It took me about three weeks to read ‘Lexicon’, but I don’t know how thick the book is — I read the e-book.

When I look at the Harry Potter series, the thickness of books increases, becomes largest mid-way, and then decreases, but not by so much. What I infer from this trend is that a very thin book is either the work of a beginner or a veteran writer, and the thickest books are works of writers who are not beginners, but are midway on the path to becoming an expert.

But I don’t know how thick ‘Lexicon’ is.

Before I come to the novel, I’d like to describe how I came across the book. I went to some model United Nations conferences, which was fun. A friend of mine told me about NationStates, where he’d made his own country and was passing legislation and participating in their version of the United Nations (called the ‘World Assembly’).

Eventually, I could remember that he’d mentioned a website where you could create your own country, but I didn’t know which one, so I searched on the internet. I didn’t even know the name, but I eventually settled for Nationstates.

I read the FAQ and joined, and after a week or two, came to know that it was created by a person called Max Barry.

It seems the website was created in order to promote his book ‘Jennifer Government’. So he’s a web developer and an author — quite an odd combination of skills.

And eventually, late in 2012, there was a small square on the top-left of the Nationstates page, and it advertised another book of his, ‘Machine Man’. So I read what he had to say about the book on his website and then in 2013, the small rectangle had ‘Lexicon’ on it. “So he’s written a new book,” I thought, but didn’t make much of it.

Now, in 2014, I thought I’d give the book a try, and I’m glad I did.

If I had to describe the theme of the book in three words, the following three words would be quite suitable:

Words are weapons.

It’s a science-fiction thriller, through and through. It starts out pretty much in the middle, but progresses from two different vantage points. On the one hand, it talks about the past, the backdrop, of the story — how the characters came to be how they are and what shaped them to their present state. On the other hand, it also progresses from the present.

There are snippets in between that aren’t strictly part of the narrative, but fit snugly in their context and relevance.

At some point, the thread of the past comes very close to where the novel started, and the thread of the present continues on. Some of the characters have flashbacks or dreams, but this isn’t make explicit in the story. Rather, it’s treated just like bits of the past thread.

In other words, the novel is arranged in a way that makes it more interesting, and is different in this respect compared to other contemporary science fiction and adventure books like Harry Potter, whose single thread is completely linear.

There are several, several incidents in the book, and the reader is given ample time to get used to the characters, and discover their faults and trait themselves. There aren’t many knowledge-dump scenes, but as one continues reading the novel, one gets a sense of what is being talked about, so information is presented in a logical manner.

The book follows the actions of several characters, namely Eliot, Wil and Emily, but the latter’s name is introduced later in the book. The relationship between the characters in unclear or unspecified till about the middle of the book.

You should read the book for yourself, and I don’t want to give any details or themes away, for it will spoil your reading experience.

Go on, enjoy the book, and if (by chance) you acquire it for free, be sure to write a review somewhere, as Max himself says.