This River Awakens

by Steven Erikson

Owen's family moves from the city to the countryside, and the adolescent Owen quickly develops friendships and rivalries. When he discovers a corpse in the river, it proves the catalyst for a spiralling descent into the darker reaches of the community, and a stark rites of passage for Owen.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Dark

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Steven Erikson is the pseudonym of Steve Rune Lundin, a Canadian novelist, who was educated and trained as both an archaeologist and anthropologist. His best-known work is the series, the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/steven...

Reviews

[Carla (Carla's Book Bits) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not going to be for everyone, but This River Awakens was a book that I didn't expect to like so much.

This is a coming of age story, sort-of-horror, but mostly just immerses you in vibes of human darkness. The story follows a boy named Owen Brand, who moves into a small Canadian town with his family in hopes of escaping poverty. He gets to know a small group of friends and finds a connection with a girl named Jennifer. And along the way, we follow other members of the town through their personal horrors and depraved thoughts. One day, Owen and his friends find a dead body washed up in the river, and let's just say this discovery triggers the course of the story.

This River Awakens is a bit of a strange read, as it's a very slow novel and I spent a good amount of it feeling like it was gonna be all vibes and no plot. It took a long time for Owen to find the dead body, and even then, things continued to move slowly from there. The cast of characters were... interesting, to say the least. These are all absolutely depraved and morally bankrupt characters we're reading about, and the characters who have been broken are very undeniably broken. There is no character here who is completely innocent - but nonetheless you'll find characters to appreciate.

With that said, this book is not for the faint of heart. There are scenes of animal abuse, rape, child abuse... The story does not hesitate to dive into these things head first. It's not an easy read, and at times I had no clue where the book was going to take me, but I have to say that thankfully, the ending does bring you to a place of light. The writing is genuinely beautiful, and it's atmospheric. Reading this book feels like being in a perpetually cloudy day.

I read This River Awakens because I wanted a feel for Steven Erikson's writing style before I try his Malazan series. They're very different genres, but now I can say I'm even more interested in trying Malazan, if he's as open-minded with that series as he is in this book. Again, this book isn't for everyone, but Erikson has definitely won me over.

[Stephen Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until about halfway through this book, I wasn't sure whether I was going to like it or not. It's about a bunch of kids aged about 12 or 13 living in an in-between place somewhere between the city and farmlands. I lived in such a place when I was that age, so to that extent it felt familiar, but I wasn't aware of the existence of such a bunch of messed-up people. That doesn't mean that they weren't there in the place where I grew up, just that I wasn't aware of them. And I wouldn't have dared to talk to my teachers the way those kids did.

The protagonist is one of the kids, Owen Brand, who has just moved to the area and so has to make friends from scratch, and one of the things that is rather confusing is that his viewpoint is in the first person, while the others are in the third person, but when he is just with one other person, and the viewpoint switches, one somtimes loses track of who is talking.

The messed-up people are just about everyone, friends, neighbours, teachers, family members. Part of the interest of the story is how Owen learns to cope with this, and how he and his family help to improve things for his girlfiend, who has an abusive father and an abused mother, and has learned to cope with adults by keeping them at arm's length.

So there are good things to balance out the bad things, and nothing's perfect, but that's true to life too. In some ways Owen seems to represent the idea of coinherence of Charles Williams, with people taking on the burdens of others. Williams appeared to think that people could or would do this consciously and deliberately, but Owen does it almost unconsciously.

In the end I liked the book, and liked it a lot. Perhaps I'll read it again, because it's the kind of book where there are lots of things you don't see on the first reading, and perhaps not on the second or the third either.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This River Awakens is incredible. It’s incredibly disturbing, incredibly dark, incredibly atmospheric, and incredibly beautiful. It’s a raw, visceral coming-of-age story and absolutely unlike anything I’ve ever imagined the author could, or would, write. It’s a haunting tale that will stick to you like glue once you finish it, though you might have to work a bit for that finish. It’s worth it (squeamish readers beware). This River Awakens has its share of problems, and it’s definitely not for everyone, but despite its issues, it is fantastic. It shows just how versatile Erikson is as an author. Ponderous pace be damned, this book is pure art – beautifully dark, very challenging (in more ways than one) art.

