Angelmaker

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway is a great novel. The writing is magnificent, the characters are interesting, and I absolutely loved the mix of real history with some science fiction and differences. Harakaway is a great writer, so many fantastic sentences and descriptions that made me stop and reread them.

I truly enjoyed all the characters, interesting, lively, but to be honest, it was the group of makers that most intrigued me. An order of monks, people who just care about making things, researching, pushing boundaries to be innovative in ways that I would never think of. It’s a great book, one which I could see myself rereading at some point in the future, which I don’t do often.

I didn’t highlight much because I would have highlighted the entire book, so much great writing. But this passage below made me laugh out loud, a fantastic description. (I even read it out loud to G.)

Arvin could not imagine wanting help. This daily ceremony was his chance to appreciate himself in fullest glory. Each roped handful was a memory of some vast, sumptuous, indulgent feast; every pound was earned in delight, represented physical excesses and lust. He treasured the stories beneath his skin almost as much as he enjoyed having this fabulous body. Arvin Cummerbund was more than fat, and far more than obese, which was a nay-sayers’ term, a sad little epithet born of puritans and fear-mongering, and probably of jealousy. He was gigantic, and as he stood in his special wash-box, with its concrete floor and mirrored walls, and the many jets of water scoured and exfoliated him, he fancied he resembled Poseidon himself. He made a mental note to secure a trident and a fishy costume. Magnificent Arvin the water god. (location 7860)