Very Interesting and Enjoyable
Strange, but Interesting!
Well, I finally got around to finishing, Sleeping Giants!
Sylvain Neuvel has written an off beat science fiction story that is well founded in science, the man knows his stuff, but having said that I must say this novel isn’t for everyone.
The novel is written in a series of interviews and exchanges between the main characters and an unknown and unnamed narrator who has the benefit of knowing exactly why they have been recruited for a research study that has enormous consequences for the human population. However, he keeps this crucial information to himself. (Spoiler: there is someone else who pulls the strings, an unknown entity)
An enormous (giant) hand was found years before by a young girl who later becomes a scientist. She heads up the team. One is a linguist and the other is an army pilot. Through this series of interviews, we find out how they go about locating all the missing parts of this giant that are located beneath the earth all over the world.
The giant robot has the form of a woman, but with no eyes. This robot is 20 stories high by the time they connect all the parts. It has an energy source that is unknown to anyone on earth. It is also a weapon of mass destruction.
The team accidently engages the energy source and the result is that a whole lot of people in airplanes and part of the Denver Airport are instantly vaporized. Now comes the part, all through interview, where every nation on earth wants the robot, so the US decides its too dangerous for anyone nation and they drop it in a deep trench in the ocean.
However, one nation, Russia, finds a way to retrieve it and they are off and running again, except the controls and two control helmets will not work on anyone other an the two American researchers who first were part of the research.
There is a surprise ending, with an epilog alluding to the next book in the series.
All in all, well written and interesting, but this novel is not for everyone, though I did enjoy it because I like science, but it did lag in places. ***
Sylvain Neuvel has written an off beat science fiction story that is well founded in science, the man knows his stuff, but having said that I must say this novel isn’t for everyone.
The novel is written in a series of interviews and exchanges between the main characters and an unknown and unnamed narrator who has the benefit of knowing exactly why they have been recruited for a research study that has enormous consequences for the human population. However, he keeps this crucial information to himself. (Spoiler: there is someone else who pulls the strings, an unknown entity)
An enormous (giant) hand was found years before by a young girl who later becomes a scientist. She heads up the team. One is a linguist and the other is an army pilot. Through this series of interviews, we find out how they go about locating all the missing parts of this giant that are located beneath the earth all over the world.
The giant robot has the form of a woman, but with no eyes. This robot is 20 stories high by the time they connect all the parts. It has an energy source that is unknown to anyone on earth. It is also a weapon of mass destruction.
The team accidently engages the energy source and the result is that a whole lot of people in airplanes and part of the Denver Airport are instantly vaporized. Now comes the part, all through interview, where every nation on earth wants the robot, so the US decides its too dangerous for anyone nation and they drop it in a deep trench in the ocean.
However, one nation, Russia, finds a way to retrieve it and they are off and running again, except the controls and two control helmets will not work on anyone other an the two American researchers who first were part of the research.
Sylvain Neuvel has written an off beat science fiction story that is well founded in science, the man knows his stuff, but having said that I must say this novel isn’t for everyone. However, if you like science fiction, this is really good and a different take on a presentation.
The novel is written in a series of interviews and exchanges between the main characters and an unknown and unnamed narrator who has the benefit of knowing exactly why they have been recruited for a research study that has enormous consequences for the human population. However, he keeps this crucial information to himself. (Spoiler: there is someone else who pulls the strings, an unknown entity)
An enormous (giant) hand was found years before by a young girl who later becomes a scientist. She heads up the team. One is a linguist and the other is an army pilot. Through this series of interviews, we find out how they go about locating all the missing parts of this giant that are located beneath the earth all over the world.
The giant robot has the form of a woman, but with no eyes. This robot is 20 stories high by the time they connect all the parts. It has an energy source that is unknown to anyone on earth. It is also a weapon of mass destruction.
The team accidently engages the energy source and the result is that a whole lot of people in airplanes and part of the Denver Airport are instantly vaporized. Now comes the part, all through interview, where every nation on earth wants the robot, so the US decides its too dangerous for anyone nation and they drop it in a deep trench in the ocean.
However, one nation, Russia, finds a way to retrieve it and they are off and running again, except the controls and two control helmets will not work on anyone other an the two American researchers who first were part of the research.
There is a surprise ending, with an epilog alluding to the next book in the series.
