the amount of theories I personally formulated is crazy. The entire concept was extremely well done and the Sci-Fi aspect of the book was one of the best I have read so far.
The story maintains its mystery throughout the book and even when the book finished it still feels like an enigma because no matter how much you read there always seems to be more to know. The integral concept of the book was carried out through the book very well and I hope it continues to do so in the rest of the series.
A young girl named Rose Franklin falls into a giant metal hand when she was young. And now Dr. Rose Franklin has been put in charge of finding out what the hand is and finding the rest of the parts to what will be a metal giant. Now, nobody knows what this is, how it got here, or even what we’re supposed to do with it. We can only hope that the giant is not a weapon that will lead to mass destruction.
The best part of the story, at least in my opinion, is the interviewer. We don’t know who the interviewer is and neither does anyone in the book. He maintains his anonymity throughout the book. He seems to have an extraordinary amount of power, not like magic, but in the sense that he has what seems to be an endless amount of connections in places of power. No matter where the book goes, the fact that the giant could be the strongest weapon known to mankind doesn’t seem to bother me as much as WHO IS THE INTERVIEWER?! It’s constantly nagging me in the back of my head and if I don’t find out soon I’m going to go mad.
The book is written very well and doesn’t lose sight of the plot. The science fiction concept is written to the point of perfection. Each of the characters play a major role in the story and I love each of them for what they bring into the story. The cover is beautiful in it’s simplicity and the title matches the concept flawlessly. I can’t wait to see where this story is going to take me, I rate this book 5 stars.
Even though it was written in interviews, journal entries, articles and transcripts, the details were never once left out and there was not a single moment when a certain interview felt detached from the rest of the book, which is extraordinary. All the files merged together very well and once you finish reading a chapter, the part of the story revealed in that chapter adds to everything you already know and forms a steady timeline of events which is amazing.
It was put together incredibly well, the amount of planning that must have gone into this book is mindblowing. The book is was very original and even though it was a new, the concept, the details, the facts, the science, and the characters were very well thought out. The amount of research that must have been done is tremendous.
It is definitely very intriguing and kept me on my toes through its entirety. The fact that the story is narrated in interviews makes it all the more interesting because we don’t know what happened in the time between the previous interview and the interview you are reading till you get to the core of the interview you’re currently reading. It was a very engaging book the amount of theories I personally formulated is crazy. The entire concept was extremely well done and the Sci-Fi aspect of the book was one of the best I have read so far.
The story maintains its mystery throughout the book and even when the book finished it still feels like an enigma because no matter how much you read there always seems to be more to know. The integral concept of the book was carried out through the book very well and I hope it continues to do so in the rest of the series.
A young girl named Rose Franklin falls into a giant metal hand when she was young. And now Dr. Rose Franklin has been put in charge of finding out what the hand is and finding the rest of the parts to what will be a metal giant. Now, nobody knows what this is, how it got here, or even what we’re supposed to do with it. We can only hope that the giant is not a weapon that will lead to mass destruction.
The best part of the story, at least in my opinion, is the interviewer. We don’t know who the interviewer is and neither does anyone in the book. He maintains his anonymity throughout the book. He seems to have an extraordinary amount of power, not like magic, but in the sense that he has what seems to be an endless amount of connections in places of power. No matter where the book goes, the fact that the giant could be the strongest weapon known to mankind doesn’t seem to bother me as much as WHO IS THE INTERVIEWER?! It’s constantly nagging me in the back of my head and if I don’t find out soon I’m going to go mad.
The book is written very well and doesn’t lose sight of the plot. The science fiction concept is written to the point of perfection. Each of the characters play a major role in the story and I love each of them for what they bring into the story. The cover is beautiful in it’s simplicity and the title matches the concept flawlessly. I can’t wait to see where this story is going to take me, I rate this book 5 stars.
February 16, 2020
I'm really dumb so I didn't realize I had the first book in the series already and I read the second one but I still really enjoyed the first one even though I read it afterwards. I knew what was going to happen but I still felt excited while reading and it kept my attention. Also I love Kara and now I'm even more depressed about the second one. I didn't like this one as much as the second though for some reason even though the plot line was cool, I guess it just wasn't enough character development and things happened a little to quickly in this one.
June 25, 2024
I enjoyed this a lot more this second time around! It's a story filled with intrigue that pushes the book into a hard-to-put-down category. The format causes the flow of the story to fall into a rapid pace including interviews, journals, & articles. The characters are all fantastic and you get to know them more so by the choices they make rather than deep diving into all of their backgrounds. I'm excited for book two!
July 13, 2018
Man, I loved this SF novel! The sequel, Waking Gods, was published at the beginning of April 2017, and the last book in this series is being published this spring.
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
I first read Sleeping Giants six months ago and was immediately sucked into its world. I stayed up far too late reading it, finishing it the next day when I really should have been working. History repeats itself: When it came time to write this review, I thought I would take a quick glance through this novel, reading a few pages here and there to remind myself of the important plot points. Instead I read the entire book again, in one sitting, staying up until past 2:00 a.m. Clearly Sleeping Giants is literary crack and I had best stay away from it when any other duty ― or my bed ― is calling.
Sleeping Giants takes several ingredients that always appeal to me ― geeky science, governmental conspiracies, a master planner with ice water in his veins, intelligent characters, and dry humor ― and folds them into a mystery about a very strange artifact. The story is told through a series of recorded interviews and journal entries and the like. It's been done before, but I thought the format lent itself well to the plot. We get to know the characters through their own words. Intriguingly, the “files” that make up the chapters often skip over several numbers at a time (e.g., File No. 17 is followed by File No. 31), increasing the sense of reality by implying how much backstory remains untold.
Rose Franklin, riding her bike on her eleventh birthday, falls into a fifty-foot deep hole that suddenly appears in her path. When she comes to the next morning, she is lying on a twenty-three foot long metal hand at the bottom of a perfectly square hole, as big as a house, with bright turquoise light shining from unreadable symbols carved in the walls around her.
Twenty years later, Rose, now a senior scientist at the University of Chicago, is placed in charge of a team researching the nature of the hand and the symbols on the wall panels. Carbon dating shows the hand to be between five and six thousand years old, and linguists have never been able to interpret any of the symbols (which are inexplicably still glowing). The hand and writing have baffled scientists for years. But suddenly it occurs to Rose: What triggered the sudden appearance of the hand? Surely there must be other metal body parts to go with the hand, and can we cause them to appear as well? As she figures out the answer, the team ― and this novel ― are off and running: various immense pieces of the artifact are extracted (often from other countries, which causes some political upheaval) and put together; some mysteries are solved, only to give rise, in Hydra-like fashion, to many more.
Their mysterious handler begins to bring in key new members of the team, with Dr. Franklin as the head and heart of it. Kara Resnik, the hotshot helicopter pilot, who is both incredibly stubborn and irascible but also funny and vulnerable, was my favorite, but each team member is a distinct individual with their own personality quirks and flaws. The key players are Victor Couture, a brilliant French Canadian linguist; Ryan Mitchell, Kara’s co-pilot who is variously compared to Captain America and an underwear model by other characters; and Alyssa Papantoniou, a geneticist with a stammer and a desire to be in charge. Even the nameless handler, whom we get to know only through his interviews of other characters, develops as a character. He appears extremely cold-blooded, though with a sardonic sense of humor:
Sleeping Giants has just the right amount of hard science, enough technical and scientific details to satisfy the geek in me, but it never goes overboard (like, say, Seveneves), and it’s infused with delightfully imaginative developments. In the cold light of day I have a few quibbles with the science parts, particularly toward the end of the novel. In particular, I have issues with . I realize the latter is a time-honored SF trope, but still! However, these are relatively minor nitpicks.
