Book Review: The Warren by Brian Evenson
Title: The Warren
Author: Brian Evenson
Release date: September 20, 2016
I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect going into this.
Shamefully, I have yet to read Brian Evenson, even though I have a bunch of his work. When I started reading, I knew I’d be reading a claustrophobic, creepy sci-fi read, but that was about the extent of it. Boy, was this unsettling.
What I liked: ‘The Warren’ is a tough book to review, because the crux of the dread and creep and the pull all occur because of things that come throughout and things that get discovered. Because of that, I can’t discuss a lot of what happens – as I’d spoil everything.
What I can say, is that the book follows X. A bipedal inhabitant of the Warren, an underground habitat, X believes himself to be a person, even though he isn’t one. Then one day, he discovers another individual exists, living outside of the Warren, and when this occurs, it triggers a number of questions and events.
This really reminded me of Michael Griffin’s ‘Armageddon House’ but also the movie ‘Moon.’ Where the reader has to try and connect dots, fill in outer descriptive aspects and follow along blindly as we race towards an ending.
What I didn’t like: I will say, there were points along the way that I found myself confused and had to go back and re-read, especially when a few things happened and I wasn’t sure of POV etc.
Why you should buy this: This reads like a lot of classic science-fiction, where a singular pull of story carries you along and it’s not overly reliant on explosions and alien encounters (not that I don’t love those!). Evenson delivers a truly masterful story that felt heavy reading it and ultimately left me wanting more, but knowing full well what the outcome would be.
4/5
