---
product_id: 43618107
title: "The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades"
brand: "mark z. danielewski"
price: "RM262"
currency: MYR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 6
url: https://www.desertcart.com.my/products/43618107-the-familiar-volume-4-hades
store_origin: MY
region: Malaysia
---

# The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades

**Brand:** mark z. danielewski
**Price:** RM262
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades by mark z. danielewski
- **How much does it cost?** RM262 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.my](https://www.desertcart.com.my/products/43618107-the-familiar-volume-4-hades)

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- mark z. danielewski enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted mark z. danielewski brand quality
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## Description

The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades

## Images

![The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades - Image 1](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51YUVF0XJ0L.jpg)
![The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades - Image 2](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51yn0cUV9aL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    They keep getting better, I don't know how else to put it
  

*by J***S on Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2017*

Even with four installments, we’re already too far into this series for me to attempt to give a cursory overview of Volume 4 while trying to hide specifics. Those who are caught up in the series will know what I mean. That said, I’d like to touch on highlights of the book in order to spark intrigue while not completely spoiling the more important elements.In The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades, one encounters (among other things): a teenage girl named Xanther who may very well exist in multiple (or all possible) timelines, knows the names of every animal she encounters (not their species or type, their personal name) and sees dark stones covering the eyes of every person around her which she must mentally “flip” away. Xanther also gets transported to a creepy-ass winter forest with thousands of floating, disembodied stone-eyes marching towards her every time she has a seizure. There are some downright nightmare-inducing page turns in these sections.Additionally, Xanther found a cat (or is it the other way around?) which is not actually a cat (we aren’t sure exactly what it is yet), is thousands of years old or more, possesses definite (if uncertain, to us) power and for whom something very powerful and very bad is definitely coming.Other elements of note, rapid fire: three A.I. beings called the Narcons who directly interact with the narrative and provide commentary/references/clues for the reader, glass orbs that are kinda-sorta-maybe computers but which can scan catalogued events throughout time, pink and blue balloons that hold some highly addictive substance (upon which one character named Jing Jing is hopelessly dependent), “The Great Tian Li,” an elderly witch (?) from Singapore who has flown to Los Angeles because she claims the aforementioned cat belongs to her, one very bad dude in Mexico City simply known as The Mayor who traffics endangered animals for the purpose of brutal sport, a Latino gangster named Luther who has lost his appetite and can’t get it up anymore because of (...), an alcoholic, depressive detective named Ozgur, a stubborn little taxi driver named Schnork who is suppressing some extreme grief and a handy new interactive service called HomePorn in which strangers come into your home and have sex in front of you (!!!).Simply put, this series is insane, in all the best and most intriguing ways.Something I very much appreciate about MZD’s approach with The Familiar books (and an aspect I’ve mentioned in previous reviews) is that he maintains a balance between difficulty and enjoyment for the reader. These books are challenging at times, no doubt. They’re mysterious, they’re abstract, they’re minimalist and some passages can be utterly inconceivable. However, they’re also heartfelt, dramatic, dark, terrifying and funnier than one might think. I’ve found myself getting emotionally invested in more than half of the nine characters and deeply curious about the remainder of them. To put it simply, The Familiar is a more accessible series and a more approachable read than its basest premise would suggest. To naysayers who might deem the series pretentious, all I can say is that you must pick one up and read it before letting your assessment land there. These aren’t just hard books for the sake of being hard. They’re fun, they pay off and there’s a community around them to help parse out the questions as you go.With each subsequent volume, MZD is rewarding those who endure with more hints, more clues and (a few) answers, all the while the greater mystery deepens and grows more complex. Imagine if the television series LOST had all been planned out ahead of time and was leading somewhere that actually made sense. The nice part is that the books are each small segments of the larger treasure map being pieced together, (helpfully) referencing one another (with page numbers [even!]) to keep the reader on track and remind them of passages past (passed(?)). It’s all one big mind-bending, reality-defying, possibly simulated and probably multi-timelined puzzle. And the picture is getting clearer all the time, so keep scrying.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Solid Entry But More A Part of The Whole Than an Individual
  

*by C***H on Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2017*

I think I waited too long to post this review. Usually, I like to digest them a bit, but this was a mite longer than usual...Still, much as I loved this one, I think I remember the main pieces of my reaction to this.The main piece is that it felt much more "in a series" than the past volumes. The individual arc of the story isn't as strong for this one, and it becomes--to me--more about connecting past pieces and setting up the next volume than fully working on its own.Does that make it bad? No. But it didn't have the singular investment driving me along this time. I enjoyed what I read, and I'm eager for Volume Five, but as a single volume, it just felt a little "less than" than the previous volumes.Still, I'm trusting Danielewski will blow my mind and break my heart in the next one, and I truly love this series.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    READ THIS SERIES!
  

*by S***H on Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2017*

The Familiar is anything but. The series takes nine lives and methodically weaves them together in ways that are sometimes predictable but most times not.  Volume 4 is the series at its best. Every characters personally is already vivid and familiar to the reader by this point and revisiting them in this volume is refreshing after waiting since Volume 3. The formatting of pages is mind blowing as always. While reading there were many times where I stopped to admire the artwork on the page. This is a series like nothing I've ever read and it's safe to say that Volume 5 cannot come out soon enough.To anyone who wants to be challenged, and most of all rewarded from literature, I HIGHLY suggest reading this series. You will not be disappointed.

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*Product available on Desertcart Malaysia*
*Store origin: MY*
*Last updated: 2026-01-24*