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Three Eight One
An astonishing literary crossover novel about the pressures of growing up and the nature of authorship.
In January 2314, Rowena Savalas – a curator of the vast archive of the twenty-first century’s primitive internet – stumbles upon a story posted in the summer of 2024. She’s quickly drawn into the mystery of the Is it autobiography, fantasy or fraud? What’s the significance of the recurring number 381?
In the story, the protagonist Fairly walks the Horned Road – a quest undertaken by youngsters in her village when they come of age. She is followed by the 'Breathing Man', a looming presence, dogging her heels every step of the way. Everything she was taught about her world is overturned.
Following Fairly’s quest, Rowena comes to question her own choices, and a predictable life of curation becomes one of exploration, adventure and love. As both women’s stories draw to a close, she realises it doesn’t matter whether the story is true or as with the quest itself, it’s the journey that matters.
In January 2314, Rowena Savalas – a curator of the vast archive of the twenty-first century’s primitive internet – stumbles upon a story posted in the summer of 2024. She’s quickly drawn into the mystery of the Is it autobiography, fantasy or fraud? What’s the significance of the recurring number 381?
In the story, the protagonist Fairly walks the Horned Road – a quest undertaken by youngsters in her village when they come of age. She is followed by the 'Breathing Man', a looming presence, dogging her heels every step of the way. Everything she was taught about her world is overturned.
Following Fairly’s quest, Rowena comes to question her own choices, and a predictable life of curation becomes one of exploration, adventure and love. As both women’s stories draw to a close, she realises it doesn’t matter whether the story is true or as with the quest itself, it’s the journey that matters.
269 pages, Hardcover
First published January 16, 2024
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1061 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
January 19, 2024
Aliya Whiteley’s latest novel is unique, a ‘hero’s journey’ more colourful than life, a sense that there is a lacquer over the top of what we read about Fairly – a young ‘quester’ setting off from her home village to explore a strange land. A feeling that we’re reading a description of a videogame rather than seeing the coding underneath, or the inspiration for the story. Which makes it perfect that there is in fact an additional layer of interpretation: hundreds of years later, an archivist living in a very different world (where the individual no longer truly exists, as human consciousness is shared) finds Fairly’s story and annotates it, trying to decode its meaning.
Fairly’s story, titled The Dance of the Horned Road, is weird and sometimes inscrutable, with repeating motifs such as mysterious creatures called cha, a ‘chain device’ Fairly must press at pivotal points in her journey (and which always causes the narrative perspective to shift), and the sinister ‘breathing man’ who stalks her all the way. It can feel useless to try and impose a moral on any of it. My take is that it’s best understood by way of the tension between Fairly’s solitary quest and the archivist’s existence as a person in whom ‘all the information ever amassed’ is contained. It reminded me of books like Confessions of the Fox, The Book of Luce and The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas – none of which are SFF, but all centre on a similar idea about a narrator trying to excavate the truth from a document/cache of evidence, layers of reading on top of reading.
I received an advance review copy of Three Eight One from the publisher through NetGalley.
Fairly’s story, titled The Dance of the Horned Road, is weird and sometimes inscrutable, with repeating motifs such as mysterious creatures called cha, a ‘chain device’ Fairly must press at pivotal points in her journey (and which always causes the narrative perspective to shift), and the sinister ‘breathing man’ who stalks her all the way. It can feel useless to try and impose a moral on any of it. My take is that it’s best understood by way of the tension between Fairly’s solitary quest and the archivist’s existence as a person in whom ‘all the information ever amassed’ is contained. It reminded me of books like Confessions of the Fox, The Book of Luce and The Unauthorised Biography of Ezra Maas – none of which are SFF, but all centre on a similar idea about a narrator trying to excavate the truth from a document/cache of evidence, layers of reading on top of reading.
I received an advance review copy of Three Eight One from the publisher through NetGalley.
January 13, 2025
Imagine trying to describe this book to someone and all you can do is make vague noises and talk about magical pigs. At least, I think the pigs were magical. Perhaps they were just very talented? This is a strange, mysterious story with two POVs, where we follow a girl on a quest and a person in the future, also reading about the girl on a quest.
The person in the future only appears in footnotes, talking about their own thoughts and feelings on the strange little story. They would chime in at random moments, making me feel like I was experiencing this with an enthusiastic, if sometimes a little annoying, buddy reader.
This story left me with more questions than answers but for once, I don't think having an answers would help. I trusted to the story to take me somewhere interesting and it did, following paths to villages, seas and people, with Fairly questioning the meaning of the Quest along the way.
The person in the future only appears in footnotes, talking about their own thoughts and feelings on the strange little story. They would chime in at random moments, making me feel like I was experiencing this with an enthusiastic, if sometimes a little annoying, buddy reader.
This story left me with more questions than answers but for once, I don't think having an answers would help. I trusted to the story to take me somewhere interesting and it did, following paths to villages, seas and people, with Fairly questioning the meaning of the Quest along the way.
February 26, 2024
Overall, this is the kind of story where I admire the structure and ambitions more than I enjoyed the general reading experience. 3 stars for me, but I can see this being a real favorite for others.
The frame narrative is told by Rowena Savalas, a curator in 2314 who has discovered a manuscript called The Dance of the Horned Road from 2024, the Age of Riches, and is finding connection to her own life. She's part of the streaming consciousness where people are exported to living bodies and neatly pulled back into the stream at the end of their lives, and she's struggling to find meaning or a goal in a world without many challenges. Her earnest footnotes on the strange story she finds add texture to it.
Fairly's story starts with her leaving the village where she grew up to go on a quest where she's trying to push the buttons on mysterious devices scattered across the world and avoid the "breathing man" following her. Each section is exactly 381 words long. For the first third or so of the book, I was captivated, really enjoying the assembly of little clues, and then the story hits some back-to-back bizarre scenes that felt like major decisions that are barely mentioned after that point-- it felt like the narrative just slipped out of focus.
Stories where the quester is losing hope and not sure whether there's any meaning or success to find can be so satisfying. Even in adulthood, I still think back to Taran Wanderer, which follows a young man trying to find achievement and meaning he can take pride in. It's a frustrating and lonely journey, but one with a real come-of-age core similar to what I'd hoped to see here. Instead, Fairly seems to make many decisions "just because" without an anchored sense of growth or trying to deal with past mistakes.
For me, the story isn't satisfying because it's drifting along so aimlessly for so long, with Fairly making decisions seemingly at random. Some passages are beautifully surreal and dreamlike, but they all start to run together and left me without much investment in Fairly's future. She's following subtle signs of the horned road because the quest is important to her, but she also takes long pauses while musing about the cha, mysterious creatures of unclear power and motives, who sometimes seem small (almost rabbit-like), and sometimes human-sized. They might be simple animals, or protectors, and there are small coin-like pieces of currency also called cha that make the issue even more clouded.
The frame narrative circling back is interesting (Rowena's footnotes pause for a while and come back), but that mainly left me wanting to see more of this streaming future where people are obsessed with curating the past and categorizing experiences from the past instead of truly living life. They don't understand everything in the world they've lost, but they desperately want to, and this lively sense of curation seems like it could spin off into dozens of other stories.
The strongest element for me is the way the narrative pivots between different tenses and between first/ second/ third person. We start with a simple, earnest first-person POV that mirrors Fairly's youth and inexperience but then pivot to another style that reflects the way she's feeling more adrift and searching for meaning. This thoughtful style is so effective-- I just wish it had been used to make the story more focused. It didn't need a perfect bow of a conclusion, but it feels more like a weary shrug than a real ending. I did love the way . There are interesting layers that could be allegory or deep growth, but in the end I was left stumbling around thinking "okay, are people marrying the possible allegory for their awareness of mortality or... something?".
I normally love engaging with narrative puzzles and vague symbolism, and there's a clear invitation for search for meaning. Unfortunately, for me the long wandering never quite connected in the surreal way you find with something like Gulliver’s Travels (which this reminded me of in a few places). Even without One Big Answer, I like to put together some little ones, and many of the vignettes just slide by without much texture.
