Truth be told, the cover of Nick Harkaway's book is deceptively young. I was expecting an interesting if childish novel. Good but not particularly challenging, perfect for sunbathing. I could not have been more wrong.

It is complex, intelligent and fast paced to such a degree you are left trailing behind at times and cannot help but feel all the better for it.

Nick's book blends two perspectives, two eras and what appears to be two different stories together with expert precision. First, the tale of Joe Spork, a London clockwork repairman with a criminal dad, whose life is upended when he accidentally triggers a doomsday device and must save the universe as we know it. All of which is perfectly interlinked with Edie Banister's memories as something akin to a super-spy or whatever the 1950's equivalent was.

The byzantine ideas presented would, if I am honest, give pause to many a young reader. Yet the clever narration and plot created means that even with only a base understanding of the philosophical ideas discussed a reader cannot help but be swept up, laughing, into the magic of this book.

It is to my mind a complex, interesting and utterly fantastic book that if you can successfully understand the philosophy that runs throughout is well worth a read.

I would give this book 4 stars; only losing one for the difficult concepts that Harkaway interweaves within his book that may cause some readers to shy away from attempting it.

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