the concept sounded so interesting, where mathematics was equivalent to magic, but as the book wore on, "the numbers told me to do it" seemed an insufficient plot device. I had no empathy for the two main characters, Dom & Jenna.
To cap it all, when it got to part 3 (spoiler alert) and Billy's real identity was announced, I had kind of guessed and was totally irritated to find my guess correct as I can't stand William Blake's poems or crude art. By which time all the religious references were beginning to get on my tits too.
I can't believe either, that dolphins do maths, or that the world somehow changed because humans discovered quantum maths.
Annoying. ( )

Imagine being able to manipulate numbers to do magic, just as so many fictional wizards manipulate words, as spells, to accomplish their ends. Imagine seeing everything as a number, with formulae streaming into the air from every physical thing, allowing you to bend and change them — using your abilities to smear a license plate into a new number, say, or blurring the serial numbers on dollar bills. It gives new meaning to the word “numerate.”

Derryl Murphy’s protagonist in Napier’s Bones is a numerate. As the novel opens, Dom is seeking an artifact of mathematical power when the numbers throw him far away, onto a bus in a city distant from his search. More than that, he has somehow picked up an adjunct; that is, residing in his body with him is the mind and soul of Billy, another numerate whose physical body died an unknown time ago. Billy remembers little of his past, but he knows that he and Dom are in danger from whatever entity threw them away from the artifact. As the two become acquainted, a young woman, Jenna, joins them at a large park where they are resting in the grass, claiming to be able to “see” Billy as a type of shadow. She can definitely hear the difference in Dom’s voice when Billy is using it; Billy has an English accent. The three are attacked by a series of “search numbers,” and begin a flight that takes them a continent, and ultimately a couple of realities, away.

It’s an interesting conceit, but Murphy doesn’t develop the phenomenon of numeracy as fully as he might. He does not explain how it works, that is, where the numbers come from and how they can be manipulated; he just posits that it is so. It does not appear that those who can manipulate the numbers have any special ability at mathematics of any sort — this isn’t a talent you can develop by becoming highly proficient at arithmetic, geometry or any other discipline, but is an inborn trait. As the trio travels from place to place, obtaining useful artifacts with interesting relationships to numbers (wiring from Apollo 13, for instance, carries substantial “mojo” because the rocket lifted off on the 13th of the month at 1313 hours; Dom explains that “Coincidences like that create a rush of numbers that push their way in, forcing out the bland, everyday number that make up the fabric of life. When they do that, there’s a dynamic that’s created, on the numerates can use to their benefit.” That’s about as much of an explanation as we ever get, and numeracy remains a mystery.

Why John Napier is trying to catch up to them and destroy them, as they eventually figure out, is another mystery that is never resolved. Napier is an historical figure who does not seem to have been evil, as portrayed in this book, though he was thought to have dabbled in necromancy and alchemy. He makes a good foil for the protagonist even if he is never explained, and the novel quickly becomes a fast, action-packed chase story rather than one that explores the magic system that sets the chase in motion.

The ending is a serious letdown from all the action, as things come together too quickly and a couple of deus ex machinas appear to aid the hardy trio of good guys. I was dismayed, for instance, to find out the identity of the Billy persona; there are no real clues to it in what went before. Nor is there any real explanation for Jenna’s sudden facility with quantum mathematics.
In short, this book strikes me as a fascinating idea that is not rendered particularly well. The concept of numeracy is so interesting that I kept reading the book even though I grew progressively more unhappy with Murphy’s failure to make more of it.

http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/napiers-bones/ ( )

Numerology takes on a quest. In a world where numbers contain magical properties, certain people possess varying talents in seeing and manipulating numbers in the air or within objects for protection, to cause violence, or to dupe.

A numerate's quest is to find mojos, objects packed with special numerical properties, and to use these for his own advantage. Dom, a numerate, having survived a fight against 2 other numerates in a desert, finds himself in a small town with Billy, a sort of spirit who had taken up residence in his body. With more questions than available answers, Dom meets a young numerate, Jenna, who tries to learn how to manipulate the numbers.

But there appears to be an unknown and powerful numerate determined to seek out and destroy Dom, and he is kept running to stay one or two steps ahead of this dark shadow. Things start getting a little wild at about the half way point in the book and the thrilling pace picks up, when the trio are met by an ex-communicated numerate priest who try to explain the quest they are on, a group of numbers that are able to group together to form a semi-solid shape that has the ability to speak, think and plan, Scottish giants, and familials that lead them to a series of mojos needed to thwart the enemy.

It's a pretty interesting story, but the pace is rather uneven, and after three quarters of the way through, there is too much the author appears to want to cram into the ending, making for a rather sloppy and confusing race to the finish line. ( )

Every once in a while, you find a book that confuses you yet utterly dazzles you at the same time. Napier's Bones is that book for me. I really think the confusion for me was all things mathematics-related. To put it nicely, I will never be a mathlete - ever. Any word related to math boggles my mind. ;)

Other than that, this book was amazing. It was easy to get into and well-written. The characters felt a little more like stock characters than extraordinarily unique ones, but they were developed well and each had their own voice that set them apart from others.

The action is non-stop and doesn't let up at all throughout the story. You never get confused or left behind because everything is explained well, although sometimes the explanations are a little long-winded. Overall, this was a great read, fast-paced with an explosive beginning and equally entertaining reading. There's the definite feel of an Urban Fantasy read to it, but other than that it is like nothing that I've ever read before. It's a book to add to your TBR lists, for sure. ( )