The Absolute Book

Praise / revue de presse

One of The New York Times’ “Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2021”
One of LitHub’s “Most Anticipated Books of 2021”

Praise for The Absolute Book:

“The Absolute Book contains multitudes. . . . Reading the book is like holding folds of shot silk to the light, finding green flash in something that looks purple, and appreciating how thoughtfully the warp and weft embrace each other. . . . I’m in awe of it, ultimately, its precision and care, and its wry, understated humor.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“This epic fantasy from Elizabeth Knox has something for everyone—the search for a mysterious book, talking ravens, police detectives and academics, gods and demons, a giant saltwater crocodile, the bucolic English countryside and magical gates to hidden worlds. Intricately plotted and gorgeously written, The Absolute Book is a cinematic tale that is by turns dark and dreamlike, yet ultimately hopeful.”
—Deborah Harkness, author of A Discovery of Witches 

“An instant classic, a work to rank alongside other modern masterpieces of fantasy such as Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series or Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. . . . [It] is everything fantasy should be: original, magical, well read. . . . The daring complexity of [Knox’s] art confirms that reading is itself an act of the imagination worth investing in.”
—The Guardian (UK)

“Majestic, brain-bending . . . Each time I thought the book was done surprising me, Knox . . . opened another gate and flung me through it. . . . The Absolute Book reminded me of how I felt reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell or The Left Hand of Darkness. . . . I felt that my position in relation to the book’s capacious intellect and imagination and moral purpose was a vertiginous one. It was thrilling and frightening.”
—Dan Kois, Slate

“Exuberant and generous and original.”
—Tor

“[A] sprawling and engrossing epic . . .  The story expands like inverse nesting dolls, beginning as a slow-burn thriller and gradually revealing itself as epic fantasy, even as it retains its core of real-world suspense. . . . A master class in blending genres.”
—Publishers Weekly

“An angelic book, an apocalyptic book, an astounding book.”
—Francis Spufford, author of Golden Hill

“Full of intrigue, mystery, magic, and history, this is a fascinating read that is hard to put down.”
—Buzzfeed

“Knox’s restrained, poetic writing works well with this mind-blowing optical illusion of a novel. . . . Enigmatic, never dull, this grand ode to Story itself is one that begs for a reread.”
—Booklist, starred review

“Gorgeous . . . The payoffs and reveals are mind-blowing.”
—Laini Taylor, author of Daughter of Smoke and Bone

“An astonishing novel from an author I have long loved, The Absolute Book catches the reader up on the very first page and carries them away in an exhilarating rush.”
—Kelly Link, author of Get In Trouble

“The power is in the skill and pace of Knox’s storytelling, the perfect spinning of the intricate plot, the sharp dialogue and luminous evocation of place.”
—Charlotte Grimshaw, author of The Bad Seed

“The master is present. To read Knox on such a huge canvas—to be immersed in her worlds, wrapped in her intelligence and craft so completely—is an experience not be missed. . . . [B]ooks where the best hearts meet the best minds meet the best imaginations are few and far between. The Absolute Book is a triumph of fantasy grounded in the reality and challenges of the moment we live in.”
—Pip Adam, author of Nothing to See

“This darkly luminous fantasy reads like a mystery, thoroughly and wonderfully transporting readers to another world.”
—Kirkus Reviews

“Elizabeth Knox has the most original and lateral literary mind in New Zealand.”
—Metro

“Knox is a writer with a gift for describing the colour of the present moment. . . . She lets her language breathe, lets it speak in revelations rather than explanations.”
—Times Literary Supplement

“The Absolute Book is a beautiful, fantastic ride that travels from one end of the earth to the other and beyond . . . a journey that will amaze and astound you and leave you asking for more. . . . Fantastic and wondrous [The Absolute Book] is a delight and will leave readers wistful for a world as magical as the one [Knox has] created.”
—Blogcritics

“Outstanding . . . Absolutely outstanding.”
—Good Reading (Australia)

“Explosive and surprising . . . quite brilliant.”
—The Spinoff (NZ)

“The Absolute Book is big, ambitious and brassily inventive.”
―The Spectator Australia

“At once sad and enticing.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“An enchanting weaving together of mythologies and a meeting of worlds, all bound up with the power of stories and the fate of the ultimate book. Far-reaching and profound, this is a novel to lose yourself in.”
―Alison Littlewood, Bestselling author of A Cold Season and The Hidden People