All in all, well written and interesting, but this novel is not for everyone, though I did enjoy it because I like science, but it did lag in places. ***
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Book Of The Year
On May 21, 2016, I went to Books-A-Million to return a book that I thought would be good, but a few chapters into it proved otherwise. I decided to look around and see what was out and new, see if anything would grab my attention. Since reading indie authors almost exclusively for about two years, I find it hard to go into a bookstore and find a book. Why pay nearly $30 for a new hardback or $17 for a paperback when I can get several books by good indie authors for the same price?I started in the front of the store, where the new releases are, and began to look at the covers to see if anything grabbed me. (Yes I know they say not to judge a book by its cover but that is what gets people’s attention. If your cover doesn’t grab me in the store then I’m probably not going to read what your book is about.) After looking at the newest books, I continued to a table that displays books that have recently been released.Then I saw the cover to Sleeping Giants. Ok, you have my attention, Sylvain Neuvel. I know almost all hardbacks have the story synopsis on the inside flap, but I wondered what was on the back.This book has some great praises:“This stellar debut novel . . . masterfully blends together elements of sci-fi, political thriller and apocalyptic fiction . . . A page turner of the highest order” – Kirkus Reviews“Reminiscent of The Martian and World War Z, Sleeping Giants is a luminous conspiracy yarn that shoots for (and lands among) the stars.” – Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising“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.” – Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and the bestselling Wayward PinesAfter reading these quotes I had to know what this book was about, especially since Pierce Brown said it was “reminiscent of The Martian.” I opened the book to read the inside flap:A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square 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—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.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 provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?I have to admit, I was interested in this book now. I continued to walk through the store to see if any other book would make me change my mind on Sleeping Giants . . . they didn’t. I knew I had to get this one.I started to read it Saturday evening. Sylvain Neuvel writes in a way that really keeps your interest in the story. Saturday night I had to decide if I was going to stay up and read or if I would sleep. We had a 5 hour ride to make the next day, but this book had my attention. I finally decided that I would get some sleep.Sunday I downloaded the Audible version of the book so I would have it to listen to on the way home. Once my wife fell asleep, I turned on the audiobook. I will talk more about that later.I finished the book on the morning of Tuesday, May 24, 2016. That is the quickest I have read a novel in a while. I am a slow reader, but I could not put this book down. I was trying to find time to read what happened next. Video games didn’t matter; Netflix and Hulu didn’t matter, I just wanted to read the story.From what I am reading online and from other reviews, Sleeping Giants is written like World War Z. The story is told mainly through interviews. There are a few other things like a news article, journal entries, or flight transmissions, but the majority (maybe 90-95%) of the story is told through an interview. The same character does the interviewing. We never learn who he is, what he really does, or who he really works for and that adds to the mystery of the book. I found myself asking, is he really a good guy, a bad guy, or a combination of both?We learn about the other characters through the interviews. I cannot say that I really connected with many of them, I guess it is hard to when the story is told through an interview, but that did not detract from the story. You still come to care for characters and maybe hate a few.The pacing of the story is great. Some chapters did end on a slight cliffhanger, but every chapter felt necessary and made me want to continue the story.“Every major religion has to adjust to this revelation. Whatever god you believe in can’t just be about humans anymore. He, or she, has to be a god of the whole universe.”This book needs to be read and/or listened to. The audiobook is amazing. This might be the best audiobook I have listened to. Each character in the story is voiced by a different actor/actress. To me it makes the story so easy to follow along with and works great with the format of the story. It brings a whole new level to this book. While I was driving, my wife stopped reading her book at times to listen to this audiobook as well. I highly recommend the audiobook.***Just on a funny side note: I started listening to this while my wife was sleeping. At one point in the story a main female character screams. I had no idea this was going to happen and it scared my wife. She sat up wondering why a female was yelling when it was just us and our dogs in the car. I laughed so hard. She did too . . . later.