Elina Sellgren

Don't read interviews of the author, it will ruin these books for you.

The books are not as well written as the series, but if you felt hungry for closure after the finale, I recommend reading all three. I did expect something grander regarding the “biblically bad” issue, but at least I did not have to imagine it myself. Max feels a bit colder in the books too, but overall the characters feel exactly the same as in the series.

Simply amazing. You can see the details of the paintings very well. Prepare to be in awe of his ability to observe the world around him and recreate it very realistically (or surrealistically, with the robots and dinosaurs), not just how different surfaces look matte, shiny, bright, slippery, round or sharp, but also the impressionistic quality of human vision in the peripheries and at distance. He is a very good scenery painter, and his imagination is just amazing.

I was also surprised by how good the narrative is; I wish there were more artists combining storytelling with their art. The English version reads a bit too much like a translation at times, but I actually like how the Swedishness seeps through.

Too much introspection, not enough about Antarctica and the people there. I don't care that the author gave up alcohol or suffers from depression back in the UK.

Too little text and the translation is not particularly good, and some photos are thrown in at random, breaking the narrative flow. The photos are gorgeous though too small. I feel like this book does a disservice to the photographer's talent and photography.