Vellum: The Book of All Hours

Vellum is a non-linear re-imagining of the world's myths and religions through an end-of-the-world scenario, intertwining many thematic elements of horror, science fiction and fantasy. I loved reading it, it was challenging, grand, audacious, and engaging. If you enjoy reading challenging fantasy/sci-fi/horror and can tolerate non-linear narrative than you will love reading this novel. Though as a reader that enjoys non-linear narrative it is not without its literary criticisms. Warning there is a lot of homo-erotic imagery (which doesn't quite cross the line of gratuitous).if you have problems with that, best to avoid this work. Overall Vellum follows the story of six or seven characters through different incarnations and histories which are intertwined through myth and history and legend through to the end of this world and the next. The overriding thread that ties these characters through all of their different incarnations is the Vellum, the Book of Names, the Book of all hours, in which all that exists or will exist in this existence, or the next (or the existence next-door) is written. The characters are members of the Unkin whom have the word of god, or their mystical names placed on their very being. These characters are the incarnations, re-incarnations, and re-iterations of the various gods, spirits, angels and demon archetypes. They play and re-play their parts throughout histories both real and imagined from the beginning of the world to the end, through this world and the next and are inferred in an infinity of other worlds throughout the book. Hal Duncan has drawn parallels of the different spiritual archetypes and strung them together into a narrative that encompasses the genres of classic and contemporary horror, post-modernism, cyber-punk and pulp sci-fi-fantasy. The cast is a who's who of "Finches Mythology" from ancient Sumer to Contemporary Gothic Horror archetypes with a heavy reliance on your catholic Angels, Fallen Angels and Demons. The main theme of the novel is the duality of good and evil, the connectedness of all the world's faiths, and the place of man in the scope of reality between faith and science. The main characters defy fate and religion and pay their prices as they are fated as they experience Armageddon, Ragnarok, or whatever end of the world scenario you subscribe to. Other than that, explanations are either too short to give justice to the depth of the narrative, or so long that the map becomes the territory (pun just realized, but apt). The novel begins, has a middle and a satisfying ending (which is better than many novels) though not necessarily all in that order. The bad:The DNA of this book is all over it. Styles are largely cribbed from other authors, the influence of William Burroughs, HP Lovecraft, and Kurt Vonnegut are the most obvious (Joyce is also quoted by other reviewers and I will take them at their word, I haven't read Joyce so I wouldn't know), other influences read like the

I'm enjoying the book. This book (so far) is actually a brilliant condensation of a literary style first coined by Heinlein as Pantheistic Solipsism or World as Myth. The Style (possibly even an unconscious movement) places characters from myth in the main narrative and bridges the `real' world with that of myth. World as myth is most prominent in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, Neil Gaiman (Sandman, American Gods, Anansi Boys, Neverware) and the list goes on. Though Heinlein appears to be the first to have written in this fashion, it is not known if he directly influenced these other writers or if they came to the same place around the same time. I think there is a strong connection here between Snow Crash and American Gods in the themes and ideas the author weaves in Vellum. He manages to tie together cyber-punk and world as myth into a coherent system of looking at it. Though Carter is an interesting character, he is by far the most bland (so far) when sized up with Phreedom and Thomas Messenger. The scene in the dusty trailer park is exactly what the movie the Prophecy needed to tie up its half baked back story and plot line. I think the detractors here complain about the writing style because they are not experiencing this book in the same way I am. I've read extensively about these old myths - Innana, Enki, Metatron, Lucifer and the lot and love how he weaves them together in a style that mirrors the fractured and fragmented nature of the Vellum where all events are occurring at once, where the future and past do not to take place in a linear fashion. I grant you it is difficult to read in this way if you are looking only for plot and a single narrative. Here, the narrative is complex, weaving together many strands of thought into a unified whole, where the voice of the narrator is a chorus of voices. The tune is hard to pick out, but it distinctively there once you begin picking up on the motif. Not for everyone, but if you've read the books I've mentioned, then this is the next logical book for you. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheistic_solipsism

I liked this book! Quite a lot in fact. It was reminiscent of Burroughs' Cities of the Red Night, with numerous Lovecraft references. Interestingly enough, if you bother to pick up the so called Necronomicon at any book store, you will find that it is really a mishmash of Sumerian mythology. In many ways, this book seems to be an outgrowth of that, although Duncan made the effort to go to the original source. I loved the way it was written and the way that characters appear and disappear only to reappear again in different incarnations--again reminiscent of Burroughs' Cities, Place of the Dead Roads and The Western Lands. This is NOT an easy book, but it is quite atmospheric and if you persevere, you will find yourself rewarded. I feel badly for all of you who didn't like it, but my suggestion is that you immerse yourself in some Burroughs, Lovecraft and some mythology and then perhaps you will get more out of this book.

