Maxwell's Demon
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- Create Date：2021-03-29 13:11:38
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Steven Hall
- ISBN：1847672469
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Summary
This autumn， life is catching up with struggling novelist Thomas Quinn。
Five years ago， his sometimes friend Andrew Black wrote a single， million copy-selling mystery novel and then disappeared。 Now could it be that Quinn is being stalked by the hero of Black's book？ His wife Imogen usually has the answers but she's working on the other side of the world and talking to her on webcam just isn't the same。
Quinn finds himself in a world that might well be coming apart at the seams。 If he can find Black， he might start finding answers。
Maxwell's Demon forges an entirely new blend of mystery - somewhere between detective fiction， ghost story and philosophical quest。 With the same white-knuckle thrills as Hall's first novel， The Raw Shark Texts， this new book is also a freewheeling investigation into the magic power locked inside the alphabet， love through the looking glass， the bond between parents and children， and， at its heart， the quest for meaning in a world that， with each passing season， seems to become more chaotic and untidy。
Five years ago， his sometimes friend Andrew Black wrote a single， million copy-selling mystery novel and then disappeared。 Now could it be that Quinn is being stalked by the hero of Black's book？ His wife Imogen usually has the answers but she's working on the other side of the world and talking to her on webcam just isn't the same。
Quinn finds himself in a world that might well be coming apart at the seams。 If he can find Black， he might start finding answers。
Maxwell's Demon forges an entirely new blend of mystery - somewhere between detective fiction， ghost story and philosophical quest。 With the same white-knuckle thrills as Hall's first novel， The Raw Shark Texts， this new book is also a freewheeling investigation into the magic power locked inside the alphabet， love through the looking glass， the bond between parents and children， and， at its heart， the quest for meaning in a world that， with each passing season， seems to become more chaotic and untidy。
Reviews
Marc Nash
，
Starts off with the device of a metaphysical telephone call as per The New York Trilogy， then proceeds to channel The Truman Show， Tom McCarthy's Remainder， Scarlet Thomas' The End of Mr。 Y and Christopher Priest's The Affirmation without improving or adding anything to the mix and the ending was frankly the weakest of all possible outcomes that up to that point he had skilfully kept open。 I was also not a little troubled by what turned out to be the central （visual） metaphor which I can't talk Starts off with the device of a metaphysical telephone call as per The New York Trilogy， then proceeds to channel The Truman Show， Tom McCarthy's Remainder， Scarlet Thomas' The End of Mr。 Y and Christopher Priest's The Affirmation without improving or adding anything to the mix and the ending was frankly the weakest of all possible outcomes that up to that point he had skilfully kept open。 I was also not a little troubled by what turned out to be the central （visual） metaphor which I can't talk about for spoilers， but it seemed a gross transgression on gender tropes。There wee interesting musings on materialism vs idealism， entropy and the power of naming and language itself t render the world or to actually create it， but ultimately these were relegated to devices to advance the level of the plot rather than having weight in and of themselves。 Ultimately it was a book about books and writing books （and writer's block in this case） which I always find a touch indulgent。 I wasn't convinced that he pulled this off even though I was rooting for the book till about 2/3rds of the way through。 I also couldn't see the point of the visual word pictures， unlike the visuals in The Raw Shark Texts。 Here they seemed， yes， another indulgence。 。。。more
James Stewart
，
Not quite as good as his first， but still a thrilling adventure
Alyssa Montague
，
I received an ARC copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 I read Steven Hall’s first book， The Raw Shark Texts， over and over。 I have also gifted it and recommended it to numerous people。 When I saw that he had a second book coming out I was absolutely thrilled， and Maxwell’s Demon does not disappoint！I don’t want to spoil any of the story， but if you are interested in a plot that is legitimately unique and will have you thinking， he is the writer for you！ I read to I received an ARC copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 I read Steven Hall’s first book， The Raw Shark Texts， over and over。 I have also gifted it and recommended it to numerous people。 When I saw that he had a second book coming out I was absolutely thrilled， and Maxwell’s Demon does not disappoint！I don’t want to spoil any of the story， but if you are interested in a plot that is legitimately unique and will have you thinking， he is the writer for you！ I read tons of books but his stand out because there is nothing else like them。 I also appreciate that both of his books so far have been built around books and language， which for me just adds to my love for them。 They are visually appealing in the use of words to build pictures throughout as well。 I will definitely be purchasing this book in hardcover once it comes out so it can fill the empty space to the right of The Raw Shark Texts。 。。。more
Jonathan Grosberg
，
Loved his first book， but this just didn’t quite work for me。 Felt it could have almost been longer so the ideas could have been fleshed out more。 I have no doubt his third book will hit the nail on the head again。
Ed
，
