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joosty's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
annieb123's review
4.0
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Within Without is the 4th Nyquist SF/fantasy mystery by Jeff Noon. Released 11th May 2021 by Angry Robot, it's 373 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is such a very surreal and weird book. The writing is superb and the characters are clearly written - but the background scenery and settings so very surreal and dreamlike and written in such an unvarnished and realistic way as to instill a creeping sense of dread in the reader which just doesn't dissipate. It's not populated with jump scares in any way; the author dispassionately describes horrific scenes (free-floating disembodied skinlike "images" (enhancers) in liquid tubes for an example from the beginning of the book) completely deadpan without any sense of outrage - and it's supremely unsettling.
The mystery itself is very well constructed, precisely engineered and clever. The characters are (mostly) believable, and the dialogue is well written and never clunky or awkward (except where it's *clearly* meant to be such). Someone described it as Kafkaesque and I would agree with that assessment.
After reading the book, I'm not entirely sure if I actually *liked* it... but it intrigued me enough to go back and pick up the first three books in the series. Fans of China Mieville, Guillermo del Toro, and Mervyn Peake (and especially those who love all of the above) will find much to enjoy here. Cleverly written and constructed, it's weird and wonderful.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Within Without is the 4th Nyquist SF/fantasy mystery by Jeff Noon. Released 11th May 2021 by Angry Robot, it's 373 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is such a very surreal and weird book. The writing is superb and the characters are clearly written - but the background scenery and settings so very surreal and dreamlike and written in such an unvarnished and realistic way as to instill a creeping sense of dread in the reader which just doesn't dissipate. It's not populated with jump scares in any way; the author dispassionately describes horrific scenes (free-floating disembodied skinlike "images" (enhancers) in liquid tubes for an example from the beginning of the book) completely deadpan without any sense of outrage - and it's supremely unsettling.
The mystery itself is very well constructed, precisely engineered and clever. The characters are (mostly) believable, and the dialogue is well written and never clunky or awkward (except where it's *clearly* meant to be such). Someone described it as Kafkaesque and I would agree with that assessment.
After reading the book, I'm not entirely sure if I actually *liked* it... but it intrigued me enough to go back and pick up the first three books in the series. Fans of China Mieville, Guillermo del Toro, and Mervyn Peake (and especially those who love all of the above) will find much to enjoy here. Cleverly written and constructed, it's weird and wonderful.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
jubaju's review
2.0
Is Teddy what old people think young people are like these days? The guy was like a puppy even though he was twenty years old. He's very naïve and makes stupid decisions and Nyquist has to come "save him" from the mess he got him into.
Nyquist himself was his usual boring self and frustrated me to death. The plot in this one was even more convoluted than usual and at some point I stopped trying to understand and just read the novel for the sake of getting to the end of it to see if there was any kind of understandable resolution.
Sincerely hope there aren't any more books in this series; I know I would buy them to have the set but I certainly wouldn't enjoy reading any more about John Nyquist.
Nyquist himself was his usual boring self and frustrated me to death. The plot in this one was even more convoluted than usual and at some point I stopped trying to understand and just read the novel for the sake of getting to the end of it to see if there was any kind of understandable resolution.
Sincerely hope there aren't any more books in this series; I know I would buy them to have the set but I certainly wouldn't enjoy reading any more about John Nyquist.
leebill's review
3.0
Not for the faint of heart...this is very creative...instead of holding on to every piece of information...just let it wash over you and enjoy
citizen6174's review
3.0
The 4th book in the ever-weird John Nyquist series.
Pros: These stories are wildly imaginative and creative; You will not find anything else like them out there.
The covers of each book are spectacular.
Each book explores a new area where the rules and ways of living are each different from the last.
The noir like setting is what hooks me (and of course the new weird).
Cons: There is little to no character development in the series with Nyquist.
Sometimes the mystery gets bogged down and lost in all the trippyness of the story.
I notice a pattern in all the books: I get lost about half way through each one; sometimes I literally dont know where I’m at within the story about half way through because once again, the stories get so out there that it feels like reading through the eyes of someone who is tripping on acid. I would like a bit more restraint with my books. I love the weird though but the weird sometimes takes over too much.
Overall these are great books and worth the read. This was my least favorite book in the series so far.
Pros: These stories are wildly imaginative and creative; You will not find anything else like them out there.
The covers of each book are spectacular.
Each book explores a new area where the rules and ways of living are each different from the last.
The noir like setting is what hooks me (and of course the new weird).
Cons: There is little to no character development in the series with Nyquist.