What raises Sleeping Giants to the 5-star level for me is that it’s not just a grand, imaginative SF adventure that inspires a sense of wonder in me, but it also raises some deeper questions. Several characters ask themselves about the cost of their project in human lives. Rose Franklin, in particular, has an even longer perspective:
Second read, April 2016: I'm upping my rating to 5 stars after rereading this, which I needed to do so I can write up a more in-depth review this week. Seriously, this is excellent hard SF. Anyone who likes The Martian will almost certainly love this. I was up until after 2 am last night, reading this in one sitting, and it was a reread. It still totally sucked me in.
First read, October 2015: That? Was a blast! I stayed up way too late last night reading it, and finished it today when I really should have been doing Other Stuff.
The blurb for this NetGalley book says "World War Z meets The Martian"; I would say more like The Iron Giant meets The Martian, but potatoes/potahtoes (plus I've never read World War Z, so maybe they're right).
Anyway, this book takes several ingredients that I really enjoyed -- geeky science, governmental conspiracies, a handler with ice water in his veins, a brilliant linguist and a hot-tempered woman helicopter pilot -- and mixes them into a mystery about a very strange artifact. The story is told through a series of recorded interviews and journal entries and the like. It's been done before, but I thought the format lent itself well to the plot.
This won't be released until April 2016, but if you like hard SF and have a NetGalley membership, I highly recommend that you go request a copy of this novel. It was a fun ride.
Full review then!
Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
I first read Sleeping Giants six months ago and was immediately sucked into its world. I stayed up far too late reading it, finishing it the next day when I really should have been working. History repeats itself: When it came time to write this review, I thought I would take a quick glance through this novel, reading a few pages here and there to remind myself of the important plot points. Instead I read the entire book again, in one sitting, staying up until past 2:00 a.m. Clearly Sleeping Giants is literary crack and I had best stay away from it when any other duty ― or my bed ― is calling.
Sleeping Giants takes several ingredients that always appeal to me ― geeky science, governmental conspiracies, a master planner with ice water in his veins, intelligent characters, and dry humor ― and folds them into a mystery about a very strange artifact. The story is told through a series of recorded interviews and journal entries and the like. It's been done before, but I thought the format lent itself well to the plot. We get to know the characters through their own words. Intriguingly, the “files” that make up the chapters often skip over several numbers at a time (e.g., File No. 17 is followed by File No. 31), increasing the sense of reality by implying how much backstory remains untold.
Rose Franklin, riding her bike on her eleventh birthday, falls into a fifty-foot deep hole that suddenly appears in her path. When she comes to the next morning, she is lying on a twenty-three foot long metal hand at the bottom of a perfectly square hole, as big as a house, with bright turquoise light shining from unreadable symbols carved in the walls around her.
Twenty years later, Rose, now a senior scientist at the University of Chicago, is placed in charge of a team researching the nature of the hand and the symbols on the wall panels. Carbon dating shows the hand to be between five and six thousand years old, and linguists have never been able to interpret any of the symbols (which are inexplicably still glowing). The hand and writing have baffled scientists for years. But suddenly it occurs to Rose: What triggered the sudden appearance of the hand? Surely there must be other metal body parts to go with the hand, and can we cause them to appear as well? As she figures out the answer, the team ― and this novel ― are off and running: various immense pieces of the artifact are extracted (often from other countries, which causes some political upheaval) and put together; some mysteries are solved, only to give rise, in Hydra-like fashion, to many more.
Their mysterious handler begins to bring in key new members of the team, with Dr. Franklin as the head and heart of it. Kara Resnik, the hotshot helicopter pilot, who is both incredibly stubborn and irascible but also funny and vulnerable, was my favorite, but each team member is a distinct individual with their own personality quirks and flaws. The key players are Victor Couture, a brilliant French Canadian linguist; Ryan Mitchell, Kara’s co-pilot who is variously compared to Captain America and an underwear model by other characters; and Alyssa Papantoniou, a geneticist with a stammer and a desire to be in charge. Even the nameless handler, whom we get to know only through his interviews of other characters, develops as a character. He appears extremely cold-blooded, though with a sardonic sense of humor:
―I read his file. I believe he is more resilient than you give him credit for.But, though he never ceases weaving his plans and pulling the strings of others, he gradually becomes more sympathetic and understandable.
―You rea … He has a file?
―Your hairdresser has a file and you see him once a month. Vincent Couture is a foreign national on US soil, with direct access to top-secret-level information on a daily basis. He has several files, very large ones.
―You have a file on my hairdresser?
―Yes. He really needs to file his taxes.
Sleeping Giants has just the right amount of hard science, enough technical and scientific details to satisfy the geek in me, but it never goes overboard (like, say, Seveneves), and it’s infused with delightfully imaginative developments. In the cold light of day I have a few quibbles with the science parts, particularly toward the end of the novel. In particular, I have issues with . I realize the latter is a time-honored SF trope, but still! However, these are relatively minor nitpicks.
What raises Sleeping Giants to the 5-star level for me is that it’s not just a grand, imaginative SF adventure that inspires a sense of wonder in me, but it also raises some deeper questions. Several characters ask themselves about the cost of their project in human lives. Rose Franklin, in particular, has an even longer perspective:
Am I ready to accept all that may come out of this if it works? It might give us a cure for everything. It might also have the power to kill millions. Do I want that on my conscience? I wish I knew where this journey will take us, but I don’t. All I know is that this is bigger than me, my self-doubt, or any crisis of conscience.More than the question of human cost vs. technological value, some of the characters also recognize the profound change this artifact may bring to humans and our view of ourselves and the universe. As we realize that humanity is not alone, that there are other intelligences out there, the differences between our races, nations, religions and political views become less important, and boundaries are erased.
Second read, April 2016: I'm upping my rating to 5 stars after rereading this, which I needed to do so I can write up a more in-depth review this week. Seriously, this is excellent hard SF. Anyone who likes The Martian will almost certainly love this. I was up until after 2 am last night, reading this in one sitting, and it was a reread. It still totally sucked me in.
First read, October 2015: That? Was a blast! I stayed up way too late last night reading it, and finished it today when I really should have been doing Other Stuff.
The blurb for this NetGalley book says "World War Z meets The Martian"; I would say more like The Iron Giant meets The Martian, but potatoes/potahtoes (plus I've never read World War Z, so maybe they're right).
Anyway, this book takes several ingredients that I really enjoyed -- geeky science, governmental conspiracies, a handler with ice water in his veins, a brilliant linguist and a hot-tempered woman helicopter pilot -- and mixes them into a mystery about a very strange artifact. The story is told through a series of recorded interviews and journal entries and the like. It's been done before, but I thought the format lent itself well to the plot.
This won't be released until April 2016, but if you like hard SF and have a NetGalley membership, I highly recommend that you go request a copy of this novel. It was a fun ride.
Full review then!
Read
May 20, 2017So much Deus ex Machina.
June 3, 2017
Sleeping Giants is an interesting read for anyone who loves Sci-Fi and mecha or giant robot in their story.