This story wasn't my favorite, but there's a lot of creativity here-- I'd be interested to read the author's short fiction and see how she works with another setting and style. If you love somewhat surreal story structures, this might be more of a favorite for you.
//
First impression: 3 stars. This book is doing some creative things with the way it shifts between first/ second/ third person, and between past and present tense, to illuminate different parts of Fairly's journey. This story follows a quester looking for meaning in her life, and she's uncertain about what that looks like, which could be a powerful growth story-- it just didn't click for me because the story leans so much on core mysteries that are never really illuminated. It's a soft-focus surrealist slide through an unusual text, all annotated with footnotes from someone who's uncovering these old words and finding connection to her own life. All in all, a clever format, but not necessarily one that resolves in a satisfying way. RTC.
Other recommendations:
-If you want a more linear/ less experimental journey about a search for meaning, try A Psalm for the Wild-Built. There's a similar sense of yearning for something without quite knowing what it is.
The frame narrative is told by Rowena Savalas, a curator in 2314 who has discovered a manuscript called The Dance of the Horned Road from 2024, the Age of Riches, and is finding connection to her own life. She's part of the streaming consciousness where people are exported to living bodies and neatly pulled back into the stream at the end of their lives, and she's struggling to find meaning or a goal in a world without many challenges. Her earnest footnotes on the strange story she finds add texture to it.
Fairly's story starts with her leaving the village where she grew up to go on a quest where she's trying to push the buttons on mysterious devices scattered across the world and avoid the "breathing man" following her. Each section is exactly 381 words long. For the first third or so of the book, I was captivated, really enjoying the assembly of little clues, and then the story hits some back-to-back bizarre scenes that felt like major decisions that are barely mentioned after that point-- it felt like the narrative just slipped out of focus.
Stories where the quester is losing hope and not sure whether there's any meaning or success to find can be so satisfying. Even in adulthood, I still think back to Taran Wanderer, which follows a young man trying to find achievement and meaning he can take pride in. It's a frustrating and lonely journey, but one with a real come-of-age core similar to what I'd hoped to see here. Instead, Fairly seems to make many decisions "just because" without an anchored sense of growth or trying to deal with past mistakes.
For me, the story isn't satisfying because it's drifting along so aimlessly for so long, with Fairly making decisions seemingly at random. Some passages are beautifully surreal and dreamlike, but they all start to run together and left me without much investment in Fairly's future. She's following subtle signs of the horned road because the quest is important to her, but she also takes long pauses while musing about the cha, mysterious creatures of unclear power and motives, who sometimes seem small (almost rabbit-like), and sometimes human-sized. They might be simple animals, or protectors, and there are small coin-like pieces of currency also called cha that make the issue even more clouded.
The frame narrative circling back is interesting (Rowena's footnotes pause for a while and come back), but that mainly left me wanting to see more of this streaming future where people are obsessed with curating the past and categorizing experiences from the past instead of truly living life. They don't understand everything in the world they've lost, but they desperately want to, and this lively sense of curation seems like it could spin off into dozens of other stories.
The strongest element for me is the way the narrative pivots between different tenses and between first/ second/ third person. We start with a simple, earnest first-person POV that mirrors Fairly's youth and inexperience but then pivot to another style that reflects the way she's feeling more adrift and searching for meaning. This thoughtful style is so effective-- I just wish it had been used to make the story more focused. It didn't need a perfect bow of a conclusion, but it feels more like a weary shrug than a real ending. I did love the way . There are interesting layers that could be allegory or deep growth, but in the end I was left stumbling around thinking "okay, are people marrying the possible allegory for their awareness of mortality or... something?".
I normally love engaging with narrative puzzles and vague symbolism, and there's a clear invitation for search for meaning. Unfortunately, for me the long wandering never quite connected in the surreal way you find with something like Gulliver’s Travels (which this reminded me of in a few places). Even without One Big Answer, I like to put together some little ones, and many of the vignettes just slide by without much texture.
This story wasn't my favorite, but there's a lot of creativity here-- I'd be interested to read the author's short fiction and see how she works with another setting and style. If you love somewhat surreal story structures, this might be more of a favorite for you.
//
First impression: 3 stars. This book is doing some creative things with the way it shifts between first/ second/ third person, and between past and present tense, to illuminate different parts of Fairly's journey. This story follows a quester looking for meaning in her life, and she's uncertain about what that looks like, which could be a powerful growth story-- it just didn't click for me because the story leans so much on core mysteries that are never really illuminated. It's a soft-focus surrealist slide through an unusual text, all annotated with footnotes from someone who's uncovering these old words and finding connection to her own life. All in all, a clever format, but not necessarily one that resolves in a satisfying way. RTC.
Other recommendations:
-If you want a more linear/ less experimental journey about a search for meaning, try A Psalm for the Wild-Built. There's a similar sense of yearning for something without quite knowing what it is.
February 15, 2024
Aside from the Classics, your Austens, Brontës, and Tolkiens, there aren't a whole lot of authors whose name immediately has me pulling out my wallet, or Kindle. Aliya Whiteley became one for me over the last decade or so, however, as each new novel, novella, or short story from her would open up new worlds and new ways of storytelling for me. So naturally, I was excited to see what she had in store for me next, after the Sci-Fi/Speculative wonder that was Skyward Inn. I was not prepared for Three Eight One, however. Thanks to Rebellion and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I'm a Medievalist, which means that when I'm not getting lost in the maze of admin, I'm exploring the intricacies of texts that are centuries old. Some are even a milleniun old. While I immensely enjoy this activity, it also poses a whole variety of problems. Often medieval texts are artifacts without context. They usually don't have a title, we give one to them so we can talk about them. They don't have a named author, they don't have dates attached, they are collected alongside other texts which may or may not relate to them. They are often in formats, rhyme schemes, etc. which we cannot entirely define or explain. They tell stories, but not in a way that we're used to in the twenty-first century. Reading Three Eight One reminded me of reading medieval texts, pouring over them for meaning, attaching little footnotes or post-it notes to random pages and phrases with questions, exclamations, personal connections. Medieval characterisation, without going into an entire essay, often feels flat to first-time readers. We don't get the same deep-dive into the internal lives of the characters, their motivations remain opaque, their actions seem to follow a prepared path that they do not resist or chase. This is what 'The Dance of the Horned Road' represents to our main character as well, I think. A text that somehow connects and which yet is so drastically different from what she knows. This story must have meant something then, so surely it can mean something now? Even if the answer to that question is yes, we still wonder what it could mean. If you enjoy these puzzles, if you enjoy encountering narration which shifts and changes without giving you an explanation, you'll adore Three Eight One.
Rowena, from the distance of hundreds of years, combs through the vast remains of the twenty-first century, known as the 'Age of Riches', looking for meaning. In her present, life works differently, humanity works differently. There is less danger, violence, and war, sure, but is there also less... well, life? Is she as free as humans of the past were in choosing her future? As she mulls over these questions, needing to make a choice about where to take her life, she decides to annotate a story from the twenty-first century, 'The Dance of the Horned Road', which tells the story of Fairly and her quest. In Fairly's village, every teenager who feels called can set out on a quest, following the Horned Road. They are given three "cha" and must press specific button they come across on their journey. By the end, she will be different, or so Fairly is told. But what is the Horned Road, who are the Cha, and who is the Breathing Man following her? Is there a point to her journey, or to Rowena's? What is 'The Dance of the Horned Road'?
Like I said above, Aliya Whiteley has been a favourite author of mine for quite a number of years now. Each time I pick up a new book by her, I am surprised at the directions she takes me in, the questions she poses, the themes she plays with. What I enjoy about her writing and the worlds she creates ist hatthey usually require the reader to dig a little deeper into themselves as well, into their own response to the story. It creates a quite layered reading experience, in many ways, which is brought to the surface in Three Eight One. It is, perhaps, her least penetrable work, in the sense that the search for meaning is so elemental to the story that you will truly have to find it for yourself. Neither Whiteley, nor Rowena and Fairly, will fully make sense of what occurs in the novel. There is no clear answer as to why all of 'The Dance of the Horned Road' is written in chapters of 381 words. It can all mean something, however, and putting that together is something each reader will have to do for themselves. It's a puzzle without a previously-defined picture to aim for, if that makes sense. In this way Three Eight One might not be for everyone, which is absolutely fine. But I can only say that it does reward to time and effort. Unlike other reviewers, I had no issue with the footnotes, but then I do adore a good footnote. I liked the way in which these interruptions of Fairly's narrative both engaged directly with it and did not. Rowena's life takes its own turns, which can only partially be mapped onto the organised Hero's Journey Fairly is undertaking. And yet, together, the two stories tell a tale of humanity, of questioning, of losing, of finding, and of journeying.
