March 25, 2019 | No Comments
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
by Claire North
Date Published: April 8, 2014
Published By: Redhook
Page Count: 417
Publisher’s Description:
Some stories cannot be told in just one lifetime. Harry August is on his deathbed. Again. No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now. As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. “I nearly missed you, Doctor August,” she says. “I need to send a message.” This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.
My Star Rating:
My Review:
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This might be one of the most entertaining, enthralling, intellectually stimulating fiction books I’ve ever read.
This story follows Dr. Harry August, born January 1, 1919, as he recounts his life he has been destined to repeat over and over and over. And he remembers … everything.
What I love about this story is there is not one page, paragraph, or sentence of it that drags. It’s compelling, constantly moving, constantly something happening that had me glued to the pages, so very interesting.
What else I love about this story is it made me think. It had my brain cells working, constantly stimulated trying to work out how would that work, or how could that actually be applied. The time travel aspect, and the way that other people like him, the kalachakras they were named, would communicate with each other, the youngest relaying messages to the oldest of them to take back and carry messages to the others in their membership they call the Cronus Club after the old one dies and returns to their life young again. How messages are relayed centuries into the past and future.
What else I loved about this story was the dynamic between Harry and Vincent Rankis, his enemy, his friend. How calculating Harry is, and how brilliant you realize he has to be to play his part so supremely to never betray his lies. This man, these men, are brilliant! And it’s shown (not told) how brilliant they really are, this worthy foe and our Hero.
What a story, what a story. This is such a stimulating and captivating read. Worth every moment. And that ending… wow!!!