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Hearts of Oak
The buildings grow.
And the city expands.
And the people of the land are starting to behave abnormally.
Or perhaps they’ve always behaved that way, and it’s normality that’s at fault.
And the king of the land confers with his best friend, who happens to be his closest advisor, who also happens to be a talking cat. But that’s all perfectly natural and not at all weird.
And when chief architect Iona wakes from a long period of blindly accepting the status quo, she realizes there’s a mystery to be solved. A strange, somewhat bizarre mystery, to be sure, but no less dangerous for its improbability.
And the cat is almost certainly involved!
And the city expands.
And the people of the land are starting to behave abnormally.
Or perhaps they’ve always behaved that way, and it’s normality that’s at fault.
And the king of the land confers with his best friend, who happens to be his closest advisor, who also happens to be a talking cat. But that’s all perfectly natural and not at all weird.
And when chief architect Iona wakes from a long period of blindly accepting the status quo, she realizes there’s a mystery to be solved. A strange, somewhat bizarre mystery, to be sure, but no less dangerous for its improbability.
And the cat is almost certainly involved!
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 17, 2020
About the author
Eddie Robson
142 books89 followersEddie Robson is a comedy and science fiction writer best known for his sitcom Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully and his work on a variety of spin-offs from the BBC Television series Doctor Who. He has written books, comics and short stories, and has worked as a freelance journalist for various science fiction magazines. He is married to a female academic and lives in Lancaster.
Robson's comedy writing career began in 2008 with material for Look Away Now. Since then his work has featured on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, Tilt, Play and Record, Newsjack, Recorded For Training Purposes and The Headset Set. The pilot episode of his sitcom Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 5th July 2012. It starred Katherine Parkinson and Julian Rhind-Tutt.
His Doctor Who work includes the BBC 7 radio plays Phobos, Human Resources and Grand Theft Cosmos, the CD releases Memory Lane, The Condemned, The Raincloud Man and The Eight Truths, and several short stories for Big Finish's Doctor Who anthologies, Short Trips. He has contributed comic strips to Doctor Who Adventures.
Between 2007 and 2009, Robson was the producer of Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of products, and has contributed four audio plays to the series. He has also written books on film noir and the Coen Brothers for Virgin Publishing, the Doctor Who episode guide Who's Next with co-authors Mark Clapham and Jim Smith, and an illustrated adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Robson's comedy writing career began in 2008 with material for Look Away Now. Since then his work has featured on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, Tilt, Play and Record, Newsjack, Recorded For Training Purposes and The Headset Set. The pilot episode of his sitcom Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 5th July 2012. It starred Katherine Parkinson and Julian Rhind-Tutt.
His Doctor Who work includes the BBC 7 radio plays Phobos, Human Resources and Grand Theft Cosmos, the CD releases Memory Lane, The Condemned, The Raincloud Man and The Eight Truths, and several short stories for Big Finish's Doctor Who anthologies, Short Trips. He has contributed comic strips to Doctor Who Adventures.
Between 2007 and 2009, Robson was the producer of Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of products, and has contributed four audio plays to the series. He has also written books on film noir and the Coen Brothers for Virgin Publishing, the Doctor Who episode guide Who's Next with co-authors Mark Clapham and Jim Smith, and an illustrated adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
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April 3, 2020An odd book. It starts as a kind of weird fantasy fable (an implausible city, a nameless king advised by a a talking cat, a dreamlike world where the past is unclear and the physics implausible) and then takes a left turn into SF. A nifty idea, but tbh it's mostly ideas: I didn't really feel for/with any of the characters as people, so I was looking at their predicament from the outside rather than emotionally engaged with what had happened to them, and there's no sense of the psychological impact, or their hopes/needs for the future. Basically, it never quite sheds the fable-like feeling even when we're in completely different circumstances. Well written, and I read all the way to the end, which is a lot given that I've barely read anything in a fortnight, but doesn't linger in the mind.
December 19, 2019
What a quirky and surprising little book. Delightfully off-kilter. Raced through it in a day. Just... don't read the genre classifications on the back cover of the ARC, which are a massive spoiler.
July 9, 2020
This is a most peculiar little book. It starts like a fairy tale (nameless king + talking cat), delves deep into the life of an architect whose reality is about to invert itself, and ends in what seems like a totally different book. Astute readers may well guess one of the plot twists, but probably not all of them. If Hearts of Oak is about anything, it might be a cautionary tale about accepting a nonsensical reality that feels normal only because we've stopped questioning it.
Cautiously recommended if you fancy an experiment in speculative fiction. (I hesitate to call it science fiction as there are space operas that contain more science.) At a modest 260 pages, it is novel or perhaps novella-length while maintaining its short story feel - it is definitely idea rather than character or plot-driven. I found it a quick read with some genuine surprises and a distinctive detached narration that is not overly invested in any of its characters or their outcomes. I don't know if I'd call it a successful experiment, but it was odd enough that it might stick in my brain for a while.
Cautiously recommended if you fancy an experiment in speculative fiction. (I hesitate to call it science fiction as there are space operas that contain more science.) At a modest 260 pages, it is novel or perhaps novella-length while maintaining its short story feel - it is definitely idea rather than character or plot-driven. I found it a quick read with some genuine surprises and a distinctive detached narration that is not overly invested in any of its characters or their outcomes. I don't know if I'd call it a successful experiment, but it was odd enough that it might stick in my brain for a while.
March 19, 2020
How does a book featuring a king with a talking cat turn into science fiction?
I’m not telling!
But I will say this: Hearts of Oak is all sorts of awesome, and was exactly the sort of punchy, engaging read I needed this week.
The setting is weird and perplexing. We’re in a city where everything seems to be made of wood, and the entire focus of the city is building. Architects are practically rock stars, and the only city functions that seem to matter are building and planning.
And then there’s the king (and his cat Clarence), who observe the growth of the city from their window in the king’s tower, reading daily reports and signing off on plans, but really not doing much of anything else.
Everything seems to change when chief architect Iona is approached by a woman asking to be tutored in architecture. Something about Alyssa seems off, and her presence starts to bring forward words and images that Iona associates with her odd, recurring dreams.
And I’m not going to say what happens next! There are plenty of cool twists, and I actually laughed out loud over certain developments — like, OH, so THAT’s where this is going!
