herseriallife
Written on Jul 26, 2021
A girl's quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of fantasy, Garth Nix.
In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn't get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.
Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.
Susan's search for her father begins with her mother's possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.
Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan's. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.
With exclusive finishes including yellow sprayed edges and a bonus short story
- ISBN13 9781473233126
- Publish Date 24 September 2020 (first published 22 September 2020)
- Publish Status Unknown
- Imprint Orion Publishing Co
- Edition Waterstones Exclusive
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 416
- Language English
- Special Bonus Content Sprayed Edges
Reviews
annieb123
Written on Sep 21, 2020
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is a new urban fantasy/crossworlds mashup by Garth Nix. Due out 22nd Sept 2020 from HarperCollins Children's imprint, it's 416 pages (hardcover) and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
Probably 80% of what I read and review is speculative fiction and murder mysteries. Of the SF/fantasy, urban fantasy is my favorite. Give me hobgoblins in Edinburgh, talking rats in the subway, genii locorum (yes, I had 7 years of formal Latin, sorry), or semi-mythical librarians/booksellers/archivists, and it's like catnip. This is that...lots and lots of that. I started reading and was delighted, quickly enraptured, and then spellbound. I stayed up way too late reading.
The plotting and nuts-and-bolts construction are well engineered and all the moving parts work. The dialogue is well done and doesn't devolve into pure annoying sarcastic snark at any point. There's a fair bit of violence and gore, but it's not egregious or overly graphic. I would put it around the PG-13 level. The language is somewhat rough (again, used in context). There is no sexual content.
There will absolutely be comparisons to Miéville's Un Lun Dun, and Aaronvitch's Rivers of London, and Gaiman's Neverwhere, but while I can say that fans of those esteemed worthies will find a lot to love here, Nix brings his own (inimitable) distinct narrative and it's original and enjoyable and fresh. It's not explicitly foreshadowed, but I hope this will be a long and very prolific series. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.
I really really enjoyed this one. Four stars, a strong series (I hope) start.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
tweetybugshouse
Written on Sep 18, 2020
The addition of a Merlin character always makes for an interesting tale as well. Garth Nix is one of the most creative, stand out authors i have the privileged to read. His variety of magical creatures i never seen show up in other novels which i sure means they have to be plucked from his vastly creative imagination. This novel will not disappoint especially if your a fan of London magical adventures that involve bookshops and magical booksellers.
Terri M. LeBlanc
Written on Sep 13, 2020
The idea of a secret society of booksellers drew me into this story, but the massive world and its rules left me feeling lost. The reveal of the villain and the connection to Susan and her mother and the booksellers felt muddy and unclear as well.
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.