Full review here:

http://www.bookwormblues.net/2013/08/...

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Having already read so much from Erikson, I felt like I knew what to expect, or at least had some idea... This River Awakens was something else entirely, and frankly amazing for an authors first work. The writing can be stunning at times, and the story is visceral and real.

[Elisa Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you, like me, are picking up this book because you are in withdrawal of Erikson's Malazan writing ... probably don't? You'll only be confused and resentful by how much it's not that. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth reading! It starts off slow, and gets sort of horrible around the middle (animal abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, substance abuse ...) but then I realized that I actually couldn't stop reading. The characters are all pretty flawed, and as a few people have mentioned I .. don't think 12 year olds actually act this way. I kept waiting to see if the dreams, visions, hallucinations, good and bad trips and outright psychotic breaks would lead to a revelation of anything supernatural, but nothing magical explicitly happens. Someone dies (although not who you'd hope nor expect) and even though nothing is really tied up neatly at the end, it still felt like a good conclusion. in summary, even though I didn't think I liked this book while I was reading it, somehow at the end I did? That was weird.

[Derrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ability of this author to comprehend and recreate the human condition has always astounded me. I'm not referring to "the human condition" in an inspirational, we're-all-in-this-together kind of way. Rather, he uncomfortably captures what fucks us up, what makes us feel, what makes us choose, what we hide from, etc..

This book is human dysfunction. Not sensationalized; not glossed over. It's a book that spans a year of melancholy. Relationships forged, broken, and inexplicably maintained. In typical Erikson style, resolution is of no concern.

For a first novel, this is nothing short of remarkable. It weighs heavily on mind and emotions. Read this book.

(I think the preview blurb for this book is horrible. It does not accurately convey what the book is about.)

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had nearly resigned myself to the fact that I was never going to finish this book. I was nearly halfway through and it just wasn't grabbing me... I put it down for a week, and came back to it and it was like the book came alive for me! I'm so glad I decided to finish it!

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow this was dark and very disturbing. It reminded me of early Stephen King, tales from around a small town with skeletons in every closet. Trigger warnings galore, this was difficult to read and I’m not entirely glad I did. I’m so glad SE moved on to writing epic fantasy, I’d much rather spend time in the Malazan world than in this one.

[Kalle Vilenius · Rating 5 out of 5]

This land's still raw. Human history is barely skin-deep here,
like bird tracks on clay. It's what you were born to, it's what
your eyes have seen all your young life. But there's other lands.
Places where human history runs deep, almost down to the land's
bones, and the land's muscle is our own making. Life on life on
life, generation on generation, century after century.

Having read all of his Malazan works, Rejoice: A Knife to the Heart and even the Willful Child series, I didn’t think going back to Erikson’s debut novel would surprise me. It did. Very positively. I fell in love with this book. The quote above is the archaeologist in Erikson speaking with the mouth of Walter, an old man who has seen much of the world and learned things few people have, among them how to recite Beowulf in the original language despite not understanding a word of it.

So. It’s the summer of 1971. Owen Brand is spending the summer with his new friends, having moved into a new home, a quaint little town in rural Canada, after his father bought a gas station. He’s used to moving around and replacing his entire circle of friends. He has a history of getting into fights at the start of a new school year. He reads far more advanced books than someone his age is expected to, but this is not in any way reflected in his grades. He’s the fourth member in a group of friends who are rummaging about in the early heat of their summer vacation.

The four friends, Owen, Roland, Carl and Lynk, are all individuals but at the same time they’re all people everyone knows. In his narration Owen points out that there’s a Carl in every class, and this is true. I’ve known several Lynks, fewer Rolands. Owen looks back at me from the mirror every day. I never discovered books in a hidden room in the attic like he did, instead they were picked up from an old wooden trunk after my grandfather died, and it was the Kalevala with four-leaf clovers pressed between the yellowed pages that greeted me rather than a worm-eaten Beowulf, but there it is.