To sum up this novel in one word is nearly impossible, but I will try: epic. Duncan interweaves tales of characters both new and old (literally) as they are incarnations of various myths and stories from many different cultures. One character is alternately an Irish WWI veteran, Prometheus (the "fire-bringer") and, in some ways Lucifer (remember that the word means bringer of light). Another is an incarnation of a Sumerian mythological character, a 21st century cyber-punk and the love interest of said WWI veteran. At the heart of the novel, though, is the conflict between the Covenant (some would say angels) and the Sovereigns (demons of a sort). The Covenant represent rationality and logic, and wish to impose this upon the world whereas the Sovereigns embody chaos and fierc individuality. This is a conflict that is unequivicably universal in that it not only occurs in society, but internally in all of us (Freud would probably refer to the id and the superego). But Duncan's work hints at an intriguing positoin: that this duality is not necessary. When the two meld together in Phreedom/Inanna a third path opens up, one that I can only assume will be explored in the forthcoming sequel Ink. Throughout this work, Duncan continues to explore "third" alternatives as most characters act and interact in threes. There are the Thomas/Phreedom/Seamus, Guy/Jack/Puck, Metatron/Carter/Pechorin trinities, just to name a few. In the end, though, this novel is stunningly brilliant. The weaving and interweaving of myths, archetypes, and characters takes on an almost Joycean level (complete with wordplay that owes much to Finnegans Wake-- for instance, the Macromimicon, supposedly made up by Liebcraft. An allusion of coures to Lovecraft and the Necronomicon, but also if you dissect Macromimicon as another name for the Book of All Hours, it truly "mimics" "all" in that it supposedly records all causalities). To be fair, the novel is difficult. It traipses across realities and characters shift in and out of them, sometimes the names are the same and other times, they are different. It can be hard to follow exactly who is whom and what is happening, but if you are truly willing to invest the effort, this is an astounding novel, moreso because it is a debut.

In a word, Hal Duncan's "Vellum" is extraordinary. It is alternately haunting, sublime, and horrifying, the prose richly-textured and baroque. Contained within the pages of the Vellum are some of the most beautiful and visceral tableaux that I have ever encountered. Duncan is an author who take risks, from his scathing political criticisms and elegant fusions of Sumerian and Christian mythos, to his parallel, multilayered plot. The center of the tale is the Vellum itself, not a tome containing the secrets of reality, but a road map to reality in all its permutations. More than that, the Vellum is reality--to change its text is to change the very fabric of history, past present and future--all of which are defined by the book. A war is being fought within its pages, across generations and from our world into parallel worlds transcribed from lucid dreams and nightmares. The war is fought by angels and men, and men who become angels and demons. The Covenant, led by Metatron, wants to control the Vellum and reshape creation. Borrowing from Cabalism, he who unlocks the sacred text (the words of creation spoken by God) has power over the universe and its undoing. The Covenant are fallen angels in one reality, rebellious Sumerian Gods in another, and their chief enemies are not the Sovereign angels allied with God, but the rogue angels who have grown too fond of their human incarnations. In the battle to control the Vellum, those who refuse to take a side are the ones who will tip the balance. An apt slogan for Metatron would be "Join us or die." The weapons in this war range from guns and demon thralls to sentient swarms of bitmites (Duncan's term for nanomachines). Spells are written in digital code and inked on human skin. Virtual reality avatars play a game of cloak and dagger, bringing secret messages from beyond the grave. Chief among the noble rogues are Seamus Finn and Phreedom Messenger. Seamus is alternately incarnated as Prometheus, Christ, Matthew Shepherd (the gay youth who was crucified in Wyoming), a drunk old man in an Irish pub, and a soldier tortured on World War II battlefield. The characters are not reincarnations in the strictest sense, but permutations of the same being. Every character is a cut diamond, and each incarnation is a facet of the whole. Alter one facet and the entire diamond is affected-the light and darkness it refracts irrevocably altered. Fans of China Mieville and William Gibson will love this book, as will admirers of Clive Barker's "Imagica" and "Weaveworld." Hal Duncan is an iconoclast, and an artist to be reckoned with.