Three Eight One is a fascinatingly complex novel about storytelling, growing up, finding meaning, and then losing it again. It is a novel that will reward rereading, I am sure, and is another impressive piece of work from Aliya Whiteley.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
I'm a Medievalist, which means that when I'm not getting lost in the maze of admin, I'm exploring the intricacies of texts that are centuries old. Some are even a milleniun old. While I immensely enjoy this activity, it also poses a whole variety of problems. Often medieval texts are artifacts without context. They usually don't have a title, we give one to them so we can talk about them. They don't have a named author, they don't have dates attached, they are collected alongside other texts which may or may not relate to them. They are often in formats, rhyme schemes, etc. which we cannot entirely define or explain. They tell stories, but not in a way that we're used to in the twenty-first century. Reading Three Eight One reminded me of reading medieval texts, pouring over them for meaning, attaching little footnotes or post-it notes to random pages and phrases with questions, exclamations, personal connections. Medieval characterisation, without going into an entire essay, often feels flat to first-time readers. We don't get the same deep-dive into the internal lives of the characters, their motivations remain opaque, their actions seem to follow a prepared path that they do not resist or chase. This is what 'The Dance of the Horned Road' represents to our main character as well, I think. A text that somehow connects and which yet is so drastically different from what she knows. This story must have meant something then, so surely it can mean something now? Even if the answer to that question is yes, we still wonder what it could mean. If you enjoy these puzzles, if you enjoy encountering narration which shifts and changes without giving you an explanation, you'll adore Three Eight One.
Rowena, from the distance of hundreds of years, combs through the vast remains of the twenty-first century, known as the 'Age of Riches', looking for meaning. In her present, life works differently, humanity works differently. There is less danger, violence, and war, sure, but is there also less... well, life? Is she as free as humans of the past were in choosing her future? As she mulls over these questions, needing to make a choice about where to take her life, she decides to annotate a story from the twenty-first century, 'The Dance of the Horned Road', which tells the story of Fairly and her quest. In Fairly's village, every teenager who feels called can set out on a quest, following the Horned Road. They are given three "cha" and must press specific button they come across on their journey. By the end, she will be different, or so Fairly is told. But what is the Horned Road, who are the Cha, and who is the Breathing Man following her? Is there a point to her journey, or to Rowena's? What is 'The Dance of the Horned Road'?
Like I said above, Aliya Whiteley has been a favourite author of mine for quite a number of years now. Each time I pick up a new book by her, I am surprised at the directions she takes me in, the questions she poses, the themes she plays with. What I enjoy about her writing and the worlds she creates ist hatthey usually require the reader to dig a little deeper into themselves as well, into their own response to the story. It creates a quite layered reading experience, in many ways, which is brought to the surface in Three Eight One. It is, perhaps, her least penetrable work, in the sense that the search for meaning is so elemental to the story that you will truly have to find it for yourself. Neither Whiteley, nor Rowena and Fairly, will fully make sense of what occurs in the novel. There is no clear answer as to why all of 'The Dance of the Horned Road' is written in chapters of 381 words. It can all mean something, however, and putting that together is something each reader will have to do for themselves. It's a puzzle without a previously-defined picture to aim for, if that makes sense. In this way Three Eight One might not be for everyone, which is absolutely fine. But I can only say that it does reward to time and effort. Unlike other reviewers, I had no issue with the footnotes, but then I do adore a good footnote. I liked the way in which these interruptions of Fairly's narrative both engaged directly with it and did not. Rowena's life takes its own turns, which can only partially be mapped onto the organised Hero's Journey Fairly is undertaking. And yet, together, the two stories tell a tale of humanity, of questioning, of losing, of finding, and of journeying.
Three Eight One is a fascinatingly complex novel about storytelling, growing up, finding meaning, and then losing it again. It is a novel that will reward rereading, I am sure, and is another impressive piece of work from Aliya Whiteley.
URL: https://universeinwords.blogspot.com/...
January 11, 2024
3.5*
Do I fully understand this book? Honestly, I do not. Yet somehow, I still kind of liked it? Unusual, that, since I usually just get angry at the thing, but here I was still sort of compelled to proceed on this journey, despite a lot of "wait, what is going on?" comments. I enjoyed Fairly's story, and her journey, even though I had no idea what the point of it was. I also really liked the parts where Rowena, from a time hundreds of years removed from our own, is researching and reflecting on this story. In fact, I do wish there was more of that, the parts from the future really intrigued me. (And as several other reviewers have mentioned, navigating the "footnotes from the future" on an eARC format is nearly impossible- I do think it will be more enjoyable in a finished format!)
As I mentioned, Fairly was on a journey. Somewhere. For some reason. Our archivist knows as little as we do, which is a fun perspective. There is a lot of commentary on humanity, and our current time period, which I appreciated. Parts of the story were almost like a puzzle, making me want to figure out what I was missing, and that was enjoyable. Less enjoyable, perhaps, was the shift in points of view- I don't like the switching to begin with, let alone mid-chapter (and in some cases, even mid-sentence) but that is a more personal preference. I think I'd have also liked to have gotten to know Fairly a bit more on a personal level, but maybe that is part of the point- that her journey could be any of ours? Regardless, I doubt I will forget this book any time soon, for it is one of a kind.
Bottom Line: I have to give this one props for being very unique and exploring storytelling in an outside-the-box fashion, while not alienating me from the story. That's pretty impressive, honestly.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
Do I fully understand this book? Honestly, I do not. Yet somehow, I still kind of liked it? Unusual, that, since I usually just get angry at the thing, but here I was still sort of compelled to proceed on this journey, despite a lot of "wait, what is going on?" comments. I enjoyed Fairly's story, and her journey, even though I had no idea what the point of it was. I also really liked the parts where Rowena, from a time hundreds of years removed from our own, is researching and reflecting on this story. In fact, I do wish there was more of that, the parts from the future really intrigued me. (And as several other reviewers have mentioned, navigating the "footnotes from the future" on an eARC format is nearly impossible- I do think it will be more enjoyable in a finished format!)
As I mentioned, Fairly was on a journey. Somewhere. For some reason. Our archivist knows as little as we do, which is a fun perspective. There is a lot of commentary on humanity, and our current time period, which I appreciated. Parts of the story were almost like a puzzle, making me want to figure out what I was missing, and that was enjoyable. Less enjoyable, perhaps, was the shift in points of view- I don't like the switching to begin with, let alone mid-chapter (and in some cases, even mid-sentence) but that is a more personal preference. I think I'd have also liked to have gotten to know Fairly a bit more on a personal level, but maybe that is part of the point- that her journey could be any of ours? Regardless, I doubt I will forget this book any time soon, for it is one of a kind.
Bottom Line: I have to give this one props for being very unique and exploring storytelling in an outside-the-box fashion, while not alienating me from the story. That's pretty impressive, honestly.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
December 28, 2024
I love this author. Probably my favorite living writer in this time. She is sooo fucking good.
Truly original. Punch yourself in the face if you haven’t read — then plug those noseholes with tampons and go read: The Beauty, From the Neck Up (her book of short stories), Skyward Inn, The Loosening Skin, all of it. Then feel high without touching drugs.
Now to this one.