A relentlessly twisty thriller that blends the line between fiction， reality and encyclopedia entry so many times that you begin to forget that these are actually separate ideas。The main character Thomas Quinn is a struggling author and self-insert for the actual author Steven Hall （many career beats are shared; write what you know I guess）。 He is the somewhat estranged son of a critically acclaimed journalist， whose protégé Andrew Black wrote what was widely acclaimed to be one of the finest no A relentlessly twisty thriller that blends the line between fiction， reality and encyclopedia entry so many times that you begin to forget that these are actually separate ideas。The main character Thomas Quinn is a struggling author and self-insert for the actual author Steven Hall （many career beats are shared; write what you know I guess）。 He is the somewhat estranged son of a critically acclaimed journalist， whose protégé Andrew Black wrote what was widely acclaimed to be one of the finest novels of all time， and then promptly vanished。 The story picks up with Quinn receiving an answerphone message that sounds an awful lot like his now dead father。 This sends him down a rabbit hole of mystery; chasing clues and finding himself entangled in the hunt for missing author Black， as well as Black's mysterious second novel。 He also soon finds that fiction is bleeding into reality， with characters from books seemingly appearing in real life， and fictional locations suddenly being real。 He naturally questions his sanity， and Hall does a good job of getting the reader to question theirs as well。So far all of this sounds pretty good; and it could very well be a solid thriller。 Unfortunately， so much of it is presented in a bizarre way， a manner that seems only to scream "gosh， look how clever I am" with a smug grin。 We have pages upon pages dedicated to fully irrelevant quantum physics， entropy， biblical studies and other esoteric ideas。 These could generously be said to be adding to the air of mystery and confusion around the story， but otherwise seem to obscure that there's really not all that much underneath。We also have some experimental typography， with sections of the text laid out in fancy patterns; mostly leaves。 Ooh so quirky。 It was fun when House of Leaves did it， but again here it seems to be all style and no substance; what exactly was the point of that？ How did it tie to the themes or narrative？ I just don't believe it did。As we approach the end of the story， the twists pick up， becoming more frequent and more insane。 The people in the book are full on crazy people， and act in full on crazy ways。 This could be one where you can argue that that's the central thesis; devotion and obsession make people do crazy things。 But we're talking beyond psychopath levels here， and the way it's framed in this novel; part seemingly glorifying the insanity， part accepting it as normal， just does not land well。And the final twists leave us thoroughly without a frame of reference for what the reality of the novel is， which removes any stakes we could have invested in it。 If anything could be real- does anything matter？ I'm reminded of a Stephen King short story （Word Processor of the Gods）， where he uses the same ultimate conclusion to generate a much greater impact in only a dozen pages or so。So in short， what could be an interesting twist-filled thriller is ruined by pseudo-intellectual waffling and unnecessary gimmicks。 。。。more
Samuel
，
Where Steven Hall's first novel revolved around an amnesiac man dealing with reality troubles， with aid of a quirky and cool lady friend， his second novel revolves around an anxious writer with father issues dealing with criticisms of his work， and the threat of infidelity in his marriage。 As with his first novel， he does inject elements into his work that prevents the tired convention of these premises from feeling too worn out。 It's not just through concrete poetry and interesting meta format Where Steven Hall's first novel revolved around an amnesiac man dealing with reality troubles， with aid of a quirky and cool lady friend， his second novel revolves around an anxious writer with father issues dealing with criticisms of his work， and the threat of infidelity in his marriage。 As with his first novel， he does inject elements into his work that prevents the tired convention of these premises from feeling too worn out。 It's not just through concrete poetry and interesting meta format decisions， but through injecting a maze of meaning into the book， as Hall spins out concepts like the titular Maxwell's demons， entropy and linearity and time travel， questions of the nature of angels， academic Biblical theories， the role and power of language， language as reality， etc。 These are all very interesting ideas， and sometimes they don't come across as dumps of Googled information （and Hall does credit when he does just pull from Wikipedia directly）， but imbuing a second novel， filled with anxieties of writing a second novel， with all these lofty and fascinating concepts， it rather does build up expectations。 For much of the book， Hall meets them。 He self-awarely models the book after Dan Brown thrillers， immersing the reader into a confusing world of conspiracies， half-truths， archetypes， clues， all that fun stuff to puzzle out。He also has a lot of those lovely British sort of observations that imbue mundane reality with greater spiritual meanings， such as the description of dust as the 'intermingling of all those things， events， and all the different people we have been as we've lived together in this space， it's a mixing together of almost everything to create -- almost nothing' in chapter 3。 This is how he ties in a lot of his entropy obsession into the novel as well， with the protagonist having good cause to muse over time travel， the march of messiness， and such things。 The most fun parts of the book are probably where fascinating observations shaped into leaf patterns （not unlike the leaf blown into the protagonist's face， early in the book， or the leaves strewn around his apartment towards the end）， such as the Biblical questionings on pages 72 and 73。 