This was such a different book to Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, the only other book that I have read by Louis de Bernieres.
Set sometime in a very bleak future, the main character, Q, works for the government and is worried about the future so decides to find somewhere remote to keep himself safe. He moves to an old farmhouse in Cornwall and aims to become self-sufficient. He meets several eccentric characters as well as reconnecting with his family. The cities are falling apart whilst Q thrives in the Cornish countryside.
The story is compelling and I found myself rooting for Q though I did find some of the other characters a bit too unconvincing. Overall it kept me interested to the end.

This book surprised me with its unique story. It grabbed my attention and I couldnt put it down. Probably better than Captain Corelli.

Light Over Liskeard is something completely different from Louis de Bernieres, most famous of course for "Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
Set in the ,hopefully very,distant future it tells the story of Q. With his job of Government Quantum Cryptographer he has a better insight than most into what is going on the world as he navigates "the Cloud" looking for hacks and malicious viruses. With everything by then connected to the Cloud those with evil intent could potentially wreak havoc on Britain or even pull the plug on it completely. Living in a dead marriage in London with children only interested in their robotic friends and glued to their devices Q, sensing an ongoing crisis,heads to Cornwall to ride out the potential "end of days".
He buys a farmhouse on Bodmin Moor,which is pretty much a major character in this book itself, and learns,with help from new neighbours and friends,to become self-sufficient and to love his new lifestyle in a place where he believes his chances of surviving possible Armageddon are a lot greater.
This is quite a ride,the Moor is full of strange and bizarre characters, occasionally a bit too bizarre for my tastes and Q's life changes dramatically as he waits and prepares. Having been lucky enough to have lived on Bodmin Moor I can confirm that yes it is magical and there are some very strange people who make it their home.
The book paints quite a bleak view of the future as towns are left depopulated and those left mostly have nothing to do but indulge themselves as machines do the work and live their lives staring at screens. While it's often quite surreal the book reminded me in a way of "Fight Club" where within the often confusing story there are plenty of pearls of wisdom and insight liberally sprinkled.
This won't appeal to everyone,some of it is self-indulgent or too "off the wall" but I loved it once I'd got over the strangeness of the whole thing.
I suspect some will be thinking, "what on earth is this?" while others will think it a work of genius, after I'd got used to its quirkiness I'd lean strongly towards the latter.

This book got me out of a bit of a reading slump. I have read quite a few mediocre novels recently and was getting a little down over it.

However, I turned to a trusty old friend in Louis de Bernieres who delivers time and time again