Nobody really saw this coming. When word first leaked that Keanu Reeves—the guy who played Neo and John Wick—was teaming up with China Miéville, the king of "New Weird" fiction, the internet collectively blinked. It felt like a glitch in the Matrix. Or maybe just a very clever marketing stunt. But it was real.
The result is The Book of Elsewhere, a 350-page novel released in July 2024 that basically takes the ultra-violent world of Keanu’s BRZRKR comics and shoves it through Miéville’s high-concept, linguistic meat grinder.
It’s weird. It’s bloody. And honestly? It’s a lot more philosophical than a book about an unkillable soldier has any right to be.
What is the Keanu Reeves China Miéville book collaboration actually about?
If you’ve read the BRZRKR comics, you know the vibe. There’s this guy named B (or Unute). He’s 80,000 years old. He was born from lightning and a human mother, and he cannot die. Well, he can, but he just hatches out of a gross egg-like chrysalis a few hours later, fully healed and ready to punch more holes in people.
But this novel isn't just a novelization of the comic. It’s more like a side-quest that explores the crushing weight of living forever.
B is working for a U.S. black-ops group in the present day. They use him as a weapon; he uses them to try and find a way to finally, mercifully, stop existing. The plot kicks into gear when a soldier who definitely isn't immortal comes back to life. That shouldn't happen. It messes with the rules of the universe, and it sends B on a crash course with a prehistoric deer-pig (a babirusa) that has been hunting him across millennia.
Yeah. An immortal, telepathic pig.
That’s where you see the Miéville influence. While Keanu provides the soul and the "kinetic" action, Miéville brings the "What if a monster was made of literal history?" energy.
How the collaboration worked (No, it wasn't ghostwritten)
There’s always a suspicion when a Hollywood A-lister puts their name on a book. You assume some poor ghostwriter did the heavy lifting while the star signed the checks.
This was different.
Keanu has been open about the process: he wanted Miéville because he’s a genuine fan of the guy’s work (specifically The City & The City). They spent hours talking through the "architecture" of the story. Keanu would pitch ideas, and Miéville would take those "toys"—as he called them—and break them.
Miéville wrote the actual sentences. You can tell. The prose is "purple" in the best way—dense, academic, and sometimes frustratingly complex. It’s not a beach read. It’s a "keep a dictionary on your lap" read.
Key differences between the comic and the novel
- The Tone: The comic is pure adrenaline and gore. The novel is quiet, introspective, and kinda depressing.
- The Structure: It’s non-linear. You’ll be in a modern lab one minute and then in 19th-century London or ancient history the next.
- The POV: It switches between third-person and a jarring second-person ("You") that makes you feel like you're the one trapped in an immortal body.
Why people are divided on it
The reviews for the Keanu Reeves China Miéville book collaboration are all over the place. Some critics, like those at The Guardian, felt the "ultraviolence" of the source material held back Miéville’s genius. They called it "pulpy hijinks."
Then you have the hardcore sci-fi fans who think it’s a masterpiece of "New Weird" fiction. They love the "Doctor’s Story" sections, which are basically notes from a psychoanalyst—implied to be Sigmund Freud—trying to wrap his head around B's immortality after WWI.
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Honestly, if you go in expecting a John Wick novel, you’re going to be bored. If you go in expecting a China Miéville novel about a guy who looks like Keanu Reeves, you’ll have a blast.
The "Deer-Pig" and other weirdness
Let’s talk about the babirusa. It’s not a joke. This creature is B’s shadow. It was born the same way he was—lightning hitting the earth—and it hates him with a cosmic, objective intensity.
There’s a scene where characters discuss an "objective scale for hatred." That’s such a Miéville touch. It turns a standard "monster vs. man" trope into a debate about the nature of the universe.
The book also introduces a cult that worships life and views B (who represents a "glitch" in death) as their ultimate enemy. It’s dense stuff.
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What you should do next
If you're curious about The Book of Elsewhere, don't just dive in blind.
- Check out the BRZRKR Vol. 1 graphic novel first. You don't have to, but the novel assumes you at least understand the basic "physics" of how B's immortality works. Without that context, the first 50 pages of the novel might feel like word soup.
- Listen to the audiobook. Keanu doesn't narrate the whole thing (unfortunately), but hearing the prose read aloud helps with Miéville’s complex sentence structures.
- Look for the Netflix adaptation. Keanu is currently developing a live-action film and an anime series based on this world. Reading the book now gives you a massive leg up on the lore before those hit the screen.
This collaboration is a rare case of a "celebrity book" actually having something to say. It’s a meditation on why being mortal is actually a gift, wrapped in a story about a guy who can punch through a tank.
Basically, it's exactly what you'd expect when the nicest guy in Hollywood meets the weirdest writer in London.