Anyone read Vellum?

[Crazy Ivan]

Casting out into the darkness here- I'm not sure how well-known or well-read this book is, but last summer I read Hal Duncan's debut novel Vellum, and an aspect of it haunts me to this day:
I didn't get it.

The book itself is an exciting mash-up of cyberpunk, fantasy, time travel, mystery, epic, apocalypse, mythology, and bizarre salmagundi of all things literary.
The first half took work, but was otherwise possible to follow- not to mention very rewarding for the experience.
But when I got to the second half, with all the business of Jumping Jack Flash and the Rag-and-Bone Man (at least, I think that was his name)...I lost the plot, literally. I couldn't pick one event out from another, figure out how to distinguish the characters, or anything. I've thought about reading the sequel, Ink, to see if it clears anything up, but since it's been a while and I had a tenuous grasp on the book as it was, I'm afraid I'll just be even more confused.

I'm not sure if a single other person on this forum has read this book, or what they thought of it or made of it. But if you have, and if you have some idea of what the plot meant...help would be appreciated!

[apothecaryrose]

hmmm. I just started reading it about a week ago. So far I enjoy it. I haven't got a chance to do much reading on it because I've been busy with life. But I'll let you know what I think about it when I finish. :)

[Crazy Ivan]

As it turns out, I finally bucked up the courage to actually read Ink, and I found that it made a lot more sense than it had originally thought. Really, it helped a lot to know the mythological stuff that Hal Duncan was drawing on.
Point is, the confusion's all cleared up for me now, and I found both books to be an utterly excellent read. Between that and the great stuff on his blog, this Hal Duncan guy really rocks.