The novel unfolded as a stand-alone narrative within the literary intrigue surrounding the associates and scholars of V.M. Besides the authors’ names on the box, the entire package appeared to be an artifact from the story’s fictional world. It had copious notes written in the margins and an assortment of paper mementos interspersed throughout the pages. Ship of Theseus was presented as an old hardcover book. Along the way, they’re thrown into a conspiracy story of their own with life-or-death stakes. By delving into Straka’s web of associations and solving hidden messages in the book, Jen and Eric connect over a shared interest in discovering Straka’s identity. Straka’s translator published the novel posthumously in 1949.ĭecades later, two students at Pollard State University meet by writing notes back and forth in a copy of Ship of Theseus left at the university library. His final book, Ship of Theseus, followed a man with amnesia journeying to distant lands to discover his true identity and motivation. Straka wrote many novels, but his true identity remains shrouded in mystery.

Impressive construction of story layers.

Avid readers who enjoy being immersed in a story’s world.

If you love the feeling of exploring someone’s communications and unlocking a grand story piece by piece, Ship of Theseus was made for you. But even without uncovering all of its secrets, Ship of Theseus had a lot to offer casual readers. Abrams projects, not all the open questions got clear answers. If you’re looking for a straightforward read or clearly delineated puzzles, the setup may feel overwhelming.

But mostly the point was to explore and gradually gain familiarity with its rich fictional world of academia and intrigue.ĭue to its length and complexity, Ship of Theseus was intimidating. There were ciphers embedded in Ship of Theseus, and deciding how to tackle the layers of story required some strategizing.

Ship of theseus novel