Seriously, this book just needs to be read! It’s great fun, full of surprises and really amazing and inventive elements, and I just could not put it down. I can see returning to Hearts of Oak and reading it again from time to time — it’s that good!
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
I’m not telling!
But I will say this: Hearts of Oak is all sorts of awesome, and was exactly the sort of punchy, engaging read I needed this week.
The setting is weird and perplexing. We’re in a city where everything seems to be made of wood, and the entire focus of the city is building. Architects are practically rock stars, and the only city functions that seem to matter are building and planning.
And then there’s the king (and his cat Clarence), who observe the growth of the city from their window in the king’s tower, reading daily reports and signing off on plans, but really not doing much of anything else.
Everything seems to change when chief architect Iona is approached by a woman asking to be tutored in architecture. Something about Alyssa seems off, and her presence starts to bring forward words and images that Iona associates with her odd, recurring dreams.
And I’m not going to say what happens next! There are plenty of cool twists, and I actually laughed out loud over certain developments — like, OH, so THAT’s where this is going!
Seriously, this book just needs to be read! It’s great fun, full of surprises and really amazing and inventive elements, and I just could not put it down. I can see returning to Hearts of Oak and reading it again from time to time — it’s that good!
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
March 14, 2022
This was quick and fun but ultimately unsatisfying. The prose vacillates between detachment and a kind of “gee whiz would you look at that” tone that I found increasingly irritating as the book went on. And for a book so self-consciously weird, it was awful predictable, and most of the characters were rather wooden. Still, I wouldn’t necessarily discourage anyone from reading.
April 6, 2020
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian; received a copy for review via Netgalley
Hearts of Oak is a bit difficult to describe without giving things away. Iona is the main character, an architect in a mysterious city enclosed in a dome. She’s never really questioned the way things are, even though she has odd dreams and memories of things that no longer exist in the city. Materials that don’t exist, like concrete and felt. And yet odd things are happening: a colleague has died and a man appears at his funeral and leaps into the furnace with him; a woman she’s never met before asks her to tutor her in how the building work is done, and she seems to have had the dreams too, to know words she shouldn’t know.
There were moments that should have been really emotive — for instance, discovering you’re surrounded by automatons which don’t even look that human, but somehow you never noticed. That should surely have been freaky and weird and you should have felt for the character, but it was just kind of flat. Or the ending: the reader should have felt sorry, glad, horrified… something. But it totally didn’t work for me.
It’s an interesting concept, but it left some questions in my mind and just… didn’t engage me much on an emotional level.
Hearts of Oak is a bit difficult to describe without giving things away. Iona is the main character, an architect in a mysterious city enclosed in a dome. She’s never really questioned the way things are, even though she has odd dreams and memories of things that no longer exist in the city. Materials that don’t exist, like concrete and felt. And yet odd things are happening: a colleague has died and a man appears at his funeral and leaps into the furnace with him; a woman she’s never met before asks her to tutor her in how the building work is done, and she seems to have had the dreams too, to know words she shouldn’t know.
There were moments that should have been really emotive — for instance, discovering you’re surrounded by automatons which don’t even look that human, but somehow you never noticed. That should surely have been freaky and weird and you should have felt for the character, but it was just kind of flat. Or the ending: the reader should have felt sorry, glad, horrified… something. But it totally didn’t work for me.
It’s an interesting concept, but it left some questions in my mind and just… didn’t engage me much on an emotional level.
October 19, 2020
I found myself wanting to say very little about this one because I think the twists are delicious and I’d hate to spoil them. What I will say, is that this made me think of Doctor Who often. You know how the Doctor always tells the bad guys that humans will surprise you? And, presumably, that means that when the Doctor isn’t there, humans are doing those wonderful, surprising things and trying to save themselves here and there? Well, to me, this is maybe an episode where the Doctor didn’t show up, but the practical and empathetic protagonist finally notices the oddness that the audience immediately spied and tries to figure out why. Then things get rather strange, but one must try. :)
January 12, 2021
*sets book down*
*opens mouth to speak*
*looks at title*
*closes mouth*
This is such an odd book. It was mostly enjoyable, definitely weird, and the second half is so unlike the first that it's disorienting. Not....bad, exactly.
But when a book ends and you have just as many questions, because the explanations given actually make less sense than the initial confusion you felt when you didn't know anything, you have to wonder if that was deliberate or if something was missing in the writing.
I'm not sure which.
Anyway, it was a fun read, a very quick read, and it's certainly unique. Clarence the talking cat did NOT disappoint.
*opens mouth to speak*
*looks at title*
*closes mouth*
This is such an odd book. It was mostly enjoyable, definitely weird, and the second half is so unlike the first that it's disorienting. Not....bad, exactly.
But when a book ends and you have just as many questions, because the explanations given actually make less sense than the initial confusion you felt when you didn't know anything, you have to wonder if that was deliberate or if something was missing in the writing.
I'm not sure which.
Anyway, it was a fun read, a very quick read, and it's certainly unique. Clarence the talking cat did NOT disappoint.
March 23, 2020
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.The nitty-gritty: An inventive and quirky tale, Hearts of Oak was a surprise from start to finish.
Well, this was an odd story! And I mean that in a good way. Whatever you think Hearts of Oak is about, be ready to adjust your perceptions, because it started one way, and at about the halfway point, it became something quite different. This is going to be a hard review to write, simply because there's a lot about the story that I can’t tell you. Eddie Robson is a unique writer and I’m eager to read more of his work!
The story focuses on an architect named Iona who has lived in the city for many years, helping it grow by designing new buildings, and tearing down old ones and building bigger and better buildings in their place. The citizens who live there are dedicated to this bustling industry and the city thrives and grows, expanding both outward and upward. Raw materials are taken from the surrounding forests, for this city is made entirely of wood. Citizens who die are taken to a furnace called Point of Return, where their cremated remains will create energy for the city to keep going.
Ruling over the city is the King, who is guided by his trusty advisor, a talking cat named Clarence. The King is more of a figurehead than anything else, since Clarence seems to make all his decisions for him.
Life is predictable and ordinary, until one day Iona is approached by a young woman named Alyssa, who wants Iona to teach her about construction. Iona senses something odd about Alyssa, but it isn’t until a construction site that they visited burns down that Iona begins to suspect that Alyssa might be hiding something from her. And why are Iona’s “dream-words” popping into her head more and more these days? Words like felt and coin that have no meaning here in the city, but words that Iona recognizes from her dreams and associates with Alyssa?
