Vellum: The Book of All Hours

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It's a hit!

This book reinvents mythologies and ideologies in a no holds barred battle across time and universes. While much of the writing was fascinating, i... (show more)

This book reinvents mythologies and ideologies in a no holds barred battle across time and universes. While much of the writing was fascinating, it was not easily accessible. The way the scenes in the plot were thrown together without much thought for sequence or whether they would flow; even despite their non-linearity, it could have been more cohesive and a much stronger novel. Original and unique turns of phrase rated this a four out of five stars, I appreciate the creative efforts that went into making the plot interesting.

Good novels should not be a chore for the reader to plough through in the name of either art or form. It is classic storylines which every individual can relate that makes or breaks a novel. These were classic, just packaged poorly. I'm hoping the second book lives up to the promise of his capacity as a writer, rather than down to the scattered stream of consciousness this first novel so blithely espouses. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook User

No, it's a flop!

This book was actually painful to read. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't just put it down. It was like reading modern art or listening to modern ... (show more)

This book was actually painful to read. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't just put it down. It was like reading modern art or listening to modern music, which, if you're into it, is fine, but if you're not, you just see something meaningless or hear disharmonies, that's only art or music because someone said so. Reading this, I felt like Duncan wrote bits of assorted stories on cards and then shuffled them together and called it a book. Some of the bits are chronological, some of them even make sense. Some involve the same characters, although it's hard to always be sure, since everyone seems to have the same name, or to change names several times. But it's not a narrative. There are bits, no more than a few pages each time that tell a coherent story, and the only reason I give this book even part of a star is because some of these bits are good. If he'd stuck with one of these ideas and fleshed it out, instead of flitting all over the place, Duncan might have had something worth reading. (show less)

 

 

by Facebook User

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  I must admit that the first time i started this book, i found it hard going and stopped. Thankfully i started again, stuck with it, and have found one of my favourite books to date! The story seems completely choatic from the get go as its completely non-linear and features a seemingly huge cast of characters: i suspect you'll find yourself lost for almost half the book. Even reading a few pages at a time can be quite a mind trip! I am so glad i stuck with it though, its very much like a puzz... (show more)

  I must admit that the first time i started this book, i found it hard going and stopped. Thankfully i started again, stuck with it, and have found one of my favourite books to date! The story seems completely choatic from the get go as its completely non-linear and features a seemingly huge cast of characters: i suspect you'll find yourself lost for almost half the book. Even reading a few pages at a time can be quite a mind trip! I am so glad i stuck with it though, its very much like a puzzle: 'our' reality, alternate dimensions, timelines, myths, language, characters' bonds to each other and themselves all start to come together towards the end of the book. I found myself not being able to put it down unless absolutely necessary which is always a good sign! A word of warning though, this is book 1 of 2... Reading the second volume (entitled 'Ink') now and will let you know how that goes! (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook User on Oct 25, 2009 at 09:29AM

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  Sadly, I did not finish this book. I came to realize that it was going nowhere, and I still had 250 pages to go. Which is a shame, because there was actually a lot I liked about the book - it's well written, has interesting characters, and takes on some weighty but fascinating subjects like the persistence of archetypes throughout mythology. But overall, the lack of any cohesive plot or storyline made me just wish for it to end. I don't usually have a problem with non-linear books (David ... (show more)

  Sadly, I did not finish this book. I came to realize that it was going nowhere, and I still had 250 pages to go. Which is a shame, because there was actually a lot I liked about the book - it's well written, has interesting characters, and takes on some weighty but fascinating subjects like the persistence of archetypes throughout mythology. But overall, the lack of any cohesive plot or storyline made me just wish for it to end. I don't usually have a problem with non-linear books (David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, for instance, is one of my all-time favorites), but one of the problems here was the neverending *sameness* - the story (what there is of it) is a kind of Moebius strip, constantly doubling back on itself, introducing new but similar incarnations of the same characters, such that, by halfway through the book, almost nothing had actually *happened*. It's a rare occasion when I'm simultaneously fascinated and bored, but that was the effect of Vellum. (show less)

   

   

  by Ben Schuman on Apr 09, 2009 at 01:46PM

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