***I have read and watched some reviews for Sleeping Giants and I would like to address a few things that really bugged me:One reviewer said that he wanted to see more killer robot action. Let me say this about the robot. This robot is not what you are probably picturing when you think robot. Yes this is a giant robot (200 feet tall). But this robot does not have a mind of its own. The robot has to be controlled. One of the really fun things about this book is the people learning how to control the robot and what the different buttons and things do. What do the different symbols mean? That is all part of the fun of the book. This robot cannot act on its own. So know that going into it.This book is not The Martian. When someone compares a book to The Martian I automatically think of space. This book takes place on earth but asks, are we alone in the universe? I guess the other reason it is compared to The Martian is the fact that they use science and math in the book but it is easy to understand.As I said earlier, the writing is compared to World War Z. Each chapter has a file number and is in interview format, you could call the style a dossier. If you don’t care for that type of format then you probably won’t like this book very muchSleeping Giants is my pick for book of the year so far. I had been having a hard time finding a book that really grabbed me, until this one. Sleeping Giants grabbed me and didn’t let go until I finished it. I could not turn the pages fast enough. I could not read the words fast enough. I needed to know what happened and I needed to know now.Once I finished the story I was left with a big smile on my face. This book is truly fun to read. I am not sure how many books will be in this series, The Themis Files, but book two, Waking Gods is scheduled for release on April 4, 2017. This is WILL BE a book that I preorder from Amazon and have it delivered to me the day it releases. I will also stop whatever book I am reading at the time to read it.Sylvain Neuvel’s debut novel, Sleeping Giants, is an amazing read and I cannot recommend it enough. Neuvel shows that he has some major talent and I hope that he will continue to write more books. I cannot wait to read whatever he puts out next.The movie rights for the story were bought by Sony before the book was released. As of the day I am writing this review, David Koepp (Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park, and War of the Worlds) is set to write the screenplay. Matt Tolmach (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Josh Bratman are set to produce.Sleeping Giants is a joy to read and listen to. I hope at some point I am able to get my copy signed by the author. I have a feeling I will be reading this book more. It might even be one I read every year.Before I give my rating I want to tell you how I came up with it. When I give you my rating, it is on a 10 point scale. Why is that, you might ask. Everyone else does 5 star ratings. In my head, the 10 point scale is like receiving a grade in school. If I give it 10/10 then that is like getting a 100%, 9.5/10 is like getting a 95%, and so on and so on. I do not hand out many 10/10 ratings. Why? For a book to get a 10 out of 10 it has to do a few things for me:It really has to pull me into its world. I have to feel like I am part of the book. I have to feel like I am there as I am reading it.I have to have the feeling that I cannot and do not want to put the book down. I have to want to read instead of watching my favorite show, eating food, or getting sleep. The book has to leave me with a feeling that it might be the most important thing at that moment.It has to be a story that I would want to read at least once a year.Since I have started posting my reviews on the blog I have given 10 stars to only three books and they are:Ready Player One by Ernest ClineThe Night Circus by Erin MorgensternEmpathy For Andrew by WJ DaviesI went back and forth on this book, to be honest. It is hard to feel like I am part of the world when the book is told through interviews. But in the end it meets all of the other criteria for a 10 Star rating and that is what it deserves. I am not going to punish the story because the writing format is different to me. This is a book that I will recommend to everyone and will probably read every year. This book truly is amazing.Leighgenadry Rating: 10/10 StarsSleeping Giants (Themis Files) by Sylvain NeuvelHardcover: 320 pagesPublisher: Del Rey (April 26, 2016)Audiobook: 8 hours and 28 minutes
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Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2016
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2016
On May 21, 2016, I went to Books-A-Million to return a book that I thought would be good, but a few chapters into it proved otherwise. I decided to look around and see what was out and new, see if anything would grab my attention. Since reading indie authors almost exclusively for about two years, I find it hard to go into a bookstore and find a book. Why pay nearly $30 for a new hardback or $17 for a paperback when I can get several books by good indie authors for the same price?
I started in the front of the store, where the new releases are, and began to look at the covers to see if anything grabbed me. (Yes I know they say not to judge a book by its cover but that is what gets people’s attention. If your cover doesn’t grab me in the store then I’m probably not going to read what your book is about.) After looking at the newest books, I continued to a table that displays books that have recently been released.
Then I saw the cover to Sleeping Giants. Ok, you have my attention, Sylvain Neuvel. I know almost all hardbacks have the story synopsis on the inside flap, but I wondered what was on the back.
This book has some great praises:
“This stellar debut novel . . . masterfully blends together elements of sci-fi, political thriller and apocalyptic fiction . . . A page turner of the highest order” – Kirkus Reviews
“Reminiscent of The Martian and World War Z, Sleeping Giants is a luminous conspiracy yarn that shoots for (and lands among) the stars.” – Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising
“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.” – Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and the bestselling Wayward Pines
After reading these quotes I had to know what this book was about, especially since Pierce Brown said it was “reminiscent of The Martian.” I opened the book to read the inside flap:
A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square 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—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.
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 provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?
I have to admit, I was interested in this book now. I continued to walk through the store to see if any other book would make me change my mind on Sleeping Giants . . . they didn’t. I knew I had to get this one.