When Iona goes poking around for answers and discovers a curious set of instructions, she finds her world and everything she’s believed in turned upside down. Alyssa confirms it: there is something evil living in the city, and she needs Ioan’s help to stop it.
And that’s all I can say about the story, because it’s best to be surprised when you read it, just like I was. Like much of Tor.com fiction, Hearts of Oak is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Robson has crafted a unique world that feels slightly off , but you don’t realize just how off it is until some of its mysteries are revealed. There were a couple of surprise, jaw-dropping moments that I wasn't expecting. For example, the story seems firmly grounded in the fantasy genre, yet at some point it switches gears and dives straight into science fiction. Robson gives his readers clues about this switch, but it still caught me off guard.
I did love this quirky world made of wood, but I had so many questions as I was reading. Why is the city constantly under construction? Doesn’t anyone do anything else? Why is everything so contained, with no mention of the outside world? What purpose does the King serve, since he never seems to make any of his own decisions? Don’t worry, all those answers and more will eventually be answered.
My only complaint about the story was that it seemed a bit too long. There’s a moment near the end that felt like a good place to stop, but the author kept going, and for me, the story started to feel a little tedious at that point. But I have to say Robson redeemed himself in those final pages. I absolutely loved the way he ended his story, although it might not be the ending that readers want , it was the ending these characters needed.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy
Well, this was an odd story! And I mean that in a good way. Whatever you think Hearts of Oak is about, be ready to adjust your perceptions, because it started one way, and at about the halfway point, it became something quite different. This is going to be a hard review to write, simply because there's a lot about the story that I can’t tell you. Eddie Robson is a unique writer and I’m eager to read more of his work!
The story focuses on an architect named Iona who has lived in the city for many years, helping it grow by designing new buildings, and tearing down old ones and building bigger and better buildings in their place. The citizens who live there are dedicated to this bustling industry and the city thrives and grows, expanding both outward and upward. Raw materials are taken from the surrounding forests, for this city is made entirely of wood. Citizens who die are taken to a furnace called Point of Return, where their cremated remains will create energy for the city to keep going.
Ruling over the city is the King, who is guided by his trusty advisor, a talking cat named Clarence. The King is more of a figurehead than anything else, since Clarence seems to make all his decisions for him.
Life is predictable and ordinary, until one day Iona is approached by a young woman named Alyssa, who wants Iona to teach her about construction. Iona senses something odd about Alyssa, but it isn’t until a construction site that they visited burns down that Iona begins to suspect that Alyssa might be hiding something from her. And why are Iona’s “dream-words” popping into her head more and more these days? Words like felt and coin that have no meaning here in the city, but words that Iona recognizes from her dreams and associates with Alyssa?
When Iona goes poking around for answers and discovers a curious set of instructions, she finds her world and everything she’s believed in turned upside down. Alyssa confirms it: there is something evil living in the city, and she needs Ioan’s help to stop it.
And that’s all I can say about the story, because it’s best to be surprised when you read it, just like I was. Like much of Tor.com fiction, Hearts of Oak is unlike anything I’ve ever read. Robson has crafted a unique world that feels slightly off , but you don’t realize just how off it is until some of its mysteries are revealed. There were a couple of surprise, jaw-dropping moments that I wasn't expecting. For example, the story seems firmly grounded in the fantasy genre, yet at some point it switches gears and dives straight into science fiction. Robson gives his readers clues about this switch, but it still caught me off guard.
I did love this quirky world made of wood, but I had so many questions as I was reading. Why is the city constantly under construction? Doesn’t anyone do anything else? Why is everything so contained, with no mention of the outside world? What purpose does the King serve, since he never seems to make any of his own decisions? Don’t worry, all those answers and more will eventually be answered.
My only complaint about the story was that it seemed a bit too long. There’s a moment near the end that felt like a good place to stop, but the author kept going, and for me, the story started to feel a little tedious at that point. But I have to say Robson redeemed himself in those final pages. I absolutely loved the way he ended his story, although it might not be the ending that readers want , it was the ending these characters needed.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.This review originally appeared on Books, Bones & Buffy
April 14, 2020
Well that weird. And different.
March 10, 2020
Read this review and other Sci Fi/Fantasy book reviews at The Quill To Live
When I read the premise of Hearts of Oak, by Eddie Robson, I got excited. Growing buildings within an expanding city? Sign me up. The main character is an architect trying to understand the underpinnings of her world after being awoken from a stupor that required her to continuously expand the kingdom? Heck yeah, this is right up my alley. On top of that, just throw in a talking cat, who is the best friend and advisor to the king of this land? Let me get a blanket and curl up on the couch. Unfortunately, this little novella did not really live up to the hype, and maybe that is my fault in some respects. All in all Hearts of Oak is a short novel that is full of twists and turns but lacks any real character and heart.
The book starts off interesting enough as Iona, the main protagonist, is reviewing plans for several of the buildings in her city, noting the absurdity of the continuous expansion of buildings for what seems to be no reason. Her colleague has recently died in a building collapse, and something weird happens at his funeral. Another man runs and jumps onto the casket as it is carted into a furnace for cremation. While unsettling, it is not until she investigates the collapsed building, does Iona start to feel like something is off. Meanwhile, the King debates with his advisor, the aforementioned talking cat, about approving more and more construction, confused as to why he should not be concerned with the people within his city. o
I’ll just pull this splinter out right away, I did not like this book. The beginning felt charming at first but quickly lurched into tedium. Iona was unconvincing as a character, let alone an architect. She often griped about her job, and the sheer audacity of the King to request larger and larger buildings without accounting for the needed strength to ensure their long term viability. Character moments involved a lot of telling, leading to Iona feeling like what someone thought an architect should act like. There was no real connection to the city or the world she had a part in building, the descriptives were minimal, and there was no real enchantment with particular buildings or the city as a whole. Her sole trait of “being an architect” felt superficial and became completely irrelevant as the book progressed. One could say, “well the twists make it irrelevant”, and to them I say hooey. The plot did not connect me with Iona, nor did it set her apart from the other characters.
