Book Review: Sleeping Giants – Sylvain Neuvel

I read Sleeping Giants in August of last year and it is a really enjoyable science-fiction novel to dive into. With an interesting storyline and characters to invest into, this book ticked a lot of my boxes. I will definitely be continuing with the series!

Today’s post is all about my thoughts on the first instalment of the series; I hope you enjoy and that you can consider picking up the book as well!

 

Sleeping Giants – Sylvain Neuvel

Goodreads – Sleeping Giants

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?

 

My Thoughts…

I find myself reading more and more science-fiction. I’m really enjoying branching out into the genre, and what I like about Sleeping Giants is that it felt like a combination of science-fiction with a bit of fantasy. All in all, the book wasn’t what I expected, but that was for the better! It was a really fun book to pick up and read and I’m interested to see whether rest of the series takes it.

Sleeping Giants is narrated in the form of interviews with characters and the odd news article. It’s an unconventional style, but I enjoyed how different it was to typical novels. Each interview marks progress within a scientific project-the finding of metal body parts across the globe and humankind’s quest to understand and assemble technology far more advanced than their own.

Sleeping Giants has a diverse range of characters that are easy to get on with. I really enjoyed the dynamic between them and I don’t feel like the interview style narrative conflicted with getting to know each character. I personally found that having the one on one interaction with them and an interviewer and they’re being questioned on their relations with others helps us understand them better.

The narrative is far darker than I expected it was going to be. From the synopsis I expected quite a light-hearted science-fiction mystery novel, however I didn’t really find that to be the case at all. Although it wasn’t what I expected, I really enjoyed sleeping giant. Whilst the tone is more sinister and events in the book take at times and unpleasant turn, I think that makes the book far more interesting than I ever expected it to be! I don’t always like surprises, but sometimes they can’t be good if well written-and for me this certainly was! For that reason I think the narrative has a lot more to offer and I will definitely be continuing with the series see what happens next!

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