Sometimes the mystery gets bogged down and lost in all the trippyness of the story.
I notice a pattern in all the books: I get lost about half way through each one; sometimes I literally dont know where I’m at within the story about half way through because once again, the stories get so out there that it feels like reading through the eyes of someone who is tripping on acid. I would like a bit more restraint with my books. I love the weird though but the weird sometimes takes over too much.
Overall these are great books and worth the read. This was my least favorite book in the series so far.
lucsbooks's review
4.0
"Within Without" is the fourth instalment of the Michael Nyquist mysteries, following private eye Michael Nyquist as he is invited to Delirium, the city of a million borders and is charged with finding the lost image of superstar Vince Craven.
General Impressions
I went into this book blindly without having read or even heard of the first books and having barely glanced at the synopsis but I didn't feel adrift for long. The author was able to create a complex and believable world, that sucks you in at once.
I liked and feared Delirium from the onset and adored all its borders. More than stone and magic, each border was made out of completely different things, could appear or disappear almost at will and followed completely different rules and affected the people who crossed in different ways. I loved that tension, as you couldn't not cross them but every crossing was a gamble, from barely any effects to losing your mind or life.
And yet, as weird and wonderful as the city with all its rules and citizens were, the thing that surprised me the most about this book was Michael himself, not because he was smarter or stronger or more honest than any other character I have ever read but because of what he was not. He was not a hero or a specialist in guns or physical combat, an arrogant know-it-all or an inexplicable sex symbol that every statuesque woman half his age wanted. In fact, he doesn't even have a romance plot, which I really enjoyed. He was just a man doing his job to the best of his abilities while dying to be done with his client and get the hell out of there. That's something a reader can actually relate to.
The LGBTQ presence is not too pronounced but at least it's there and is never made a big deal out of. People simply are queer and none of the characters uses that as a target.
More than a mystery or my first example of weird fiction I think I'll always remember this book as a love letter to fairytales and the books that make us, its characters, being real voices in our heads and part of us.
Conclusions
As the story progresses the book keeps getting weirder and weirder until it becomes almost nonsensical. At a certain point Within Without becomes a Russian doll: stories inside stories so it's easy to lose sight of yourself and the plot. And right when you think this couldn't get weirder, it ends. And now guess who has more books to add to their TBR?
Rating: 4/5
Thank you to Angry Robot Books for sending me a copy.
Liked this review? You can find me on Instagram @lucsbooks
General Impressions
I went into this book blindly without having read or even heard of the first books and having barely glanced at the synopsis but I didn't feel adrift for long. The author was able to create a complex and believable world, that sucks you in at once.
I liked and feared Delirium from the onset and adored all its borders. More than stone and magic, each border was made out of completely different things, could appear or disappear almost at will and followed completely different rules and affected the people who crossed in different ways. I loved that tension, as you couldn't not cross them but every crossing was a gamble, from barely any effects to losing your mind or life.
And yet, as weird and wonderful as the city with all its rules and citizens were, the thing that surprised me the most about this book was Michael himself, not because he was smarter or stronger or more honest than any other character I have ever read but because of what he was not. He was not a hero or a specialist in guns or physical combat, an arrogant know-it-all or an inexplicable sex symbol that every statuesque woman half his age wanted. In fact, he doesn't even have a romance plot, which I really enjoyed. He was just a man doing his job to the best of his abilities while dying to be done with his client and get the hell out of there. That's something a reader can actually relate to.
The LGBTQ presence is not too pronounced but at least it's there and is never made a big deal out of. People simply are queer and none of the characters uses that as a target.
More than a mystery or my first example of weird fiction I think I'll always remember this book as a love letter to fairytales and the books that make us, its characters, being real voices in our heads and part of us.
Conclusions
As the story progresses the book keeps getting weirder and weirder until it becomes almost nonsensical. At a certain point Within Without becomes a Russian doll: stories inside stories so it's easy to lose sight of yourself and the plot. And right when you think this couldn't get weirder, it ends. And now guess who has more books to add to their TBR?
Rating: 4/5
Thank you to Angry Robot Books for sending me a copy.
Liked this review? You can find me on Instagram @lucsbooks
khimaera's review
5.0
The fourth novel in his Nyquist series, Within Without, is Jeff Noon firing on all cylinders and exhibiting true mastery of his craft. He is one of those rarified authors who can inextricably tie together worldbuilding, story, and character. While you can read them in any order, once you meet Nyquist in his 2017 debut A Man of Shadows, you’ll want to grab them all. Nyquist is the noir detective you may not have known you were missing in your reading life.
