To HLB, how can you criticize a book without reading it? Go back to what ever hole you crawled out of and go back to reading Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy or whatever mainstream garbage you like.
Warren Ellis doesn't follow the rules when it comes to writing, that's why most people don't get him. It takes a lot of imagination and faith to read a book like "Crooked little vein", you have to set aside your preconceived ideas what literature should be and dive right in.
I have read everything Ellis has done in comics and look forward to many more books, especially if they are even half as good as "Crooked Little Vein"