The monomyth musings on pages 112 and 113 didn't work as well for me， as I was somewhat confused how seriously I was meant to take the novel's fascination with Campbell's work， as I would presume not too much， but then the author does seem to sincerely include him in the acknowledgements。 I felt a same apprehension of irony regarding the novel's comments on ebooks， which it raises up as an existential threat， yet deflates early on with the observation that they didn't change the market overmuch， yet then doesn't really follow up on the elements they were posed to threaten （the covers of a book being a safeguard against entropy， etc。）。 Attributing holiness and mighty power to letters is interesting， and the novel earns this through baking it into the story and not just the leaf observations， but a lot of the other musings never really felt to me like they cohered into the actual story。 This sort of thing is confusing， because the novelist goes to an almost absurd length to associate the protagonist and himself right at the beginning of the novel， with these presumably pseudo-autobiographical observations:‘When I say I made my living writing stories and scripts， what I mean is that I made a pretty poor living， and that I wrote digital， downloadable short stories and audio scripts for existing intellectual properties。 I created what the industry calls auxiliaries， or officially licensed story products， or in language an actual， real person might use， tie-in material。’‘— more James Bond， more Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy。 And it’s the same story times a million in the film industry — a whole generation of filmmakers working on Star Wars， Captain America and Batman。 A whole raft of us — at every level you can imagine — are investing our writing lives into the continuation of stories that were new when we were kids， or when our parents were kids， instead of creating new worlds of our own。 And these stories tend to be children’s stories; you’ve noticed that right？ Now don’t get me wrong; I’m no snob。 I might love Herman Melville and B。S。 Johnson， but I also love Star Wars and Harry Potter。 Of course I do， we all do， so we roll up our sleeves and we service the IPs。 I’m certainly not complaining， and even if I was complaining， there’s really no point burying your head in the sand and hoping that any of it will go away， because — let me tell you — it absolutely won’t。 It’s a hard rule of late-stage capitalism — big， established brands dominate， and start-ups find it harder and harder to get a foothold in the market。 There’s no changing it。 This is our world， and it’s a world of sequels， prequels， remakes， remakquels。 This is our age， and it’s the age of the hyperlink and the shared universe， where all the stories are interconnected and everyone takes a turn at being the author of everything。’‘I had written new adventures for Thunderbirds， Stingray， Doctor Who， Sapphire and Steel， He-Man， The Trips， Thundercats…I took those projects seriously， and though I wasn’t the best writer in the field， and I certainly wasn’t the quickest， I was quietly proud of several of the audio plays I’d helped to create。 By and large， I enjoyed the work， and the fans of the old shows generally liked my stories more than they hated them — which is a bigger deal than you might perhaps imagine。’So， the bulk of the book is a fun sort of pastiche of Dan Brown thrillers， filled with interesting concepts and meta playfulness with the format of a novel。 It’s less focused than the author’s first novel， but paced with more measure， and for the most part feels fairly coherent and not like it’s shifting into genuinely different modes。（Spoilers for the ending below）It’s because of that playfulness and conceptuality that I didn’t initially read the ending as stock as I now think it might really have been intended。 I did not initially read Autumn， the alive baby at the very end of the novel， as literal， and figured it more metaphorical for the successful process of producing a second novel。 But now I’m less sure。 The idea of equating books and babies seemed like regular writer vanity and insanity to me at first， but the ending really does seem built around it — why else does Tom not express more indignation and bewilderment at the genuinely insane and horrid gaslighting and manipulation （at such an absurd scale！） his wife put him through。 The mere thought of a woman channelling her feelings about a miscarriage in a way so catered to a husband writer’s vanity and imagination， it just feels awfully strange in light of the tradition of having presumably a literal baby born together at the end with the couple seeming in harmony。 Put simply， if one reads the ending literally （and the more I think on it， the more I find reason to）， the entire book is about a wife committing an insane act of gaslighting to covertly communicate to her writer husband that she had a miscarriage and another baby together would be a good idea。 And the husband doesn’t even really criticise this， he doesn’t criticise the mock publicised cheating sexual encounter his wife orchestrated even。 And even all that aside， the many meta concepts of the book just sort of fall by the wayside at the end， the titular demon barely maps onto the ending because the real author himself is obviously the figure in control。 There’s scant engagement in the story， or with the reader in the real world， with these concepts， there’s just a lot of gesturing at them。 Ultimately， the book is full of great ideas， but to me it feels like too many of them were shoved together rather than synthesised into an actual story。 Until the ending， it’s a well-paced mystery， but the ending itself seems either bizarrely orthodox， or retreating into the cowardice of ambiguity that all mystery novels that throw up their hands and say ‘you work it out’ without actually meaningfully structuring themselves around empowerment of the reader do。 I enjoyed the majority of the book but， as with stories like this that throw up so many interesting balls in the air， I was disappointed with both how the ending seemingly failed to marry the balls together， and instead offered up some disquieting kind of marriage psychology orthodoxy， either troublingly positioned， or with all too much ambiguity for a story like this。 。。。more