This first book in 'Themis Files' Sci-Fi series by Sylvain Neuvel and it began with an 11 years old kid, Rose Franklin falling down through a rabbit hole (not really but still, a hole). After she was saved, turns out that the place she fell upon was on a giant metal hand. The story then fast forward to 17 years later with Rose now leading a top secret team to unravel the origin, mystery and purpose of the giant robot together with the enigmatic Nameless Interviewer.
The story itself took place within our modern world and is filled with mostly conspiracies and politics surrounding the research on this giant robot. Something to praise here is that despite the book being centered on Sci-Fi, there aren’t specifically tons of Science terminology that may confused readers who aren’t well versed in the category. This book is really easy on the science and can be read by everyone. People who loved the anime ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ in particular will definitely enjoy reading this book, there are a lot of similarities between the stories (NGE is obviously darker by far though). In terms of story, my favorite parts will have to be all the intriguing mystery and secrets behind the giant robot mechanism and origin. Plus how the characters dealt with the dilemma they faced between morality and their missions on whether it's better to sacrifice something in the name of the mission or to choose your morality, these all gave good result towards the plot.
Out of all characters in the book, The Nameless Interviewer appeared the most. To progress the plot, almost every chapter contained the interviewer and another character simply talking, whether it’s in the form of an interview or phone call. Yes, almost every single chapter consist of only 2 characters, one of them being The Interviewer and the other, let’s say Rose or a different character.
Something you should know about this book is that the entire plot is told in an unconventional way. Rather than telling the story in chapter format, Sylvain replaced them with logs. This means journal entry, experiment/mission log and interviews, it’s pretty much just like a documentary. I came into this book without knowing anything about it and my feeling towards this direction is about half positive and half negative.
The positive parts with this direction, it made the plot progression very easy to read. The fact that the prose is really simple, combined with this storytelling method gives a fast paced experience focusing solely on the plot of the book greatly. Considering that the book is more or less only about 300 pages already, Sleeping Giants is a great page turner that you can definitely finish reading quickly.
However, the problems with this storytelling method are it was incredibly hard for me to connect and empathize with the characters. This is due to the reason we never get to live inside the characters head because everything is told through dialogue, no narrative and this also means there aren’t any actions to be found. I can’t help but think that this book would actually be better if it’s told in a normal storytelling method.
After hearing from several sources that the second book improved in quality significantly and especially after that great ending, I will continue straight to the sequel. Overall, my opinion on Sleeping Giants is that it’s a quick fun read for lover of Sci-Fi and giant robots like Pacific Rim/Neon Genesis Evangelion but it can definitely still be better.
You can find this and the rest of my Adult Epic/High fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at BookNest
This first book in 'Themis Files' Sci-Fi series by Sylvain Neuvel and it began with an 11 years old kid, Rose Franklin falling down through a rabbit hole (not really but still, a hole). After she was saved, turns out that the place she fell upon was on a giant metal hand. The story then fast forward to 17 years later with Rose now leading a top secret team to unravel the origin, mystery and purpose of the giant robot together with the enigmatic Nameless Interviewer.
The story itself took place within our modern world and is filled with mostly conspiracies and politics surrounding the research on this giant robot. Something to praise here is that despite the book being centered on Sci-Fi, there aren’t specifically tons of Science terminology that may confused readers who aren’t well versed in the category. This book is really easy on the science and can be read by everyone. People who loved the anime ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’ in particular will definitely enjoy reading this book, there are a lot of similarities between the stories (NGE is obviously darker by far though). In terms of story, my favorite parts will have to be all the intriguing mystery and secrets behind the giant robot mechanism and origin. Plus how the characters dealt with the dilemma they faced between morality and their missions on whether it's better to sacrifice something in the name of the mission or to choose your morality, these all gave good result towards the plot.
“I was smart enough to know it was wrong, but not brave enough to stop them.”
Out of all characters in the book, The Nameless Interviewer appeared the most. To progress the plot, almost every chapter contained the interviewer and another character simply talking, whether it’s in the form of an interview or phone call. Yes, almost every single chapter consist of only 2 characters, one of them being The Interviewer and the other, let’s say Rose or a different character.
Something you should know about this book is that the entire plot is told in an unconventional way. Rather than telling the story in chapter format, Sylvain replaced them with logs. This means journal entry, experiment/mission log and interviews, it’s pretty much just like a documentary. I came into this book without knowing anything about it and my feeling towards this direction is about half positive and half negative.
The positive parts with this direction, it made the plot progression very easy to read. The fact that the prose is really simple, combined with this storytelling method gives a fast paced experience focusing solely on the plot of the book greatly. Considering that the book is more or less only about 300 pages already, Sleeping Giants is a great page turner that you can definitely finish reading quickly.
However, the problems with this storytelling method are it was incredibly hard for me to connect and empathize with the characters. This is due to the reason we never get to live inside the characters head because everything is told through dialogue, no narrative and this also means there aren’t any actions to be found. I can’t help but think that this book would actually be better if it’s told in a normal storytelling method.
After hearing from several sources that the second book improved in quality significantly and especially after that great ending, I will continue straight to the sequel. Overall, my opinion on Sleeping Giants is that it’s a quick fun read for lover of Sci-Fi and giant robots like Pacific Rim/Neon Genesis Evangelion but it can definitely still be better.
You can find this and the rest of my Adult Epic/High fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at BookNest
January 19, 2018
Listened to this on audio, and it does not disappoint!
Great cast of narrators, intriguing story, I was hooked.
Great cast of narrators, intriguing story, I was hooked.
February 2, 2018
I GASPED AT THE ENDING OH MY GOD THIS WAS SO FANTASTIC??????????
Read
November 23, 2019After months of not touching this book, I think I have to call it a DNF.
I started reading this in January when I reached the 18 % mark and I was unable to move ever since. I adored the idea of the book and I read so many reviews for this book, I was just so excited about it... But I did not enjoy reading it. And since I last closed the book, I did not feel like I need to read more to find out what this book is about. I did not think about it at all.
So, eleven months later, I'm here accepting I'm DNFing this book. Let's call it that I'm trying to get my house in order before the end of this year.
I started reading this in January when I reached the 18 % mark and I was unable to move ever since. I adored the idea of the book and I read so many reviews for this book, I was just so excited about it... But I did not enjoy reading it. And since I last closed the book, I did not feel like I need to read more to find out what this book is about. I did not think about it at all.
So, eleven months later, I'm here accepting I'm DNFing this book. Let's call it that I'm trying to get my house in order before the end of this year.
August 18, 2016
I love the idea of this giant metal alien hand thing that has been found and they don't have a clue what is going on!
When Rose Franklin was riding her bike on her 11th birthday she saw something . . . when she gets off her bike to investigate, she falls down in a crater in the a giant metal hand. Well that would freak me clean out.
Cut to 17 years later and Dr. Rose Franklin is now a physicist working on the giant hand. (among other things)
The story is told through interviews from a silent person. This didn't bother me at all in reading the book.
Kara Resnik and Ryan Mitchell are in the United States Army together and they are brought in secretly by (the silent person) to help Dr. Rose with the project.
And the project turns out to be an epic project. Things are gathered by the crew from all over the world to figure out what they have on their hands <---no pun intended.
I really hope this is going to have something to do with aliens, well more so than we think. I mean how else would leave a gynormous hand planted deep in the Earth? We just don't know what is out there and this is going to be exciting if they find out where the giant came from!
