Firstly I have to say that this is one of the most beautifully crafted 'books' I've come across in a good long while. The attention to detail has created something that is just amazing; it is easy to see that this is the brain-child of JJ Abrams, the man behind Lost. essentially this is Lost but in book form. I can also see why libraries around the world have been cancelling their orders for this, I simply cannot see how something with as many integral parts could possibly work as a library book. Ok, so to the story itself..... this is one that will benefit from repeated reading. For a start it really is necessary to read each chapter several times as you go through, just to ensure that you get as much from it as possible. Even then I am sure that there are plenty of secrets that this tome will reveal only on future readings. The book contains three stories essentially, each one interweaving with the others to create something very special indeed. This is certainly one to put on your Christmas list.

“What begins at the water shall end there, and what ends there shall once more begin” Ship of Theseus (SOT) is, without doubt, a marvel. How two people could conceive of such a fascinating book, with layer upon layer upon layer of information and secrets and *codes* is a marvel to me. Though I’ve finishing the story, I’ve certainly yet to finish the book. S. Is a detailed and layered novel. It consists of a story, Ship Of Theseus, about a man with no memory of his past, and no understanding of his future. The author himself, V.M.Straka, has written a previous 18 books, SOT being his last. He himself is a mystery. The book is put together by F.X.Caldeira, a person whom worked with straka all their life translating their books, though never meeting VMS in person. Each footnote is written by them. Then, of course, we have the annotations. Eric and Jen. The two being a conversation in the margins of the books, dissecting and working through the many, many, m a n y coded footnotes and hidden meanings - and in doing so being to learn more about themselves and each other. Complicated, I know. But with a book like SOT, who’s very blurb is an almost complete mystery as to how the story unfolds, there’s really no shorter way to explain it. You can read SOT in several ways. I myself chose to read it chronologically - that is to say, from page one to the end, annotations and inserts together. I certainly felt this in no way takes away from the enjoyment of the story - provided you’re willing to hold some questions in your head, to be answered in later annotations. You have to picture SOT as it is: a book, a vessel, left on shelves and in old light boxes and behind counters to be picked at and wrote in and thumbed. Jen and Eric read this text hundreds of times, over many many weeks. They did not annotate in order, much as you would not ignore previous notes you made while figuring out a code. The inserts are not always next to the annotations they link to. Somehow SOT creates its own pocket of time, just for you, the reader, as it had for Jen and Eric. The book itself is a new voyage for the S, and you are the latest crew-member. Throughout the book are codes leading to hidden messages F X Caldeira left for VMS. Some of these Jen and Eric will answer for you. Some of these are to be returned to on a rainy day, to be googled and checked when you lose your patience. Some…well. Some have no official solution yet at all. I truly think everyone should have the chance to discover this experience, and I hope it continues to be printed for years to come. It’s certainly, as was intended, “a love letter to the written word”. The world may be evolving to be more and more digital, but I guarantee there’s no way a kindle copy of S. could ever compare to the hardback. SOT is perhaps not my favourite book of all time. But it’s certainly my favourite reading experience. Unparalleled in creativity and meaning, in ideas, in nature, in characters, you simply can’t miss out on this. What else is there to say? Perhaps infinitely more things. Perhaps I’ve said too much already. Perhaps you’ll just have to read it, and find out.