This one took me such a long time to read and I am not sure how I really feel about it. I might revisit it at a later date and provide a proper review then.

Bear with me because I struggled with this one. The Book of Luce is the third part in what is supposed to be a very loose trilogy. I've not read the other two books so I couldn't vouch for that but I imagine you can read this one as a standalone.

Drawing parallels with David Bowie's androgynous years, Luce is the enigmatic lead singer of Luce and the Photons. Our narrator is Chimera Obscura, who is trying to find out what happened to Luce. Theres a LOT going on here, parts feel like a 500 page acid trip crossed with a physics lesson. If you find David Mitchell's books too lightweight then this may be for you but unfortunately it wasn't for me. This isn't a bad novel by any means and I would recommend this for a reader who wants something quite challenging and out there. Maybe Luce caught me on a bad day but I have to admit defeat this time!

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I am commenting on this book solely on my finding it totally unreadable. I managed the first seventy odd pages without having a clue who the narrator is and where the book is going. It seems to be an acid-fuelled commentary on a musical band from the early 1980s whose few live performances were complete secrets. They are renowned for being unknown.

The narrator is unsure whether his memories are real or the result of a particularly vivid 'trip', but he has been engaged to write a retrospective on them.

Having said all that, it is well written in terms of grammar and style and I am not condemning it as a bad book; it is clear from other reviews that other people loved it but, much as I hate giving up on a book, life is too short and regrettably it failed to engage me.

Pashtpaws


Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Thanks Hodder & Stoughton and netgalley for this ARC.

I like this book in the series, but I kinda missed the old historical theme of the previous ones. This book is just as trippy, unusual, and shocking.

Challenging. That is probably the best way that I can describe The Book of Luce. I imagine that its a bit like reading a biography of a musician while you are on an acid trip. The story weaves and winds as a journalist - known only to us under a pseudonym of Chimera Obscura - follows a trail of metaphoric breadcrumbs that lead to a life-altering and conscious-expanding Luce and the Photons gig in a derelict building.

Luce is a mysterious figure, sometimes male but mostly female, smoker of strong French cigarettes and keeper of secrets. A character who has played a seminal role in modern music influencing key artists like David Bowie.

On paper, it sounded like the type of book that I would absolutely love but in reality I found it a little too difficult to be enjoyable. The story moves around a timeline that is often difficult to follow and some readers may find the drug induced haze a little too much to bear. This is a book that you will either love or hate. For me I edged towards the latter. It is a meaty read as well so you need to be prepared to invest a fair amount of time to the enigmatic and mysterious Luce.

Supplied by Net Galley and Hodder & Stoughton in exchange for an honest review.

An incredibly fun and captivating read.
Could not put it down.

They say if you remember the sixties you weren't there.....
The atmosphere of this quirky novel is set well within the wild music and drug scene of 1960s London where the narrator tells us of their job as a music journalist for NME and the mysterious secret gigs of Luce and the Photons. However the novel opens with the narrator returning to the UK from an enforced imprisonment/treatment for psychosis in Nevada, US due to it seems to this initial connection and then growing obsession with who Luce really is.
I was quite confused by the opening and at times felt none the wiser as the plot progressed. Much of the time is reflected in the drug scene particularly the growing use of LSD, acid and the many trips and hallucinations that drug takers of the time experienced. This is closely connected to the growing mystery of who Luce is, particularly the androgynous form they take. There are many obvious hints of David Bowie and his differing personalities and the narrator becomes embroiled into mysterious Government agencies(the NOHRM) and why following the finding locations connected to Luce they are quickly destroyed by fire. Now holed up at World's End' (how prophetic!) in Enfield the narrator wants to review all their notes and memories about Luce into a book.
The novel dips across many continents- particularly the links with Warm Springs in Nevada, a healing area near Area 51, which links also to UFOs and weird phenomena. Is Luce really human? Or does she/he create demons which sometimes are healing forces for good or conversely violent threats that lead to death?
Overall I remained confused about the plot. It appeared to link to the author's previous work 'Farundell' in 2010 which I had not read and form the 'Time and Light' series alongside 'Fate' 2012..I think it is still a stand alone title but I am afraid I am not keen to read the others.
There are links to the magic and mystery of 'Alice in Wonderland' and of course other references to the music scene of the time - Hendrix, Dylan etc. Some of the peripheral characters are interesting - Mrs Big, rich friend Charlie and even brother Neil.
But I remained unclear about the real personality of the narrator and struggled to resolve in my own reading the long and winding road it took for them to complete this 'Book of Luce'. Perhaps I too needed some drugs.....

This is not an easy book to review, but it was to read! The story contains many sub-stories an a lot of characters, but never once did either one bother me. I appreciate the pace of this book, allowing all of the characters to tell a part of the story of Luce. Such as the Scribe, the journalist who wrote this all down, including his own experiences of life:

'I should have thought of that before, but Seroxat makes one stupid and accepting, too stupid and accepting to see how stupid it is to be so accepting.' (95%)

Utterly literate and cultivated quest novel abt a search through London and exotic places bringing him eventually through danger and demons to release, chasing an exceptional and fascinating figure, Luce, a singer whose music draws listeners into a separate ethereal dimension - our seeker is a journalist who has been gripped deeply by the Luce experience, and much of reading experience relies on our caring too - despite all effort and skill, I wasn't entirely engaged but I admired the endeavour enormously. The genre takes a dip into adventuring abroad and we feel we are in another world. I didn't always follow .. but I recognize the value of the project without doubt..