Drew
，
5+ out of 5。Absolutely astounding， and worth every minute of the wait。 Hall proves that he is， indeed， one of the great writers of his generation by pulling off an even more audacious interrogation of the power of language and writing than he achieved in his debut， THE RAW SHARK TEXTS。 Thick with questions about religion and the fundamental structures of the universe， the book also manages to keep the story rooted in a single man's experience -- as outlandish as that can sometimes be （because， w 5+ out of 5。Absolutely astounding， and worth every minute of the wait。 Hall proves that he is， indeed， one of the great writers of his generation by pulling off an even more audacious interrogation of the power of language and writing than he achieved in his debut， THE RAW SHARK TEXTS。 Thick with questions about religion and the fundamental structures of the universe， the book also manages to keep the story rooted in a single man's experience -- as outlandish as that can sometimes be （because， well， isn't that true for all of us？） I will be thinking about this book for a long， long time。 I wonder if I ought to read it again， and soon。 I'm still utterly reeling from the sequence of rugs that get pulled out from under the reader in the last fifty or so pages。 Breathtaking。 。。。more
Young__Tulip
，
I am not 100% sure what I just read but it was philosophical， and about writing， and time， and kinda like a Dan Brown on steroids。
Morgan
，
Thank you， Netgalley， for this digital ARC。 The opinions expressed in this review are my own and are unbiased。I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this novel。 When I first started reading it I found myself getting a bit of a Jonathan Lethem vibe。 Very Chronic City。 Then things started。。。 shifting， twisting。 Oh， that gyre。 I had some trouble with the fonts in the section that reminded me of Mark Z。 Danielewski。 I think this book would definitely benefit from being read in a physical Thank you， Netgalley， for this digital ARC。 The opinions expressed in this review are my own and are unbiased。I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this novel。 When I first started reading it I found myself getting a bit of a Jonathan Lethem vibe。 Very Chronic City。 Then things started。。。 shifting， twisting。 Oh， that gyre。 I had some trouble with the fonts in the section that reminded me of Mark Z。 Danielewski。 I think this book would definitely benefit from being read in a physical form rather than digital and I intend to obtain a paper copy。 This is ironic since one of the principle characters has a crusade against the digitalization of literature。 The ending of the book shifted into a trippiness worthy of Danielewski and the late David Foster Wallace。 I adore all of the aforementioned authors and I deeply enjoyed this book。 I can't wait to pick up a physical copy when it is released on April 4th and write a more thorough review。 。。。more
Robin
，
Clever。 Meta。Writing about writing。I enjoyed this almost as much as the Raw Shark Texts。 Like the earlier book， this is preoccupied with the reality of words。
caleb
，
read it all in one go
Sofia
，
Order vs chaos/entropy。 Keep order thus keeping chaos and entropy at bay。 How to keep order， hmm， maybe by making good use of words， naming things well。 This is were I get thoroughly lost because for me words remain words whether they are on paper or on an e-book。 I really could not understand why the abhorrence for e-books。Hall writes well， in fact he kept me there。 His book is chaotic and twisty and he uses his words to create some sort of order and this is where it became problematic for me b Order vs chaos/entropy。 Keep order thus keeping chaos and entropy at bay。 How to keep order， hmm， maybe by making good use of words， naming things well。 This is were I get thoroughly lost because for me words remain words whether they are on paper or on an e-book。 I really could not understand why the abhorrence for e-books。Hall writes well， in fact he kept me there。 His book is chaotic and twisty and he uses his words to create some sort of order and this is where it became problematic for me because in the course of the twists and turns， of words used to say this and then say that， I lost meaning and I'm left with unresolved confusion。 What happened and what did he want the final message to be， got lost in the words。 The glimpse of explanation I saw at the end left me like Iota flying in the face of God， in this case Hall， shouting a much confused why？An ARC gently provided by publisher/author via Netgalley。https://www。theguardian。com/books/202。。。 。。。more
Neal
，
Fabulously enjoyable！
Grace Hutchison
，
Really this is a 3。75 - the final twist lost me
Bob Hughes
，
This。 Book。 Sat down and was planning on reading just a little bit。 Devoured the whole book in a few hours and I feel exhilarated。 Gaaaaaahhhhhhhh
Jess
，