Speaking of the other characters, they barely felt integral to the plot. The King, the book’s other point of view, just spends his time listening to his cat and sitting around for most of the book. He barely adds any real context beyond “this is why the city must expand.” It could have been interesting if the humor or satire felt more direct, but most of the time it just felt like a red herring. As with most of the characters, the King felt like an undeveloped concept tossed into the book to make the world feel interesting, but ended up adding no real character or drama. The other characters I could barely remember, and didn’t have any particular traits beyond “they existed.”
I hear you say, “Alex, but if everything is in service to the plot, that must at least be enjoyable right?” Well, readers, this is where it gets a little messy. I will say there were certainly interesting twists and turns throughout the book that made the plot somewhat exciting. However, there was no weight to the discoveries. I did not get any sensation from the fast-paced unraveling of the mysteries. I do not want to get into specifics to avoid spoilers, but if things feel off as you read the book, it’s because things are off. As much as I wanted to enjoy these revelations, they felt hamstrung by their spontaneity. Each successive reveal felt like a jack-in-the-box, with Iona furiously cranking until the clown pops out, and she can move onto the next one. It just had no real build-up, and the absurdity of each reveal quickly lost its luster after the second or third twist.
In the end, Hearts of Oak was not bad, it just did not resonate with me in any way. The interesting bits of the premise were window dressing with no real impact on the story. The characters were a vehicle to move the plot along, offering no substantive opinions of their own, and having zero on-screen development. The climax left much to be desired, as whatever cathartic character moment Robson was going for fell flat. There were some cool ideas through the book, but there was no exploration of them. I can’t even really recommend it as a fast-paced low-stakes palate cleanser, as it just left a bland but coating taste in my mouth.
Rating: Hearts of Oak - 5.0/10
-Alex
When I read the premise of Hearts of Oak, by Eddie Robson, I got excited. Growing buildings within an expanding city? Sign me up. The main character is an architect trying to understand the underpinnings of her world after being awoken from a stupor that required her to continuously expand the kingdom? Heck yeah, this is right up my alley. On top of that, just throw in a talking cat, who is the best friend and advisor to the king of this land? Let me get a blanket and curl up on the couch. Unfortunately, this little novella did not really live up to the hype, and maybe that is my fault in some respects. All in all Hearts of Oak is a short novel that is full of twists and turns but lacks any real character and heart.
The book starts off interesting enough as Iona, the main protagonist, is reviewing plans for several of the buildings in her city, noting the absurdity of the continuous expansion of buildings for what seems to be no reason. Her colleague has recently died in a building collapse, and something weird happens at his funeral. Another man runs and jumps onto the casket as it is carted into a furnace for cremation. While unsettling, it is not until she investigates the collapsed building, does Iona start to feel like something is off. Meanwhile, the King debates with his advisor, the aforementioned talking cat, about approving more and more construction, confused as to why he should not be concerned with the people within his city. o
I’ll just pull this splinter out right away, I did not like this book. The beginning felt charming at first but quickly lurched into tedium. Iona was unconvincing as a character, let alone an architect. She often griped about her job, and the sheer audacity of the King to request larger and larger buildings without accounting for the needed strength to ensure their long term viability. Character moments involved a lot of telling, leading to Iona feeling like what someone thought an architect should act like. There was no real connection to the city or the world she had a part in building, the descriptives were minimal, and there was no real enchantment with particular buildings or the city as a whole. Her sole trait of “being an architect” felt superficial and became completely irrelevant as the book progressed. One could say, “well the twists make it irrelevant”, and to them I say hooey. The plot did not connect me with Iona, nor did it set her apart from the other characters.
Speaking of the other characters, they barely felt integral to the plot. The King, the book’s other point of view, just spends his time listening to his cat and sitting around for most of the book. He barely adds any real context beyond “this is why the city must expand.” It could have been interesting if the humor or satire felt more direct, but most of the time it just felt like a red herring. As with most of the characters, the King felt like an undeveloped concept tossed into the book to make the world feel interesting, but ended up adding no real character or drama. The other characters I could barely remember, and didn’t have any particular traits beyond “they existed.”
I hear you say, “Alex, but if everything is in service to the plot, that must at least be enjoyable right?” Well, readers, this is where it gets a little messy. I will say there were certainly interesting twists and turns throughout the book that made the plot somewhat exciting. However, there was no weight to the discoveries. I did not get any sensation from the fast-paced unraveling of the mysteries. I do not want to get into specifics to avoid spoilers, but if things feel off as you read the book, it’s because things are off. As much as I wanted to enjoy these revelations, they felt hamstrung by their spontaneity. Each successive reveal felt like a jack-in-the-box, with Iona furiously cranking until the clown pops out, and she can move onto the next one. It just had no real build-up, and the absurdity of each reveal quickly lost its luster after the second or third twist.
In the end, Hearts of Oak was not bad, it just did not resonate with me in any way. The interesting bits of the premise were window dressing with no real impact on the story. The characters were a vehicle to move the plot along, offering no substantive opinions of their own, and having zero on-screen development. The climax left much to be desired, as whatever cathartic character moment Robson was going for fell flat. There were some cool ideas through the book, but there was no exploration of them. I can’t even really recommend it as a fast-paced low-stakes palate cleanser, as it just left a bland but coating taste in my mouth.
Rating: Hearts of Oak - 5.0/10
-Alex
February 12, 2020
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I got as an eGalley through NetGalley to review.
Story (4/5): This was a very unique book with lots of twists and turns. It' s pretty fast read and an intriguing one. I enjoyed it because it was so different from other books I have read. It reminded me a bit of a Dr. Who episode and is hard to talk about without spoiling the story. Suffice to say the story is the strong point of this book.
Characters (3/5): The characters are okay. We switch between The King and Iona (a master architect). Neither is very personable but are more devices to move the story forward. The side characters have very little depth. I felt like the characters were the weakest aspect of this story.
Setting (4/5): Set in a mysterious walled city that keeps growing and growing as more and more buildings are constructed, I enjoyed this mysterious setting. The twists and turns revealed as the book continues reveal more and more about the setting. Again, this is a great aspect to the story.
Writing Style (4/5): The writing style came across as pretty stark and simplistic to me but it works well for the story. The POV changes also worked well in this story.
Summary (4/5): Overall this was a fun little read, that was quirky and different with lots of surprising little twists. It’s a pretty quick read and I enjoyed it for its uniqueness.
Story (4/5): This was a very unique book with lots of twists and turns. It' s pretty fast read and an intriguing one. I enjoyed it because it was so different from other books I have read. It reminded me a bit of a Dr. Who episode and is hard to talk about without spoiling the story. Suffice to say the story is the strong point of this book.