This book has her usual transcendent moments that give the exhilarating feeling of an incoming brain-blowing epiphany along with beautiful stretches of psychedelic/surreal logic and plain fun, silly observations of just how weird life is. She is the auteur of scifi-psychedelia (sci-fi-delia? No, ignore) fiction. But it just don’t quite hit for me like her previous works. I think it’s that this one is intentionally, especially obtuse/indecipherable. Hell, at least she warns you early of this. I like the main two voices/characters Fairly and Rowena enough to get choked up in certain passages. Maybe it was writerly restraint (bc I do see her as a master of the craft) but she never quite goes “all the way there” for the emotionally cathartic “kill” which I low-key needed in this book (and all the time). I enjoyed the journey, but by the end it all feels a bit empty — whatever the equivalent of a circle-jerk for laaaaydeees is. A circle-rub-a-dub-a-dub-dub? Lol
I’m also just probably not smart enough for some of the metaphors/motifs/meanings. However, the breathing man haunts me like he haunts us all and is just excellent/*chef’s kiss*. I love how he can basically symbolize whatever he needs to for the reader as well as the arc for his character.
Misc. thoughts
Structurally ambitious - 381 words a chapter/section + the footnotes (as a big footnote-lover myself, I did not mind this at all and it was somewhat exciting towards the end of the novel when the footnotes became more interesting than the main narrative before being suddenly cutoff). (You may notice that parentheses are my main footnote substitute). On top of the book allegedly being 381 chapter/sections (I trust Aliya and the editor and did not bother counting, but factually, it’s very fun to say, “allegedly”) I also liked learning that 381 has the secret early internet meaning of “I love you”. Aliya has a few other cute tie-ins to this. But all the numerology as meaning adds up to this novel being a love letter to “love” (very psychedelic - guy 1: “what’d you learn from your trip duuuude?” guy 2: *tokes with deep inhale* “duuuude, we should all just like love each other maaaaan”) and I unironically love the meta-meaning here and appreciate the effort greatly. But it also feels a bit too much like a writerly exercise. The soul ain’t all the way there but the math maths its ass off.
This one also felt a bit like Aliya’s own “Sea of Tranquility” - pandemic novel, sci-fi space preoccupations with a strange future that is possible and well-realized and some jumping through time. Plenty of differences too of course. For my money, I’ll take Sea of T (who wouldn’t want a Sea of Tea? *insert “what’s the tea” GIF* Also funnily enough, kind of Skyward Inn’s pitch: “A sea of tea swallowing us all - also lowkey the internet ((footnotes are soooo much better than parentheses, don’t get in the way as much, right?)) over 381.
381 to all who read this or anything else.
This book did leave me still with some reading momentum even if it didn’t grab me by the root of my soul’s dick (credit Eudora Welty) like her others have. Shout-out to her non-fiction essays for Den of Geek showing me the OG-weirdass things like Hour of the Wolf and OG-sci-fi buckos like Nigel Kneale.
Lowest rating. Still worth the read if you want something light, weird, and dreamlike. But check out her others first, I beg you.
Truly original. Punch yourself in the face if you haven’t read — then plug those noseholes with tampons and go read: The Beauty, From the Neck Up (her book of short stories), Skyward Inn, The Loosening Skin, all of it. Then feel high without touching drugs.
Now to this one.
This book has her usual transcendent moments that give the exhilarating feeling of an incoming brain-blowing epiphany along with beautiful stretches of psychedelic/surreal logic and plain fun, silly observations of just how weird life is. She is the auteur of scifi-psychedelia (sci-fi-delia? No, ignore) fiction. But it just don’t quite hit for me like her previous works. I think it’s that this one is intentionally, especially obtuse/indecipherable. Hell, at least she warns you early of this. I like the main two voices/characters Fairly and Rowena enough to get choked up in certain passages. Maybe it was writerly restraint (bc I do see her as a master of the craft) but she never quite goes “all the way there” for the emotionally cathartic “kill” which I low-key needed in this book (and all the time). I enjoyed the journey, but by the end it all feels a bit empty — whatever the equivalent of a circle-jerk for laaaaydeees is. A circle-rub-a-dub-a-dub-dub? Lol
I’m also just probably not smart enough for some of the metaphors/motifs/meanings. However, the breathing man haunts me like he haunts us all and is just excellent/*chef’s kiss*. I love how he can basically symbolize whatever he needs to for the reader as well as the arc for his character.
Misc. thoughts
Structurally ambitious - 381 words a chapter/section + the footnotes (as a big footnote-lover myself, I did not mind this at all and it was somewhat exciting towards the end of the novel when the footnotes became more interesting than the main narrative before being suddenly cutoff). (You may notice that parentheses are my main footnote substitute). On top of the book allegedly being 381 chapter/sections (I trust Aliya and the editor and did not bother counting, but factually, it’s very fun to say, “allegedly”) I also liked learning that 381 has the secret early internet meaning of “I love you”. Aliya has a few other cute tie-ins to this. But all the numerology as meaning adds up to this novel being a love letter to “love” (very psychedelic - guy 1: “what’d you learn from your trip duuuude?” guy 2: *tokes with deep inhale* “duuuude, we should all just like love each other maaaaan”) and I unironically love the meta-meaning here and appreciate the effort greatly. But it also feels a bit too much like a writerly exercise. The soul ain’t all the way there but the math maths its ass off.
This one also felt a bit like Aliya’s own “Sea of Tranquility” - pandemic novel, sci-fi space preoccupations with a strange future that is possible and well-realized and some jumping through time. Plenty of differences too of course. For my money, I’ll take Sea of T (who wouldn’t want a Sea of Tea? *insert “what’s the tea” GIF* Also funnily enough, kind of Skyward Inn’s pitch: “A sea of tea swallowing us all - also lowkey the internet ((footnotes are soooo much better than parentheses, don’t get in the way as much, right?)) over 381.
381 to all who read this or anything else.
This book did leave me still with some reading momentum even if it didn’t grab me by the root of my soul’s dick (credit Eudora Welty) like her others have. Shout-out to her non-fiction essays for Den of Geek showing me the OG-weirdass things like Hour of the Wolf and OG-sci-fi buckos like Nigel Kneale.
Lowest rating. Still worth the read if you want something light, weird, and dreamlike. But check out her others first, I beg you.
January 30, 2024
3.5 stars
This was a weird but charming book. It revolves around a researcher in the future reading a document from the past. This document tells the story of a young woman, Fairly, who goes on a quest. A quest where she will encounter challenges and learn from them. Her quest was surreal at times and not always grounded in logic. It did feel like I was reading a hero’s journey with her end goal being growth and clarity. At times her journey felt like a metaphor for growing up and becoming an adult. However, what sets her apart from others are the decisions she makes at the end of the book.
What I disliked about the book were the constant footnotes. The researcher from the future leaves footnotes on almost every single page in which she’s reacting to the story. I found the footnotes annoying and they broke the flow of the story. Overall though, I enjoyed this strange book. I felt like I was on a journey alongside the character and while I didn’t completely understand what was going on, I was able to draw my own conclusions on what type of person Fairly is.
This was a weird but charming book. It revolves around a researcher in the future reading a document from the past. This document tells the story of a young woman, Fairly, who goes on a quest. A quest where she will encounter challenges and learn from them. Her quest was surreal at times and not always grounded in logic. It did feel like I was reading a hero’s journey with her end goal being growth and clarity. At times her journey felt like a metaphor for growing up and becoming an adult. However, what sets her apart from others are the decisions she makes at the end of the book.
What I disliked about the book were the constant footnotes. The researcher from the future leaves footnotes on almost every single page in which she’s reacting to the story. I found the footnotes annoying and they broke the flow of the story. Overall though, I enjoyed this strange book. I felt like I was on a journey alongside the character and while I didn’t completely understand what was going on, I was able to draw my own conclusions on what type of person Fairly is.
January 29, 2024
Three Eight One is an interesting premise; a curator from 300 years in the future becomes obsessed with a story from 2024 and is drawn into its mysteries – but is it fact or fiction?
Most of this book focuses on the story that is being told about Fairly and her quest on the Horned Road, with asides and comments from the historian written in footnotes. Thankfully these are clickable in the Kindle edition which makes them easy to read but I’m not sure how well they’d work in a print version – you’d either have to spend a lot of time flicking backwards and forwards (there are 85 of them in total), or they must take up a lot of room at the bottom of each page. I personally found these just ended up breaking up the flow of the narrative and I found myself getting annoyed at them – particularly as I got more engaged in the fantasy story.
