“They thought I was crazy. Of course, it’s crazy to converse with an imaginary dead person—but we’re all mad in some way or another, aren’t we? The trick is figuring out who’s at “some” and who’s already at “another.”

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov is an ambitious novel which cleverly fuses together fantasy, scifi and a political thriller. This is a story which grabbed me with its poetic and dreamlike prose and its spiralling plot.

We follow Shea Ashcroft, a disgraced minister, who after disobeying orders by the Queen is sent to Owenbeg to oversee the construction of a tower. This tower is to reach beyond the clouds and will be the country’s greatest wonder and defence. But the tower of Owenbeg is dangerous and its existence holds terrifying consequences, and Shea is soon to discover why.

The structure of this novel is a merit to the story’s compelling and immersive traits. It has been some time since I’ve read a novel where nothing is told in a linear fashion, where the plot is really unclear until you reach the end, and I have to say, I found this refreshing. There’s a surreal and dreamlike feel to Barsukov’s prose and this creates quite the moody atmosphere. We are presented with a fragmented timeline where we get glimpses of our main characters’ pasts, their memories and their present situation. Barsukov pays much attention to piecing together Shea, Brielle and Lena’s lives whilst simultaneously exploring the mystery of the tower piece by piece, which left me continually needing to read one more chapter to learn that bit more. I do believe this kind of structure may not appeal to every reader, it can be hard to get into, but for me I enjoyed its challenging nature and I felt it perfectly mirrored the strangeness of this world. 

“The tower took the length of the world—only it was an alien world, replicating itself over and over as it climbed to a distant, ghostly gap into the clouds. Or did he stare down a well? Shea’s head spun again as up and down flip-flopped like axes on a gyroscope.”

Every interaction Shea has reveals more than the words say on the page, his dialogue holds so much meaning and sincerity. Shea is a character who is hard to read at first glance but as we delve deeper we see the brokenness underneath a facade of control and authority. Shea is drowning in grief and PTSD from losing his sister and he’s a man of principle and morality, not one for violence or warfare. Yet Shea is not living in a peaceful world and in Owenbeg where there are refugees looking for safety, where the non-human Drakiri with their advanced technology are trying to survive through hostility and where there is a power-mad Duke, Shea finds himself pulled in all directions. In the mix are Brielle, chief engineer of the tower and Lena, a Drakiri who is in the Duke’s retinue. Both these women have connections to the tower and they both impact Shea’s life in very different ways, some for the better and some to add further sorrow and regret. 

As we approach the ending, events take on a more bizarre and otherworldly experience and a few aspects certainly took me by surprise. I felt Barsukov plays with the notion of reality in clever ways—people will look for sense in a senseless situation, when devastation and tragedy strikes and ruins the world we know, the brain has to find a way to cope, to believe the unbelievable. We begin to question how much of the characters’ visions and memories can we trust? How much of what they experience is indeed ‘real’? The entire novel is laced with metaphors and allegory, it is a reflection upon war, our striving for power, our capacity for destruction, but it also shows human fragility. In this sense I felt the ending was fitting if a little out there. However this is just the way I viewed the novel and there is so much depth and complexity that I’m sure each reader will interpret it in their own way. I believe this is what the author set out to achieve.

“A fall from grace, a fall from heaven, a fall from sanity, a succession of falls.’

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory triumphs in its emotional and unsettling storytelling. It is both a study of the past and a warning for the future. Barsukov creates something quite special here, a tale that keeps readers thinking long after they’ve turned the last page.

ARC provided by Stephen at Blackcrow PR in exchange for an honest review. All quotes used are taken from an early ARC and are subject to change upon publication. 

Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory will be released 12th November but you can pre-order your copy on Bookshop.org