Characters (3/5): The characters are okay. We switch between The King and Iona (a master architect). Neither is very personable but are more devices to move the story forward. The side characters have very little depth. I felt like the characters were the weakest aspect of this story.
Setting (4/5): Set in a mysterious walled city that keeps growing and growing as more and more buildings are constructed, I enjoyed this mysterious setting. The twists and turns revealed as the book continues reveal more and more about the setting. Again, this is a great aspect to the story.
Writing Style (4/5): The writing style came across as pretty stark and simplistic to me but it works well for the story. The POV changes also worked well in this story.
Summary (4/5): Overall this was a fun little read, that was quirky and different with lots of surprising little twists. It’s a pretty quick read and I enjoyed it for its uniqueness.
March 6, 2020
What a completely unexpected and quirky little story. Really had a fun time with this one.
Find this review at Forever Lost in Literature!
Ordinarily I would write a full review this book, but while reading Hearts of Oak I soon realized that this is one of those books that relies so heavily on the unknown that I actually want to keep this fairly brief so that I don't give much of anything away. (Also, I'd just like to say that I was mostly interested in this premise, but when I got to the line of "And the cat is most certainly involved!" in the synopsis, I was completely sold--and it was totally worth it.)
What I liked: Hearts of Oak is full of surprises and I swear I felt like I was getting whiplash at times from how much this book kept pulling out new twists and ideas that kept me so engaged. I was constantly curious because you can sort of tell that certain things are off, but it's hard at times to pinpoint exactly what until it's about to happen or it actually happens and then things start to unravel in such a fascinating way. I also really loved how subtle the themes were in this book--they're important and strong, but they aren't thrown into your face in an overwhelming way, which I really appreciated.
I also really loved how quirky this book was. It's not over-the-top strange or anything like that, but there are so many subtly odd things that really made this book stand out and also made me love the style of writing. The setting itself is one of the weirdly quirky things that was of particular interest to me and I found it fascinating how this society seemed to work.
What I didn't like: I wouldn't really say that there's anything I really disliked about this book, but there were some areas that could have used some improvement. The characters were mostly interesting and well-developed, but I feel like there could have been a bit more to them and their personalities--including secondary characters--to bring them to life and make me care about them just a little bit more.
Overall, I've given Hearts of Oak four stars! I apologize for this review being so vague, but I really don't want to give a single thing away. I absolutely recommend this if you're looking for something fresh and quirky with a plot that will continuously keep you on your toes!
Find this review at Forever Lost in Literature!
Ordinarily I would write a full review this book, but while reading Hearts of Oak I soon realized that this is one of those books that relies so heavily on the unknown that I actually want to keep this fairly brief so that I don't give much of anything away. (Also, I'd just like to say that I was mostly interested in this premise, but when I got to the line of "And the cat is most certainly involved!" in the synopsis, I was completely sold--and it was totally worth it.)
What I liked: Hearts of Oak is full of surprises and I swear I felt like I was getting whiplash at times from how much this book kept pulling out new twists and ideas that kept me so engaged. I was constantly curious because you can sort of tell that certain things are off, but it's hard at times to pinpoint exactly what until it's about to happen or it actually happens and then things start to unravel in such a fascinating way. I also really loved how subtle the themes were in this book--they're important and strong, but they aren't thrown into your face in an overwhelming way, which I really appreciated.
I also really loved how quirky this book was. It's not over-the-top strange or anything like that, but there are so many subtly odd things that really made this book stand out and also made me love the style of writing. The setting itself is one of the weirdly quirky things that was of particular interest to me and I found it fascinating how this society seemed to work.
What I didn't like: I wouldn't really say that there's anything I really disliked about this book, but there were some areas that could have used some improvement. The characters were mostly interesting and well-developed, but I feel like there could have been a bit more to them and their personalities--including secondary characters--to bring them to life and make me care about them just a little bit more.
Overall, I've given Hearts of Oak four stars! I apologize for this review being so vague, but I really don't want to give a single thing away. I absolutely recommend this if you're looking for something fresh and quirky with a plot that will continuously keep you on your toes!
September 12, 2020
The blurb for this science fiction novel compares it to Philip K. Dick’s writing. Sure enough, reality seems one way, then shifts, then shifts again. The ordinary life of our heroine has such strange roots, much like Dick’s “Time Out of Joint”. The plot was engrossing.
OK, spoilers.
Really, spoilers.
Are you sure? Spoilers.
You have been warned.
Don’t trust the talking cat. And don’t expect a happy ending.
OK, spoilers.
Really, spoilers.
Are you sure? Spoilers.
You have been warned.
Don’t trust the talking cat. And don’t expect a happy ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2021
This fascinating book charmed me, confused me, charmed me again and then threw me for a loop.
I knew nothing about it when I picked it up at the library, except that it was classified as science fiction, that the cover described it as a blend of Philip K. Dick and Christopher Priest (which seemed a high bar) and the cover art by Armando Veve was lovely. Never choose a book by it's cover is an order which I have rarely followed.
Then I started reading and a good way in I was mystified that this was classed as sci-fi and equally mystified at the authors it was likened to. Clearly, I felt, this was fantasy or magical realism, or both: the Kings main advisor is a talking cat which is perfectly normal. Our main character is (a marvellous character too!) Iona, a lecturer at the cities university in architecture. She is also one of the foremost architects in the city, a city that is always under revision, re-building, expansion and so on. The picture on the cover gives a delicate, black and white line drawing style of the city it is almost Escher-like in it's perspective and it is detailed beautifully. The city has very little metal, most things are done with wood.
Then Iona starts tutoring a lady from the planning department asks for private tutoring and Iona starts seeing cracks in her reality. Her reality, the reality of the city, is so odd that the reader just has to be carried along with the experience without trying to foresee what is happening.
I really enjoyed tis one, early on it was so simplistic at times, that it felt almost YA, but at other times it felt deeply threatening. You know that sci-fi film Dark City? Both the cover art and the story gave me a very 'Dark City' type feeling, but I will spoiler it no further, since reading it with no clue about the story worked so very well for me.
Loved the ending!