I really liked the idea of a future historian reading a text from present day and trying to piece things together, but I think it was a real shame and a missed opportunity that the novel the author chose to write was a straight fantasy. There is nothing in Fairly’s story that mirrors or parallels real life and so I found myself caring very little about what the historian thought of any of it. If there had been references to life now, or asides where she misunderstood certain things or had incorrect information, it could have been quite a fun read, but I found the footnotes to be increasingly irritating.
The fantasy story itself was an ok read, however it’s very fractured and I struggled to picture or understand a lot of what was being written about. I didn’t understand the Breathing Man or the Cha or the fact that everyone didn’t seem to mind that certain people just went on quests. The chain machines that were sometimes buttons and sometimes phones also made little sense. I think there could have been a stronger or darker reveal about what the quest really was, and after the reveal the rest of the story just got confusing. I didn’t really feel like we got to know Fairly as a character either, she made some odd choices and took quite a lot of side tangents on her quest.
Overall, I found Three Eight One to be a bit of a mess, the fantasy element of the story took away from the historian narrative, and the story itself was muddled and frustrating. Thank you to NetGalley & Rebellion – Solaris for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out www.kindig.co.uk
Most of this book focuses on the story that is being told about Fairly and her quest on the Horned Road, with asides and comments from the historian written in footnotes. Thankfully these are clickable in the Kindle edition which makes them easy to read but I’m not sure how well they’d work in a print version – you’d either have to spend a lot of time flicking backwards and forwards (there are 85 of them in total), or they must take up a lot of room at the bottom of each page. I personally found these just ended up breaking up the flow of the narrative and I found myself getting annoyed at them – particularly as I got more engaged in the fantasy story.
I really liked the idea of a future historian reading a text from present day and trying to piece things together, but I think it was a real shame and a missed opportunity that the novel the author chose to write was a straight fantasy. There is nothing in Fairly’s story that mirrors or parallels real life and so I found myself caring very little about what the historian thought of any of it. If there had been references to life now, or asides where she misunderstood certain things or had incorrect information, it could have been quite a fun read, but I found the footnotes to be increasingly irritating.
The fantasy story itself was an ok read, however it’s very fractured and I struggled to picture or understand a lot of what was being written about. I didn’t understand the Breathing Man or the Cha or the fact that everyone didn’t seem to mind that certain people just went on quests. The chain machines that were sometimes buttons and sometimes phones also made little sense. I think there could have been a stronger or darker reveal about what the quest really was, and after the reveal the rest of the story just got confusing. I didn’t really feel like we got to know Fairly as a character either, she made some odd choices and took quite a lot of side tangents on her quest.
Overall, I found Three Eight One to be a bit of a mess, the fantasy element of the story took away from the historian narrative, and the story itself was muddled and frustrating. Thank you to NetGalley & Rebellion – Solaris for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out www.kindig.co.uk
Read
December 4, 2024Three Eight One starts in 2314. Archivist Rowena Savalas, a curator of the 21st-century internet—including, I assume, all the porn—comes across a story published on the net in 2024. The novel-length piece (which takes up the bulk of Three Eight One) tells the tale of Fairly, a member of a walled community that sends their youth out into the world to walk the mysterious Horned Road. Fairly’s narrative, which changes from third person to second person to first person depending on Fairly finding and activating a silver box with a red button, is broken up into bite-sized chunks, each consisting of three hundred and eight one words. We learn this factoid from Rowena, whose over 80 footnotes pepper the text.
Three Eight One is a novel of discovery—both literal and figurative. Literal in that Fairly has no idea as to what she might find as she travels down the Horned Road. Figurative in that both Fairly and Rowena are on a journey of the self that pushes against their society's conventions. The fact they come full circle, ending up where they started, isn’t a sign of failure but one of growth. They came back with a perspective, a vision, informed by experience.
I know how academic and dry all that sounds, but Whiteley seems to be having fun playing with our expectations, situating Fairly in strange, unexpected environments—including outer space. There’s the lurking breathing man, always one step behind Fairly, and the enigmatic CHA, who may or may not be sentient pigs. And, of course, there’s Rowena’s footnotes—funny and naive,* but also curious and passionate.
Three Eight One is precisely the sort of genre work—not exactly science fiction, not strictly fantasy—that, like the work of Nina Alan, Lavie Tidhar, Adam Roberts and recently Alex Pheby, gives me hope that there’s still life in contemporary speculative fiction.
*Rowena has little to no conception of fiction, making for some amusing observations.
Three Eight One is a novel of discovery—both literal and figurative. Literal in that Fairly has no idea as to what she might find as she travels down the Horned Road. Figurative in that both Fairly and Rowena are on a journey of the self that pushes against their society's conventions. The fact they come full circle, ending up where they started, isn’t a sign of failure but one of growth. They came back with a perspective, a vision, informed by experience.
I know how academic and dry all that sounds, but Whiteley seems to be having fun playing with our expectations, situating Fairly in strange, unexpected environments—including outer space. There’s the lurking breathing man, always one step behind Fairly, and the enigmatic CHA, who may or may not be sentient pigs. And, of course, there’s Rowena’s footnotes—funny and naive,* but also curious and passionate.
Three Eight One is precisely the sort of genre work—not exactly science fiction, not strictly fantasy—that, like the work of Nina Alan, Lavie Tidhar, Adam Roberts and recently Alex Pheby, gives me hope that there’s still life in contemporary speculative fiction.
*Rowena has little to no conception of fiction, making for some amusing observations.
January 19, 2024
A gloriously inventive take of the future and fantasy exploring the idea of the quest and what it means to us a person from the future reads and comments on a fantasy book from 2024 explaining what it means in unusual ways - a brilliant read that makes you think about why you read toon
Full review https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
May 7, 2025
So, this was a sci-fi hero's journey.
I really enjoyed it especially because it was wild and wonderful and somehow cynical too, especially Fairly was cast better as our main character who actually wasn't perfect or all-knowing.
A very clever detail I found was the change of narrative every time the Chain device was pressed. It was really well written and it normally took a few pages to realise at all.
What wasn't clear for me was that I thought her mam basically said the dad ran away but he's somehow become the breathing man... whereas when she ends up marrying and carrying the breathing man's children (Bernard also Ew ), is that not weird?
I am in the mindset that the cha were not pigs at all! they were like little magical gremlins somehow...Hmmm
Lastly I found it cool that a 17 year old "future" girl finds the diary of a 17 year old "past" girl but honestly the commentary when she goes and comes back was very irritating, I didn't understand why she didn't fill us in on her life span after Fairly's story ended, at the last report pages or something.
I really enjoyed it especially because it was wild and wonderful and somehow cynical too, especially Fairly was cast better as our main character who actually wasn't perfect or all-knowing.
A very clever detail I found was the change of narrative every time the Chain device was pressed. It was really well written and it normally took a few pages to realise at all.
What wasn't clear for me was that I thought her mam basically said the dad ran away but he's somehow become the breathing man... whereas when she ends up marrying and carrying the breathing man's children (Bernard also Ew ), is that not weird?
I am in the mindset that the cha were not pigs at all! they were like little magical gremlins somehow...Hmmm
Lastly I found it cool that a 17 year old "future" girl finds the diary of a 17 year old "past" girl but honestly the commentary when she goes and comes back was very irritating, I didn't understand why she didn't fill us in on her life span after Fairly's story ended, at the last report pages or something.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 5, 2024
Rezension folgt noch! Das muss noch ein wenig arbeiten.
February 21, 2024
**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, blood, drowning, death, animal death, stalking
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Having read Whiteley’s Skyward Inn I knew I was in for an absolutely baffling read that will give me much to think on when picking up Three Eight One.
This little novel is written in the from of an essay where a curator of the future is analysing a 3 centuries old text telling the story of a young woman going on a coming of age quest. The majority of the book is this tale that feels like an Alice in Wonderland-esque, acid trip type of adventure. Then there are added footnotes where the curator questions the authorship and meaning of the text, whether it is factual or pure fiction as well as adding in their own reactions and personal introspection.
