It's always hard to get a complete feel for a book from a sample, but this one was intriguing. It's been a long wait for another book from Susanna Clarke to the point where some thought there wouldn't be one. It's a long time since I read Jonathan Strange, but this felt quite different. Same writing style, but a different set up. I was reminded a little of the Starless Sea and came away even more curious about what might be about to happen.

Review of just a mere snippet of the whole book.

A SAMPLE only so no reflection on the complete work.

In this alternative existence the world is presented as an incredible mansion over three floors with numerous halls going off to the points of the compass. Our narrator is one of just two “human beings”, he is called Piranesi by the other male and ‘Piranesi’ our narrator, knows no other name for himself and he calls the older man The Other.
Both see themselves as scientists and meet once a week for an hour to plan, seek out and discover truth.
The Other has some lofty ideas of his own which he shares. Piranesi is more methodical and open to discover through experiences. He has begun detailing each hall and keeps a journal for a future being to read and understand.
There is a sense that the world not only tolerates their presence but actively encourages it. However, Piranesi is concerned that a female child appears among the bones of those that have died and if she was meant to be his wife before her death what of the future without children.

Annoyingly too short to gauge where this fantasy is heading or what insights and truths it hopes to reveal and share. This isn’t my preferred genre but I am quite comfortable in these pages. The author is a trusted imaginative writer who one can trust to take us on this journey but sadly my trip has ended before it even began.

I will look out for this book and if the mood catches me be glad to resume this fantasy saga. For her fans Susanna Clarke has built upon her growing reputation and they will be delighted with this book that confirms her status.

I marvel at the imagination and meaning such creative writing instils. For me there needs to be a deeper message than just the pure entertainment her genius creates. Perhaps this not knowing is the intrigue and impetus to make me seek out the completed novel and answer my own inquisitiveness.

I was worried this book wouldn't live up to my high expectations (I adore "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell"). I needed have worried. Going off of that excerpt, this promises to be just as much of an incredible read.

REading the extract has really made me look forward to this book!! Piranesi is about Piranesi's house which is a fantastical labyrinth with an ocean inside! I loved the style of writing and would recommend picking up the complete book

This is only a sample but boy do I wish it wasn't. I read and fell in love with Susanna Clarke's first novel 14 years ago. It was a novel that spoke to the very core of me so the prospect of a new novel has had me brimming with excitement. From the sample I have just read, Piranesi is worth the wait. Clarke's writing is on point. Her economy of story telling is to be admired and envied and the story she is telling is alluring. I cannot form any proper judgement on Piranesi until I have read the full text but if this sample is anything to go by then Susanna Clarke has not lost her touch.

The early extract for Piranesi was stunning. It was so unusual and I don't remember ever reading anything like it before. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the story and being able to explore this fascinating world. The only negative point I have is that the sample stopped at the worst point and now I can't read any more until September.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the sneak peak!

This short extract is magical, fascinating and mysterious. It left me intrigued and wanting more. If you’ve loved reading The starless sea...You should read this. This book will unravel another level of imagination. Can’t wait to read the full story now.

This is a review of an extract rather than the full book.

A promising start. Set in a world obviously in the future (there are references to artifacts from the 20th century) where there are apparently only a few living humans remaining.

I can't say more than that at present - but would like to read the full book.

My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for this glimpse into the book...

Although this is just a small insight into the novel, the opening still manages to create a strange and mysterious feeling. There is a sense of intrigue and I sense that even by the end, the reader may still be left wondering.

As a huge fan of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell I began to read this short but nonetheless intriguing extract with bated breath. My appetite for the rest of the novel is well and truly whetted and I cannot wait to read the full novel. Thank you very much for the advance extract!

I have been looking forward to Susanna Clarke's next book for a long time so I was very excited to read this advanced extract for Piranesi - and now having read it, I am even more excited about reading the book in September!

The extract introduces us to a strange and beautiful world of endless hallways, filled with statues, and tides which roar in and out of these vast empty spaces. The protagonist, Piranesi, tells us that he is one of only two humans inhabiting this 'House', which extends across the entire world. I was very confused for the first few pages, but I am also incredibly intrigued to find out more, and I love this beginning, it is such a promising start! So far it seems very different and I love the imagination of the setting. I can't wait to find out more.

My thanks to NetGalley and to Bloomsbury for this terrific advanced extract.

#piranesi #netgalley

Very short, but intruiging preview. Brings to mind "A Slow Regard of Silent things" in some ways. I struggled with the pacing of JS&MrN, but this one is going on my Wishlist.

What a weird little extract - so different from Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Clarke's critically acclaimed debut) and yet all the more intriguing.

I found myself thoroughly confused, though I did not feel this to be a bad thing. It is a book meant to confuse, meant to addle your brains, meant for you to submit to its weirdness and float, adrift, upon the Tides that go through the House, knowing little about where it will take you next. I enjoyed this confusion, and wanted to know more about this odd House with rainfall and clouds on the Upper Halls and an Ocean stuck in its Lower Halls, and Piranesi, who seemed to have no concept of birth parents or the world beyond (IS there a world beyond the House?)