I started to read it Saturday evening. Sylvain Neuvel writes in a way that really keeps your interest in the story. Saturday night I had to decide if I was going to stay up and read or if I would sleep. We had a 5 hour ride to make the next day, but this book had my attention. I finally decided that I would get some sleep.
Sunday I downloaded the Audible version of the book so I would have it to listen to on the way home. Once my wife fell asleep, I turned on the audiobook. I will talk more about that later.
I finished the book on the morning of Tuesday, May 24, 2016. That is the quickest I have read a novel in a while. I am a slow reader, but I could not put this book down. I was trying to find time to read what happened next. Video games didn’t matter; Netflix and Hulu didn’t matter, I just wanted to read the story.
From what I am reading online and from other reviews, Sleeping Giants is written like World War Z. The story is told mainly through interviews. There are a few other things like a news article, journal entries, or flight transmissions, but the majority (maybe 90-95%) of the story is told through an interview. The same character does the interviewing. We never learn who he is, what he really does, or who he really works for and that adds to the mystery of the book. I found myself asking, is he really a good guy, a bad guy, or a combination of both?
We learn about the other characters through the interviews. I cannot say that I really connected with many of them, I guess it is hard to when the story is told through an interview, but that did not detract from the story. You still come to care for characters and maybe hate a few.
The pacing of the story is great. Some chapters did end on a slight cliffhanger, but every chapter felt necessary and made me want to continue the story.
“Every major religion has to adjust to this revelation. Whatever god you believe in can’t just be about humans anymore. He, or she, has to be a god of the whole universe.”
This book needs to be read and/or listened to. The audiobook is amazing. This might be the best audiobook I have listened to. Each character in the story is voiced by a different actor/actress. To me it makes the story so easy to follow along with and works great with the format of the story. It brings a whole new level to this book. While I was driving, my wife stopped reading her book at times to listen to this audiobook as well. I highly recommend the audiobook.
***Just on a funny side note: I started listening to this while my wife was sleeping. At one point in the story a main female character screams. I had no idea this was going to happen and it scared my wife. She sat up wondering why a female was yelling when it was just us and our dogs in the car. I laughed so hard. She did too . . . later.***
I have read and watched some reviews for Sleeping Giants and I would like to address a few things that really bugged me:
One reviewer said that he wanted to see more killer robot action. Let me say this about the robot. This robot is not what you are probably picturing when you think robot. Yes this is a giant robot (200 feet tall). But this robot does not have a mind of its own. The robot has to be controlled. One of the really fun things about this book is the people learning how to control the robot and what the different buttons and things do. What do the different symbols mean? That is all part of the fun of the book. This robot cannot act on its own. So know that going into it.
This book is not The Martian. When someone compares a book to The Martian I automatically think of space. This book takes place on earth but asks, are we alone in the universe? I guess the other reason it is compared to The Martian is the fact that they use science and math in the book but it is easy to understand.
As I said earlier, the writing is compared to World War Z. Each chapter has a file number and is in interview format, you could call the style a dossier. If you don’t care for that type of format then you probably won’t like this book very much
Sleeping Giants is my pick for book of the year so far. I had been having a hard time finding a book that really grabbed me, until this one. Sleeping Giants grabbed me and didn’t let go until I finished it. I could not turn the pages fast enough. I could not read the words fast enough. I needed to know what happened and I needed to know now.
Once I finished the story I was left with a big smile on my face. This book is truly fun to read. I am not sure how many books will be in this series, The Themis Files, but book two, Waking Gods is scheduled for release on April 4, 2017. This is WILL BE a book that I preorder from Amazon and have it delivered to me the day it releases. I will also stop whatever book I am reading at the time to read it.
Sylvain Neuvel’s debut novel, Sleeping Giants, is an amazing read and I cannot recommend it enough. Neuvel shows that he has some major talent and I hope that he will continue to write more books. I cannot wait to read whatever he puts out next.
The movie rights for the story were bought by Sony before the book was released. As of the day I am writing this review, David Koepp (Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park, and War of the Worlds) is set to write the screenplay. Matt Tolmach (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Josh Bratman are set to produce.
Sleeping Giants is a joy to read and listen to. I hope at some point I am able to get my copy signed by the author. I have a feeling I will be reading this book more. It might even be one I read every year.
