A Book & A Beer – The Book of Elsewhere by Keanu Reeves and China Miéville

Keanu Reeves does acting and rocking out and now novels with the new hard fantasy book, The Book of Elsewhere. Penned with China Miéville based on / continuation of the graphic novel series, BRZRKR.

This is not a hard book to read per se. There are a lot of grisly and graphic violence and a somewhat basic military plot at its core. It is a book though that you have to pay attention to, there are a lot of unknown, well nigh, unknowable words and references here that make an immortal deer-pig easy to comprehend. The viewpoint changes from one person to second person to third person and chapters alternate between the history of B. / Unute and present day. There is a lot of philosophy meaning of life talk.

It is a book that will divide people. Some will immediately be put off by the stylized writing or the gore or will just wait for the inevitable TV version. But I found it to be looking at life from many different angles and could not wait for the quieter passages where humor snuck in and where the big questions could be pondered.

To use the abused and overused, “it’s a combination of” idea, this is John Wick meets Interview with a Vampire meets Jack Ryan.

I would suggest from name alone that the new-ish Death Dealer from ISM Brewing and ( a little spot on ) Ghost Town Brewing would work but it is such a light and joyful even at 6.66% abv that I would instead find beers that are divisive. Too sour sours. Too hoppy beers. Too extreme beers. Or if that is not your cuppa, since the main character is named B. Go find a nice Bock beer.