To him, the House *is* the World, and it comprises only him and the Other; he who believes a Great and Secret Knowledge is hidden in the World, one which will grant them powers they know not. They meet twice a week for an hour to discuss their searches for this Knowledge.

The statues that line the walls, and the bones of the thirteen who came before them are the only other whispers of life, of something, that keep Piranesi company. Until You, the sixteenth, who Piranesi is writing to, and who Piranesi does not know.

This book doesn't have the Austen-feel JSAMR had - but do not let that put you off. Clarke is a brilliant writer in all forms, and I trust her completely. I, for one, am a willing reader, eager to be swept off my feet to float adrift on the Tides of Clarke's making. Just be warned that it will be bizarre, and mysterious, and outlandish.

This is as gripping as advertised. Having enjoyed other works by her, I can't wait to read the entirety of this one!

This was a nice, short and sweet extract from one of my most anticipated releases this year, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. Thank you to both Netgalley and Bloomsbury for the exclusive extract of this book!

Piranesi's house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. But Piranesi is not afraid; he understands the tides as he understands the pattern of the labyrinth itself. He lives to explore the house.

There is one other person in the house-a man called The Other, who visits Piranesi twice a week and asks for help with research into A Great and Secret Knowledge. But as Piranesi explores, evidence emerges of another person, and a terrible truth begins to unravel, revealing a world beyond the one Piranesi has always known.

I think this is the perfect little taste to get of this book. but it's also agonising since September feels so far away! From reading here we get a clear view that the House mentioned, is a bit of a TARDIS case. It looks to be bigger on the inside. Our narrator, the man of the title Piranesi, mentions halls of statues, rolling tides flowing through the House and secrets he ponders each day as he explore the House.

I'm fascinated by this introduction to Pitanesi and what possibilities lie behind him as a character. There is very big potential here that he could be either an unreliable narrator or that this book is possibly one that could break the fourth wall after concluding on this wonderful line:

The Sixteenth Person.

And You. Who are You? Who is it that I an writing for? Are you a traveler who has cheated Tides an crossed Broken Floors and Derelict Stairs to reach these Halls? Or are You perhaps someone who inhabits my own Halls long after I am dead?

I can't wait to read this and September can't come soon enough. Piranesi is out on the 15th of September from Boomsbury. Check back in here for my inevitable review.

I'm intrigued!

I loved Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell - this one started slowly but I know it's worth it so I kept going.

It looks like another world builder with a whole lot behind it and I'd like to know more.

It's on my wish list!

I really can't wait to read this book. It was a very intriguing and inviting extract.
There's the House or the World that seems like the center of the story. It's magical and beautifully written.

I loved what I read and can't wait to read the rest.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Wow. I was lucky enough to read this early extract from Susanna Clarke's latest offering. Already a huge fan of Jonathan strange and Mr Norrell, I was excited to see where next. Once again Clarke creates the most remarkable world to escape into. A place where it doesn't make any sense but it absolutely does at the same time. I cannot wait for this release so the mystery can be solved!

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing U.K. for providing an early preview of ‘Piranesi’ by Susanna Clarke. It is due to be published on 15 September 2020.

“Piranesi has always lived in the House.” The House is the World as far as Piranesi is aware: a watery labyrinth with many halls and corridors that imprisons an ocean. Every hall and passageway contains statues that he is currently cataloguing.

Piranesi isn’t quite alone. There is The Other, who is a scientist like Piranesi. He is convinced that somewhere within the House is a Great and Secret Knowledge that will grant them enormous powers once discovered. They meet twice a week to discuss their ongoing work. Also resident in the House are thirteen other people though all of these are skeletons.

Intriguing! So many questions from the preview and cover art of a statue of Pan (or faun) playing a flute. Is there a link to the illustrations of imaginary labyrinthine prisons by the Neoclassical artist Giovanni Piranesi?

I have long been an admirer of Susanna Clarke’s ‘Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell’ and was very excited to hear news of the upcoming publication of ‘Piranesi’. Advance reviews from a few authors whose opinions I trust have heightened my anticipation. Only another three months to wait.

Firstly, I haven't read Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, or the Ladies of Grace Adieu, although I actually own both books and they've been on my TBR pile for years. Woops.
I requested this early extract on her new book, Piranesi, as I was interested in what I would get.

It's a chapter or two of a first person narrative as we walk around a House. The narrator is describing the inhabitants, who he/she is (or who they think they are) and what their lives are like. There are hints at massive past events which wiped out the human race, or animals, or aliens - it's a mystery,

I also get the feeling that this is an 'unreliable narrator' novel - they don't really know much about where they're living and they're also quite young, so it's indicated that this is the only life they know, able to piece together information with the details they've gleaned and guessed from the other inhabitants. I was definitely interested to read on, and was disappointed when I looked for the next page in the extract and realised that was the end!