Before I give my rating I want to tell you how I came up with it. When I give you my rating, it is on a 10 point scale. Why is that, you might ask. Everyone else does 5 star ratings. In my head, the 10 point scale is like receiving a grade in school. If I give it 10/10 then that is like getting a 100%, 9.5/10 is like getting a 95%, and so on and so on. I do not hand out many 10/10 ratings. Why? For a book to get a 10 out of 10 it has to do a few things for me:
It really has to pull me into its world. I have to feel like I am part of the book. I have to feel like I am there as I am reading it.
I have to have the feeling that I cannot and do not want to put the book down. I have to want to read instead of watching my favorite show, eating food, or getting sleep. The book has to leave me with a feeling that it might be the most important thing at that moment.
It has to be a story that I would want to read at least once a year.
Since I have started posting my reviews on the blog I have given 10 stars to only three books and they are:
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Empathy For Andrew by WJ Davies
I went back and forth on this book, to be honest. It is hard to feel like I am part of the world when the book is told through interviews. But in the end it meets all of the other criteria for a 10 Star rating and that is what it deserves. I am not going to punish the story because the writing format is different to me. This is a book that I will recommend to everyone and will probably read every year. This book truly is amazing.
Leighgenadry Rating: 10/10 Stars
Sleeping Giants (Themis Files) by Sylvain Neuvel
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Del Rey (April 26, 2016)
Audiobook: 8 hours and 28 minutes
I started in the front of the store, where the new releases are, and began to look at the covers to see if anything grabbed me. (Yes I know they say not to judge a book by its cover but that is what gets people’s attention. If your cover doesn’t grab me in the store then I’m probably not going to read what your book is about.) After looking at the newest books, I continued to a table that displays books that have recently been released.
Then I saw the cover to Sleeping Giants. Ok, you have my attention, Sylvain Neuvel. I know almost all hardbacks have the story synopsis on the inside flap, but I wondered what was on the back.
This book has some great praises:
“This stellar debut novel . . . masterfully blends together elements of sci-fi, political thriller and apocalyptic fiction . . . A page turner of the highest order” – Kirkus Reviews
“Reminiscent of The Martian and World War Z, Sleeping Giants is a luminous conspiracy yarn that shoots for (and lands among) the stars.” – Pierce Brown, New York Times bestselling author of Red Rising
“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.” – Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and the bestselling Wayward Pines
After reading these quotes I had to know what this book was about, especially since Pierce Brown said it was “reminiscent of The Martian.” I opened the book to read the inside flap:
A girl named Rose is riding her new bike near her home in Deadwood, South Dakota, when she falls through the earth. She wakes up at the bottom of a square 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—its origins, architects, and purpose unknown. Its carbon dating defies belief; military reports are redacted; theories are floated, then rejected.
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 provenance of the relic. What’s clear is that Rose and her compatriots are on the edge of unraveling history’s most perplexing discovery—and figuring out what it portends for humanity. But once the pieces of the puzzle are in place, will the result prove to be an instrument of lasting peace or a weapon of mass destruction?
I have to admit, I was interested in this book now. I continued to walk through the store to see if any other book would make me change my mind on Sleeping Giants . . . they didn’t. I knew I had to get this one.
I started to read it Saturday evening. Sylvain Neuvel writes in a way that really keeps your interest in the story. Saturday night I had to decide if I was going to stay up and read or if I would sleep. We had a 5 hour ride to make the next day, but this book had my attention. I finally decided that I would get some sleep.
Sunday I downloaded the Audible version of the book so I would have it to listen to on the way home. Once my wife fell asleep, I turned on the audiobook. I will talk more about that later.
I finished the book on the morning of Tuesday, May 24, 2016. That is the quickest I have read a novel in a while. I am a slow reader, but I could not put this book down. I was trying to find time to read what happened next. Video games didn’t matter; Netflix and Hulu didn’t matter, I just wanted to read the story.
From what I am reading online and from other reviews, Sleeping Giants is written like World War Z. The story is told mainly through interviews. There are a few other things like a news article, journal entries, or flight transmissions, but the majority (maybe 90-95%) of the story is told through an interview. The same character does the interviewing. We never learn who he is, what he really does, or who he really works for and that adds to the mystery of the book. I found myself asking, is he really a good guy, a bad guy, or a combination of both?
We learn about the other characters through the interviews. I cannot say that I really connected with many of them, I guess it is hard to when the story is told through an interview, but that did not detract from the story. You still come to care for characters and maybe hate a few.