And the ending! It was one of THOSE moments and a major cliffhanger - at least to me! I'm excited for the next one =)
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
When Rose Franklin was riding her bike on her 11th birthday she saw something . . . when she gets off her bike to investigate, she falls down in a crater in the a giant metal hand. Well that would freak me clean out.
Cut to 17 years later and Dr. Rose Franklin is now a physicist working on the giant hand. (among other things)
The story is told through interviews from a silent person. This didn't bother me at all in reading the book.
Kara Resnik and Ryan Mitchell are in the United States Army together and they are brought in secretly by (the silent person) to help Dr. Rose with the project.
And the project turns out to be an epic project. Things are gathered by the crew from all over the world to figure out what they have on their hands <---no pun intended.
I really hope this is going to have something to do with aliens, well more so than we think. I mean how else would leave a gynormous hand planted deep in the Earth? We just don't know what is out there and this is going to be exciting if they find out where the giant came from!
And the ending! It was one of THOSE moments and a major cliffhanger - at least to me! I'm excited for the next one =)
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
November 22, 2018
3.75⭐️
SO SO SO MUCH BETTER THAN I WAS EVER EXPECTING.
This book was all plot and no characterisation whatsoever but damn enjoyable nonetheless.
SO SO SO MUCH BETTER THAN I WAS EVER EXPECTING.
This book was all plot and no characterisation whatsoever but damn enjoyable nonetheless.
December 23, 2021
I’m on BookTube now! =)
”I wish I knew where this journey will take us, but I don’t. All I know is that this is bigger than me, my self-doubt, or any crisis of conscience. I now truly realize how profoundly insignificant I am compared to all this. Why does that make me feel so much better?”
So a while back I read the “Illuminae Files” series and recommended it to my brother-in-law who in return recommended me “Sleeping Giants”. He said if I liked “Illuminae” I’d love this and that it’s similar when it comes to the writing style. (Diary entries and interview format) Well, and then I made a BookTube video about my library haul and “Sleeping Giants” was among them. I gotta be honest here: When I read about “an enormous, ornate metal hand” and about a little girl discovering it I was basically like WTH? I think it even showed in my video. *lol* I had no idea what to expect from this book but I thought okay, let’s do this!
I mean at that time I hadn’t read a sci-fi book for quite a while and I’m always ready to discover new ones as long as they are good. This one even came with a recommendation so I thought: Why not? Let’s give it a try. And looking at it in retrospective I’m so glad that I did!! This book was totally unexpected and such a freaky ride that I found myself gasping whenever the plot threw me. Seriously, at some points my mind was reeling and I was like: What did I get myself into? Whatever I expected it certainly wasn’t what I got, but I’m not sorry about it. Quite the contrary, I loved every second of this and got properly hooked!
I guess what made this such an enjoyable read wasn’t only the science and plot but also the humour and the nice and diverse cast of characters. Dr. Franklin was like a mother figure and Kara and Vincent grew on me so much I was surprised about how attached I got to them. I loved their dry, black and at times sarcastic humour and how they went about things.
"- Next story. On the way to the supermarket, Lisa found a lottery ticket on the ground ....
- Do you come up with these yourself or did a team of psychologists create these little gems?"
Kara Resnik’s conversations with “Mr. Smith” – as I like to call him because we never get his real name – caused me to crack up multiple times and I just loved how she teased him and gave him hell for his “grey eminence” attitude. The same goes for Vincent and his interactions with Mr. Smith as well. Truth be told, it didn’t surprise me that Kara and he started to get closer. They both had enough sarcasm to fill the Atlantic so it didn’t surprise me that they got along! *lol*
”Kara and I had absolutely no business being together in the first place. She has more issues than the New York Times, and I’m about as charming as a root canal, and yet, we found each other.”
I’m kinda shipping them which feels strange considering this is a sci-fi book, but I guess that’s the thing about “Sleeping Giants” it’s not only about science, it’s also about humanity and about how far people would go to reach their goals. Plus it keeps you guessing! The continuing mystery of where the huge statue came from and why it was left on earth kept me on my toes and even though we got some answers there are still way too many questions left! I need more answers and I really want to know who “Mr. Smith” is! He is such an intriguing character that I can’t help but want to find out more about him. He seems to be powerful and he definitely pulls the strings in the background, but to what end?! What’s his angle? I need to find out or I’ll go crazy!!! *lol*
All told, “Sleeping Giants” was an amazing book that constantly forced me to pay attention! The smallest detail turned out to be important in the end and I’m damn curious where this story is going to head. Don’t let yourself be fooled by the innocent-looking blurb and book cover, the content in this is more mind-blowing than you might ever guess! ;-P
_____________________________
Ooookay... OH. MY. GOSH!
This book was one hell of a freaky ride.
I never expected to get so hooked but boy, this was definitely something else.
Maybe I should read more sci-fi books again. *lol*
Full RTC soon! But I can already say that I'm totally looking forward to read the other two books! XD
_______________________________
A while back I made a BookTube video about my last library book haul and “Sleeping Giants” was one of the books I borrowed and talked about.
After all the many YA books I recently read sci-fi sounds like a nice change and I’m definitely ready to tackle this.
I’m still not over the “enormous, ornate metal hand” and really need to find out what this book is actually about. *lol*
I really hope I’ll like it! =)
”I wish I knew where this journey will take us, but I don’t. All I know is that this is bigger than me, my self-doubt, or any crisis of conscience. I now truly realize how profoundly insignificant I am compared to all this. Why does that make me feel so much better?”
So a while back I read the “Illuminae Files” series and recommended it to my brother-in-law who in return recommended me “Sleeping Giants”. He said if I liked “Illuminae” I’d love this and that it’s similar when it comes to the writing style. (Diary entries and interview format) Well, and then I made a BookTube video about my library haul and “Sleeping Giants” was among them. I gotta be honest here: When I read about “an enormous, ornate metal hand” and about a little girl discovering it I was basically like WTH? I think it even showed in my video. *lol* I had no idea what to expect from this book but I thought okay, let’s do this!
I mean at that time I hadn’t read a sci-fi book for quite a while and I’m always ready to discover new ones as long as they are good. This one even came with a recommendation so I thought: Why not? Let’s give it a try. And looking at it in retrospective I’m so glad that I did!! This book was totally unexpected and such a freaky ride that I found myself gasping whenever the plot threw me. Seriously, at some points my mind was reeling and I was like: What did I get myself into? Whatever I expected it certainly wasn’t what I got, but I’m not sorry about it. Quite the contrary, I loved every second of this and got properly hooked!
I guess what made this such an enjoyable read wasn’t only the science and plot but also the humour and the nice and diverse cast of characters. Dr. Franklin was like a mother figure and Kara and Vincent grew on me so much I was surprised about how attached I got to them. I loved their dry, black and at times sarcastic humour and how they went about things.
"- Next story. On the way to the supermarket, Lisa found a lottery ticket on the ground ....
- Do you come up with these yourself or did a team of psychologists create these little gems?"
Kara Resnik’s conversations with “Mr. Smith” – as I like to call him because we never get his real name – caused me to crack up multiple times and I just loved how she teased him and gave him hell for his “grey eminence” attitude. The same goes for Vincent and his interactions with Mr. Smith as well. Truth be told, it didn’t surprise me that Kara and he started to get closer. They both had enough sarcasm to fill the Atlantic so it didn’t surprise me that they got along! *lol*
”Kara and I had absolutely no business being together in the first place. She has more issues than the New York Times, and I’m about as charming as a root canal, and yet, we found each other.”