I knew nothing about it when I picked it up at the library, except that it was classified as science fiction, that the cover described it as a blend of Philip K. Dick and Christopher Priest (which seemed a high bar) and the cover art by Armando Veve was lovely. Never choose a book by it's cover is an order which I have rarely followed.
Then I started reading and a good way in I was mystified that this was classed as sci-fi and equally mystified at the authors it was likened to. Clearly, I felt, this was fantasy or magical realism, or both: the Kings main advisor is a talking cat which is perfectly normal. Our main character is (a marvellous character too!) Iona, a lecturer at the cities university in architecture. She is also one of the foremost architects in the city, a city that is always under revision, re-building, expansion and so on. The picture on the cover gives a delicate, black and white line drawing style of the city it is almost Escher-like in it's perspective and it is detailed beautifully. The city has very little metal, most things are done with wood.
Then Iona starts tutoring a lady from the planning department asks for private tutoring and Iona starts seeing cracks in her reality. Her reality, the reality of the city, is so odd that the reader just has to be carried along with the experience without trying to foresee what is happening.
I really enjoyed tis one, early on it was so simplistic at times, that it felt almost YA, but at other times it felt deeply threatening. You know that sci-fi film Dark City? Both the cover art and the story gave me a very 'Dark City' type feeling, but I will spoiler it no further, since reading it with no clue about the story worked so very well for me.
Loved the ending!
May 3, 2020
What a strange, strange story.
I can't say much without spoiling it. It's one of those books where you don't know what's going on, and you gradually piece it together, so to summarize the plot really would ruin the reading experience.
The style reminded me of Gulliver's Travels. The characters are odd and hard to get an emotional grip on, for reasons that become clear as you go on. So what you're left with mostly is the story and the setting, and the questions. Where are they, why are they constantly building and rebuilding the city, why is everything made of wood, what's the point of having a king, why does Iona vaguely know the word for felt but doesn't remember ever seeing it before? What are the figures on the other side of the window in the forest? And that talking cat ...
I can't say much without spoiling it. It's one of those books where you don't know what's going on, and you gradually piece it together, so to summarize the plot really would ruin the reading experience.
The style reminded me of Gulliver's Travels. The characters are odd and hard to get an emotional grip on, for reasons that become clear as you go on. So what you're left with mostly is the story and the setting, and the questions. Where are they, why are they constantly building and rebuilding the city, why is everything made of wood, what's the point of having a king, why does Iona vaguely know the word for felt but doesn't remember ever seeing it before? What are the figures on the other side of the window in the forest? And that talking cat ...
February 6, 2021
This was an interesting, Kafka-esque story that I feel like treads the line of being something similar to Le Guin's SciFi, but by the end, it comes just short of that.
There isn't really enough of fruition of thematic threads throughout this story and the main character's emotional conflict remains mostly muted and woefully understated for most of the novel as well.
I wanted more from this, but it serves as a fun quirky read.
There isn't really enough of fruition of thematic threads throughout this story and the main character's emotional conflict remains mostly muted and woefully understated for most of the novel as well.
I wanted more from this, but it serves as a fun quirky read.
March 29, 2020
There’s a border where Fantasy and Science Fiction meet, and some of my favourite books are built across it; this one, restless, makes the journey in the course of its narrative. We begin with kings and talking animals in a city whose implausibility increases with every revelation. We end very differently, but getting there is too much fun to spoil - just come along for the ride and you’ll see!
June 28, 2020
The classic sci-fi Bradburyesque influences are there (I got Cordwainer Smith vibes too, if just because of the cat), and I love it, and I love how damn efficient the prose is without being dull or unsuited to the tale. But at the end I just have to wonder... what’s the point? It’s a very cool story with a lot of very cool concepts, but in the end, what did it Say?
Fun fact: Eddie Robson has a writing credit on a single Amazing World of Gumball episode, “The Pact,” which is, imho, the more forgettable of the Principal Brown-and-Gumball-work-together episodes. “The Fraud” did it better.
Fun fact: Eddie Robson has a writing credit on a single Amazing World of Gumball episode, “The Pact,” which is, imho, the more forgettable of the Principal Brown-and-Gumball-work-together episodes. “The Fraud” did it better.
August 14, 2022
now that is how you write an ending. a delightful weird read that waited till the right time to punch me. his writing is drier than i like but it really lends itself here. i would have liked to see him lean into charcter and world building, easily could have been a thicker book. very recommended for a short weekend trip read.
June 9, 2022
An odd, quiet, lovely little book.
November 6, 2023
Better than the book’s summary. Just give it a try
August 25, 2020
It was a small story that unraveled into a big story. Very creative, gave me Neil Gaiman vibes.
February 5, 2024
Like a 3.5, 75, a fun, snappy story that builds a world that I think will linger! A Doctor Who adventure (complimentary) that feels like the place it describes--gently layered, industrious, reaching, and always smelling like fresh-cut wood.
April 10, 2022
This science fiction story unravels similar to a murder mystery and it is no less satisfying to read. Our main character, Iona, from who's perspective we're reading, embarks on figuring out a great mystery. At the onset, she doesn't yet know there is any mystery to unravel and that makes her unintentional sleuthing all the more interesting. As you read you'll get the sensation that you have solved the mystery only to have another turn cornered and a brand new layer revealed. It is as though you begin the book underneath the microscope and each chapter zooms outward until you have a view of things far outside the universe. It kept me on my toes, wanting to know what I didn't know, all the way until the final paragraph. I would give this book a 4.5 if that were possible on this app.
May 4, 2021
Kinda cute. Kinda clumsy. Probably forgetable. Mostly a grab bag of interesting but unexplored ideas. There's a chapter in the middle that is exposition heavy which spells everything out, and it's a lot less interesting after that.
March 29, 2020
Originally published at Reading Reality
Talking cats are generally an indicator that you are either reading a cozy mystery or an animal odyssey like Watership Down or Redwall.
Or, that something is really, really wrong. Because cats aren’t supposed to speak in complete English sentences – or whatever language you might speak. Any story where the king’s wisest counselor and closest adviser is a talking cat is either a fantasy of some sort or a story where things have gone really, really off-kilter at the very least.
With that talking cat at the center of it all. Having played more than one game where a villain took the form of a talking cat, I was expecting the very, very wrong.
The situation in Hearts of Oak was wronger than that. Also weirder. Much, much weirder.