I will admit that I didn’t find I could really connect to either of the protagonists plus the curator’s notes often went on a lengthy tangent that took me out of the story a little but Whiteley’s writing was still compelling. Both the bizarre circumstances of Fairly’s quest down the Horned Road and all the tension of being followed by the Breathing Man meant I was pulled back in to see what would happen next. There is also the mystery of the significance of the number 381 woven into it all which though by the end was a little underwhelming, I thought it was still clever.
I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone but there are plenty of thought provoking quotes to stumble upon and it is truly a unique reading experience if you have the patience for irregular narrative styles and storylines that don’t entirely make sense.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
CW: violence, blood, drowning, death, animal death, stalking
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Having read Whiteley’s Skyward Inn I knew I was in for an absolutely baffling read that will give me much to think on when picking up Three Eight One.
This little novel is written in the from of an essay where a curator of the future is analysing a 3 centuries old text telling the story of a young woman going on a coming of age quest. The majority of the book is this tale that feels like an Alice in Wonderland-esque, acid trip type of adventure. Then there are added footnotes where the curator questions the authorship and meaning of the text, whether it is factual or pure fiction as well as adding in their own reactions and personal introspection.
I will admit that I didn’t find I could really connect to either of the protagonists plus the curator’s notes often went on a lengthy tangent that took me out of the story a little but Whiteley’s writing was still compelling. Both the bizarre circumstances of Fairly’s quest down the Horned Road and all the tension of being followed by the Breathing Man meant I was pulled back in to see what would happen next. There is also the mystery of the significance of the number 381 woven into it all which though by the end was a little underwhelming, I thought it was still clever.
I wouldn’t recommend this to everyone but there are plenty of thought provoking quotes to stumble upon and it is truly a unique reading experience if you have the patience for irregular narrative styles and storylines that don’t entirely make sense.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
February 23, 2024
It took me a while to warm up to this book, but once I got into its rhythm and stopped overanalyzing it, I found it really poignant and affecting. I really enjoyed the form: the equally-worded sections, the fun changes in perspective/tense, the double story. It was an exciting book from a formal standpoint. The whole book feels like one big dream sequence, and while I don’t think I fully understand it, I think understanding it might not be the point.
November 29, 2023
What an odd book this is.
This is a mundane sci-fi novel, the type that has no intergalactic apocalyptic war and fights. This is all about internal journeys, growth, truth and the meaning of life... it's smart, thought provoking, strange, and not about much at all, really.
Imagine in 300 years if someone tried to understand the people that existed today... imagine that among the monstrous amounts of useless content we create, they selected this one book, this one not particularly good fantasy quest, and analysed it with their own prism... and as you read you start to see more meaning too, and this not very good book starts to acquire depth and is changing... or perhaps you are changing as you're reading?
What a clever book this is.
This is a mundane sci-fi novel, the type that has no intergalactic apocalyptic war and fights. This is all about internal journeys, growth, truth and the meaning of life... it's smart, thought provoking, strange, and not about much at all, really.
Imagine in 300 years if someone tried to understand the people that existed today... imagine that among the monstrous amounts of useless content we create, they selected this one book, this one not particularly good fantasy quest, and analysed it with their own prism... and as you read you start to see more meaning too, and this not very good book starts to acquire depth and is changing... or perhaps you are changing as you're reading?
What a clever book this is.
October 2, 2023
Three Eight One consumed me. It carries with it the promise of answers, and leaves behind the maddening conviction that everything will make sense with a little more lateral thinking, one more search, an early clue seen in a new light. It's a short book that forces the reader to confront their own lack of control. Sometimes you can never find out what's behind the other door, but you have to go on living anyway.
Rowena is an archivist trying to parse meaning out of the flood of information that defines the Age of Riches, which is our modern day. Fairly is a young girl who sets out on a quest, as children do in her village, by pressing the button on a chain device that changes her point of view (quite literally). Nothing is guaranteed except the road, the quest, and the breathing man that always follows.
I read this as an ebook and for about half the book figured I would just read the footnotes at the end, since they're a bit hard to click on. Don't do this!! The footnotes, much like in other pseudo-academic works like House of Leaves, continue Rowena's frame story instead of adding information about Fairly's inner story.
Although it's not the point, I couldn't help but come up with my own theories about the cha and the Horned Road and Fairly's quest. Three Eight One is full of meaning that means everything, nothing, maybe something different to each reader -- I can't get any of it out of my head.
Three Eight One is most comparable to The Saint of Bright Doors, the uncanny almost-familiarity of surreal children's book sequels like Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Pilgrim's Progress without the Christianity, and experiencing the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon while being overwhelmed with endless search results.
I received an advance e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Rowena is an archivist trying to parse meaning out of the flood of information that defines the Age of Riches, which is our modern day. Fairly is a young girl who sets out on a quest, as children do in her village, by pressing the button on a chain device that changes her point of view (quite literally). Nothing is guaranteed except the road, the quest, and the breathing man that always follows.
I read this as an ebook and for about half the book figured I would just read the footnotes at the end, since they're a bit hard to click on. Don't do this!! The footnotes, much like in other pseudo-academic works like House of Leaves, continue Rowena's frame story instead of adding information about Fairly's inner story.
Although it's not the point, I couldn't help but come up with my own theories about the cha and the Horned Road and Fairly's quest. Three Eight One is full of meaning that means everything, nothing, maybe something different to each reader -- I can't get any of it out of my head.
Three Eight One is most comparable to The Saint of Bright Doors, the uncanny almost-familiarity of surreal children's book sequels like Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, Pilgrim's Progress without the Christianity, and experiencing the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon while being overwhelmed with endless search results.
I received an advance e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
December 23, 2023
What on earth is this book?
If you like books that make you ask that question, this is for you.
So there’s a quest story, allegedly written in 2024 but not especially feeling like 2024, and then there’s a reader three centuries later trying to figure out what it all means, or whether it even matters what it means (I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the book is going hard on the “no it doesn’t matter”) position.
So around 80% of the book follows a character questing for no reason other than it’s a thing that young people do, with no goal other than pressing buttons that periodically appear, and with no antagonist other than her one constant hidden companion who is intensely feared despite not having done anything obviously antagonistic.
Along the quest, things happen, and the main character deals with them, well or poorly, based seemingly entirely on her whims at the given moment. And then we have footnotes from the future reader telling of her own life and trying to figure out what on earth is this book.
It’s well-written overall and does some interesting things with perspective, but it’s a little bit hard to connect with a protagonist with such ill-defined desires and goals. As a book, I think it’s trying to say a lot about the meaning we make in the world and that which is made for us, and intentionally subverts the grand, meaningful quest narrative in fantasy.
But that’s a really hard needle to thread—if your point is that the story is meaningless, why exactly do you expect the reader to find it interesting? It’s certainly thought-provoking in some respects, but most of the story is just things happening. And these things aren’t especially challenging to read about, so they’re not an enormous obstacle or anything. They also just aren’t necessarily a hook either.
I think I’m glad I read this. I didn’t dislike it, but I don’t know how much I liked it either. Worth a look if you like weird little books!
First impression: 13/20. Full review to come at www.tarvolon.com
If you like books that make you ask that question, this is for you.
So there’s a quest story, allegedly written in 2024 but not especially feeling like 2024, and then there’s a reader three centuries later trying to figure out what it all means, or whether it even matters what it means (I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the book is going hard on the “no it doesn’t matter”) position.
So around 80% of the book follows a character questing for no reason other than it’s a thing that young people do, with no goal other than pressing buttons that periodically appear, and with no antagonist other than her one constant hidden companion who is intensely feared despite not having done anything obviously antagonistic.
Along the quest, things happen, and the main character deals with them, well or poorly, based seemingly entirely on her whims at the given moment. And then we have footnotes from the future reader telling of her own life and trying to figure out what on earth is this book.
It’s well-written overall and does some interesting things with perspective, but it’s a little bit hard to connect with a protagonist with such ill-defined desires and goals. As a book, I think it’s trying to say a lot about the meaning we make in the world and that which is made for us, and intentionally subverts the grand, meaningful quest narrative in fantasy.