I’m kinda shipping them which feels strange considering this is a sci-fi book, but I guess that’s the thing about “Sleeping Giants” it’s not only about science, it’s also about humanity and about how far people would go to reach their goals. Plus it keeps you guessing! The continuing mystery of where the huge statue came from and why it was left on earth kept me on my toes and even though we got some answers there are still way too many questions left! I need more answers and I really want to know who “Mr. Smith” is! He is such an intriguing character that I can’t help but want to find out more about him. He seems to be powerful and he definitely pulls the strings in the background, but to what end?! What’s his angle? I need to find out or I’ll go crazy!!! *lol*
All told, “Sleeping Giants” was an amazing book that constantly forced me to pay attention! The smallest detail turned out to be important in the end and I’m damn curious where this story is going to head. Don’t let yourself be fooled by the innocent-looking blurb and book cover, the content in this is more mind-blowing than you might ever guess! ;-P
_____________________________
Ooookay... OH. MY. GOSH!
This book was one hell of a freaky ride.
I never expected to get so hooked but boy, this was definitely something else.
Maybe I should read more sci-fi books again. *lol*
Full RTC soon! But I can already say that I'm totally looking forward to read the other two books! XD
_______________________________
A while back I made a BookTube video about my last library book haul and “Sleeping Giants” was one of the books I borrowed and talked about.
After all the many YA books I recently read sci-fi sounds like a nice change and I’m definitely ready to tackle this.
I’m still not over the “enormous, ornate metal hand” and really need to find out what this book is actually about. *lol*
I really hope I’ll like it! =)
October 17, 2018
3.5 ⭐️
This was definitely different! Set out as a series of interviews and diary entries rather than the usual prose, this book set itself apart from the start.
It took a while to get used to this writing style, and while I'm not sure the style is for me, it didn't deter me entirely from enjoying the story.
A young girl stumbles upon a giant hand, which swiftly becomes an obsession for the US Government and other leading countries. Where did it come from? What is it for? As the quest begins to uncover the rest of the pieces, there is friction between powers. Each piece lies in different territories, different countries, so who truly can say they own what? At times quite political, a lot of the Government drama went over my head, so I just went with it.
Overall, very intriguing and certainly not what I was expecting. I will be continuing with this series to find out what happens to the characters, and how much further they come to extra-terrestrial life.
This was definitely different! Set out as a series of interviews and diary entries rather than the usual prose, this book set itself apart from the start.
It took a while to get used to this writing style, and while I'm not sure the style is for me, it didn't deter me entirely from enjoying the story.
A young girl stumbles upon a giant hand, which swiftly becomes an obsession for the US Government and other leading countries. Where did it come from? What is it for? As the quest begins to uncover the rest of the pieces, there is friction between powers. Each piece lies in different territories, different countries, so who truly can say they own what? At times quite political, a lot of the Government drama went over my head, so I just went with it.
Overall, very intriguing and certainly not what I was expecting. I will be continuing with this series to find out what happens to the characters, and how much further they come to extra-terrestrial life.
April 26, 2017
I don't like Transformers. So that's for sure I don't like robot giants. From the synopsis, I didn't want to pick up this one. BUT the last paragraph made me to pick up this book at the very instant. Guess why? Because there is written a name of the book which I love more than any other book in the Sci-Fi genre up until now. Of course, The Martian! I can't refuse to read a book which has a touch of The Martian.
Sleeping Giants is an amazing debut of Sylvain Neuvel. Loved the idea. Loved the writing. Loved the robot! Yeah, because this book had changed my view of giant robots. I am really happy I have read this book.
OVERVIEW
The hand of a giant robot is found by Rose Franklin when she is 11 years old. That gigantic hand is not the thing which can be understood by the people of that time. But after 17 years, as a professional physicist, Rose begins a research on that hand. There is the mystery man who is all powerful, helps her in the research. They search almost the entire plant Earth and find all the parts of a giant robot. This robot is the most powerful thing the mankind have ever seen. They try to understand its functions. But there is a threat of global conflict. Why? Because some nations want to take control of it.
As I read this book for The Martian, I would love to make a comparison between them. Hope you guys won't mind.
=> In the matter of Characters, this book is pretty much like The Martian. In both books, almost all the characters are dull. At all. But in The Martian, protagonist is amazing. Sort of humorous. In Sleeping Giants, we don't a particular protagonist.
=> The very thing which I didn't like in Sleeping Giants is that this book has files rather than chapters. File numbers are irritating. Can't be understood.
For example, one moment you are reading a file number 4 then next moment you will be reading 7. In the file number 7, we wouldn't get to know what had happened in between.
In this thing, The Martian is wayy better. It skips the logs but at least it tells us what has happened in the logs which are skipped.
THINGS I LIKED
=> Great part of the book was told in the form of interviews which increased the pace of this book. Enjoyed the interviews. Especially the interviewer was amazing. Even though I didn’t get to know pretty much of him. Not even his name. But still I enjoyed reading him. He was the best character in this book.
=> The way by which they found the body parts of giant robot was amazing. Sort of unique.
=> The way they understood the language written on panels of robot was very logical. Pretty much acceptable.
=> This book was also trying to convey the message of universal brotherhood. Good.
=> There were some action scenes which were also written in interviews. That was not good for me. I would have liked to read them in normal format told from any of characters' POV. Regardless, everything was fine.
As the first book in the series, this was just amazing. There wasn't pretty much action in there. I think I will get that in the next one.
April 25, 2017
Sleeping Giants is an amazing debut of Sylvain Neuvel. Loved the idea. Loved the writing. Loved the robot! Yeah, because this book had changed my view of giant robots. I am really happy I have read this book.
OVERVIEW
The hand of a giant robot is found by Rose Franklin when she is 11 years old. That gigantic hand is not the thing which can be understood by the people of that time. But after 17 years, as a professional physicist, Rose begins a research on that hand. There is the mystery man who is all powerful, helps her in the research. They search almost the entire plant Earth and find all the parts of a giant robot. This robot is the most powerful thing the mankind have ever seen. They try to understand its functions. But there is a threat of global conflict. Why? Because some nations want to take control of it.
As I read this book for The Martian, I would love to make a comparison between them. Hope you guys won't mind.
=> In the matter of Characters, this book is pretty much like The Martian. In both books, almost all the characters are dull. At all. But in The Martian, protagonist is amazing. Sort of humorous. In Sleeping Giants, we don't a particular protagonist.
=> The very thing which I didn't like in Sleeping Giants is that this book has files rather than chapters. File numbers are irritating. Can't be understood.
For example, one moment you are reading a file number 4 then next moment you will be reading 7. In the file number 7, we wouldn't get to know what had happened in between.
In this thing, The Martian is wayy better. It skips the logs but at least it tells us what has happened in the logs which are skipped.
THINGS I LIKED
=> Great part of the book was told in the form of interviews which increased the pace of this book. Enjoyed the interviews. Especially the interviewer was amazing. Even though I didn’t get to know pretty much of him. Not even his name. But still I enjoyed reading him. He was the best character in this book.
=> The way by which they found the body parts of giant robot was amazing. Sort of unique.
=> The way they understood the language written on panels of robot was very logical. Pretty much acceptable.
=> This book was also trying to convey the message of universal brotherhood. Good.