At first it merely seems as if the cat is manipulative – as they are – the king is a chucklehead and the elderly architect who is our point of view character is a bit too far past it to figure just what it is about the city that feels so -odd
She’s certainly aware that something feels “off” but can’t quite get her mind to wrap around exactly what – at least not until the cremation ceremony when a member of the audience leaps onto the casket just as its about to be engulfed by the flames.
At that point, it’s pretty obvious that something is amiss, but just not what.
At that point we are all, like the architect Iona, pretty much invested in the fantasy-like scenario of the ever-growing city, the slightly oblivious king and the dreamlike, slightly soporific quality of the place.
And that’s the point where it all goes pear-shaped, and all of the perspectives, especially Iona’s and our own, get turned on their heads.
When we – and Iona – discover that nothing about this world has ever been as it seemed.
That’s the point where the oh-so-subtle wrong becomes very, very interesting. And Iona’s situation goes far more pear-shaped than she – and the reader – ever imagined.
Escape Rating B: The story at its beginning has kind of a dreamlike quality. It feels obvious to the reader – at least to this reader – that things are not as they seem and that the cat is at the heart of it all. That particular reveal didn’t feel like all that big of a discovery.
But the point where Iona’s perspective goes through its sudden and dramatic shift takes the story in a direction that absolutely was not expected – nor should it have been. I expected that Iona’s world was stranger than she imagined, but had no clue that it was stranger in the particular way that it is.
There’s more than a bit of charm to this story and the way that its told, as well as a bit of pathos in Iona’s ultimate fate. At the same time, looking back on the story now that it’s over, it feels like there were a whole bunch of themes and plot points that were plucked from different branches of speculative fiction and melded into the whole of Hearts of Oak.
In other words, there were plenty of moments where I felt like I’d read that part of the story before – or seen it on one or more SFF TV show. At the same time, the whole was, not so much greater than the sum of its parts as completely different from the sum of its parts. A feeling that makes no sense but still feels true.
Hearts of Oak is a fun, quirky read that takes itself places that the reader never expects. It’s not really character driven, and when I think about it it doesn’t feel plot-driven either. If I had to describe it – and I kind of do – I’d have to say that it’s really twist-and-turn driven. Just about the time when you think you know where it’s going – or at least begin to recognize where it’s been – it takes a completely different twist and you have to re-evaluate the parts you’ve already read.
If you like stories as puzzles, this one is fascinating. With a twist in the end that cuts like a knife.
Talking cats are generally an indicator that you are either reading a cozy mystery or an animal odyssey like Watership Down or Redwall.
Or, that something is really, really wrong. Because cats aren’t supposed to speak in complete English sentences – or whatever language you might speak. Any story where the king’s wisest counselor and closest adviser is a talking cat is either a fantasy of some sort or a story where things have gone really, really off-kilter at the very least.
With that talking cat at the center of it all. Having played more than one game where a villain took the form of a talking cat, I was expecting the very, very wrong.
The situation in Hearts of Oak was wronger than that. Also weirder. Much, much weirder.
At first it merely seems as if the cat is manipulative – as they are – the king is a chucklehead and the elderly architect who is our point of view character is a bit too far past it to figure just what it is about the city that feels so -odd
She’s certainly aware that something feels “off” but can’t quite get her mind to wrap around exactly what – at least not until the cremation ceremony when a member of the audience leaps onto the casket just as its about to be engulfed by the flames.
At that point, it’s pretty obvious that something is amiss, but just not what.
At that point we are all, like the architect Iona, pretty much invested in the fantasy-like scenario of the ever-growing city, the slightly oblivious king and the dreamlike, slightly soporific quality of the place.
And that’s the point where it all goes pear-shaped, and all of the perspectives, especially Iona’s and our own, get turned on their heads.
When we – and Iona – discover that nothing about this world has ever been as it seemed.
That’s the point where the oh-so-subtle wrong becomes very, very interesting. And Iona’s situation goes far more pear-shaped than she – and the reader – ever imagined.
Escape Rating B: The story at its beginning has kind of a dreamlike quality. It feels obvious to the reader – at least to this reader – that things are not as they seem and that the cat is at the heart of it all. That particular reveal didn’t feel like all that big of a discovery.
But the point where Iona’s perspective goes through its sudden and dramatic shift takes the story in a direction that absolutely was not expected – nor should it have been. I expected that Iona’s world was stranger than she imagined, but had no clue that it was stranger in the particular way that it is.
There’s more than a bit of charm to this story and the way that its told, as well as a bit of pathos in Iona’s ultimate fate. At the same time, looking back on the story now that it’s over, it feels like there were a whole bunch of themes and plot points that were plucked from different branches of speculative fiction and melded into the whole of Hearts of Oak.
In other words, there were plenty of moments where I felt like I’d read that part of the story before – or seen it on one or more SFF TV show. At the same time, the whole was, not so much greater than the sum of its parts as completely different from the sum of its parts. A feeling that makes no sense but still feels true.
Hearts of Oak is a fun, quirky read that takes itself places that the reader never expects. It’s not really character driven, and when I think about it it doesn’t feel plot-driven either. If I had to describe it – and I kind of do – I’d have to say that it’s really twist-and-turn driven. Just about the time when you think you know where it’s going – or at least begin to recognize where it’s been – it takes a completely different twist and you have to re-evaluate the parts you’ve already read.
If you like stories as puzzles, this one is fascinating. With a twist in the end that cuts like a knife.
April 1, 2020
Originally published in BORG magazine.
Hearts of Oak–An architect, a king, and a cat meet up in a tale at the edge of The Twilight Zone
Review by C.J. Bunce
Rod Serling, eat your heart out. Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone writers could take some pointers from Eddie Robson′s new novel, Hearts of Oak. It’s a far-out science fiction novel with all the right notes of a good supernatural fantasy. And it has an easy pace and an impending, looming darkness waiting ahead that will keep you planted firmly in your seat until you get to the last page. Borrowing its title from the popular, age-old song of the British Navy, here the cryptic “hearts of oak” says a lot about the rollercoaster ride for readers that lies ahead.
