XX (novel)

{{Short description|2020 novel by Rian Hughes}}

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| name = XX

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| author = Rian Hughes

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| language = English

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| genre = Science fiction

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| publisher = The Overlook Press

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| pub_date = 2020

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XX is a 2020 science fiction novel by writer Rian Hughes.{{cite news |last1=Hawcock |first1=Neville |title=XX — a 'novel, graphic' with big ideas, extra bold |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a5d62d60-2b1b-44c2-a5ea-0300b9eb73ac |access-date=4 March 2023 |work=The Financial Times |date=13 August 2020}}

Design and publication

Hughes created a new typeface for the novel.{{cite news |last1=Carter |first1=Dom |title=Rian Hughes on narrative design, creating fonts for aliens, and reinventing the novel |url=https://www.creativeboom.com/features/rian-hughes/ |access-date=4 March 2023 |work=Creative Boom |date=26 November 2021 |language=en}} Adapting the novel for e-readers was difficult, and Hughes considers the printed book to be the way the novel "should be read". Due to its use of graphic elements, artwork, a novel within the novel, asemic writing, and epistolary techniques, it can be considered a work of ergodic literature.

Reception

According to literary review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received mostly "Rave" reviews.{{cite news |title=Book Marks reviews of XX by Rian Hughes |url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/xx/ |access-date=4 March 2023 |work=Book Marks |date=2020}}

Neville Hawcock, writing for The Financial Times, praised the graphic elements of the book as an "enjoyable variation" from typical novels. Lydia Fletcher, in a review published by The Library Journal, criticized the novel as occasionally "difficult to follow" in part due to the "mixed-media" portions.{{cite news |last1=Fletcher |first1=Lydia |title=XX |url=https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/xx |access-date=6 March 2023 |work=Library Journal |date=6 November 2020}}

References