I have conflicting feelings about Maxwell's Demon。 I adored Raw Shark Texts， and perhaps this led to some overly high expectations （expectations which didn't take into account how much time had passed since Hall's first novel was released - certainly my tastes have changed a lot since then）。 I found the same engaging writing style in Hall's second novel， and for the first quarter or so of the book was pulled along by it， really enjoying the book。 When I got to the mid-point， however， I nearly ga I have conflicting feelings about Maxwell's Demon。 I adored Raw Shark Texts， and perhaps this led to some overly high expectations （expectations which didn't take into account how much time had passed since Hall's first novel was released - certainly my tastes have changed a lot since then）。 I found the same engaging writing style in Hall's second novel， and for the first quarter or so of the book was pulled along by it， really enjoying the book。 When I got to the mid-point， however， I nearly gave up and abandoned the book entirely。 I found the expository text in these sections quite hard going - I'm a very character-motivated reader， and for these sections it was difficult to get any human connection at all。 The theoretical aspects of the text come at some expense for readability。The pacing as a whole seemed slightly awry as well - I felt several times as if I had reached the conclusion， and then the narrative would twist again。 This isn't in itself a negative point， but these quick changes weren't always satisfying。As I passed the difficult middle section and got towards the end of the book， however， I was gripped again - there were lots of interesting ideas， but the characters and plot felt slightly more complete too。I'm not sure I'll re-read this multiple times the way I have with The Raw Shark Texts， but it was definitely interesting （and at times， gripping）。3。5 rounded up to 4。Thanks to Canongate and Netgalley for the ARC。 。。。more
Sean Robinson
，
I’ve been looking forward to reading Steven Hall’s new novel since putting down The Raw Sharks Texts， unbelievably， thirteen years ago。 Well worth the wait。 What an exhilarating， entertaining and eerie ride。 Wonderful。Just as Andrew Black， the all-knowing author in the novel， has prescient insight to Tom’s world， I felt that Steven has similar awareness of mine， relentlessly tapping into ideas that pull and tug at me。Despite what a pompous and arrogant review in The Guardian thinks， I enjoyed th I’ve been looking forward to reading Steven Hall’s new novel since putting down The Raw Sharks Texts， unbelievably， thirteen years ago。 Well worth the wait。 What an exhilarating， entertaining and eerie ride。 Wonderful。Just as Andrew Black， the all-knowing author in the novel， has prescient insight to Tom’s world， I felt that Steven has similar awareness of mine， relentlessly tapping into ideas that pull and tug at me。Despite what a pompous and arrogant review in The Guardian thinks， I enjoyed the dalliances with ranks of angels， Gnosticism， biblical apocrypha， Captain Scarlett， and so on。 Stoner-fresher fodder or not， they’re fun。I loved the forays into physics， philosophy and theology – they sent my imagination spinning off into all sorts of happy rabbit holes。 And I liked the subtle nod to The Magus， where an arch trickster entangles the hero in a universe of psychological chicanery。Again， just like the character can’t resist the lure of a puzzle， knowing it could unsettle him， I felt the same as a reader。 The urge to solve the mystery was irresistible as it gallops along， teasing， weaving and， ultimately， satisfying。I believe it takes great craft to pull off a novel that’s intelligent yet playful， insightful yet oblique， and surreal yet， oddly， grounded。Highly recommended。 。。。more
Gennady Gorin
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20 Feb 21: Oof， I don't know about this one。 A delight to read but leaves me feeling bitter。24 Feb 21: Hard to say。 There's so much less joy than in Raw Shark Texts。 I'm a chemical engineer， I don't need Neal Stephenson-style infodumps about things I learned in college。 It's a very short book and the world building feels like it takes up a third of the words， which is a pretty weird choice when the world being built is just the real world。 What's the solution？ Make it three times longer？ 😅1 Mar 20 Feb 21: Oof， I don't know about this one。 A delight to read but leaves me feeling bitter。24 Feb 21: Hard to say。 There's so much less joy than in Raw Shark Texts。 I'm a chemical engineer， I don't need Neal Stephenson-style infodumps about things I learned in college。 It's a very short book and the world building feels like it takes up a third of the words， which is a pretty weird choice when the world being built is just the real world。 What's the solution？ Make it three times longer？ 😅1 Mar 21: Am I just not getting something？ :/3 Mar 21: There's no puzzle to solve here – once you look past the thin veneer of "world-building，" very little remains – but shouldn't there at least be joy？ 。。。more
Peter Boyle
，
It has been 14 years since Steven Hall's mind-bending debut， The Raw Shark Texts。 A book so inventive and a joy to read， it has often popped into my head since。 So to say that his follow-up has been eagerly awaited on my part is an understatement。Our narrator is Thomas Quinn， an author who is struggling to make ends meet。 The death of his father， a famous writer， has been a major blow。 But he is also living in the shadow of Andrew Black， his father's protégé， whose only novel Cupid's Engine was It has been 14 years since Steven Hall's mind-bending debut， The Raw Shark Texts。 A book so inventive and a joy to read， it has often popped into my head since。 So to say that his follow-up has been eagerly awaited on my part is an understatement。Our narrator is Thomas Quinn， an author who is struggling to make ends meet。 The death of his father， a famous writer， has been a major blow。 But he is also living in the shadow of Andrew Black， his father's protégé， whose only novel Cupid's Engine was a massive bestseller。 Plus he is missing his wife Imogen， who is carrying out a science experiment in a distant country。 The bills are piling up and the pressure is starting to build on Thomas。 But then he a receives a mysterious letter from Black， which includes a photo of a strange dark sphere。 He sees a person who looks like the main character of Cupid's Engine on the street， and hears a message from his father on his answering machine。 What could it all mean？ I still don't know if I fully understand what happened in this story。 After an intriguing start， the plot becomes quite chaotic。 Thomas digresses into scientific theory， with entropy becoming an important theme。 He begins to ponder philosophical questions and consider the power of words。 The typography of the text changes into different shapes， like leaves for example。 It's all very meta。 For me， it was fun trying to connect the dots， but others might find it exasperating。 My main criticism is that I didn't form any kind of attachment to Thomas or the other characters， so I wasn't really invested in their fate。 All in all， it wasn't quite as satisfying a read as The Raw Shark Texts， but I enjoyed it all same。 If you're in the mood for something a little more experimental， give this one a try。 。。。more
