Sudden Death [book. audiobook]

Sudden Death [book. audiobook]

I REALLY LIKE THIS BOOK. I FEEL LIKE MY THING IS BECOMING TO READ STRANGE BOOKS THEN WRITE THESE WRITEUPS AND I LOVE HOW THIS BOOK IS EXTREMELY STRANGE BUT IT'S NOT AT ALL OBVIOUS AS YOU READ IT THAT IT IS. THIS IS LIKE, A FICTIONAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTER-REFORMATION IN SPAIN IN THE 1530S, BUT WITH THE GIMMICK OF IT BEING AN ALTERNATE HISTORY WHERE TENNIS IS MORE IMPORTANT. BUT LIKE, THIS ISN'T A POKEMON GAME WHERE POKEMON ARE THE THING SO EVERYTHING IS POKEMON. THIS IS A STORY WHERE LIKE, TENNIS IS LIKE MAYBE 1-2% MORE IMPORTANT THAN IT WAS IN REAL LIFE. LIKE THE FRAMING STORY IS A TENNIS MATCH AND I THINK CLEARLY THE IDEA WAS SOME ON PAPER IDEA THAT HISTORY IS LIKE A TENNIS GAME, AND SPECIFICALLY SOMETHING LIKE A REFORMATION/COUNTER REFORMATION IS, AND YOU CAN TELL THE AUTHOR MUMBLED THAT, THEN SAID "EH, THATS DUMB, I'M GOING TO WRITE THE REST OF THE BOOK ABOUT FEATHER WORKERS IN MEXICO". I LIKE THAT LIKE 90-95% OF THE HISTORY IS ENTIRELY ACCURATE SO NOW FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE I'M GOING TO KNOW SPANISH AND ITALIAN HISTORY FACTS AND TENNIS FACTS AND HAVE NO IDEA IF THEY ARE REAL OR NOT.

PS. I LOVE HOW META THIS GETS, LIKE I WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW THE BOOK DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS ABOUT, BUT THERE WAS EVEN A CHAPTER WHERE THE AUTHOR JUST BREAKS IN TO SAY HE'S NOT SURE WHAT THE BOOK IS ANYMORE AFTER IT GOES OFF THE RAILS TOO MUCH. ALSO THERE WAS A FEW CHAPTERS WHERE THE NAMES GOT TOO CONFUSING TO FOLLOW THEN LIKE 50 PAGES LATER THE AUTHOR BROKE IN AND WAS LIKE "HEY, REMEMBER THAT CHAPTER WHERE THE NAMES WERE TOO CONFUSING TO FOLLOW? NAMES, AM I RIGHT?" LIKE THE AUTHOR WROTE THIS BOOK TOO CONVOLUTED THEN JUST WROTE CHAPTERS ABOUT WRITING THE BOOK AND HOW CONFUSED IT WAS.  LIKE IT FEELS LIKE THE ACTUAL BOOK ABOUT TENNIS WOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD, BUT THIS BOOK JUST WENT OFF IN CRAZY DIRECTIONS TO THE POINT THE AUTHOR HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEY WERE WRITING AND STARTED WRITING ABOUT THAT INSTEAD AND MADE A WAY BETTER BOOK THAN THE STRAIGHT CONCEPT WOULD HAVE BEEN.