No one really wants to fight, but no one wants to be the one to back off eitherEpilogue was:
=> There were some action scenes which were also written in interviews. That was not good for me. I would have liked to read them in normal format told from any of characters' POV. Regardless, everything was fine.
As the first book in the series, this was just amazing. There wasn't pretty much action in there. I think I will get that in the next one.
I’m just an old man who likes to tell stories. I can’t help it if you’re crazy enough to believe them[Don't think about this quote if you haven't read it. I just wanted to mention it as I liked it.]
April 25, 2017
July 19, 2019
5/5 stars
You know what's great?
Picking up a book that you had decent expectations for and having that book blow your mind by exceeding those expectations tenfold.
Also, beautiful minimalistic covers are also pretty darn great.
It took me about two chapters to get into this. After prologue I was maybe intrigued. After chapter one I was definitely intrigued, but due to the format I didn't think that I'd relate or feel any feelings towards the characters. Somewhere in the middle of chapter two I was suddenly invested, intrigued and feeling all the feels! So, Sylvain Neuvel, bravo.
The format is fascinating. It's told in interviews, journal entries, news recordings and scientific reports. Sounds boring? You're wrong! It makes the story so multidimensional that you might feel like you're in the middle of it. You might want to check the view from your window, to make sure that there are no aliens invading earth. Just in case.
Also, I don't believe in aliens. So, for me to love a book about that topic so much, is definitely saying something.
The characters! Ohh, the characters.
Kara Resnik is.... quite a character! Pardon my word repetition. But she really is. She is also my favorite female character. Like probably ever. I don't even have to describe her, if you read the book you will understand Kara from the very first page of her chapters. She doesn't waste any time on petty introductions.
Then there's Mister Fun and Fluffy. That isn't his name, but he doesn't have one. So calling him whatever Kara calls him seems sufficient to me. He's quite a mystery.
There's Rose. Rose is a driving force of this story. She started it, for better or for worse.
And there's the Canadian. He's cocky and arrogant and doesn't spend much time with you in the beginning, but maybe he will warm up to you. And you to him.
There's more people involved, but I'm not here to give everything away. I'm here to tell you that this was impossible to put down. This felt like a movie, but also very life like. This is also one of my new favorites. And I'm about to binge the rest of the series. That's all I'm saying.
My WEBSITE
My INSTAGRAM
My WORDPRESS BLOG
You know what's great?
Picking up a book that you had decent expectations for and having that book blow your mind by exceeding those expectations tenfold.
Also, beautiful minimalistic covers are also pretty darn great.
It took me about two chapters to get into this. After prologue I was maybe intrigued. After chapter one I was definitely intrigued, but due to the format I didn't think that I'd relate or feel any feelings towards the characters. Somewhere in the middle of chapter two I was suddenly invested, intrigued and feeling all the feels! So, Sylvain Neuvel, bravo.
The format is fascinating. It's told in interviews, journal entries, news recordings and scientific reports. Sounds boring? You're wrong! It makes the story so multidimensional that you might feel like you're in the middle of it. You might want to check the view from your window, to make sure that there are no aliens invading earth. Just in case.
Also, I don't believe in aliens. So, for me to love a book about that topic so much, is definitely saying something.
The characters! Ohh, the characters.
Kara Resnik is.... quite a character! Pardon my word repetition. But she really is. She is also my favorite female character. Like probably ever. I don't even have to describe her, if you read the book you will understand Kara from the very first page of her chapters. She doesn't waste any time on petty introductions.
Then there's Mister Fun and Fluffy. That isn't his name, but he doesn't have one. So calling him whatever Kara calls him seems sufficient to me. He's quite a mystery.
There's Rose. Rose is a driving force of this story. She started it, for better or for worse.
And there's the Canadian. He's cocky and arrogant and doesn't spend much time with you in the beginning, but maybe he will warm up to you. And you to him.
There's more people involved, but I'm not here to give everything away. I'm here to tell you that this was impossible to put down. This felt like a movie, but also very life like. This is also one of my new favorites. And I'm about to binge the rest of the series. That's all I'm saying.
My WEBSITE
My INSTAGRAM
My WORDPRESS BLOG
December 12, 2017
Found this one because of the Goodreads Choice awards last in 2016. Not sure I would have come across it if it wasn’t for that. It is a pretty decent sci-fi/political intrigue story. Very unique – I cannot say I have read anything else quite like it. Definitely the first book in a series – while it does have a bit of a “stand-alone” climax, I find it very difficult to say that this book would stand on its own.
The format is interviews and diary entries. I am not sure if this sort of thing is for everyone, but I like it quite a bit. I am a “short-chapter/small-paragraph lover”. Not that I don’t like the big ones, but I feel more accomplished when I can tear through a whole bunch of the book on my lunch break – and I felt very accomplished with this one!
The characters were interesting to get to know. The dynamic between all of them is very bizarre – which makes sense as the events that brought them together are bizarre. While some of the usual character tropes are there (love triangle specifically comes to mind), it doesn’t take over the story . . . it is more of a sidebar to the bigger picture – and does affect the plot in surprising ways. Also, there is one character who is very mysterious throughout. While that might be frustrating to those who want answers, it will be well appreciated by those who like a dark mystery.
I can say I enjoyed this book and plan to read the next . . . I cannot say I know for sure who I would recommend this to. It is kind of sci-fi, kind of political thriller, kind of world-on-the-edge-of-Armageddon. I think if you are thinking of reading this one but you are not too sure, read up on it, check out a few reviews, and be prepared for it to not be for you. But, if you do, I hope you enjoy the ride!
The format is interviews and diary entries. I am not sure if this sort of thing is for everyone, but I like it quite a bit. I am a “short-chapter/small-paragraph lover”. Not that I don’t like the big ones, but I feel more accomplished when I can tear through a whole bunch of the book on my lunch break – and I felt very accomplished with this one!
The characters were interesting to get to know. The dynamic between all of them is very bizarre – which makes sense as the events that brought them together are bizarre. While some of the usual character tropes are there (love triangle specifically comes to mind), it doesn’t take over the story . . . it is more of a sidebar to the bigger picture – and does affect the plot in surprising ways. Also, there is one character who is very mysterious throughout. While that might be frustrating to those who want answers, it will be well appreciated by those who like a dark mystery.
I can say I enjoyed this book and plan to read the next . . . I cannot say I know for sure who I would recommend this to. It is kind of sci-fi, kind of political thriller, kind of world-on-the-edge-of-Armageddon. I think if you are thinking of reading this one but you are not too sure, read up on it, check out a few reviews, and be prepared for it to not be for you. But, if you do, I hope you enjoy the ride!
March 4, 2016
If you only read one science fiction book this year, read this one. You'll dig it.
On the other hand, if you read lots of science fiction books this year, this one probably doesn't need to be one of them.
On the other hand, if you read lots of science fiction books this year, this one probably doesn't need to be one of them.
November 30, 2019
The author used a unique, new way of telling a Sci-Fi story with mostly or even just dialogues that are so witty, dense, coordinated, interlinked and exciting that the story passes perfectly smooth. I, as a great friend of extreme infodump, can´t say how it is possible to transport all the technical elements in an, for Sci-Fi, such unusual way. Even if one isn't so interested in Sci-Fi, simply the great characterization is worth reading it.
