Ribeting

What other book might you compare A Head Full of Knives to, and why?

This book has some very clever concepts. Without giving too much away it reminded me of three other great works:- Peter F Hamilton's "Nights Dawn" trilogy, where the dead pocess the living, James Herbert's "Fluke", where the story is told from perspective of a man who has been reincarnated as a dog, and Iain M Banks' "Surface Detail" with its multiple afterlives.

Luke Smitherd's story handles these concepts very differently, but just as cleverly. His imagination is astounding.

What about Luke Smitherd’s performance did you like?

Luke narrates this one himself and has done an excellent job.

Any additional comments?

This is an excellent, page turning book, that keeps you engaged from start to finish. I really enjoy Luke Smitherd's quirky, original stories and consider them the best of British sci-fi.

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3 people found this helpful

Another Enjoyable Original

Well, he continues to do it. Bring an original, engaging and personal story. With emotional knives and dark spoons, enough to stake and scoop the heart of any neo-heavy browed Neanderthal. Excellent. Sometime, in this life of mine, I will have to get myself to the Mecca that appears to be Coventry, ( being from Corby ) so gloriously represented in his stories. I surely must be missing something. And it seems so close. Look forward to more books, and stories and more words.

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2 people found this helpful

Dazzling!

An absolute treat of a book.

A really compelling story about life, death, the afterlife and where they all intersect and overlap. Brilliantly told, just the right amount of mystery and intrigue. Lots of genuinely fascinating and creative ideas, and this author just writes beautifully. The prose sparkles and dazzles its way along, adding to and complementing the story every time.

This book is just wonderful - I've yet to find anything written by Luke Smitherd that's less than outstanding, and the more I read/listen to, the more I think he just doesn't know how to write a bad, or even mediocre, book. Brilliant appears to be his default setting.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

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2 people found this helpful

Not what I was expecting, but not disappointed..

I think I was expecting something like The Truman Show, which I find an interesting plot, and was expecting something similar in this story, but it wasn't.
It was a fascinating story though and I enjoyed it even more than I probably would have done with a Truman Show-like story.
The narration took a little getting used to since he reads a little quicker than I am used to with other narrators, but soon adapted to the style. Plus, since it's read by the author, you get more of an insight into the subtleties the author had in mind while writing the story, that you can't get from the text alone, and other narrators would have had to interpret.

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2 people found this helpful

Another stunning thought provoker

I've read these not in Luke's recommended reading order, but I'm not sure it makes any difference. This was one of his best, if you like the more philosophical side of standard SF. Truly original, well-defined and relatable characters and pure emotions.

Keep it up Mr. Smitherd!

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1 person found this helpful

just listened for the second time, still loved it

I listened to this for a second time as it's been a year or so since I first heard it. I thoroughly enjoyed it both times and I've bought a hard copy for my dad. I really look forward to more of you're work Luke and hopefully so will my dad. write on!!

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Such an original story.

Luke Smitherd has an amazing imagination, writes fantastic stories and, unusually for an author, he reads his own stories really well. I’ve listened to quite a lot of his books and they don’t fall into any one genre because they are all completely different. Definitely one of my favourite authors.

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Luke Smitherd – Best new British author for years!

If you could sum up A Head Full of Knives in three words, what would they be?

Thought provoking, compelling, eclectic (4 words – I know!)

What did you like best about this story?

The detailed explanations of the situations the characters were in together with the way Luke makes something so crazy seem like it’s actually normality.

Have you listened to any of Luke Smitherd’s other performances? How does this one compare?

Yes, the Stone Man. Both are 5 star listens in my mind.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but a full time job, a wife, 2 kids and the desire for a few beers in the pub meant that I completed it in 4 days as opposed to one sitting.

Any additional comments?

To find out that Luke was self-published was a shock and was the catalyst to me writing my first ever review. Luke’s ability to immerse the reader / listener in a story as thought provoking and mind blowing as this without going completely off the rails is excellent – not to mention actually coming up with the idea in the first place!

There is no doubt in my mind that Luke will continue to gain 5 star ratings for his work and I have already bought ‘In The Darkness, That's Where I'll Know You: The Complete Black Room Story’.

I wish him all the very best & I look forward to many more years of reading / listening to his work.

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18 people found this helpful

excellent and outside the box

I loved this book. Very original and thought provoking. Best thing I've heard in a while

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2 people found this helpful

What's the audio equivalent of a page turner?

I find it so hard to review novels by Luke Smitherd, not because they aren't great, they are, but I don't want to leave any spoilers! This was the last of his currently available work for me to listen to, so I had high expectations, and I wasn't disappointed.
It took a little longer for me to become fully engaged with this one than some of the others, but the twists and confusion about what was going on make it totally worth that tiny bit of effort (as that's all it was!) All the pertinent information was provided only when it was relevant to the story which made me want to keep listening.
I cant wait to read/hear where this authors work is going next!

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2 people found this helpful