Sleeping Giants is the first book in the Themis Files series which spans 3 main books so far. All of these books are a series of recorded interviews sorted into files (thus, the name). This was a completely different format from what I am used to reading, so it did take a bit of getting used to - but ultimately, it grew on me and it fits the entire idea surprisingly well! Readers, be warned: since this is entirely in recorded interviews, there is a lot of "tell" instead of "show" going on (obviously), so if you think you won't be loving this or you find yourself turned off after a few chapters, do yourself the favor and don't power through. It doesn't "get better".

Everything begins when young Rose Franklin falls into a hole and gets discovered lying on the palm of a giant hand made entirely of metal. Years later, a grown-up and newly made Dr. Rose Franklin dedicates her life to unearthing the mystery that the hand poses, as well as the question: is there more of it? And if so, where is the rest? 

And why is it here?

Like I already said, the book's strange style quickly grew on me, especially after getting to know more of the characters. The one person that's still a mystery to me after all this time is the interviewer himself - we learn nothing about him (apart from the fact that I'm pretty sure he's male, given that people use "he/him" pronouns when talking about him) in the first book but he gains a very clear, if slightly snobbish and cold-hearted presence throughout the entire book. Quick flashes of humanity round up his mysterious character. The rest of the ensemble are interviewed in turn, some also provide some diary entries of an even more personal nature.

The lack of prose made some of the interviews, especially at a later date when everything seems to fall apart, appear even more haunting, and I can't wait to dive into book 2 - I need to know more!

In short: do read this if you're ready to experiment with a new style, if you're already a fan of found footage-style books and/or if your love for scifi expands to make room for political interests too. Do not if most of these, especially the ones related to the style, don't appeal to you at all; I'm fairly sure you won't enjoy it otherwise. You might want to try and give the audiobook a go, though: from what I've heard, they hired one narrator for each character to give the interviews the right vibes!