An old question is what one person or humankind would do with artifacts that are found now, in any period of the future, on earth or elsewhere and what implications and possibilities might open up after the discovery regarding the influence on the development of culture and technology. Be it how it influenced us thousands of years ago or how it might change life immediately with, let´s say, immortality, endless energy, all knowledge of the universe and stuff.
If the technology is intelligent and conscient, a new way of communication would have to be found to operate the machinery or to simply speak with it. There is also the key to get all the fancy stuff and the tragedy could lie in the bitter irony that we would forever be too stupid to understand, reverse-engineer or just open the artifact. Like cavemen that got a hollow hybrid carbyne-graphene-carbon nanotube ball, cube or little statue those hidden treasures they will never ever be able to use.
It´s scary and amazing at the same time because the further and quicker we will explore the universe, the greater the possibility of finding destroyed, forgotten, stolen or lost technological artifacts will become. The first state or company that finds these treasures might, well, dominate all forever with an iron fist or share it with the rest of the human fractions that are spread all over the universe. It depends on one´s attitude and mentality to choose the setting she/he deems more probable. I would certainly suppress you all, full of evil megalomania, but it´s (still) your free choice which setting you like more.
Tropes show how literature is conceived and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
An old question is what one person or humankind would do with artifacts that are found now, in any period of the future, on earth or elsewhere and what implications and possibilities might open up after the discovery regarding the influence on the development of culture and technology. Be it how it influenced us thousands of years ago or how it might change life immediately with, let´s say, immortality, endless energy, all knowledge of the universe and stuff.
If the technology is intelligent and conscient, a new way of communication would have to be found to operate the machinery or to simply speak with it. There is also the key to get all the fancy stuff and the tragedy could lie in the bitter irony that we would forever be too stupid to understand, reverse-engineer or just open the artifact. Like cavemen that got a hollow hybrid carbyne-graphene-carbon nanotube ball, cube or little statue those hidden treasures they will never ever be able to use.
It´s scary and amazing at the same time because the further and quicker we will explore the universe, the greater the possibility of finding destroyed, forgotten, stolen or lost technological artifacts will become. The first state or company that finds these treasures might, well, dominate all forever with an iron fist or share it with the rest of the human fractions that are spread all over the universe. It depends on one´s attitude and mentality to choose the setting she/he deems more probable. I would certainly suppress you all, full of evil megalomania, but it´s (still) your free choice which setting you like more.
Tropes show how literature is conceived and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
March 6, 2019
- Would you like to clarify your former statement concerning Big Dumb Objects?
- Oh, I see that this review is going to be in the style of Sleeping Giants itself, which is, a series of interviews between an unnamed insufferable smug know-it-all who seems to have more clout than the President of the United and a series of cardboard cutouts.
- Cutouts? Rather supercilious of you, I would have said, never mind me.
- Well, how about : the Ripley ripoff – she’s from Alien The Movie you know – and the superintelligent geek, and the Mad Scientist – this is not profound characterization, you know.
- Mmm, well, okay, but back to the Object.
- Okay, well, the Big Dumb Object - it’s an affectionate term for something you find very often in science fiction and I should say that Sleeping Giants is science fiction for people who don’t read science fiction. Think of the monolith in 2001 A Space Odyssey or Rama in Arthur Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama or Ringworld – anyway, there are dozens of sf stories in which humans discover an Extra Terrestrial Thing and it’s always HUGE, it’s never 3 inches by 4 inches by 6 inches.
- So you’re saying that the 20 stories high robot discovered bit by bit in this novel is one of those.
- If you want to create a sense of wonder, have your robot be 20 stories high. That will work every time.
- So, within the confines of its alleged oldfashioned sensibility, then, does this entry-level science fiction novel work or not?
- Actual sf writers, if they come across this one, will be gnawing their own lower left arm off in frustration. Their intricate masterpieces sail by unnoticed by the multitude, but everyone falls instantly in love with this johnny-one-note tale.
- It was ever thus, you know. Ben Jonson thought Shakespeare was a bit crap compared to his own stuff.
- And the incessant sneeriness of the egomaniac who drives all these interviews gets more than a bit irritating.
- Are you implying anything here?
- Oh no, present company excepted.
- Most kind.
- But, you know, it was a real fast prawn crackery read.
- ?
- You know – OMG did I just eat a whole bag? And why, since they're completely tasteless?
- So?
- Well, I can see why some readers ladle out the stars, but for this old sf fan from way back, awarding a second star is my good deed for the day, akin to helping a three legged dog across the road.
- !
- Oh, I see that this review is going to be in the style of Sleeping Giants itself, which is, a series of interviews between an unnamed insufferable smug know-it-all who seems to have more clout than the President of the United and a series of cardboard cutouts.
- Cutouts? Rather supercilious of you, I would have said, never mind me.
- Well, how about : the Ripley ripoff – she’s from Alien The Movie you know – and the superintelligent geek, and the Mad Scientist – this is not profound characterization, you know.
- Mmm, well, okay, but back to the Object.
- Okay, well, the Big Dumb Object - it’s an affectionate term for something you find very often in science fiction and I should say that Sleeping Giants is science fiction for people who don’t read science fiction. Think of the monolith in 2001 A Space Odyssey or Rama in Arthur Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama or Ringworld – anyway, there are dozens of sf stories in which humans discover an Extra Terrestrial Thing and it’s always HUGE, it’s never 3 inches by 4 inches by 6 inches.
- So you’re saying that the 20 stories high robot discovered bit by bit in this novel is one of those.
- If you want to create a sense of wonder, have your robot be 20 stories high. That will work every time.
- So, within the confines of its alleged oldfashioned sensibility, then, does this entry-level science fiction novel work or not?
- Actual sf writers, if they come across this one, will be gnawing their own lower left arm off in frustration. Their intricate masterpieces sail by unnoticed by the multitude, but everyone falls instantly in love with this johnny-one-note tale.
- It was ever thus, you know. Ben Jonson thought Shakespeare was a bit crap compared to his own stuff.
- And the incessant sneeriness of the egomaniac who drives all these interviews gets more than a bit irritating.
- Are you implying anything here?
- Oh no, present company excepted.
- Most kind.
- But, you know, it was a real fast prawn crackery read.
- ?
- You know – OMG did I just eat a whole bag? And why, since they're completely tasteless?
- So?
- Well, I can see why some readers ladle out the stars, but for this old sf fan from way back, awarding a second star is my good deed for the day, akin to helping a three legged dog across the road.
- !
November 2, 2018
*3.75
February 7, 2017
This was so intriguing! It's dossier style, a collection of interviews and journals from people who have found unexplained objects around the world and find themselves wrapped up in a secret project. I've heard this compared to Illuminae because of the style, and yes, I think fans of Illuminae would enjoy this, but it isn't as much of a production.
I listened to the audiobook and that format fits the interview style VERY well since the book is mostly dialogue. Highly recommend it.
The only thing I didn't like about this book is that it is obviously the first in a series. There was a very quick little twist at the very end that had me like WHOA, but you can definitely tell that this book was just setting up a series. I would have liked more of a climax or story arc, but this was such a compelling mystery and set up that I'm pretty happy with it and can't wait for the next book!
I listened to the audiobook and that format fits the interview style VERY well since the book is mostly dialogue. Highly recommend it.
The only thing I didn't like about this book is that it is obviously the first in a series. There was a very quick little twist at the very end that had me like WHOA, but you can definitely tell that this book was just setting up a series. I would have liked more of a climax or story arc, but this was such a compelling mystery and set up that I'm pretty happy with it and can't wait for the next book!
