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caszriel's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Comfort read after finishing Lockwood & Co. S1 last night, my only complaint is that it was too short and I need more.
modernwaterrider's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.75
aix83's review against another edition
5.0
Whole series review. Major spoilers (hidden).
Type I ghosts avoid humans, Type II are attracted to the human warmth and reach for it. Unequally dangerous, the touch of both kills. And then there’s the legendary Type III, ghosts who maintain their minds after death and are capable of coherent dialogue. Marissa Fittes, the founder of one of the first psychic detection agencies in London, was famous for her ability to talk to Type IIIs. After her, no Listener has been able to do it.
The 5 book series builds patiently and without signs of what’s in store for the end. Lockwood, a gifted Seer, and Lucy, a powerful Listener, investigate their first cases with the help of their researcher, George. It must be said that this isn’t a horror book. Although they investigate Combe Carey, one of the most haunted manors in England, and its Screaming Staircase, the reading is empowering. Rather than cowering in fear and succumbing to miasma and ghost-lock, our heroes are actively hunting the ghosts. From book 1, you know you’re dealing with hard characters.
As their success builds up and higher and higher profile cases land on their doorstep, our heroes gradually find themselves immersed in an underground conflict, where the owners of the largest psychic detection agencies and the interloper relic hunters all vie for an unknown prize. Lockwood’s wit, Lucy’s grit, and George’s careful research slowly uncover hints that this conspiracy is linked to whatever started the Problem.
While on the case of the Bone Mirror, Lucy finds her own Type III, a skull locked in a silver-glass jar for more than a century. With his sarcasm and spiteful personality, the skull is a charmer. Still, his advice pushes Lucy into finding out that the Bone Mirror, a piece of glass surrounded by ghost Sources, is a tiny window into the afterlife. Or something like it… Then, Lockwood & Co uncover a giant scale replica of the Bone Mirror in the basement of a shopping mall. The store proves to be the source of a cluster haunting spread all over Chelsea, haunting that claimed numerous lives that winter. This is the first hint to what follows. Seemingly, if the Bone Mirror was a window, a larger setup can be used as a door to the beyond. And doors, by definition, allow someone to pass through. And indeed, a larger setup has been thus used in the past by one of the icons of the first agencies.
And that has actually started the Problem.
There were a few things I absolutely loved about the books.
One interesting thing is that the series is impossible to place in time, if it even happens on this Earth. There is no mention of any technologies or clear descriptions of clothing. Everything is, in this way, ethereal and suspended in time just like a ghost. There are absolutely no mentions of TVs, mobile phones or anything like that. The atmosphere smells of the 20th century but that’s all you can say. It’s a refreshing break from all the tedious YA modern novels where technology drives the plot and whiny teenagers are texting themselves to death.
Character development is fabulous. You are told that the heroes are children or at least teenagers. But there’s no trace of childishness to them. They talk and act like adults, with wit and ingenuity. Although the book can be read by a young audience, it is also perfectly suitable for adults. All the characters are genuinely likable and well developed, including skull. And they act like a team even as they expand to take new members on board.
It’s absolutely clear that the author had a very clear plan in mind before starting to type the first page. I love that in books because it gives them internal consistency. In this series, foreshadowing is sublime and no deus ex machina shows its ugly head. The heroes have everything they need to resolve future problems and often they have from book 1 everything they need in book 5.
The writing is great. Simple sentences, lots of adverbs, few adjectives, action writing, no waffle, no “literature”. The plot is what drives the book, unlike in many novels that I’ve seen praised for their writing (yuck!). The action scenes are wonderfully written and make you live every moment with the heroes.
The world building is also superb. The iron chains, the magnesium flares, lavender, silver-glass, and all the paraphernalia that ghost hunters use to isolate and contain Sources. On the other hand, aura, aparitions, miasma, creeping fear, ghost-lock, ghost-touch, other-light, cold maidens, lurkers, shining children, and other ghost terminology. These all make for a richly textured world as solid as ours. Despite ghost novels being ten a pence, Stroud spins the old story by keeping every detail from folklore and encasing them in a fresh, exciting,, never before seen plot.
Spoiler
This is the story of the Problem. How it came to be, and how it came to an end. The cool, composed Lockwood leads his own agency of ghost hunters. Because 50 years ago, ghosts started appearing all over England. Perhaps they didn’t exist before or maybe they simply weren’t so dangerous. But now they’re deadly. A single ghost-touch is enough to provoke a painful death through a reaction similar to anaphylactic shock. It leaves victims swollen and blue. To remove the ghost one needs to find its Source, the object that keeps it anchored on this side. Only children and teenagers can see ghosts and the gift fades with age. And so, it is up to children to protect everyone. Obviously, this makes for a generation of very tough teenagers who need to learn mastering their fear, upon which ghosts feed to become stronger. Most youngsters are Seers but some, fewer, are Listeners. Even fewer can sense the history of places and objects by touch.Type I ghosts avoid humans, Type II are attracted to the human warmth and reach for it. Unequally dangerous, the touch of both kills. And then there’s the legendary Type III, ghosts who maintain their minds after death and are capable of coherent dialogue. Marissa Fittes, the founder of one of the first psychic detection agencies in London, was famous for her ability to talk to Type IIIs. After her, no Listener has been able to do it.
