The Tesseract

Rating:
Summary: Top book! Excellent to say the least.
Review: I love it. The way he describes the characters, the way the cliff-hangers work...all of it is excellent...

Rating:
Summary: Who needs drama when the writing is this good?
Review: If you're looking for a book full of drama and suspense, forget The Tesseract; it's far more subtle than The Beach, and all the better for it. More importantly, though, it's written with a compassion which pulls the reader in and doesn't let go until the final page. But the best thing about The Tesseract is that there's absolutely no chance of it being made into a Hollywood blockbuster, and for that we should all be thankful.

Rating:
Summary: strong writing, okay story
Review: Alex Garland's writing is still strong, and that is what kept me reading. This is a suite of four story threads which intersect, but not in a very tesseract way. I felt he didn't get the real idea of a tesseract, or else used it cheaply. This was a fine book, but not as exciting as The Beach. However, readable and well-written. As with The Beach, ignore flyleaf accolades, as they are sickening and overdone.

Rating:
Summary: The Book Would Have Made Two Good Short Stories
Review: Oh, what a pain it was to finish this book! After reading and enjoying The Beach, I bought The Tesseract without even opening the cover. Sean's run-in with Don Pepe and his boys, and Rosa's life story, could have made two good short stories. I guess there's not much money in that, though.

Rating:
Summary: Nearly a match for The Beach
Review: After reading The Beach, I was expecting something just as exciting, descriptive and facinating as Garland's debut. The Tesseract lived up to my expectations. Alex constructs the story with such skill, it seems that he is an old hand at it. But remember, this is only is second book and what a one it is. Garland has all the makings of a classic modern author.

Rating:
Summary: A complete waste of time
Review: After reading The Beach, I ran to my bookshop to buy the second novel of Alex Garland. I had no doubts that Alex Garland was such a good writer that he'd written another chef d'oeuvre. But I just couldn't believe how awful and sad was Tesseract. It was empty and tasteless. Absolutely rubbish. I still don't understand how Garland managed to write such a piece of crap after writing such an amazing first novel. Was he so desperate for publishing ?? If you liked the Beach, don't bother with tesseract. At least, wait for the third novel, it can't be worse anyway.

Rating:
Summary: Alex Garland has amazed me again.
Review: The Tesseract and The Beach are the most amazing novels I ever read. I read this book in two sittings, not because it is simply, but because you can't wait to read the next sentence. This book is not about finishing the last page. It is about being amazed at each word, sentence and page, you will never want it to end. Just as wonderful as the Beach, but written very differently. The complex characters make you wonder about the world around you and the stories of the strangers you see on the street. Mr. Garland please write another soon. Alex Garland has a gift from God and is gracious enough to share it with the world.

Rating:
Summary: From a Hollywood script and story analyst:
Review: This feels like an exhibition, an exercise to show Garland's talents in plot, storyline, and structure (had this come out before "Pulp Fiction," would this be THE one considered the breakout narrative masterpiece?). Unfortunately, these structural factors call attention to themselves. Garland comes up short twice: in fleshing out his characters (making them real enough for us to empathize for them), and in providing sufficient backstory to most of his protagonists (except Rosa). But maybe that's his point, that random acts occur without any deeper meaning into them. If that is so, then that's fine. However, he lost his readers with the weakly drawn characters, leaving most his fans simply reading about Sean, Don Pepe, Rosa, 'fredo, et al. without much concern or empathy. You don't hate 'em, nor like 'em. They're just there. Blah. To compare it to The Beach would be asinine, as they are two completely different works. Garland's first novel is 100%, hands down original, and has unequivocally immortalized him. "The Beach" could have been made without Mr. DiCaprio. THIS would need starpower like Leo's to make it to the big screen.

Rating:
Summary: Not as Good as 'The Beach', But not Bad
Review: Garland's Second novel, did not impress me as much as his first, yet I found his tightly woven plot,(though sometimes tedious and tiring), was very interesting. The three stories that occure are somewhat unbalanced in depth, yet provide a nice variety in character style. Overall, I would recomend this book, and am eagrly awaiting his next novel.

Rating:
Summary: Very cool micro-world
Review: I love the way the characters are so exotic, yet humdrum. Author gets into each person's head, though they're incredibly different types of people. Really good writing.