Towers are often represented in fantasy fiction. Whether it’s the Tower of Babel, The Two Towers, or the Dark Tower from the… erm… Dark Tower series by Stephen King, something is compelling about an unassailable edifice driving into the sky. They offer a multi-strata world, that literally has an in-built hierarchy. Alongside great novels such as Selin Ascends, High Rise, and the inverted tower of Wool (filmed as Silo), we now have Yaroslav Barkukov’s Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory. (The press release also mentions China Miéville’s Bas-Lag series, Ted Chiang’s Tower of Babylon, and Robert Silverberg’s Tower of Glass, but I haven’t read any of those, so I can’t compare them!)
What Is Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory?
Buckle up, it’s all going to get a little metaphysical if you read this book! Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory is mostly told from the point of view of Minister Shea Ashcroft, a man banished to the borderlands for refusing to use gas on protesting citizens. A giant but incomplete tower dominates this border area. It’s a strategic edifice positioned to repel invaders from the neighboring country. Shea’s job is to make sure the building is completed.
Shea discovers that the technology that allows the tower to be built ever higher is dangerously unstable. Such technology killed his sister and left him injured. Fighting demons new and old, he feels he has no choice but to derail the project. But at what cost?
As Shea tries to forge alliances, he finds himself drawn into a bewildering political culture, simultaneously discovering something unusual occurring in the physical world, too. He discovers a portal to another world, where there is another tower. How does this tower relate to the one in his own world? Are they linked? The more Shea tries to find answers the more questions he uncovers.
Why Read Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory?
Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory is a peculiar book. Just when you think you understand where it’s going, it throws you another curve ball. It has several narrative strands that are sometimes woven together, and other times separate, while all loosely converging towards the same point.
As you try to tease out the main narrative, you realize this is not just a book about warring factions in a fantasy universe. It’s about power and control. It’s about the lies leaders tell to control their people. It’s about propaganda and misinformation. It’s about how to wage psychological warfare upon your enemies.
I did find the book hard going in places, but the overall narrative arc is definitely worth persevering with. Up close it is sometimes hard to see where the story is going but as we pull back, or perhaps climb the tower, and begin to see Barsukov’s landscape laid out in its entirety, it’s hard not to be impressed by the novel’s scope.
I wouldn’t want every novel I read to be like Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory, but I enjoyed the mental gymnastics required to read it. Challenging but ultimately fulfilling.
Don’t just take my word for it. This review is part of the Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory blog tour. Check out other great reviews, here.
If you would like to pick up a copy of Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory you can do so here, in the U.S., and here, in the UK. (Affiliate Links)
If you enjoyed this review, check out my other book reviews, here.
I received a copy of this book in order to write this review.