Taking a cue from the stark, detached, and quirky science fiction mysteries of Adam Christopher’s robot detective in books like Killing is My Business (reviewed previously here at borg), readers, and the protagonists, never quite know what is real and who is real. What we do know is Iona Taylor has been an architect so long everyone knows her and respects her as the very best there is. But she is having a particularly bad week as her colleague has died in the collapse of a building. As she contemplates attending his funeral a new student inquires about private tutoring, and when the student leaves her hat behind the feeling of felt texture in the hat conjures something surreal for Iona–a strange feeling tugging at her, maybe even loosening some long forgotten memories. After a strange event at the funeral and the destruction of yet another building, Iona is called by the authorities not for her advice, but for questioning, becoming a target of the investigation. When the prospective student vanishes, Iona must play detective to clear herself, but she might not like what she finds.
Eddie Robson, a writer of Doctor Who and other radio plays and non-fiction works about movies, is a good storyteller. His narrative reads like a fantasy fable of a king with a talking cat who advises him, in an enchanted city of expansive buildings and replenished resources centered around creating ever higher architecture so the king may relocate his rooms at the very top. The book evokes parts of great science fiction stories and films of the past without pulling too much from any of them. But fans of all these works will find some surprisingly good fun in Hearts of Oak: Planet of the Apes, Tron: Legacy, Humans, Alien, Snowpiercer, The Truman Show, Philip K. Dick’s Time Out of Joint, a flip on Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan and The Matrix, and a few episodes of your favorite sci-fi TV shows, especially The Twilight Zone.
Read the entire review here at BORG.
Hearts of Oak–An architect, a king, and a cat meet up in a tale at the edge of The Twilight Zone
Review by C.J. Bunce
Rod Serling, eat your heart out. Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone writers could take some pointers from Eddie Robson′s new novel, Hearts of Oak. It’s a far-out science fiction novel with all the right notes of a good supernatural fantasy. And it has an easy pace and an impending, looming darkness waiting ahead that will keep you planted firmly in your seat until you get to the last page. Borrowing its title from the popular, age-old song of the British Navy, here the cryptic “hearts of oak” says a lot about the rollercoaster ride for readers that lies ahead.
Taking a cue from the stark, detached, and quirky science fiction mysteries of Adam Christopher’s robot detective in books like Killing is My Business (reviewed previously here at borg), readers, and the protagonists, never quite know what is real and who is real. What we do know is Iona Taylor has been an architect so long everyone knows her and respects her as the very best there is. But she is having a particularly bad week as her colleague has died in the collapse of a building. As she contemplates attending his funeral a new student inquires about private tutoring, and when the student leaves her hat behind the feeling of felt texture in the hat conjures something surreal for Iona–a strange feeling tugging at her, maybe even loosening some long forgotten memories. After a strange event at the funeral and the destruction of yet another building, Iona is called by the authorities not for her advice, but for questioning, becoming a target of the investigation. When the prospective student vanishes, Iona must play detective to clear herself, but she might not like what she finds.
Eddie Robson, a writer of Doctor Who and other radio plays and non-fiction works about movies, is a good storyteller. His narrative reads like a fantasy fable of a king with a talking cat who advises him, in an enchanted city of expansive buildings and replenished resources centered around creating ever higher architecture so the king may relocate his rooms at the very top. The book evokes parts of great science fiction stories and films of the past without pulling too much from any of them. But fans of all these works will find some surprisingly good fun in Hearts of Oak: Planet of the Apes, Tron: Legacy, Humans, Alien, Snowpiercer, The Truman Show, Philip K. Dick’s Time Out of Joint, a flip on Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan and The Matrix, and a few episodes of your favorite sci-fi TV shows, especially The Twilight Zone.
Read the entire review here at BORG.
February 3, 2021
There's plenty to like in this story, but the flaws are significant. The first part of the story is engaging - there's a strange little universe where things are familiar but somehow off. Sadly, as the explanations come forth, the story goes downhill with increasing speed.
Most notable to me is the fact that it reads like a half-developed script. In many instances the solutions to problems are presented as solved rather than the characters going through the process of solving them. That includes the "twist" at the end, when someone uncovers the villain - after explaining that they figured it out based on one small clue, the villain reasonably asks, "What, that's _all_ you're basing this on?" They reply, "Oh no, that was just the start. We talked for a long time. You made a _lot_ of mistakes." No further examples of mistakes are described. Also, details are quite vague, as though the author couldn't be bothered with figuring out how to make something work, so it simply did - somehow the protagonists were able to discover the fairly random password that gave them control of an army of automatons, again without explanation of how they could hit upon it. Even the circumstances for the first 3/4 of the book made little sense - the only explanation we're given is that people forgot pretty much everything about themselves because so much time had passed (a seemingly dubious proposition on its own), but then there's no explanation for there being an illusion that they couldn't see through (until they could) - who or what caused that illusion is never explained. Bottom line is that while the story had promise, it read like an early draft rather than a published work.
Most notable to me is the fact that it reads like a half-developed script. In many instances the solutions to problems are presented as solved rather than the characters going through the process of solving them. That includes the "twist" at the end, when someone uncovers the villain - after explaining that they figured it out based on one small clue, the villain reasonably asks, "What, that's _all_ you're basing this on?" They reply, "Oh no, that was just the start. We talked for a long time. You made a _lot_ of mistakes." No further examples of mistakes are described. Also, details are quite vague, as though the author couldn't be bothered with figuring out how to make something work, so it simply did - somehow the protagonists were able to discover the fairly random password that gave them control of an army of automatons, again without explanation of how they could hit upon it. Even the circumstances for the first 3/4 of the book made little sense - the only explanation we're given is that people forgot pretty much everything about themselves because so much time had passed (a seemingly dubious proposition on its own), but then there's no explanation for there being an illusion that they couldn't see through (until they could) - who or what caused that illusion is never explained. Bottom line is that while the story had promise, it read like an early draft rather than a published work.
February 16, 2021
Did I stay in bed when I actually intended to get up at o'dark thirty just to finish this novel? Yes.
Am I asking myself what I just read? Also yes.
There's no way to write about this book without spoiling the entire thing, so...spoilers ahead. Many of them.
Overall, this novel is fast-paced and enjoyable, although certainly not the greatest book ever written. If you enjoy Doctor Who (a show for which the author has written!), you will definitely enjoy Hearts of Oak.
Am I asking myself what I just read? Also yes.
There's no way to write about this book without spoiling the entire thing, so...spoilers ahead. Many of them.
Overall, this novel is fast-paced and enjoyable, although certainly not the greatest book ever written. If you enjoy Doctor Who (a show for which the author has written!), you will definitely enjoy Hearts of Oak.
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