The group has tension. Lynk is accustomed to being in charge, Roland is the quiet, serious type who has known him since kindergarten and usually makes excuses for his bad behaviour on account of that friendship, Carl is small, frail, easily intimidated and utterly submissive to the bullying he receives from Lynk or anyone else. Owen is a new factor, someone who easily befriend Roland, is mostly indifferent to Carl and stands up to Lynk, challenging his rule. The two are destined to become enemies.

Spoilers to follow.

As this group wander the Canadian outdoors, they discover something shocking at a beaver dam, a dead body. The identity of this bloated cadaver is a mystery to them, as is the correct course of action to take upon the discovery of it.

One could make comparisons to Stephen King here, to It or to The Body (or Stand By Me, if going by the movie adaptation), and it’s a tempting comparison to make, King was always very good at describing kids at this age, going on adventures like these. But Erikson resonates with me in ways King doesn’t. There’s a dignity here that is missing from the more entertainment-heavy writing of King’s, an interrogation of the human condition and an excavation of what lies beneath the surface (there’s that archaeology again). Horrific things happen here, abuse, both violent and sexual, manslaughter occurs, there’s animal abuse (done for sexual gratification), there’s trauma from war that continues to haunt those who participated, the book can be just as dark as Erikson’s fantasy works, on the more grounded scale of our world. Despite all that, there’s an underlying beauty to the world as well. The beauty of nature, the beauty of people, the beauty of imagination and emotion, of language – especially language, something Steven Erikson has excellent command of even at this early point in his career.

Some portions of the book are narrated by Owen in the first person, this is his story most of all. The other POV characters are narrated in the third person, giving us insight of people like Jennifer who used to date Roland. She’s the daughter of an alcoholic father and while she may not have inherited her father’s propensity to drink, she finds other substances to abuse to cope with her living situation. Other viewpoint characters include her parents Sten and Elousie, whose marriage is cracking. There’s Walter who takes care of a boat yard and remembers the past sharply even as the future and present grow dimmer and wishes to share the stories that built up inside him over the years, and Fisk, the deeply disturbed owner of a Mink farm who has every desire of not sharing his. And then there’s Miss Rhide, a new teacher at Owen���s new school.

Rhide means well, but don’t they always? Teachers like this are a dime a dozen, always arriving at the wrong time, interpreting events the wrong way, and taking the side of the bully over the victim and never, ever considering they might’ve been mistaken, teachers who take some children’s opposition to them as personal and begin an unholy crusade in turn. Owen and Jennifer both find themselves in her crosshairs, the two people in her class she immediately pegs as troublemakers.

It would be easy to make her a completely unsympathetic villain, but Erikson never falls into that trap. There are far worse people in the book, people who do far more horrible things, yet all of them remain consistently human throughout it all, even at their lowest point they’re still capable of some level of human decency, which only serves to remind the reader of the inseparable human capacity for both good and evil: nobody is a monster, nobody is a saint. Everyone is a person with reasons for why they do what they do, and understanding these reasons doesn’t excuse their actions, yet understand them we must lest we deny their very humanity. And humanity is also what’s at stake during Owen’s battles against his enemies.

I alluded earlier to Owen discovering books, and he does. There’s a closed off room in the attic of his new house, where he discovers the mouldy remains of a library, belonging to a stranger long gone. Books like the aforementioned Beowulf, Les Miserables, Greek histories, Gibbon, books on various other mythologies, Joseph Conrad, all manner of worthwhile works, many in shape too awful to be actually read, but with the help of the local library Owen is able to obtain legible copies and set about discovering the contents of these works during the summer, finding himself challenged by words and concepts beyond his comprehension.

Much can be said about the importance of reading beyond your reading level. The challenge itself makes you grow; it makes your mind expand. A boy of twelve reading such works is feeding a hunger few his age know exists, but some do. I remember it well. Always reach for more than you can grasp with your reading, this will dig deeper the well of your soul, and little Owen’s well runs deep. He learns words those around him cannot understand, he carefully observes the minutiae of the world around him, with the eyes of one whose attention to detail will one day produce writing of his own rather than merely consuming it voraciously. He observes the natural world, he observes the behaviour of others, he observes the muscles on the mouth of a girl sucking on a cigarette. Sometimes he speaks in ways that frighten the adults around him, because the depths he draws from do not belong to a child his age. Jennifer is also a character who is forced to grow up and mature faster than her years, but this is due to external circumstances, while Owen’s change occurs internally.