But that’s a really hard needle to thread—if your point is that the story is meaningless, why exactly do you expect the reader to find it interesting? It’s certainly thought-provoking in some respects, but most of the story is just things happening. And these things aren’t especially challenging to read about, so they’re not an enormous obstacle or anything. They also just aren’t necessarily a hook either.
I think I’m glad I read this. I didn’t dislike it, but I don’t know how much I liked it either. Worth a look if you like weird little books!
First impression: 13/20. Full review to come at www.tarvolon.com
Read
January 11, 2024Reading this felt a bit like stumbling across a lost episode of The Good Place, or being inside a video game. There was that same sense of a setting that isn't quite within physical reality, a landscape dotted with baffling objects—the chain devices, a conveniently located boat, a bright pink pavilion tent—but available only in fuzzy resolution everywhere that isn't the foreground. A world that exists only when being observed. I mean, all novels are that, but they don't all give you such a strong impression of being that. It's very hard to tell if Three Eight One's gnomic philosophy is profound or irritatingly vague. Some elements, like Fairly's coming-of-age through experiencing work and travel, appealed to me more than others (her mother's lack of engagement; the whole episode in the swamp with the First to Fall.) I have no doubt I'll keep thinking about it, but my immediate reaction upon finishing is that it's a bit of a head-scratcher.
December 18, 2024
At some point it becomes pretty clear that the "mysteries" being presented aren't there to be resolved. 381, corresponding to the letters cha, the strange pig like creatures, why the breathing man keeps following, the boxes with the buttons. They're just filler material with an air of meaning only meant for literary snobs to invent for themselves.
The characters are unengaging despite what could have been an interesting premise: someone from a far distant future reading a person's travelogue, trying to understand it. Instead we just get a great big nothingburger.
The characters are unengaging despite what could have been an interesting premise: someone from a far distant future reading a person's travelogue, trying to understand it. Instead we just get a great big nothingburger.
June 2, 2024
I can't rate something I don't understand because what in the fuck was that?!
January 2, 2024
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.
A decidedly odd and mysterious novel with an interesting framing device, 381 is a ponderous journey with an entrancing point of view.
It’s hard to really classify this book - it’s sci-fi, but it’s unclear whether it’s post-apocalyptic, set far in the future, or set on another world. We spend most of the time following Farily on her quest, with Rowena’s journey being carried by the footnotes for the most part.
I can understand if people aren’t as into it as me, though - it’s rather meandering, the purpose isn’t very clear, and while things happen, it’s not an action-packed book. I found it a meditative, entrancing journey. I love a story where you’re not really sure what is going on, that leans into its weirdness.
I’m going to talk about something that’s not really a spoiler but is also an integral part of the story that I absolutely loved, and that’s the POV. It shifts between first, second, and third, and the swapping is based on things that happen in the novel. We’re following the same character, but certain waypoints cause the POV to shift. In this way, we are reminded that the story we are reading is a story that Rowena has found and is reading. In this way, we’re led to question: what is this story? Is it a work-in-progress where the writer hasn’t decided on a pov and was potentially going to modify it to one later? Is it a finished, published novel? What are the POV shifts meant to signify in terms of our understanding of the journey and Fairly’s character?
Moving to Fairly, one of the other barriers to entry in this novel is that she isn’t very likable. She’s rather bland, and while she isn’t afraid to strike out on her own, there is a particular scene where she does something I found rather offputting . My opinions about her didn’t really change over the course of the book, but I found her a fine person to follow - in a sense, I think she’s rather bland because she’s meant to be the purveyor of the journey more than a character study.
The world is the most interesting thing. I’m very fond of open-world games like Fallout and Skyrim, where you can just wander around wherever you want and discover the odd things along the way. This book felt a bit like that - you know weird things are coming, and there’s an anticipation of not knowing what’s going to show up next that made it so I couldn't put it down.
There are also other little mysteries that make the novel fun. What are the Cha? What is 381? Who made the horned road?
Overall, this was a great book to start off the new year with, as it was intriguing, contemplative, and unique.
A decidedly odd and mysterious novel with an interesting framing device, 381 is a ponderous journey with an entrancing point of view.
It’s hard to really classify this book - it’s sci-fi, but it’s unclear whether it’s post-apocalyptic, set far in the future, or set on another world. We spend most of the time following Farily on her quest, with Rowena’s journey being carried by the footnotes for the most part.
I can understand if people aren’t as into it as me, though - it’s rather meandering, the purpose isn’t very clear, and while things happen, it’s not an action-packed book. I found it a meditative, entrancing journey. I love a story where you’re not really sure what is going on, that leans into its weirdness.
I’m going to talk about something that’s not really a spoiler but is also an integral part of the story that I absolutely loved, and that’s the POV. It shifts between first, second, and third, and the swapping is based on things that happen in the novel. We’re following the same character, but certain waypoints cause the POV to shift. In this way, we are reminded that the story we are reading is a story that Rowena has found and is reading. In this way, we’re led to question: what is this story? Is it a work-in-progress where the writer hasn’t decided on a pov and was potentially going to modify it to one later? Is it a finished, published novel? What are the POV shifts meant to signify in terms of our understanding of the journey and Fairly’s character?
Moving to Fairly, one of the other barriers to entry in this novel is that she isn’t very likable. She’s rather bland, and while she isn’t afraid to strike out on her own, there is a particular scene where she does something I found rather offputting . My opinions about her didn’t really change over the course of the book, but I found her a fine person to follow - in a sense, I think she’s rather bland because she’s meant to be the purveyor of the journey more than a character study.
The world is the most interesting thing. I’m very fond of open-world games like Fallout and Skyrim, where you can just wander around wherever you want and discover the odd things along the way. This book felt a bit like that - you know weird things are coming, and there’s an anticipation of not knowing what’s going to show up next that made it so I couldn't put it down.
There are also other little mysteries that make the novel fun. What are the Cha? What is 381? Who made the horned road?
Overall, this was a great book to start off the new year with, as it was intriguing, contemplative, and unique.
January 15, 2024
It's many years after the "Age of Riches" (our time) and archivist Rowena Savalas is reading a story about a young woman. Fairly's tale meanders, doesn't really seem to have a central purpose, and relates the long walking journey that Fairly takes. It seems to be a rite of passage, and the walkers, or questers as they are called, walk the horned road, and know that they are pursued by the Breathing Man. Fairly spends most of the time alone, but occasionally meets the occasional person, spends a little time in towns, and even encounters the Breathing Man, a terrifying experience for her. Fairly doesn't seem to be really engaged otherwise with the people she does meet, and her feelings often underwhelm.
This embedded story is part fable, part fairy tale, part coming of age story, part something else. As Rowena reads, she annotates, commenting on aspects of the society in the story, her own society and some of her experiences.
Rowena is uncertain about parts of the tale, as she is reviewing content that might be corrupted, and/or some of the tale's idiom and common knowledge are lost due to time. Rowena notices that the document has a specific structure: each section has exactly 381 words in it (and I suspect 381 sections, though I didn't count them).
There is no sense given by author Aliya Whiteley what the purpose of Fairly's story is, not what one is to take away from it.
I found Rowena's few mentions of her own society interesting, though somewhat callous (not that ours is much better). For example, no one gets to live past 70 years in Rowena's world, which reminded me a little of Logan's Run, and of the planet in Star Trek:TNG when people had to die by a certain age.
This book is both odd and intriguing, and often perplexing; it is not one for everyone. It's frustrating, and refuses to yield answers to the questions it raises in Fairly's story, and Rowena's life is barely explored, leaving one puzzled by the end. I've read one other Whiteley story before this, and I had a similar experience, though this novel is even more challenging.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Rebellion for this ARC in exchange for a review.
This embedded story is part fable, part fairy tale, part coming of age story, part something else. As Rowena reads, she annotates, commenting on aspects of the society in the story, her own society and some of her experiences.
Rowena is uncertain about parts of the tale, as she is reviewing content that might be corrupted, and/or some of the tale's idiom and common knowledge are lost due to time. Rowena notices that the document has a specific structure: each section has exactly 381 words in it (and I suspect 381 sections, though I didn't count them).
