Amazing book with even more amazing characters! I don't know what I loved more:characters or story.

It's me, not you. I could not get into this book and it was a total slog for me. I couldn't get into the characters or the story. It was multiple arcs of something I couldn't get drawn into any of it. It jumped too quickly and bored me immensely.

Give me a book with a dog on the cover with a semi interesting summary and I'll read it. But sometimes, like this, I truly regret it.

Well, damn it.

I REALLY thought I was going to enjoy this one. An unclassifiable (at least to this reader) mix of horror, science fiction, dystopian, fiction, and well, just a mish-mash of everything.

The primary draws, for me, were Glasgow and the dog, and the interesting premise.

The interesting/shrouded premise seemed promising. It's likely shrouded, however, because it's difficult to understand what's happening, and how everything is related, and I'm imagining everyone from the author to the publicists throwing up their hands trying to explain to potential readers WHY they might want to read it.

It wasn't this confusion, though, that ultimately made me give up at the 43% mark. I can stick with things I'm not fully understanding for an admirable length of time if they pay off (I read [Cloud Atlas for far longer than I ultimately felt it deserved). But the characters simply weren't empathetic enough for me to want to stick around to find out what was going on and why they were experiencing such horrors and fascinations. There were things I liked in the writing, and it feels like there's some shiny seeds of talent buried in there, but it simply wasn't enough for me to return with anticipation.

Freight books provided an advanced reader's copy.

This was a dark and depressing novel, yet so captivating in all its complexity. There were so many interesting intermingling storylines, from the past, today and the future, all in the same time. The today storywise wasn't our real present day, more like an alternate reality, so it made the reading comprehension all the more difficult. At times it was hard to grasp what's going on and when, but I didn't want to stop reading. Setting descriptions and characters were written beautifully. Their hurt, insecurities and overall despair were palpable. The mystery and its solving were equally interesting part of the story, although I wish the ending did not require so much of my own imagination to complete the puzzle. In the whole, this certainly isn't a book for everyone. It requires thinking and not so a happy-go-lucky attitude because you won't get far with it if you aren't in a mood. I believe fans of horror and science fiction would like it.

A difficult book to read and to rate, seeing as it contains such a mix of mystical, science fiction, and the setting of a dystopian Scotland. Well written and thought out, the twists and turns that our every decision can make on our lives, our relationships with others, failures and shifting realities, all are included here, and make for a thought provoking book.

While I found it difficult to get into this novel - especially some of the more magical elements - I did think it was a great new take on the dystopia, dark and gritty. A solid addition to the genre.

Some time in the near future, after another failed referendum on independence, Scotland is torn apart by seemingly senseless violence. Meanwhile, a boy finds himself exploring the planets of the dead in his own post-life body, with his faithful childhood dog companion at his side.

"All The Galaxies" defies genre distinctions. It's one part gritty thriller, set against the backdrop of Glasgow and Edinburgh, kind of like a futuristic Ian Rankin novel. And then it's another part the story of a failed marriage and adult (self) disillusionment and disappointment, and a third part a gloriously surreal young adult fantasy tale interwoven with themes and imagery taken from the Gospels and Revelation, somehow reminiscent of "A Wrinkle in Time" and the books in that series.

Which is not to say that this is a story for children. The writing style is dense and poetic, so that, while it's a short book, it's not necessarily a quick read. This is not a criticism, but rather a notice that readers should not jump into this book thinking it will be a quick evening's entertainment. Although the book is full of brilliant imagery and sharply delineated characters, the complex plot and the intensely literary style demand the reader's full attention. Readers looking for light and fluffy escapism should steer themselves elsewhere. However, for readers looking for something a bit different, something that will provide a tough, chewy, and memorable reading experience, "All The Galaxies" may be just what they are looking for.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Scotland is reeling after a second negative Independence Referendum and a wave of horrific and unexplained violence unleashed by "Wee Lawrence" and his Wardens. Holyrood has collapsed and Scotland has fractured into a number of quasi-independent city states, led by the newly christened Greater Glasgow.

As the story opens the Wardens have been captured and disbanded and Wee Lawrence is awaiting trial but in the wake of all the upheaval there has been a swing towards power seizures and armed police and voluntary militias. The people of Glasgow are anxious, angry and uncertain and John Fallon's teenaged son has been missing for two days.

There is an interesting story lurking here but unfortunately it isn't the one Miller chose to tell. Instead of delving deeper into these extreme but not entirely impossible developments, instead of telling us more about the Horrors unleashed by the Wardens and exploring the dramatic personal and political ramifications of home-bred extremism, especially when there is no clear motivation, Miller leads us on a meandering journey that includes a boy named Tarka travelling through the galaxies with a dead family dog to find his deceased mother, a former vicar manifesting the stigmata and the spin-doctor of Greater Glasgow's leader who appears to be the incarnation of Satan. The inconsistent writing reflects these bizarre and often abrupt changes in tone, by turns overly-sentimentalised and redolent with horror-movie cliches such as "Enjoy the view, he said, while you can." On top of all of this was a dearth of Judeo-Christian symbolism that managed to be both terribly unsubtle and never fully explicated.

Overall in was a frustrating reading experience of a story which, if focused and simplified, could have been a gripping and thoughtful version of a dark future. Instead it was uneven and lapsed eventually into silliness

He had the shape of a memory, but it was pale, uncolored.

This is a hard novel to describe because it is Sci-Fi, mystical, but with an oppressive world thrown in, full of the sort of questions we ask ourselves hoping for and fearing the answers. The questions that swallow us, life and death and everything gooey in between. It is apocalyptic and dark, but I loved the father/son story. John Fallon is a single father, a journalist, miserable. Scotland has fallen apart, those taking charge are corrupt, the future of Scotland , separated into states, looks bleak. Fallon’s son Roland has gone missing after student protests against the police have soured and become violent. Parallel to their story, a boy and his dog (spirit guide) traverse the universe, the afterlife looking for his mother. Is he real? How does the story of the young boy and his dog tie into the father/son? When do journeys begin and end? What do we understand of the world and each other?

It’s about a father’s failure in relation to his son, as much as the world around him is falling, failing. It’s about so much that I can’t even find the words to describe it. It engages the reader, leaving you a bit numb wondering about life, meaning. Time controls so much, we make so many mistakes with our loved ones. Can love traverse chaos, corruption, galaxies, time or death? This was sadder than I expected when I got to the end. It seems nothing is solid here, and what you think you know and understand shifts. Perfect for readers who like to question the universe and every creature inside and outside of it. While it is Sci-Fi there is a supernatural flavoring too.
Lovely.

Publication Date: April 6, 2o17

Freight Books

Philip Miller is both an accomplished storyteller and philosopher in All the Galaxies. This dynamic novel engages the reader on many levels, from its foundation of masterfully drawn, evocative prose to the metaphysical questions raised as the narrative unfolds. We’re witness as John Fallon struggles to find his son, Roland, as a dystopian society, fragmented Glasgow as a backdrop, rages around him. Meanwhile, Roland, guided by his childhood dog Kim, is coping with his own transcendental journey as he faces death and a voyage through the galaxies to find his mother. All the Galaxies is worth your time. It will warm your heart, challenge your preconceived notions, and make you hope that Phillip Miller is hard at work on his third novel.

Glasgow is uneasy after a series of terrorist attacks orchestrated by a self proclaimed nihilists organization. A boy and his dog search the galaxies looking for his mother, while a father searches for his son in Glasgow. Prepare to unravel the mysteries in the All the Galaxies for nothing is what it seems. Gritty and surreal, this book will make you think and maybe cry. (I found tissues necessary).