Reading Well: Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Published in 2016, Sylvain Neuvel‘s Sleeping Giants is the first book in a trilogy. It’s a delightful, surprising, quick read, exploring what might happen if we discovered a giant robot powered by massively advanced technology whose pieces are scattered across the globe, buried deep under the Earth.

We don’t get very far in book one–really just to the putting the pieces of the puzzle together. What makes the book so engaging is Neuvel’s success in a form that would seem to resist deep engagement with the reader: most of the chapters are interviews between a nameless government operative (think Deep Throat from the X-Files, if the reference makes sense) and the main characters. There is no description, just the interview transcript. The other chapters are diary entries.

Yet, somehow, the characters shine through and their struggles–with each other, with solving the puzzle of the technology, with its implications–all matter, and are handled quite effectively. I was surprised to reach the end wanting to read the rest of the trilogy, but I was, and I look forward to doing so!

#WhatIWishICouldDo

The form thing is the clear accomplishment here. To succeed at a structure that, if described objectively (a series of interviews punctuated by a small handful of journal entries), I think many would insist that is a pretty difficult road to travel for what is, essentially, a first-contact sci-fi story. But it works, and thinking about why and how seems worthwhile. (Hint: characters you care about matter …)