Well, I stayed awake three hours past my bedtime to finish this one, so I guess that means five stars even though I'm not grabbing people by the shoulders and saying "you've GOT to read this!"

What I enjoyed most about the book was the way the story was told, with overlapping and intersecting characters over 20 years of the post-disaster collapse of society. How all the pieces fit together was a lot of fun. I also loved the theme of how little we appreciate the delicacy of the technological infrastructure that supports our civilization. A good read; I recommend it.

Second time: loved it even more! ( )

It has been a very long time since a book has meant so much to me but it didn’t happen all at once. The beginning really roped me in and I enjoyed every minute of it but then came the cumbersome middle which I found to be a bit boring by times. Then closer to the end of the novel the story picked back up again. The ending was ok but I still had a lot of questions that hadn’t been answered. I felt a little disappointed but then I decided to dig a little deeper because I knew I had missed something very important.

Once I sat down and examined the story, I found that there were so many little hidden meanings strategically placed throughout the book and it seems like every little thing had some sort of bigger meaning. There are stories within the story and they are all overlapping one another. Something I really loved about this novel was how all the characters were intertwined and they didn’t always know it.

The theme/symbol that really stands out to me is light. The author mentions or refers to light over and over again throughout the story. If you look back through the book you will find that every character and every event is associated with some kind of light. There’s reference to blue light, yellow light, electric light etc. Light is mentioned over 200 times in the novel and is clearly representing the old world vs. the new world and sometimes even good vs. evil, truth vs. lie, real vs. fake.

Fantastic novel! Read it, you'll love it! ( )

I normally don't love this kind of book but I really liked it ( )

An actor dies on a stage in Toronto, at the beginning of the end of the world.

This book was beautiful and savage and hard and hopeful in all the wonderful ways that a good post apocalyptic book should be. I really just loved the way Mandel effortlessly wove chapters from various points on the timeline and character points of view. It was dark and brutal without being oppressive to read--beautiful. Going on my "highly recommend you must read this now" short list for the year.

Though I got to admit, now I just want to stock the back of my closet with survival gear and the complete works of Shakespeare. Thanks, Mandel. ( )

Very nice book, a little like a gentle and sweet Stephen King apocalypse story. A short page-turner. ( )