‘Please, son,’ he whispered, his voice ragged.
‘There’s something inside you – it’s what you
look at when you look inside yourself. I know
– it’s drowning, I can hear it in your voice. But
please, don’t let it die. Please Owen, don’t.‘

Another quote from Walter, who shares much wisdom, a few private adventures, and a genuine friendship with Owen despite the difference in their ages. Indeed, Walter has known enough of these old souls in his day to know how precious is the spark that Owen carries, and in this conversation, he is concerned because the forces of Owen’s antagonists are seeking to snuff it out.

For so many people in life, this spark is lost not long after the age Owen is at during the story, he stands on a precipice. It’s not usually opposition from teachers (Jennifer for example may have an enemy in Rhide, but the math teacher Lyle is very much an ally who sees her talent for mathematics as something to cultivate), but rather pressure from one’s peers. The Lynks of the world, just by being themselves, drag down everyone around them. Any genuine passion, sincerity without a hint of irony, is often punished in the company of Lynks. This is not a matter of bullying per se, but rather just a smothering of a part of the human spirit that is alien and therefore unpleasant to them.

It's not really a matter of intelligence either, Owen is no super genius despite his reading and the depth of his thinking. He doesn’t apply the same effort he applies to his reading to any other subject, and so there is no fruit to harvest there. What literature has offered him is something every single Lynk in the world, the specific Lynk of this book included, could have if they simply chose to do so, but it is not a coherent thought to them; why waste your time on reading when you could be forcibly groping a girl’s breasts and calling her a slut for not letting you have access to their body? This is not a metaphor, Lynk does this. At any rate, the forces of such people are often arrayed against those like Owen who carry within them that spark, and too often the spark is snuffed and it is always a precious thing lost, a thing Walter fears greatly on Owen’s behalf, because Owen is too young to comprehend what it is that he has.

There is so much more to talk about. Fisk’s complexity as someone mourning still a dead wife with whom he was never blessed with children while also being a sadistic prick, a man who has his first erection in years after electrocuting a mink with a cattle prod, who all the same emerges as the voice of moral outrage when faced with Sten (Jennifer’s father) at his lowest point. Jennifer’s mother’s long silence as she is first robbed of her speech by a broken jaw and later by willing muteness. The thores of young love between Jennifer and Owen. The support some find with their families, and some don’t. So much, but this is already too long.

It’s just a damn good book and I can’t think of the words needed to convey my gratitude it exists.

[Garth Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was recommended to me as worth reading. I have to say that early on I was pretty sceptical and had some doubts about finishing this one.

However- I will comment that this is quite a book.

On the one hand I found it quite a difficult read as all the characters are in a ‘pretty bad place’ but I kept opening up the book each day wanting to read more and see where things lead.
A bit of an enigma for me this one - a tough read and at the same time easy to jump back into.
Well written especially for a first novel.

Have a read and make up your own mind.

[Paul Sysiak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this having struggled at the start.

About mid-way I started to actually care what happened - each character is so flawed from the start they dont' ingratiate themselves at all.

First book I've read in a while that has real themes and accurate portrayals of human frailties and demons.

However much I enjoyed this I hope that Erikson stays with his fantasy writing as I personally enjoy that more.

[Heather Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow....

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 12-year old boy, recently moved to semi-rural Canadian town in 1971, has to find his way around his new surrounds. Over the course of a year he finds some friends, a body, some enemies, a girl, and himself (in that order), as his story weaves around those of his neighbours and acquaintances (both young and old).

This book takes the basic premise of Stand By Me and asks "where did these boys come from, and where will they go?" The result is a dark story full of flawed characters struggling to fit in, or stay in, the world.

Sounds unappetising, but there are passages of great lyricism here, among the doom and decay, and some very human relationships. It takes a while to get to know the characters, but none are beyond redemption (well, maybe one is) and by the time you're finished you can feel for them and you are left with wanting to revisit them in 10 years to see how they're travelling.

