A Million Heavens

A young piano prodigy lies in a coma at a New Mexico clinic, drawing a diverse group of strangers to hold vigil in the parking lot. Among them are a divorced gas station owner, a foster child, and others whose lives have been touched by loss or uncertainty. The narrative moves between multiple perspectives, including a wandering wolf and a deceased musician in the afterlife. Set against the stark New Mexico landscape, these characters' stories intersect as they search for meaning in their own struggles while waiting for the boy to wake. Brandon's third novel marks a departure from his earlier works, taking a more contemplative pace and exploring the connections between seemingly unrelated lives. The story examines how people cope with uncertainty and find community in unexpected places.

Readers found this novel atmospheric but somewhat disjointed, with multiple storylines that don't fully cohere. The book averages 3.4/5 stars on Goodreads (300+ ratings) and 3.5/5 on Amazon (25+ reviews). Readers appreciated: - Unique desert setting and sense of place - Poetic, distinctive writing style - Complex character development - Supernatural elements woven into realism Common criticisms: - Too many disconnected plot threads - Slow pacing, especially in middle sections - Unclear resolution - Characters' storylines left unfinished "Beautiful writing but the narrative wandered too much," noted one Amazon reviewer. Several Goodreads readers mentioned struggling to stay engaged, with one stating "the fragments never came together meaningfully." Others defended the experimental structure, with a LibraryThing review praising how it "captures the isolation and strangeness of grief." Multiple readers compared the style to David Lynch films - some positively, others negatively.

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🌵 The New Mexican desert setting mirrors Brandon's own experience teaching at New Mexico State University, where he found inspiration for the novel's atmospheric landscapes. 🎹 The comatose piano prodigy storyline draws parallels to real medical cases of talented musicians who have experienced mysterious neurological conditions. 📚 This was Brandon's third novel, following his acclaimed works "Arkansas" (2008) and "Citrus County" (2010), all published by McSweeney's Publishing. 🌟 The book received praise from The New York Times for its unique approach to magical realism in a contemporary American setting. 🎭 Brandon employs a rotating point-of-view narrative technique, giving voice to eight different characters throughout the novel, including a wolf's perspective.