Rol-J Williams's Reviews > The Blue, Beautiful World

I was not sure I wanted to give this book a rating because I do not fully grasp its concept or the author's intentions and I think that is generally unfair to authors, especially those who clearly have beautiful language use and are able to write poignant lines. However, I also asked myself whether an author can be given a pass if a novel is too esoteric for the average reader. After much consideration, my answer is no. Writing must not only be beautiful, but it must also be accessible and understandable, and this novel does not meet that test, in my view.

That said, there were moments of clarity for me. I sensed that the author was speculating a world where colonisers and neocolonisers no longer have the power they enjoy now, although this comes late and at a time when the world as we know it now is unrecognisable due to the ravages of climate change and human greed.

I think that although this book can be read as a standalone, the author and publisher should highly recommend reading the earlier books in the series. Context would definitely help readers' understanding of this.