The pacing of the story is great. Some chapters did end on a slight cliffhanger, but every chapter felt necessary and made me want to continue the story.
“Every major religion has to adjust to this revelation. Whatever god you believe in can’t just be about humans anymore. He, or she, has to be a god of the whole universe.”
This book needs to be read and/or listened to. The audiobook is amazing. This might be the best audiobook I have listened to. Each character in the story is voiced by a different actor/actress. To me it makes the story so easy to follow along with and works great with the format of the story. It brings a whole new level to this book. While I was driving, my wife stopped reading her book at times to listen to this audiobook as well. I highly recommend the audiobook.
***Just on a funny side note: I started listening to this while my wife was sleeping. At one point in the story a main female character screams. I had no idea this was going to happen and it scared my wife. She sat up wondering why a female was yelling when it was just us and our dogs in the car. I laughed so hard. She did too . . . later.***
I have read and watched some reviews for Sleeping Giants and I would like to address a few things that really bugged me:
One reviewer said that he wanted to see more killer robot action. Let me say this about the robot. This robot is not what you are probably picturing when you think robot. Yes this is a giant robot (200 feet tall). But this robot does not have a mind of its own. The robot has to be controlled. One of the really fun things about this book is the people learning how to control the robot and what the different buttons and things do. What do the different symbols mean? That is all part of the fun of the book. This robot cannot act on its own. So know that going into it.
This book is not The Martian. When someone compares a book to The Martian I automatically think of space. This book takes place on earth but asks, are we alone in the universe? I guess the other reason it is compared to The Martian is the fact that they use science and math in the book but it is easy to understand.
As I said earlier, the writing is compared to World War Z. Each chapter has a file number and is in interview format, you could call the style a dossier. If you don’t care for that type of format then you probably won’t like this book very much
Sleeping Giants is my pick for book of the year so far. I had been having a hard time finding a book that really grabbed me, until this one. Sleeping Giants grabbed me and didn’t let go until I finished it. I could not turn the pages fast enough. I could not read the words fast enough. I needed to know what happened and I needed to know now.
Once I finished the story I was left with a big smile on my face. This book is truly fun to read. I am not sure how many books will be in this series, The Themis Files, but book two, Waking Gods is scheduled for release on April 4, 2017. This is WILL BE a book that I preorder from Amazon and have it delivered to me the day it releases. I will also stop whatever book I am reading at the time to read it.
Sylvain Neuvel’s debut novel, Sleeping Giants, is an amazing read and I cannot recommend it enough. Neuvel shows that he has some major talent and I hope that he will continue to write more books. I cannot wait to read whatever he puts out next.
The movie rights for the story were bought by Sony before the book was released. As of the day I am writing this review, David Koepp (Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park, and War of the Worlds) is set to write the screenplay. Matt Tolmach (The Amazing Spider-Man) and Josh Bratman are set to produce.
Sleeping Giants is a joy to read and listen to. I hope at some point I am able to get my copy signed by the author. I have a feeling I will be reading this book more. It might even be one I read every year.
Before I give my rating I want to tell you how I came up with it. When I give you my rating, it is on a 10 point scale. Why is that, you might ask. Everyone else does 5 star ratings. In my head, the 10 point scale is like receiving a grade in school. If I give it 10/10 then that is like getting a 100%, 9.5/10 is like getting a 95%, and so on and so on. I do not hand out many 10/10 ratings. Why? For a book to get a 10 out of 10 it has to do a few things for me:
It really has to pull me into its world. I have to feel like I am part of the book. I have to feel like I am there as I am reading it.
I have to have the feeling that I cannot and do not want to put the book down. I have to want to read instead of watching my favorite show, eating food, or getting sleep. The book has to leave me with a feeling that it might be the most important thing at that moment.
It has to be a story that I would want to read at least once a year.
Since I have started posting my reviews on the blog I have given 10 stars to only three books and they are:
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Empathy For Andrew by WJ Davies
I went back and forth on this book, to be honest. It is hard to feel like I am part of the world when the book is told through interviews. But in the end it meets all of the other criteria for a 10 Star rating and that is what it deserves. I am not going to punish the story because the writing format is different to me. This is a book that I will recommend to everyone and will probably read every year. This book truly is amazing.
Leighgenadry Rating: 10/10 Stars
Sleeping Giants (Themis Files) by Sylvain Neuvel
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Del Rey (April 26, 2016)
Audiobook: 8 hours and 28 minutes
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
Swords and Spectres
Absolutely loved it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 5, 2020
