I bought this book with the intention of finishing it in time to go see the film in theaters, but that didn’t happen. When I came to terms with the fact that I wouldn’t be able to get through it before it left theaters I spoke to my friend who had read the book. I asked her if they managed to fit the entire book into one film and she said no. So I had then planned to read up to the part she said the film ended at, but that didn’t happen either, because I will say, getting through the first few chapters was a bit rough. You just get thrown in the middle of it without any backstory or explanations, which can be challenging or frustrating when the text is full of unusual made up words and strange names. Trying to figure out what the words meant and how the characters were related to each other meant that I was reading relatively slowly at first. But as soon as I got into the story I found myself looking forward to my evening reading in bed.
I’ve been trying to think about what reading this feels like, or what it can compare to, but I can’t think of anything. I always mentally compare it to Tatooine, because of the vast deserts, but it’s more than that and vastly different from Star Wars. It’s political, tribal, mystical, but also serious and dark, expressing very few moments of joy or humor. It is definitely a book I would read again.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 