Jayden McComiskie
，
Thanks to Text Publishing， I got an early copy， and I really enjoyed this genre bending novel from an Aussie。
El Hugh
，
Aptly for a book that follows its predecessor by almost a decade and a half Maxwell's Demon is concerned with， among other things， the passage of time。 It had got to the stage that I had stopped googling to see if there was a new Steven Hall novel was in the works and here one was。 For all the talk about how formally inventive and experimental Raw Shark Texts was the thing I remember most about it was how readable it was。 That strange indefinable quality that is sometimes used in a sneery way。 T Aptly for a book that follows its predecessor by almost a decade and a half Maxwell's Demon is concerned with， among other things， the passage of time。 It had got to the stage that I had stopped googling to see if there was a new Steven Hall novel was in the works and here one was。 For all the talk about how formally inventive and experimental Raw Shark Texts was the thing I remember most about it was how readable it was。 That strange indefinable quality that is sometimes used in a sneery way。 To combine that invention with accessibility is a fine trick。 One I'm pleased to confirm that Hall has pulled off again。 If some of the typographical playfulness feels like mere window dressing this time around that's fine as Maxwell's Demon is a fun filled mind bending ride。 The dividing line between fiction and real life is a big part of this book not just in small part because one of the characters is a novelist that may or may not have taken the best part of a decade and a half to follow up a highly successful book。 Is this a book about itself。 I am sure that there is a multitude of aspects of this book that a single reading gets you nowhere near grasping。 I was bemused by the misspelling of Captain Scarlet。 An easy error to catch and correct so was it deliberate and what does it mean？ I'm probably to dim to work much of it out but I enjoyed the book very much。 。。。more
Caroline Price
，
Maxwell's Demon is a very unusual novel， it's hard to slot it into a specific genre but it's beautifully written and pressed all the right buttons for me。 Thomas Quinn is struggling as a writer， his only published work some years ago was panned by his mentor， Andrew Black who had written one fantastically successful （1，000，000 plus copies sold） and then disappeared。 Black had also usurped Thomas' place in his father's life。 Things become decidedly Kafkaesque as the novel progresses。 This is only Maxwell's Demon is a very unusual novel， it's hard to slot it into a specific genre but it's beautifully written and pressed all the right buttons for me。 Thomas Quinn is struggling as a writer， his only published work some years ago was panned by his mentor， Andrew Black who had written one fantastically successful （1，000，000 plus copies sold） and then disappeared。 Black had also usurped Thomas' place in his father's life。 Things become decidedly Kafkaesque as the novel progresses。 This is only Stephen Hall's second novel and it deserves to be a huge success。 Very highly recommended。 。。。more
Guilherme
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 * As it was pointed out by other reviews， the protagonist being a burned out author that can't live up to his first hit is an obvious self-insert character。 This makes Thomas Quinn's wife an obvious stand-in for Steven Hall's paramour， Mark Z。 Danielewski。* Hall's first book was about a ritual - a tightly scripted set of actions intended to produce a specific result on the world。 This is about an anti-ritual - a metaphorical leap to perform a result not accessible by cause and effect。* Oh Andrew * As it was pointed out by other reviews， the protagonist being a burned out author that can't live up to his first hit is an obvious self-insert character。 This makes Thomas Quinn's wife an obvious stand-in for Steven Hall's paramour， Mark Z。 Danielewski。* Hall's first book was about a ritual - a tightly scripted set of actions intended to produce a specific result on the world。 This is about an anti-ritual - a metaphorical leap to perform a result not accessible by cause and effect。* Oh Andrew Black is a woman and she is much more accomplished than Thomas but hasn't finished her second novel because she needs a man to give her a baby come on* If I'm reading this correctly - the book explicitely tries to dodge a straight reading - at least part of the main premise is that the world of written books is dying because of ebooks and Twitter。 I mean maybe a little， speaking as a manner of proportions？ But I would wager there are more books released any given year of the 21st century than there were in the entire 19th century。 Something like that， I haven't run the numbers。* Maybe your writer's block is not because of twitter， Steven。 Maybe it's because you think Joseph Campbell is not a hack。* Hall's word-art is unreadable on ebook form。 This may be part of the premise。 。。。more
Jessica （bibliobliss。au）
，