It feels semi-autobiographical, too. The main character spends much of his time reading up on myth and legend and conjuring stories of dragons and wizards, which is of course what Erikson did after he penned this one.

Rated R for strong language, violence, frequent drug use, sex scenes. 4/5

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible. I picked it up on a whim at the library and I finished it within a day, I couldn’t put it down. The language and prose is beautiful, the story is dark, depressing and shocking at times but the characters have depth, are believable and I felt so emotionally attached to the lead (Owen Brand) that when I finished, he stayed in my mind for a long time afterwards. I genuinely cared for him and wanted desperately for his relationship with Jennifer to flourish. Definitively one of those books you simply have to buy for your bookshelf.

[Sarah Staunton-lamb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a deeply disturbing book. I had bought it for my son to read as the main characters are in the 14 yr old age bracket but the level of complexity of relationships and personal stories means I’ll leave it a few years before I share it. Despite the horrific circumstances you do care about the characters and what happens to them. It is bleak but not without hope.

[Kurt barrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depth of field

Long and short is that Erikson wrote something every bit as amazing as his other works. This is not a kind novel. In fact it left me at times, feeling very much as if I was reading a Cormac McCarthy novel. This is deep and dark and foreboding, But it never quite goes where you think it might. It's seems to go so much further beyond.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was… interesting. The start was very slow, and I can see how the characters and story were approached in a way that hints at a hand approaching greatness. Having read 10 other books by this author, I can authoritatively state that his writing is great — fantastic, even — though there are only hints of this later in the novel.

[Neil Reilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up in rural Canada. I and my friends were in the same sort of situations as the characters in this book. It was a difficult read; and at times slow and at times very poignant, but at the end I wished there were more, and to me that makes a great book.

[Georgia Kaps · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it had a very interesting storyline and the descriptions were so specific and authentic which was my favourite part. Did drag occasionally but often find myself thinking of these characters even a month after finishing. Would give 3.5 if I could

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but too dark for my tastes.

[Courtney Chambers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book dragged in places, but definitely had its disturbing aspects.

[Debbie Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like it I’m not sure. Lots of dark stuff going on. I will remember reading it but not sure if I missed something along the way.

[Artemi Marketou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure what to make of this book during the first third of it. Then it pulled me in, with an inexorable pace. Definitely worth a read and a reread at that.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many different themes running through this story. Good people doing bad things. Sins of the father visited on the son who perpetuates the cycle. The use of drugs to escape from reality. Children trying to establish themselves in an adult word. Parent and child relationships explored. Veterans trying to live in a world where they no longer feel they belong.

Set in a small country town in the early 1970's this story follows 12 year old Owen Brands adjustment from city life to rural living. Owen is used to moving around as his family struggles to make ends meet. He is extremely well read and intelligent and knows how to establish himself within the playground hierarchy. It also follows his relationship with Jen, a very grown up and worldly 13 year old with a disastrous family life.

The characters all have secrets and flaws and their internal dialogue reveals why they do some of the things they do. It's hard to really hate them for what they do instead I ended up feeling quite sorry for all of them. Most of them know what they are doing is bad but they can't seem to change the cycle or reach out for help.

This is a very thought provoking book. It doesn't really have much of a plot or story line but it does leave you thinking about life, love and family. I found it quite hard to put down and would have given it 5 stars except I thought the 12 and 13 year olds just seemed a bit too grown up. I would have also liked to have known a bit more about some of the minor characters home life, in particular, Lynk and Carl.

[Douglas Lord · Rating 3 out of 5]