The first novel follows the orphaned John Henry Nyquist who grew up in Dayzone, a city that is terrified of the dark neighborhoods that lie a train ride away through the hallucinatory terrain of Dusk. Solving this first murder mystery will require Nyquist to travel within the strange landscapes of commoditized time itself and come to terms with his fraying sanity.
The second novel, The Body Library, picks up with Nyquist traveling to the city of Storyville where stories themselves become the centerpiece of reality. How do you know if you are the main character in your own story or only a passing participant in someone else’s tale? What happens when storytelling has real power?
Its follow-up, Creeping Jenny, has Nyquist heading to his birthplace, Hoxley-on-the-Hale, in search of his past. Every day of the year a new Saint is selected and the town’s inhabitants, who find comfort in understood rituals, must adhere to the rules of the day. Nyquist and the reader are thrown into the deep end from day one navigating this bucolic village meets simmering horror while once again trying to solve a series of murders. For the first time in the series one of the characters, the earnest Teddy Fairclough, will be assisting Nyquist on his further adventures.
You’ll know immediately that you’re in for the wildest ride yet because Within Without is taking you to a city named Delirium and the small town at its heart named Escher. This is a story about boundaries, being caught betwixt and between them, and all the symbolism and imagery that comes with borders internal and external. Every chapter unveils a new element of this mysterious city like a marvelously strange revelation. You’re in for the most mind-bending and philosophical Nyquist experience to date. You’ll uncover the enigma behind asymmetrical ladybugs. You’ll meet Vince Craven, a popular movie star whose image has gone missing, and have an audience with the gelatinous Royal Highness King Edwyn III King of Freemantle. Square Circle Square Circle will have you thinking about it long after you’ve put that ingenious chapter behind you. You’ll run into Gregor Samsa from Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Mr. Hyde and Alice Liddell and Miss Havisham. Did I mention the cartoonish black holes peppering the cityscape? Much beyond that and we get into spoiler territory. You should experience Within Without with all the delight of sinking into the carefully orchestrated madness that Noon constructs here with his trademark flourishes of wordplay. The Inception-like journey of this novel leads to a satisfying and elegant ending that feels well and truly earned.
I cannot wait for more.
** Thank you Angry Robot Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest, unbiased review **
The first novel follows the orphaned John Henry Nyquist who grew up in Dayzone, a city that is terrified of the dark neighborhoods that lie a train ride away through the hallucinatory terrain of Dusk. Solving this first murder mystery will require Nyquist to travel within the strange landscapes of commoditized time itself and come to terms with his fraying sanity.
The second novel, The Body Library, picks up with Nyquist traveling to the city of Storyville where stories themselves become the centerpiece of reality. How do you know if you are the main character in your own story or only a passing participant in someone else’s tale? What happens when storytelling has real power?
Its follow-up, Creeping Jenny, has Nyquist heading to his birthplace, Hoxley-on-the-Hale, in search of his past. Every day of the year a new Saint is selected and the town’s inhabitants, who find comfort in understood rituals, must adhere to the rules of the day. Nyquist and the reader are thrown into the deep end from day one navigating this bucolic village meets simmering horror while once again trying to solve a series of murders. For the first time in the series one of the characters, the earnest Teddy Fairclough, will be assisting Nyquist on his further adventures.
You’ll know immediately that you’re in for the wildest ride yet because Within Without is taking you to a city named Delirium and the small town at its heart named Escher. This is a story about boundaries, being caught betwixt and between them, and all the symbolism and imagery that comes with borders internal and external. Every chapter unveils a new element of this mysterious city like a marvelously strange revelation. You’re in for the most mind-bending and philosophical Nyquist experience to date. You’ll uncover the enigma behind asymmetrical ladybugs. You’ll meet Vince Craven, a popular movie star whose image has gone missing, and have an audience with the gelatinous Royal Highness King Edwyn III King of Freemantle. Square Circle Square Circle will have you thinking about it long after you’ve put that ingenious chapter behind you. You’ll run into Gregor Samsa from Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Mr. Hyde and Alice Liddell and Miss Havisham. Did I mention the cartoonish black holes peppering the cityscape? Much beyond that and we get into spoiler territory. You should experience Within Without with all the delight of sinking into the carefully orchestrated madness that Noon constructs here with his trademark flourishes of wordplay. The Inception-like journey of this novel leads to a satisfying and elegant ending that feels well and truly earned.
I cannot wait for more.
** Thank you Angry Robot Books and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest, unbiased review **