The 5 book series builds patiently and without signs of what’s in store for the end. Lockwood, a gifted Seer, and Lucy, a powerful Listener, investigate their first cases with the help of their researcher, George. It must be said that this isn’t a horror book. Although they investigate Combe Carey, one of the most haunted manors in England, and its Screaming Staircase, the reading is empowering. Rather than cowering in fear and succumbing to miasma and ghost-lock, our heroes are actively hunting the ghosts. From book 1, you know you’re dealing with hard characters.
As their success builds up and higher and higher profile cases land on their doorstep, our heroes gradually find themselves immersed in an underground conflict, where the owners of the largest psychic detection agencies and the interloper relic hunters all vie for an unknown prize. Lockwood’s wit, Lucy’s grit, and George’s careful research slowly uncover hints that this conspiracy is linked to whatever started the Problem.
While on the case of the Bone Mirror, Lucy finds her own Type III, a skull locked in a silver-glass jar for more than a century. With his sarcasm and spiteful personality, the skull is a charmer. Still, his advice pushes Lucy into finding out that the Bone Mirror, a piece of glass surrounded by ghost Sources, is a tiny window into the afterlife. Or something like it… Then, Lockwood & Co uncover a giant scale replica of the Bone Mirror in the basement of a shopping mall. The store proves to be the source of a cluster haunting spread all over Chelsea, haunting that claimed numerous lives that winter. This is the first hint to what follows. Seemingly, if the Bone Mirror was a window, a larger setup can be used as a door to the beyond. And doors, by definition, allow someone to pass through. And indeed, a larger setup has been thus used in the past by one of the icons of the first agencies.
And that has actually started the Problem.
There were a few things I absolutely loved about the books.
One interesting thing is that the series is impossible to place in time, if it even happens on this Earth. There is no mention of any technologies or clear descriptions of clothing. Everything is, in this way, ethereal and suspended in time just like a ghost. There are absolutely no mentions of TVs, mobile phones or anything like that. The atmosphere smells of the 20th century but that’s all you can say. It’s a refreshing break from all the tedious YA modern novels where technology drives the plot and whiny teenagers are texting themselves to death.
Character development is fabulous. You are told that the heroes are children or at least teenagers. But there’s no trace of childishness to them. They talk and act like adults, with wit and ingenuity. Although the book can be read by a young audience, it is also perfectly suitable for adults. All the characters are genuinely likable and well developed, including skull. And they act like a team even as they expand to take new members on board.
It’s absolutely clear that the author had a very clear plan in mind before starting to type the first page. I love that in books because it gives them internal consistency. In this series, foreshadowing is sublime and no deus ex machina shows its ugly head. The heroes have everything they need to resolve future problems and often they have from book 1 everything they need in book 5.
The writing is great. Simple sentences, lots of adverbs, few adjectives, action writing, no waffle, no “literature”. The plot is what drives the book, unlike in many novels that I’ve seen praised for their writing (yuck!). The action scenes are wonderfully written and make you live every moment with the heroes.
The world building is also superb. The iron chains, the magnesium flares, lavender, silver-glass, and all the paraphernalia that ghost hunters use to isolate and contain Sources. On the other hand, aura, aparitions, miasma, creeping fear, ghost-lock, ghost-touch, other-light, cold maidens, lurkers, shining children, and other ghost terminology. These all make for a richly textured world as solid as ours. Despite ghost novels being ten a pence, Stroud spins the old story by keeping every detail from folklore and encasing them in a fresh, exciting,, never before seen plot.
booksnorkel's review against another edition
5.0
This series is so spooky and good that I really wish that Stroud would power write us up a whole book of these little case studies. I would also like to point out that in his Bartimaeus books he also uses the Anarchist and the Oyster and an unknown harrowing adventure that our heroes go through.
Lockwood, Lucy, and George have a job to do. Something is haunting an elite boarding school something cruel and malicious. Lucy is still playing with the dangers of her ability and she keeps getting more and more reckless. What is in the school? Why is it there? Do these questions matter if you can just get rid of the issue?
What I'm hoping this short story means is that Stroud will give us more novellas, and short stories set in this world. I would love to have more!! For those who have read the other Lockwood books and can't wait for the fourth to come out!!
Lockwood, Lucy, and George have a job to do. Something is haunting an elite boarding school something cruel and malicious. Lucy is still playing with the dangers of her ability and she keeps getting more and more reckless. What is in the school? Why is it there? Do these questions matter if you can just get rid of the issue?
What I'm hoping this short story means is that Stroud will give us more novellas, and short stories set in this world. I would love to have more!! For those who have read the other Lockwood books and can't wait for the fourth to come out!!
fatfakeshady's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
ahungryhippo's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25