Rating: 
Summary: A Flip-Back Book
Review: This is the kind of book that you need to read in a short time span. Even then you will need to flip back through the pages to remember which character is which. The same prickly heat that Garland gave us in The Beach is here but not the depth of character. If you are a dedicated reader I would whole heartedly recommend this book, if only for the Manila scenery, but if you love to know the characters and to feel their world, this is not the book for you. Garland jumps from character to character so fast that you can't relate to any of them.
Rating:
Summary: Surprised
Review: As it seems I'm not the only one who went into reading "The Tesseract" expecting it to be something like "The Beach". Well, as many have stated it's not, and I was not too sure what to think of this book. It's definitely far more complex than "The Beach", and I'm pretty sure I didn't get the real meaning . What I made of it was that it's a story that shows how coincidences change our lives, and I think that is a bit of a problem for some of us: if I reflect upon it, most books give you the feeling that there's an explanation for everything, and this one doesn't. That's what makes it so strange, I guess, because we're looking in books for something we can't have in life - logical explanations, causes for the terrible things that happen.
Rating: 
Summary: Awesomely Cool
Review: This book is one of the best I've read in a long time. I can't compare to The Beach because I haven't read it. But The Tesseract is enthralling, the images perfectly laid out and the description beautifully articulate. You are INSIDE the lives of the characters, and the whole story has an air of sinister mystery about it. It starts out a little slow but becomes gripping, even if the logic is a tiny bit hard to follow. You have to piece things together, Alex Garland did not write a single straightforward sentence in the whole book, but this just adds to it's mystery. The story ends a bit abruptly, but it doesn't give you that unsatisfied feeling at the end. It is a unique work and I thoroughly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: Beach Bums Need Not Apply
Review: Let's be honest with each other. The Beach was a kid's book, a book written to bolster Garland's bank account, a book for bestseller lists, a book that only flirts with the word 'literature'; Let's start by conceding Garland's first novel was little more than a low impact Golding (Lord o'The Flies) re-write with a formulaic exotic adventure template, and a startling lack of plot. The Tesseract, on the other hand, is a masterpiece; as terse, brief, and brilliantly executed as a professional mafia-hit. I was warned by friends that it wasn't as good as the Beach, and difficult to read too. Nonsense. This is Garland's first real novel, and it does what even Martin Amis has struggled with through 'The Information', and 'London Fields'. It threads the narrative with a vaguely scientific, almost astral, laypersons physics theme which ultimately suggests that - like certain molecular structures - our lives can only ever be viewed in their parts, when they're unravelled; they cannot be conceptualised as a whole. And neither can this plot. Written in three parts, which you can tell will combine for a grand finale, the Tesseract maintains a level of tension and compassion throughout that is reflected best in his insightful writing of Cente and Totoy, two Filipino streetkids. Their interactions are written as if he has been one, and knows their mind closely. Indeed, Garland's greatest skill is his ability to imbue every character with a personality, a soul that avoids stereotyping. He works tirelessly to write of people, not Asians, or women, or even drivers. His eye is as clear as Delillo's, and his perception of the world a continuous source of intrigue. Again, a sensational novel, probably a masterpiece, and all the better for its brevity. It's no surprise there are readers on this page wondering what it's about, or yearning for another mediocre exotic thriller; most revolutionary novels confused and angered the hoi polloi of their time. Savour the Tesseract, and witness the birth of a truly Great novelist.
Rating: 
Summary: Hypercube in fourth dimension
Review: More a set of short stories than a novel. The main character is Rose, with her mother Corazon and her children Raphael and Lita. They are a tightly knit family, living in Manila. Rosa, who came from a poor barrio, escaped to be a physician - but can't forget Lito, the love of her teen age. Don Pepe highjacks ships for a living and makes some extra pesos with protection money. Alfredo is the lonely savant. Vincente and Totoy are street children. All their lives are written up nicely, against the background of Manila and the barrio. The mood is set by innumerable sunsets.Now all these fates are converged and twisted together. There is no reason for it, just sheer happenstance. The writing is good and clear, but twisting all the fates into a final strand really makes little sense. A nice read, but not overwhelming.
Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: ...the character development in The Tesseract was much deeper, causing me to relate to almost every character in the book (and there are a lot). I thought the different points of view Garland wrote from gave this book added dimensions that set it apart from most other books. I was very impressed with Alex Garland's second novel and can hardly wait for him to write another!
Rating:
Summary: diferent in it's own right
Review: I absolutely loved The Beach, and I went into reading this novel not liking it BEFORE I started it. I had read reveiws saying it was lacking this and that and making references to the poorly staged scenes in Manila. WHO CARES ABOUT THE LOCATION! I couldn't. The characters and tie ins to each subsequent "chapters" and subsections were brilliant and I caught myself anticipating them at every turn. The story wasn't as in depth as The Beach, but it read easily, quickly, and every part had it's purpose. Just when I thought he couldn't tie a character or scene to a previous one ,Mr. Garland did...and in the present AND the past! I was amazed at how it all fit together, and was equally as pleased with the ending. The last subsection has each character "wrapping up" their role in the whole sceme of things, and it doesn't leave you wondering what just happened as in some suspense stories. After I finished the last sentence, I actually had to sit there for a minute, ponder the book, and say... WOW. Maybe not the best STORY in the world, but one that you really shouldn't miss reading.
Rating:
Summary: Too ambitious
Review: The beauty of The Beach was that everything happened seamlessly, unfolding in a seemingly natural way even though the story took many unconventional twists and turns. In The Tesseract, Garland's desire to explore a more experimental narrative hurts the story in that the narrative seems forced, the story unbelievable, with too much time spent on unconvincing characters (the orphans with hearts of gold come to mind). O.K. -- not great.
Rating: 
Summary: What's the point
Review: I'm sorry but after reading 'The Beach' I had high expectations of Garland's second novel, but after finishing it I was left with the question. What's the point? The book builds slowly, very slowly and when you finally get to what you think the point of the book is, it ends. I'm not going to write in this review aboutthe story line because as far as i could tell there's no story. Don't buy it, just re-read the beach and wait for the third book.
Rating:
Summary: Chasing understanding
Review: Garland's second book is about the inexplicable tragedies that occur and the ways we attempt to explain, understand, and rationalize them. Like Scott Heim's books, this doesn't leave the reader with any easy answers, but does achieve its own goal of exploring the parts of human experience that are often overlooked.
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