This river don’t awaken too quick, lemme tell ya. Erikson, author of the Malazan Book of the Fallen fantasy series, presents a sputtering, sprawling bildungsroman centered on new-kid-in-rural-Canadian-town Owen Brand, aged 12. Many deftly-drawn characters shoulder portions of this circa 1971 narrative; all are damaged. From an unstable mink farmer to a drunken wife-beater, a dearth of role models faces Owen and the three mismatched boys he hangs around with. This lack spills over into Owen’s occasional clannish behavior and his bullying of weaker boys. As Owen spearheads an effort to clean up and claim a dry-docked yacht as a secret fort under the sometime-tutelage of the watchman, an old ex-sailor, he bumps into Jen, aged 13, the local nascent femme fatale. Jen’s hopeless family situation has led her to become aggressively competitive, an alpha-girl with a huge chip on her shoulder. The two bond, grow, and mature. This same situation has proven an ample mix for many authors, but Erikson stretches the story to the breakpoint when the boys stumble upon on a body in the river, which they try to keep secret. The plot provides just enough rope to lead readers to the next page, and even the next chapter, but multiple, tense story arcs distract from one another and prove unsustainable. Maudlin sentimentality (e.g., “[i]f my family’s stumbling moves held anything positive for me—anything at all,” Owen says, “it was the chance to start again, scarred but wiser”) and unrealistic details such as middle schoolers dropping acid, further detract.
Verdict Patient readers will eventually find payoff with the characters’ growth, but this is a harsh and at times seemingly aimless book.
Find reviews of books for men at Books for Dudes, the online reader's advisory column for men from Library Journal. Copyright Library Journal.

[Colin Cherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apparently, this was Steven Erikson's first book. Of all his non-Malazan books, this is by far my favourite. It has the same lyricism, and the same tendency for characters to make lengthy philosophical asides, but instead of an epic fantasy, it follows two troubled grade 6 students in Canada's recent past (the lates 60's?). The lead characters are engaging, and the plot is satisfying. It starts a little slow, but by the end is very hard to put down, which is pretty much par for the course.

It's amazing how much of Erikson's later themes are here: hints of the prison wagon inside Dragnipur in a piece of old factory equipment, the hounds of shadow glimpsed through a drunk's mistreated dogs, and oh so many crows.

In any case, if you are a fan of Erikson's writing and you also read non-fantasy novels, I would recommend this one. The only caveat is that it engages in some pretty uncomfortable and depressing topics - you have to be willing to see both parents and children behaving very badly, which may not be for everyone.

[Adventures in SciFi Publishing Podcast]

A novel that was initially hard to get into, and merits as slow reading, proved to be highly rewarding ultimately. On so many levels. First one can enjoy the language for its own sake, the many lyrical passages positively pulsing with energy and vividness. Second, the empathy we can feel for the characters, even the worst of them. The most appalling of the protagonists are fleshed out in enough detail so that their behavior, while not excusable, is at least understandable. It is a gift of the author to make each and every one of his characters as real as life.

The storyline about the washed up body has echoes of the Stephen King tale which was filmed as Stand by Me. Though what Erikson does here is rather different, not only in intent, but also in execution and in the outcome.

Full review by John Dodds: http://www.adventuresinscifipublishin...

[Bob Alberti · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was sold to me in a science fiction bookstore, so my review reflects my disappointment that this story had no science fiction or fantasy elements whatsoever. There were lengthy, indulgent italicized forays into the mental fantasies of the characters, but there was no actual fantasy component to the story. It's basically 'Stand By Me" set in Canada, and laced in the final chapters with the introduction of Professor Umbridge from 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,' sans magic.

The book it most reminds me of is Rowling's depressing post-Potter debut, "A Causal Vacancy." Both feature the careful characterization of unpleasant people who do unpleasant things to each other to no particular end as far as the story is concerned. It ranks only slightly higher than 'Vacancy' insofar as reading 'River' does not immediately compel one to yearn for the sweet release of death.

Depressing Boomer nostalgia maundering. Avoid.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical of most Erikson novels, This River Awakens starts slow but finishes strong. Although labelled a coming of age story, the 12 and 13 year olds act and behave more like older teens. Drugs, sex, language, and bullying are presented as typical behaviour of these small town Canadian kids in 1971. The strength of this novel lies in the all too few conversations between the lead character Owen and his friend Roland. They speak of what it is to be growing up poor, and again typical of his novels, show wisdom far above their education.
I recommend this novel with the caveat that this is not a YA novel. I am not a fan of reading about drug abuse and there are passages in this novel that pushed my ability to continue reading.

[Todd Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning. It's hard to believe this was a debut novel by an author. Beautifully written novel which is completely different to his fantasy novels, Erikson captures the human condition wonderfully here. Highly recommended.