Emily Ruff is one of
them. She belongs to an elite organization of ‘poets’: masters of manipulation
who use language to warp others to their will. She was one of their most
promising recruits until she made a catastrophic mistake: she fell in love.
Wil Parke knows the
truth too, only he doesn’t remember it. And he doesn’t know why he’s immune to
the poets’ powers. But he knows he needs to run.
As their stories
converge, the past is revealed, and the race is on for a deadly weapon: a word. Because the poets
know that words can kill...
I
encountered Lexicon early in January, that it was published this summer by
Mulholland Books, the crime and thriller imprint of Hodder and Stoughton and
from what I could make up from the back of the book it just struck me head on.
This synopsis holds a lot of promise. The poet aspect did remind of another
fantasy series that I reviewed last year namely the one from Daniel Abraham The
Long Price Quartet. However Max Barry’s take on modern day poets being able to
instill action by the use of words in a person’s mind sounded fresh and very
appealing! Just up front this book is a winner, Max Barry shows the power that
words have both figuratively and literally, and makes you wonder of the power
of persuasion. Are you action truly your own? After finishing this I’ll think
twice!
Lexicon
managed to grab me from the first page on. You are thrown into the storyline of
Wil Parke who is on an airport and finds himself faced by several poets. After
finishing the full of action first chapters I was like Yes! You already get to
glimpse the power of words and how they can influence people in this book. But
also due to the hectic introduction and everything that goes about there are
many questions raised. What is the importance of Wil, who is this Wolf? But
moreover I really really wanted to find out more about the poets. And wouldn’t
it be great if you could do it yourself?
Soon
after you meet Wil, the storyline shifts towards the other main protagonist
Emily Ruff. You first get to meet her as an young girl living on the streets of
San Francisco, where she hustle tourist and other folk for some money. But with
her tricks comes a certain need for persuasion, this makes her an ideal
candidate to be trained into a poet. It was good to see that even though some
years pass in this story that Emily remains pretty much herself in the
beginning of the book. She is from the streets and finds all the classy stuff,
first-class airplane ticket and even at the school a bit much. She keeps up her
streets-smarts as she is doing exams at the school and avoids an expelment by
interpreting the rules her way. Also she does keeps her curiosity, students
have been given a tight regime of rules to which to abide to so they cannot
figure each other and find the true words to persuade someone. In Lexicon, your
personality and characteristics classify you in a segment and certain words can
activate you that you will follow someone other his commands, and in this words
can indeed kill. Emily goes to some extremes to still her curiosity and might
she have gone too far at one point? What happened and was shown in this school
was very cool and executed very nicely, it is not your normal high school..
What
is a strong point of Lexicon is the narration. Lexicon is divided into four
parts with a few chapters in each. But just let me warn you up front. As soon
as you pick up Lexicon you want to finish it in one sitting to prepare you cup
of tea in advance. Lexicon is not told in your straight linear way as most
books. It is separated by several events, mainly those of Wil and Emily. As
soon as you think that certain pieces should follow each other up, you are
thrown a few weeks back or a few months forwards. To follow this story can be
quite challenging for some readers and some might discard over it, but do not
be discouraged but this. Yes it can sometimes be confusing. Yes, I did some
backtracking to re-read when I got a bit off track. So you do have to pay close
attention to the storyline. Yes there is but, and it is BUT at as the ending
nears and you learn how everything it put together the whole plot and the whole
promise of this story just excellent.
Just
the last part that I want to highlight are the poets themselves. Lexicon is not
urban fantasy, the power that the poets have does not come from a magical
source. Instead its the power of linguistics, the power of words themselves and
the persuasion that underlies it. This aspect is neatly woven into the story
and goes more on a scientific approach, which was directly to my liking. In the
school where Emily gets trained there is a nice sort of breaking down of the
thoughts behind the power of words and how the human brain has defenses against
it that have to be broken down. This really gave a great vision on the power of
the poets. I was reading this book after the first chapter with my fingers
crossed to see another scene where those powers would be on display. I already
mentioned the segment aspect. But the plot of this book goes about the one word
to control everyone. The bareword. A word so powerful.. it is feared by many.
Lexicon
is a magnificent read. On many fronts this book is just amazing, plot wise you’re
in for a surprise, the characters are great and compelling. The constant power
of the words of poets lingers in the back of your mind, who can persuade who?
The race for discovering the all powerful bareword is on. Lexicon will make you
stop and make stare in amazement. Max Barry shows the true power of words. WIll
you think twice about your next action?
Lexicon delivers on multiple fronts an interesting, gripping action
packed and challenging book. Mind bending with words a-ma-zing!