The Bone Clocks

[Simon (Highwayman)]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bone-Clocks-D...


The Bone Clocks follows the twists and turns of Holly's life from a scarred adolescence in Gravesend to old age on Ireland's Atlantic coast as Europe's oil supply dries up - a life not so far out of the ordinary, yet punctuated by flashes of precognition, visits from people who emerge from thin air and brief lapses in the laws of reality. For Holly Sykes - daughter, sister, mother, guardian - is also an unwitting player in a murderous feud played out in the shadows and margins of our world, and may prove to be its decisive weapon.

Sorry, a little bit more expensive than our usual books but perhaps a good one to exercise your amazon gift vouchers on :)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bone-Clocks-D...

[B J]

I'm currently reading my second David Mitchell book (Black Swan Green following Cloud Atlas) and I'll be happy to make this my third.

[Mago]

I'm on board.

Hi Simon et al
Good to be back!

[Simon (Highwayman)]

I have been a bit slow with this book. It starts a bit slow but I am at location 489 (see how 21st century I am) and it is beginning to intrigue me.

[B J]

I've finished Black Swan Green and enjoyed it a lot. In the middle of the book I suddenly realised that a character had appeared who also appeared in Cloud Atlas. There was no real reason for the cameo appearance so I'm wondering if it's a trademark bit of fun by the author and something similar will crop up in The Bone Clocks.

[Katie]

I have just joined this group and have just read Bone Clocks too. Great book, enjoy!

[Mago]

Hmm!
Metafiction isn't dead, it just smells funny ;)

33% in ...

[Simon (Highwayman)]

Believe it or not I am still reading this. Does it ever end?

I'm quite enjoying it but it is taking a while to join the bits together.

[Simon (Highwayman)]

My Review
I finally finished The Bone Clocks yesterday and here is my review. This review contains spoilers which I have hidden, so just click on them. Hopefully the bits I haven't put as spoilers don't give too much away.....

The Bone clocks is written in several sections following the main character 'Holly' from the age of fifteen through to her seventies. I found Holly a really likeable and interesting character who held the story together and gave the book some depth. The main story concerns a 'war' between two groups of people (?) living in the real world but cheating the ageing process.

The book blends fantasy with the real world.

(view spoiler)[ One group extends life through sucking souls from ‘normal’ humans’, the other is reborn into dying body, the soul of the previous owner moves on and the new owner lives on with a full memory of his/her previous lives (hide spoiler)]

The 6 periods are 1984, 1991,2004,2015,2025 and 2043. The periods up to 2015 provide a blend of fantasy and a true depiction of life in those periods. Different characters reappear in each of the periods and their life experiences interweave to build the full story. The author has created some interesting and entertaining characters, some you will like and some you will not!

The main fantasy characters are a little harder to relate to and in places it is not always clear what is going on. I am not sure this confusion is always an intended device of the author.

A classic battle takes place between good and evil which I’m sure would look great on film. The battle is engaging and keeps you going until it is over. (view spoiler)[It seemed a little too predictable that apart from Holly escaping the chapter ends with at least one of the Horologists escaping (hide spoiler)]

The author successfully brings ‘clues’ from different parts of the book back at different times showing a great deal of attention has gone in to the overall plot.

2025 seemed like an extra book bolted on to the end I’m afraid and slightly spoilt a well thought out book.(view spoiler)[ It had little connection with the original book and was basically a different story about a post-technology world with lots of preaching about how we were going to ruin it all. I spent the entire chapter waiting for Marinus to turn up which of course he did - eventually. As this part of the book was clearly there to warn us of the errors of our ways, when Marinus returned his powers seemed to have reduced so he was unable to protect more than 2 children and left our Holly to the mercy of the post-apocalypse hoard – weird (hide spoiler)]

Anyway, this is a highly entertaining book. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of real world fiction entwined with fantasy.

[Mago]

Been a bit busy lately so still only 60% through.

Cloud Atlas was the book that could never be made into a film!
I think Bone Clocks is destined to be the book that could never be made into a six part TV series ;)

[Marc]

B J wrote: "I've finished Black Swan Green and enjoyed it a lot. In the middle of the book I suddenly realised that a character had appeared who also appeared in Cloud Atlas. There was no real reason for the c...

so I'm wondering if it's a trademark bit of fun by the author and something similar will crop up in The Bone Clocks.
"

yes it is. There's a character in Bone Clocks who appeared in "Thousand Suns of Jacob De Zoet", which was a much better book than Bone Clocks by the way.

My review of Bone Clocks if anyone's interested:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Marc]

Mago (Mark) wrote: "Been a bit busy lately so still only 60% through.

Cloud Atlas was the book that could never be made into a film!
I think Bone Clocks is destined to be the book that could never be made into a film..."

I thought that was "Tristram Shandy" and "Naked Lunch". Guess what, they made films of both of them. not very good films it has to be said

[Simon (Highwayman)]

I didn't understand cloud atlas. I watched it when I was drunk which might have been a mistake.

[Marc]

Simon (Highwayman) wrote: "I didn't understand cloud atlas. I watched it when I was drunk which might have been a mistake."

schoolboy error. You needed to be sniffing lighter fluid

[Jim]

Marc wrote: "Simon (Highwayman) wrote: "I didn't understand cloud atlas. I watched it when I was drunk which might have been a mistake."

schoolboy error. You needed to be sniffing lighter fluid"

LOL