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Vellum: The Book of All Hours : 1 (Book of All Hours 1)
by Hal Duncan
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Macmillan (2005-11-30)
ISBN: 1405052082
EAN: 9781405052085
Dewy Decimal #: 813
Hardcover: 501 pages
SKU: H5319
Condition: Good
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
It's 2017 and the end days are coming, beings that were once human gathering to fight in one last great war for control of the Vellum - the vast realm of eternity on which our world is just a scratch. But to a draft-dodging Irish angel and a trailer-trash tomboy called Phreedom, it's about to become brutally clear that there's no great divine or diabolic plan at play here, just a vicious battle between the hawks of Heaven and Hell, with humanity stuck in the middle, and where the easy rhetoric of Good and Evil, Order versus Chaos just doesn't apply. Here there are no heroes, no darlings of destiny struggling to save the day, and there are no villains, no dark lords of evil out to destroy the world. Or at least if there are, it's not quite clear which is which. Here, the most ancient gods and the most modern humans are equally fate's fools, victims of their own hubris, struggling to save their own skins, their own souls, but sometimes...just sometimes...sacrificing everything in the name of humanity.
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Customer Reviews
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Ambitious but derivative
Rating  (2)
Date: 2008-12-01
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
This historically ambitious epic contains fluid prose and lush imagery that are impressive for a novel of any scope. Additionally, it's an unusually innovative fusion of sub-genres ("alternate steam punk future history" anyone?). However, many of its other characteristics have been rendered before:
-The same ancient Sumerian underworld myth was included in Anne Harris' Inventing Memory (published in 2004, a year previous to Vellum) and was integrated into its narrative much more coherently.
- The notion that the primeval gods are embodied in contemporary folk was done more successfully in Neil Gaiman's American Gods.
- The existence of another plane of reality populated by humanoids and other creatures, spirits, etc has appeared in many of Clive Barker's books especially in the Books of the Art series (as the eternal sea of Quiddity) and in Weaveworld (as the mystical land of the Fugue contained within a tapestry). Compare these to Duncan's concept of the Vellum realm.
-The non-chronological plot is akin to Kurt Vonnegut Jr`s work (especially from Between Time and Timbuktu), presumably to drive home the non-linearity-of-time aspect.
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Velluminously Confusing
Rating  (3)
Date: 2008-10-07
It seemed this book would never end. I kept waiting for something to tie the various elements together. I'm still waiting. Some major characters disappear for ages while others pop in and out for no apparent reason. I have no idea what Duncan was trying to say, but he sure took a lot of time trying. Maybe that's the best one word description of this book - trying.
All that said, the writing style showed possibilities. Had the story been easier to track, I think Duncan's style would have been enjoyable. I will try Ink. Maybe things will coalesce when taken as a whole.
I would not recommend this book to anyone who likes straightforward story telling and an easy to follow plot.
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Not For Narrow-Minded Wimps
Rating  (5)
Date: 2008-07-19
2 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
I picked up the second half of this story, Ink, in my library a while back and promptly returned it after a great deal of cursing. I told several people that though the writing was beautiful, a reader might as well cut the book into paragraphs and rearrange them into any order before reading them - they would make just as much sense. But then I came across Vellum, the first volume in the story, and decided to give Duncan another shot since I was in a more literary state of mind. I am pleased I did. It's a lot easier if you start from the begining, and due to his prose and innovation, his story is worth the effort it requires even if you've heard it all before. I compare it to Roger Zelazny's Lord of Light.
As the more discerning reviewers here have noted, Duncan pays homage to a lot of other literary writers, and myths. He's occasionally pretentious: he's occasionally preachy: everything in Vellum has been said before. However, he can write. Sometimes his prose is worth reading just to enjoy the flow of the words without regard for story or character; but, there is story and character here - a lot of it. He weaves a thematic throughline through the tales that does carry an emotional wallop and does produce a payoff. Duncan wants us to understand something about self-actualization and our relationship with religion - the power within, perhaps. It's a message that doesn't really come across well in simple genre fiction with linear plots and likeable characters. People appreciate things more if they have to earn it...
Unfortunately, this means that Duncan is preaching to the choir. Those that like simple stories usually tend toward simple concepts: thus the people who might gain the most from what he's trying to say are the least likely to actually read his work. Those that view the universe as a complex and varied place are going to be appreciative of his thoughts and storytelling, but not necessarily enlightened anew.
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Garbage
Rating  (1)
Date: 2008-06-24
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Unreadable. I tried, but only made it about 200 pages in before tossing it. The authors idea's are strong but the execution is at best ponderous. Sophomoric, desperate need of editing, vision outstrips talent are all things I've seen in these reviews. These words are to kind.
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Interesting Book, But a lot of work to follow sometimes
Rating  (4)
Date: 2008-05-25
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Okay, so this is book one of The Book of All Hours. I bought this book about, what, a year ago? I enjoyed it enough to read the second book also.
This book gets somewhat difficult to follow, because time has little to no meaning and things jump A LOT. Big, alternate dimensions stuff with a strong mythology background.
The concept: Certain archetypes are reborn constantly, to do the same struggles over and over. This happens across all the dimensions, and some of the worlds are rather strange and interesting.
The Characters include:
Reynard Guy Carter - aka The Fox, the Thief King
Thomas Messenger - Such a fairy they just had to call him Puck!
Jack Carter - aka Jack Flash, Chaos
Seamus Finnan - You might know him better as Prometheus
And so on.. basically has a strong dose of Mythology evolving into religion (the old gods becoming angels) and what not. Reality shifts constantly, and the story is very fast paced and often confusing if you do not pay a lot of attention.
A good book though, once you get use to the narrative style and the constant jumps. A background in mythology helps quite a bit also.
Do not expect something straightforward. The plot shifts constantly because you are dealing with characters existing in numerous dimensions and times, all at once. But then, alternate dimension type books should be a bit confusing.
Hrmm, and I am rambling. Apologies. Basically, good book but not accessible for any casual reader.
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