There is no sense given by author Aliya Whiteley what the purpose of Fairly's story is, not what one is to take away from it.
I found Rowena's few mentions of her own society interesting, though somewhat callous (not that ours is much better). For example, no one gets to live past 70 years in Rowena's world, which reminded me a little of Logan's Run, and of the planet in Star Trek:TNG when people had to die by a certain age.
This book is both odd and intriguing, and often perplexing; it is not one for everyone. It's frustrating, and refuses to yield answers to the questions it raises in Fairly's story, and Rowena's life is barely explored, leaving one puzzled by the end. I've read one other Whiteley story before this, and I had a similar experience, though this novel is even more challenging.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Rebellion for this ARC in exchange for a review.
January 12, 2024
Thank you Solaris for sending me an early copy for review.
Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley was my first big introduction to spec-fic and I'm so excited every time she releases a new book. Three Eight One is a fascinating mix of far-future and past (or maybe present, or recent past??). The bulk of the story is a coming-of-age heroes quest style tale following a girl named Fairly, and there's also interwoven in, by the way of footnotes and a prologue, a far-future narrative where it seems that people's consciousness' are interwoven and you can choose to be 'born' into an organic body.
I found Fairly's tale to be a traditional quest narrative with some surprising twists thrown in. Imagine a fantasy land that intersects with our own technological present and you're somewhere close to the reality Fairly lives in. There are tiny creatures called cha who seem to act as guides or helpers, but there real purpose is up for interpretation. I think that's what I really loved about Three Eight One, you can read it just as the words on the page or you can choose to interpret the events however you wish. And with the footnotes and future-story you see that it starts to almost take on a mythological element where Rowena (the future narrator) tries to prise meaning from the story.
I totally devoured Three Eight One. Once I learnt to lean into the weirdness and accept whatever was thrown at me without trying to make complete sense of things I was taken on a journey. You just have to trust that Aliya is taking you where you're supposed to go, and she is. As with all good spec-fic the end goes truly weird and nowhere near where you expect it might.
I became quite fond of both Fairly and Rowena. Fairly because you witness her struggles and revelations. Rowena because you hear from her far less but you learn tidbits about her life and time through the footnotes. She too is also experiencing a type of coming-of-age and is trying to find her place in her interconnected time.
I can't sing my praises for Three Eight One enough. It's truly a journey and it's a thrill to just follow where Whitely takes you. You won't be disappointed.
Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley was my first big introduction to spec-fic and I'm so excited every time she releases a new book. Three Eight One is a fascinating mix of far-future and past (or maybe present, or recent past??). The bulk of the story is a coming-of-age heroes quest style tale following a girl named Fairly, and there's also interwoven in, by the way of footnotes and a prologue, a far-future narrative where it seems that people's consciousness' are interwoven and you can choose to be 'born' into an organic body.
I found Fairly's tale to be a traditional quest narrative with some surprising twists thrown in. Imagine a fantasy land that intersects with our own technological present and you're somewhere close to the reality Fairly lives in. There are tiny creatures called cha who seem to act as guides or helpers, but there real purpose is up for interpretation. I think that's what I really loved about Three Eight One, you can read it just as the words on the page or you can choose to interpret the events however you wish. And with the footnotes and future-story you see that it starts to almost take on a mythological element where Rowena (the future narrator) tries to prise meaning from the story.
I totally devoured Three Eight One. Once I learnt to lean into the weirdness and accept whatever was thrown at me without trying to make complete sense of things I was taken on a journey. You just have to trust that Aliya is taking you where you're supposed to go, and she is. As with all good spec-fic the end goes truly weird and nowhere near where you expect it might.
I became quite fond of both Fairly and Rowena. Fairly because you witness her struggles and revelations. Rowena because you hear from her far less but you learn tidbits about her life and time through the footnotes. She too is also experiencing a type of coming-of-age and is trying to find her place in her interconnected time.
I can't sing my praises for Three Eight One enough. It's truly a journey and it's a thrill to just follow where Whitely takes you. You won't be disappointed.
December 8, 2025
Three Eight One left me scratching my head, both the title and the unusual writing structure. I managed to enjoy it in the end and found it intriguing in an odd way.
A curator 300 years in the future studying a 2024 story is a clever setup, though the dual narrative sometimes felt overwhelming and distracting. Fairly’s quest is compelling, but the curator’s footnotes constantly interrupted the flow.
I read this in hardback so the footnotes spilled across pages, and I kept having to flip back and forth. It pulled me out of the story far too often. I love the idea of a future historian piecing together our era, but I think the book would’ve worked better if those sections had been separated as short chapters instead of footnotes.
Overall, it’s a 2.5 star read for me, which may have reached a 3 if I read it ignoring the footnotes.
And for reasons I can’t explain, I pictured the Cha as Labubu dolls and the Breathing Man as the Slender Man the whole time…. Let a future historian interpret that!
A curator 300 years in the future studying a 2024 story is a clever setup, though the dual narrative sometimes felt overwhelming and distracting. Fairly’s quest is compelling, but the curator’s footnotes constantly interrupted the flow.
I read this in hardback so the footnotes spilled across pages, and I kept having to flip back and forth. It pulled me out of the story far too often. I love the idea of a future historian piecing together our era, but I think the book would’ve worked better if those sections had been separated as short chapters instead of footnotes.
Overall, it’s a 2.5 star read for me, which may have reached a 3 if I read it ignoring the footnotes.
And for reasons I can’t explain, I pictured the Cha as Labubu dolls and the Breathing Man as the Slender Man the whole time…. Let a future historian interpret that!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2025
I genuinely have absolutely no idea what this was about.
I was hopeful that despite being very weird that some clues or answers would present themselves and eventually a meaning would present itself. Instead, this does not happen and you instead follow two narratives, both quite as weird as the other and you're just left there saying "what the fuck" as it eventually comes to an end.
Despite the fact it made no sense at any point, I did persevere - which means it was at least well written if completely confusing. (Does that make sense, no... Welcome to this book!)
I read this in ebook format which I think probably made following the second narrative a lot easier - I cannot imagine how difficult reading this in an actual book would be (depending on where the foot/end notes appeared?).
I was hopeful that despite being very weird that some clues or answers would present themselves and eventually a meaning would present itself. Instead, this does not happen and you instead follow two narratives, both quite as weird as the other and you're just left there saying "what the fuck" as it eventually comes to an end.
Despite the fact it made no sense at any point, I did persevere - which means it was at least well written if completely confusing. (Does that make sense, no... Welcome to this book!)
I read this in ebook format which I think probably made following the second narrative a lot easier - I cannot imagine how difficult reading this in an actual book would be (depending on where the foot/end notes appeared?).
October 27, 2024
Three, being generous. It wasn't "bad," just... it didn't work. Stopping every few lines for a footnote royally screwed up the flow of the story. Some of them were dumped mid-sentence! Finally something more annoying than alternating timelines... having them happen at the SAME TIME. I loved the author's last book, but I think I'll hesitate before getting her next one.
Also, my second read in a row that seemed to think chapters aren't necessary. Put chapters in your damn books!!
Thankfully a short read.
Also, my second read in a row that seemed to think chapters aren't necessary. Put chapters in your damn books!!
Thankfully a short read.
January 16, 2024
Speculative fiction at its best, a well written and thought provoking story that I found intriguing and kept me enthralled.
I wanted to know what was going to happen and learn more about the symbolic elements and the plot.
Well plotted, excellent storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I wanted to know what was going to happen and learn more about the symbolic elements and the plot.
Well plotted, excellent storytelling.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
August 9, 2025
(2.5)
after the beauty of The Beauty, this takes a huge swing and lands a big miss. Confusing let down, and the most interesting bit was the preview of her next book Skyward Inn at the back.
after the beauty of The Beauty, this takes a huge swing and lands a big miss. Confusing let down, and the most interesting bit was the preview of her next book Skyward Inn at the back.
November 30, 2025
This is definitely my kind of weird book. Really enjoyed it start to finish
March 6, 2024
Gonna tell my kids this was Pilgrim’s Progress
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