First, let me confess that I'm reviewing this for Netgalley as an Audiobook. Let me further admit that it's a toss-up whether I prefer reading over listening. His prose is akin to being told a strange tale by your favorite beloved 'black sheep' of an uncle. Carroll has brought me so much joy. He's quite an avuncular listening/reading experience!

I adore how he lulls me with these gritty descriptions of the mundane only to 'make the floor suddenly tilt.' Then I find myself in the 'Outside.' that invisible realm that minds wiser than mine have intuited. Carroll exceeds in what Iain Banks calls an 'Outside Context Problem.' Problems that cannot be measured or quantified by the instruments of science.

The 'metaphysics' on offer in these books is just so refreshing, so full of light especially when I compare his imaginal prose to what's being marketed by the tired religious monopolies. I wrote Carroll after a dark period in my life and he sent me a note to 'Just Follow the Light.' So do what he told me. Read his work, become a better person. Last thing, you can read this novel without reading White Apples but why deprive yourself of a singular spiritual experience?