Keanu Reeves discusses the inspiration for his first novel, The Book of Elsewhere: ‘I think about death’

Co-written with sci-fi author China Miéville, the book is set in the same world as Reeves’ “BRZRKR” comics.

Keanu Reeves is going to need words. Lots of words.

In a new interview with The New York Times, the John Wick star opened up about writing his first novel, The Book of Elsewhere, alongside China Miéville, the sci-fi author behind books like The City & the City and Kraken. The book will be the first novel set in the universe of BRZRKR, Reeves’ multimedia franchise that originated with a 2021 comic book series.

Reeves said that while developing BRZRKR and The Book of Elsewhere, which follow an 80,000-year-old warrior known as Unute (or sometimes simply B), he gained a greater understanding of himself. “It surprised me in the creative act, what gets revealed to oneself,” he said. “Maybe the creative act is a kind of talking, you know. And so maybe I have father issues and mother issues. And maybe I think about death.”

Keanu Reeves.OLIVIA WONG/WIREIMAGE

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The comics and novel have allowed Reeves to reflect on philosophical and social themes that he doesn’t fully comprehend. “Maybe I don’t understand the violence of the world,” he told the Times. “I don’t understand that we all know we’re going to die, and we kill each other over things that are, perhaps as you look back at them, not so important. Maybe I wonder about the world, you know, how did we get here, who are we.”

The Matrix star also admitted that he wonders about the role of technology and the future of humanity. “I wonder about this kind of extinction motive that it seems the species has,” he said. “I don’t know why we’re in such a rush to get off the planet and become digitized. Maybe I wonder about love. And the power of it. Why is death so strong and love so frail, and yet it’s the strongest force on the planet?”

In addition to the novel and multiple comic iterations, the world of BRZRKR will expand even further with a live-action movie adaptation and an anime series, both of which will star Reeves and are in development at Netflix. “Show business looks at it like, what else can we do, but I come at it from the artist’s side, like what else can we make,” Reeves said. “From the very beginning I was hoping that other creators and artists could play… with the toys.”

Keanu Reeves. STEVE JENNINGS/GETTY IMAGES
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Reeves’ creative output extends into more avenues than perhaps any other contemporary movie star. Besides the aforementioned comics and book, he plays bass in the band Dogstar, has acted in video games like Cyberpunk 2077, owns a custom motorcycle company, and wrote text for two books of photography by his partner Alexandra Grant.