This is one mindbending， twisty puzzle of a book。 Thomas Quinn believes he is being stalked by the main character in his elusive author friend’s smash-hit book。 He also gets a voicemail from his long dead father and from there， things just get stranger！Author Steven Hall plays with the text a lot throughout the book and passages of text often make up images that build with the story。 There’s an eerie tone to this novel and the voicemail moment early on felt so chilling it brought on some goosebu This is one mindbending， twisty puzzle of a book。 Thomas Quinn believes he is being stalked by the main character in his elusive author friend’s smash-hit book。 He also gets a voicemail from his long dead father and from there， things just get stranger！Author Steven Hall plays with the text a lot throughout the book and passages of text often make up images that build with the story。 There’s an eerie tone to this novel and the voicemail moment early on felt so chilling it brought on some goosebumps！ I’ll admit that some of the metaphysical ideas discussed throughout this book went a little over my head at times。 This is a story that requires some brain power but its last half is packed full with twists & turns and plays out at quite a pace。 If you like mindbending - yes there’s that word again - and puzzling movies like Inception or the Da Vinci Code， then this is the read for you。Thanks to the publisher for a gifted copy of this book。 。。。more
Lou
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Steven Hall returns with his most mind-bending novel yet and an avant-grade part fantasy part mystery-thriller。 Thomas Quinn is having a hard time。 A failed novelist， he’s stuck writing short stories and audio scripts for other people’s characters。 His wife， Imogen， is working on a remote island halfway around the world， and talking to her over the webcam isn’t the same。 The bills are piling up， the dirty dishes are stacking in the sink， and the whole world seems to be hurtling towards entropic Steven Hall returns with his most mind-bending novel yet and an avant-grade part fantasy part mystery-thriller。 Thomas Quinn is having a hard time。 A failed novelist， he’s stuck writing short stories and audio scripts for other people’s characters。 His wife， Imogen， is working on a remote island halfway around the world， and talking to her over the webcam isn’t the same。 The bills are piling up， the dirty dishes are stacking in the sink， and the whole world seems to be hurtling towards entropic collapse。 Then he gets a voicemail from his father， who has been dead for seven years。 Thomas’s relationship with Stanley Quinn―a world-famous writer and erstwhile absent father―was always shaky， not least because Stanley always seemed to prefer his enigmatic assistant and protégé Andrew Black to his own son。 Yet after Black published his first book， Cupid’s Engine， which went on to sell over a million copies， he disappeared completely。 Now strange things are happening to Thomas， and he can’t help but wonder if Black is tugging at the seams of his world behind the scenes。One of the most exhilarating genre-bending books I've encountered of late， this is a surreal， exciting and utterly original tale and a welcome and much-needed relief from the outside world at present。 Hall is a masterful storyteller - he just has a way with words that allows him to talk about the most mundane and quotidian of subjects while making them sound fascinating - much like the inimitable Haruki Murakami。 The prose so faultless and simply flies by， as do the pages， and the plot ponders over deep philosophical questions and the way in which we humans handle adversity and pandemonium in a way that allows us to carry on breathing， living and making sense of it all。 If you enjoy off-the-wall novels with layer after layer to them much like a set of Russian Matryoshka dolls and a rich， charismatic cast of characters you will likely find much to love within Maxwell's Demon。 Absurdly brilliant， wildly entertaining， and utterly mind-bending， this offbeat novel triumphantly excavates the ways we construct meaning in a world where chaotic collapse looms closer every day。 Highly recommended。 。。。more
Loring Wirbel
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Judged solely on the book's own backstory， this second novel by Somerset Maugham Award winner Steven Hall carries many warning signs。 The author took more than 13 years from his debut to launch this second work。 Maxwell's Demon deals with a meta-story of sorts of a failed author trying to dream up a second novel， and becoming lost in several types of obsessions。 And the novel confronts topics that would be considered by many， particularly sci-fi and speculative fiction fans， to be well-worn: the Judged solely on the book's own backstory， this second novel by Somerset Maugham Award winner Steven Hall carries many warning signs。 The author took more than 13 years from his debut to launch this second work。 Maxwell's Demon deals with a meta-story of sorts of a failed author trying to dream up a second novel， and becoming lost in several types of obsessions。 And the novel confronts topics that would be considered by many， particularly sci-fi and speculative fiction fans， to be well-worn: the Second Law of Thermodynamics， entropy， and the role of （James Clerk） Maxwell's Demon; the Gnostic Gospels， the Apocrypha， and the Q source for the standard gospels; the power of words to bring reality into existence - you get the picture。I'll be the first to admit that， mid-way through the book， I was raising my eyebrows and saying "Oh， really？" Yet something about the narrative line urged me to keep going。 I wasn't distracted by text crafted into sycamore and chestnut leaves， because authors like Mark Danielewski and Nicole Galland have asked us to go much further in font and graphic manipulation than Hall asks us。 If you give up on the novel based solely on the occasionally wild graphics， you have a pretty limited idea of a linear story line。It's clear that the mysterious novelist Andrew Black， whom the protagonist's father admired far more than his own son， displays not just a magnetic attraction that our hero Thomas Quinn can't resist， but also a streak of petulant weirdness that keeps him from producing a second novel for reasons that are far less legitimate than Quinn's own。 Hey， we can all believe that e-books and hyperlinks can bring about an apocalypse in a figurative sense， without messing up our lives tremendously in order to go on some anti-apocalypse crusade。 （Disclaimer: I'm on my own anti-apocalypse mission， attempting to listen to all ~10，000 pieces of recorded music I own， under the auspices of the Alphabetical Apocalypse Record Project， before the impending doom of the human race hits， but I can't get too flustered by things like accelerated global warming or the Jan。 6 riots， or I'd never get anything done！ ） So we're doomed。 C'est la vie， hold my beer， we can still have a rollicking good time， right？ Don't ask Andrew Black when he's building his dollhouses！As a result， many readers， including those who already favor speculative fiction and dystopian plots， may reach the halfway point and think "This is certainly going to be a train wreck，" only to find that Hall manages to pull a nice mystery out of all the navel-gazing。 Is Thomas Quinn finally succumbing to a paranoid-schizophrenic episode that will leave him lost in an Andrew Black rabbit hole forever， or is there really a conspiracy far deeper than we realize， mirroring those in Black's own fiction？ I won't give you any spoilers here， except to say that the plot twists may not be utterly unpredictable， but at a level one would scarcely expect。And I'm pleased to say that the book offers a happy ending of sorts， featuring the type of anti-entropic Maxwell's Demon which we've learned to expect in some novels， yet which is a worthy way forward as the human race falls into its own rabbit hole。 So， yeah， I ended up liking this novel despite my misgivings。 But I still feel like the high school teacher who holds out little hope for the class-skipping dilettante （one who managed to be named one of Granta's best young British novelists in 2013）， but is surprised when the class clown comes up with a 4。0 essay at the last minute。 Bravo， Steven Hall， you managed to pull a Thomas Quinn and Andrew Black after all。 For next time， remember Luke's scriptural line about "for whom much is given， much more is expected，" and we'll be good for the next work。 。。。more
Jim Hanks
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Andrew Black is a best-selling author who has disappeared。 Thomas Quinn is a struggling writer who hasn't been published in many years。 Is Andrew Black back and is he haunting Thomas Quinn？ This is quite a complex， fun novel， full of ideas。 The central mystery is intriguing throughout but it's when the book goes off on a tangent that it's quirkiness excels。 Andrew Black is a best-selling author who has disappeared。 Thomas Quinn is a struggling writer who hasn't been published in many years。 Is Andrew Black back and is he haunting Thomas Quinn？ This is quite a complex， fun novel， full of ideas。 The central mystery is intriguing throughout but it's when the book goes off on a tangent that it's quirkiness excels。 。。。more
Laila
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I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review。 Thank you for the opportunity。An interesting idea behind this story and the writing is unusual too which takes a while to get used to。 A twisting kind of story in that there is a lot of thinking and description in it without much action。 An OK read。
John
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"Angels and letters， entropy and the end of the world。"This is a wild book， a literary treasure hunt mixed with philosophical ideas， bible discourse and the second law of thermodynamics （and we do not argue with the second law of thermodynamics… or do we？）。There are twist and turns and turns and twists， yet Steven Hall never loses sight of characters and manages to make it feel deeply personal。 A fantastic book about words， connections， loss and hyperlinks。 "Angels and letters， entropy and the end of the world。"This is a wild book， a literary treasure hunt mixed with philosophical ideas， bible discourse and the second law of thermodynamics （and we do not argue with the second law of thermodynamics… or do we？）。There are twist and turns and turns and twists， yet Steven Hall never loses sight of characters and manages to make it feel deeply personal。 A fantastic book about words， connections， loss and hyperlinks。 。。。more
Margaret
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If you’re a Dan Brown fan， this novel is for you。 It’s chock full of metaphysics， religious ruminations， secret codes， mysterious symbols and characters who may or may not know the meaning of life。 “If the theory holds， then the divine letters and the heavenly host are one and the same - the angels are the letters - singing the glories of God， transmitting the narrative， and， by doing so， fulfilling their divine role as fundamental building blocks and bringing all things within it into existence If you’re a Dan Brown fan， this novel is for you。 It’s chock full of metaphysics， religious ruminations， secret codes， mysterious symbols and characters who may or may not know the meaning of life。 “If the theory holds， then the divine letters and the heavenly host are one and the same - the angels are the letters - singing the glories of God， transmitting the narrative， and， by doing so， fulfilling their divine role as fundamental building blocks and bringing all things within it into existence。”I wanted to like this novel。 Initially I enjoyed the many existential digressions and the oddly interesting typeset of some of the text， but then I lost interest in following the lengthy （at times rambling） science-y narratives。 I spent much of the novel wishing I knew what was going on， and as a result never really found myself caring about any of the many， multiple characters。Although I appreciated some of the thought-provoking concepts， the novel suffered from trying to do too much。Thank you to Grove Atlantic for the opportunity to review the ARC via Netgalley。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Maxwell's Demon
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Maxwell's Demon&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Maxwell's Demon&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0