The novel “Waking Gods” by Sylvain Neuvel was published for the first time in 2017. It’s the second book in the Themis Files trilogy and follows “Sleeping Giants“.
It’s been years since the parts of the robot of alien origin that was named Themis were reassembled. It is now possible to drive it but there are still many unanswered questions regarding how it works and much more. For example, nobody knows what happened to Rose Franklin. The Earth Defense Corps, formed to defend the Earth from potential alien threats, seems quite useless.
The situation changes radically when another robot appears on Earth, in the middle of London. British authorities aren’t the only ones concerned about the consequences of alien arrivals on Earth. All over the world, emotional reactions are running high and even the mysterious man who manipulated the world’s most powerful people is losing control.
The first book of the Themis Files told the story of the discovery of the parts of a giant robot, their assembly, and the attempts to pilot it, the success of which is possible only for a very few people. The peculiarity of that novel consists of having been developed through reports and transcripts of conversations, which include interviews with various characters.
This sequel was developed exactly like the first novel. Some readers might not like Sylvain Neuvel’s choice and that becomes an even greater problem in this novel, which is much more oriented towards global events that often don’t include the protagonists. It’s a choice that eliminates action, in the sense that the many events are told, often simply summarizing them, and not shown.
“Waking Gods” is the direct sequel to “Sleeping Giants”, even if it begins almost a decade after its end, so it requires having already read it to understand the story of Themis, its pilots, and the mysterious character who works secretly. This sequel explores some of the mysteries introduced in the first book, and Sylvain Neuvel expands that fictional universe with the arrival of aliens, initially in the form of another Themis-like robot.
The author’s choice leads to constant twists and turns in the form of revelations, discoveries, and surprising events. The reports recounting those events are the parts where you need to appreciate this novel’s narrative structure, otherwise, you won’t feel the tension of what are supposed to be dramatic moments.
The advantage of Sylvain Neuvel’s narrative choice is that the reader has access to pieces of information that sometimes not even the Earth Defense Corps scientists know. The mysterious interviewer’s contacts had already allowed to know something about the origins of Themis and in this sequel, they offer new information on the aliens and the reasons for their intervention on Earth.
Personally, I liked the narrative structure in “Sleeping Giants” more because it suited the secret work connected to Themis. Sometimes, I struggled to follow the various parts of the story of “Waking Gods” because the plot takes a very different turn and various events that are important for all of humanity seemed too distant to me. It may appeal to readers who have no problems with this type of narration with the awareness that the story will end with the third book.