August 15, 2017
I was so sure I'd like this. It has aliens! Giant robots! A documentary format! I ... did not at all like this, to the point where I'm giving up halfway through.
Really, though, I should have given up at 14%, where the book has one of the worst "I see this was written by a dude" moments I've encountered in any book this year. A military dude, talking with a shady figure whose name he does not know, who has power over his life, decides to lapse into a very sexual description of his superior officer's body in a FORMAL RECORDED INTERVIEW. It's completely out of character and even out of the character's voice; it's clearly included because a) the author couldn't stand for us not to KNOW that the commanding officer is hot, because obviously that's a key part of her character, and b) the author doesn't know how to write romantic attraction or sexual tension, but wanted that to be in the book anyway. Dude writers, this is a thing you can learn. There's an entire genre full of people who are good at it. If you don't want to learn, don't write it!
But I kept reading. I read until I was sure that the author couldn't handle the documentary format (folks, it is NOT easy, and this book is pretty much a textbook how-to-not), until I was sure that the "this was written by a dude" moments were going to continue throughout the book, until the racism started up, until I was sure that the coming reveals weren't going to be worth the pain of reading on.
And then I spent a few moments mourning this very cool concept, which died aborning.
Really, though, I should have given up at 14%, where the book has one of the worst "I see this was written by a dude" moments I've encountered in any book this year. A military dude, talking with a shady figure whose name he does not know, who has power over his life, decides to lapse into a very sexual description of his superior officer's body in a FORMAL RECORDED INTERVIEW. It's completely out of character and even out of the character's voice; it's clearly included because a) the author couldn't stand for us not to KNOW that the commanding officer is hot, because obviously that's a key part of her character, and b) the author doesn't know how to write romantic attraction or sexual tension, but wanted that to be in the book anyway. Dude writers, this is a thing you can learn. There's an entire genre full of people who are good at it. If you don't want to learn, don't write it!
But I kept reading. I read until I was sure that the author couldn't handle the documentary format (folks, it is NOT easy, and this book is pretty much a textbook how-to-not), until I was sure that the "this was written by a dude" moments were going to continue throughout the book, until the racism started up, until I was sure that the coming reveals weren't going to be worth the pain of reading on.
And then I spent a few moments mourning this very cool concept, which died aborning.
February 15, 2021
"This will change the way we think of the world, the way we see ourselves. This will reshape this planet, and we have an opportunity to help steer that change. How many lives is that worth to you?"
4.5 stars. Some books are just so quotable, you know?
... Well, Sleeping Giants isn't one of them.
It frustrates me to realize that even though I laughed so hard through my read (I even giggled! The infamy!!), I just can't show you. I mean, I could, but you'd probably think I have a terrible sense of humor, and we wouldn't want that, would we? Nameless Prick's deadpan style might need to be savored in context, but I assure you, IT'S FANTASTIC.
But can we talk about the captivating premise, okay? So the story starts when Rose Franklin, a talented physicist, Kara, an US army pilot with an attitude, and Ryan, her co-pilot (no, I don't have an adjective for him), are hired to find the metal body parts of a Giant who may or may not have been created by aliens 600,000 years ago. Those body parts are scattered around the world and only appear with the help of some radioactive materials, because of course.
-I am assuming there will be a point to this fable sometime in the near future. ← See what I meant?
ALRIGHT, I can't tell this story in a compelling way for the life of me. I do know because I tried on my boyfriend and no, he didn't get what was SO FUCKING AMAZING either x-) so you'll have to trust me, and ..... I mean there are thousand of us who happily fell into the Sleeping Giants's hole so we can't be entirely wrong, can we?
*headset turned on* Ugh but many awful books are given a 4+ rating here on Goodreads sooooooo
OKAY, NEVER MIND, listen to this :
1) Sleeping Giants is a scifi novel entirely told through interviews and journal entries, and it managed to picture a complex set of relationship dynamics, which I found so very much impressive because hellooooo, that format doesn't exactly scream connection. Yet it worked so damn well, I cared about every one of the characters, including - okay, especially - the nameless manipulative prick who conducted all the interviews and who made me smile so damn much, the arrogant jerk. In the end, none of them is two-dimensional, all of them are layered and have complex motives, I love it.
2) While I haven't read The Martian yet and hence wouldn't be able to compare the two novels, I completely share Emily's opinion: what's so fascinating about Sleeping Giants is the way it relegates us - humans - to our very tiny place in the universe. And wow, I needed that. Indeed I genuinely believe that sometimes, we need to step back and look at the overall picture - and that the world would be one millions times less fucked-up if we did it more often. Do you know what French News said about Trump's speech in Rihad yesterday? That he was right to simplify the World problems in a Good vs Evil war, because it would make sense to Americans. Forget how demeaning it is for your intelligence, that is simply not true and so infuriating and unfair. By looking to the world through our First World gaze, we are in denial. There's no such thing as a Good Country or a Bad Country as a whole, and perhaps we should remember more often that in the end, we're all flawed individuals. Tiny, tiny humans.
3) The ending was exciting enough to make me want to stop everything I was doing and grab the sequel right away.
► It was so, so good. Why, of course I recommend.
For more of my reviews, please visit:
April 27, 2022
ILOVEDITILOVEDITILOVEDITILOVEDITILOVEDIT
I am not usually a fan of sci-fi but when it slaps it SLAPS.
This is a phenomenal audiobook. I highly recommend. If you need something to get you out of a slump, or something to put between physical reads, I would implore you to read this book and it's sequel.
The 'interviewer' is my favorite character. I loved him and his grey look on science and humanity. Let me relay to you a quote he said that left me utterly shook...
"It doesn't matter. You train your soldiers to kill using video games. They blow enough people up on their computer and it becomes easier for them to kill with a real weapon. Why do you think your government funds so many war and terrorism movies? Hollywood does you dirty work for you. Had 9/11 happened twenty years earlier, the country would have been in chaos, but people have seen enough bad things on their television screen to prepare them for just about anything. We do not really need to talk about government conspiracies."
WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW I never though about it like that and this has my brain reeling.
I am not usually a fan of sci-fi but when it slaps it SLAPS.
This is a phenomenal audiobook. I highly recommend. If you need something to get you out of a slump, or something to put between physical reads, I would implore you to read this book and it's sequel.
The 'interviewer' is my favorite character. I loved him and his grey look on science and humanity. Let me relay to you a quote he said that left me utterly shook...
"It doesn't matter. You train your soldiers to kill using video games. They blow enough people up on their computer and it becomes easier for them to kill with a real weapon. Why do you think your government funds so many war and terrorism movies? Hollywood does you dirty work for you. Had 9/11 happened twenty years earlier, the country would have been in chaos, but people have seen enough bad things on their television screen to prepare them for just about anything. We do not really need to talk about government conspiracies."
WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW I never though about it like that and this has my brain reeling.
March 14, 2016
First-time novelist Sylvain Neuvel does a bold, splashy cannonball off the high dive with Sleeping Giants. It bursts at the seams with big ideas and the questions they spawn—How much human life is worth sacrificing in the pursuit of scientific progress? Can humanity be trusted with weapons of ultimate destruction? And the biggest: Are we alone? But all that really matters is that this book is a sheer blast from start to finish. I haven’t had this much fun reading in ages.
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