Vellum by Hal Duncan (2005)
A mind-bending masterpiece
Book cover blurb
In the Vellum - the vast realm of eternity on which our world is just a scratch - the unkin are gathering for war.
In the Vellum, a falling angel and a renegade devil are about to come to blows.
In the Vellum, blood magic made in hell is about to come face to face with nanotechnology forged in heaven. Past, present and future will collide with other worlds and ancient myths.
And the Vellum will burn.
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My Review
This is probably one of the toughest reviews I've had to write in a long while. Not because it's going to be bad, it's not, but because I'm biased.
I first read Vellum on its release back in 2005 and it literally blew my mind. In all honesty, I didn't fully understand it, but I did thoroughly enjoy it. It was so different and utterly engrossing. But what made it so different to most books for me was the fact I couldn't get it out of my mind once I'd finished it. It got in there and, to this very day, simply refused to leave. It wasn't excerpts or character specifics that lingered in my mind but more the overall impact. It was like a recurring shockwave in my subconscious bouncing back and forth. Not tangibly real, but certainly undeniable impacts. I've never been affected quite like that by anything else, and I relished the effect. Which is why I've put off this reread, I didn't want to mar the memories and feelings I treasure by discovering Vellum wasn't the book I remember.
So, to the present read, and suffice it to say, Hal Duncan blew my mind all over again. Yes, I did comprehend things far better this time around, but instead of detracting from the experience, as I feared it might, it actually helped me focus the intensity of emotion I felt.
As stated in the book itself, time isn't quite the same in the Vellum, and that is certainly reflected in the fragmented structure Duncan has laid out for us. It will confuse and confound you wonderfully, like a gift-wrapped present on that most tantalising Christmas Eve, but you'll just have to wait to see what will eventually be revealed.
This book is an entire entity, it needs to be read as a whole to comprehend your feelings for it. You can't really say, "This chapter was good", "I didn't care for that scene", "That character wasn't as good as another", like we inevitably do with other books. This thing is like a living organism, it is a whole, and it needs to be comprehended as such. The entire story feels like a flashback or flashforward. There is so much time jumping and toe-dipping into alternative eras and realities that even the sections happening in present time have you wondering if these too aren't actually retellings.
It's definitely hard work to fully understand exactly how everything falls into place throughout the majority of the book, but as you read on you just feel like you're settling into the web that Duncan has so masterfully woven. Each character existing in various periods of time under different guises, all occurring simultaneously, eluded me during my first read of Vellum. But during this second read, taking time to observe and absorb everything my brain would accept, things fell more easily into place.
Any negatives? I have to say no. I consider this book to be a masterpiece, a modern classic by every account. However, like many classics, this book is hard work. Don't expect a Sunday read. You need to bring your brain with you and be prepared to flex that muscle during the whole affair. But like all things that are hard work, the achievement and payoff are well worth the effort when you reach that final page. And I guarantee you'll want to dip straight back in and reread sections still lingering in your mind right away.
Footnote.
Vellum is The Book of All Hours volumes one and two. Ink, book two, holds volumes three and four. I tried reading Ink almost two decades ago after completing Vellum for the first time but didn't manage to finish it, much to my chagrin. I so desperately want to revisit it and see this whole story through to the end but in all honesty, I'm not sure I have the intellect to fully comprehend all its myriad depths. Not to mention the fact my brain needs to cool off after reading Vellum.
My copy of this novel
Ace hardback edition.
Published in 2005
499 pages
ISBN 9781405052085