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The Architect of Sleep | Rating | |
| B | |||
| Stephen R. Boyett | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| N/A | N/A | ||
First of all, I should perhaps note that this is book one of a trilogy. Or it would be, except through a bit of professional arrogance, the author killed his chances of getting the other two books published. Luckily, I seem to recall he bought the rights to the book back, so it might still come. But don't count on it. This book leaves a lot hanging at the end, and it may never get wrapped up. Read at your own risk.
However, what is actually here is beautiful stuff. Jim Bentley is your average guy working at 7-11 when he is accidentally transferred to an alternate world - one where raccoons evolved instead of apes. I've seen some stories like this on the Web, but only this one, to my knowledge, in actual publication. It's hard to do realistically, but Boyett manages nicely. The raccoons don't speak engish, which is a big step right there. In fact, they don't speak at all - they use gestures, like sign language except it's not evolved from the set we devised. Bentley spends a large portion of the book having severe communications problems.
The book is written in a very down-to-earth style, making it read nicely and flow well. Occassionally it got a little too earthy, and goes into details that add little except length, but that generally doesn't happen for more than a page or two and only a handful of times to boot.
This is an excellent book, a great example of world-building that works. I really hope that the second book does get written and published someday, because it deserves to be. The only reason this gets a B is because there is no sign of a sequel.
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