“Ink: The Book of all Hours” by Hal Duncan is not like anything you’ve ever read – unless you’ve read “Vellum,” the first in this two book series. It’s not so much a novel, as a complex, swirling, 3-D mosaic of vivid imagery. The concept is that the universe is made up of many alternate worlds that are connected and controlled by atome called “The Book of All Hours.” The prose is stunning. Numerous references to classical works will have readers running to the internet to do research. Genres change, from fantasy to realism to myth. Characters move from one reality to another, reappearing in different personas. Readers must distinguish between them, while dealing with the non-linear timeline.
The endless battle of good versus evil, humans against enhanced humans continues in the early 21st century. In book one Reynard Carter discovered the “Book of All Hours,” a doorway to the “Vellum,” the realm where all realities are written. He was forced to cross the portal and transverse time and identity to save it. Now he and the other characters will have to rewrite the “Book of All Hours” and bring down the angels and demons for good.
This is a book of grand concept and scale. It’s also a book with considerable flaws. It’s hard to describe a coherent plot. Much of the book is made up of the same story with variations of character, time and place. The multiple plotlines and timelines make it a challenging read. Sometimes it reads more like a book of short stories than a novel. Sometimes it reads like a convoluted mess. Read it for yourself and decide.
Publisher: Del Rey; 1st soft cover edition (February 27, 2007)
ISBN: 978-0-345-48733-9
Pages: 544
Price: $15.95
Gail Pruszkowski reviews for “Romantic Times BOOKreviews” magazine and her work has been published in the “Cup of Comfort” Anthologies.
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Author: Gail Pruszkowski
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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