Rakesfall

From the mythic past to the heat death of the universe, the various lives of Annelid and Leveret flow through time together in Chandrasekera’s (The Saint of Bright Doors) layered slipstream story. Whether they meet as friends, as halves of the same self, as godlike enemies, or as hunter and hunted, their eternal return causes ripples through time and deeply affects the fate of the earth. Chandrasekera weaves the profane, the poetic, and the playful into a masterpiece. Audiences can let the precise yet dizzying prose wash over them until the narratively satisfying conclusion. Deeper attention, however, is infinitely rewarding. Close listening reveals profound thoughts on topics ranging from cycles of violence, selfhood, and historiography to body-hacking, digital afterlives, and uncloseable doors. Familiarity with Hindu cosmology offers even more throughlines, from the deep time scale of the narrative to interrogations of foundational mythology. Narrator Shiromi Arserio handles this complicated work with aplomb, keeping the rhythm and poetry of the text flowing smoothly with distinct yet understated voices.