Following from Sylvain Neuvel’s debut novel, Sleeping Giants, I took the first chance I could to go buy the next in the series of the Themis Files. Waking Gods was as much an excitement to read as the first book was (read my review of Sleeping Giants, here). So, of course, after tearing through it, I knew I had to write another review for it. Though in all honesty, I struggled with writing this review, mainly because the story is so engaging and complex simultaneously that I find it hard to describe it without including spoilers. With that said, Here is my best attempt, anyways!
The premise of the novel follows ten years after the events of Sleeping Giants, where a huge metal robot, which may or may not have been created by an alien race, has been found on earth and reconstructed. The previous novel left us on quiet the cliffhanger however, as we discovered the return of a beloved character who had been killed earlier in the book. Be warned however, the return of one character does not signal a running trend in Neuvel’s writing. The team have determined how to use the metal giant robot to their advantages, but must also face the limitations placed on them and the giant by international organisations.
Some of my favourite aspects of the novel included how Waking Gods keeps with the unique stylistic choice of telling the story in present tense through interviews, transcriptions of news footage, radio communications etc. Every bit of the story that is revealed to the reader is done so through this buffer. And it is as exciting as it was in the first novel. However, the writing style does provide a much appreciated development, as we begin to have journal entries and reports done by other characters rather than just from interviews between the nameless man and others.
This leads into another one of my favourite aspects of the book. We start to actually learn more about the nameless man, his life and his background. Though it was lacking in the first novel, he was no less an intriguing character, but the reveal of his background is wholly welcomed in Waking Gods. Indeed, Waking Gods brings back almost all of the old characters, some only briefly, and some highly lovable new ones. And the character development in this novel is great to read, and features heavily in the events of the novel.
Probably my absolute favourite part of the novel is just how important human relationships were to the story. Yes, we have robotic giants around. And yes, there are times when the world seems like it is ending. But none of that matters as much as how the characters interact with each other. I’m sure we have all seen an action movie or two in our lives where the characters did not particularly matter so much as the larger context. The importance was on how things unfolded and whether or not it could be solved or the world could be saved. Granted novels require more interpersonal relationships, but the style of writing of Waking Gods makes it very easy to picture as a film, hence the example.
But rather than focusing so heavily on the actions that occurred even though they are vital, the importance lay in how the characters were going to deal with them and each other in the meantime. For a story about aliens and advanced technology, the narrative is so utterly human that I felt myself relating to it, even throughout all the science fiction aspects.
Both as unpredictable and unapologetic in his plot twists as Neuvel was in the first book, potentially even more so, Waking Gods has you on your toes every minute. I cannot suggest it as your next read more. Keep an eye out for the review on the final book coming as soon as I get my hands on the final book!
~ S ~
