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A review by markyon
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix
4.0
It should really go without saying that for a voracious book reader (like myself!) books about books, or libraries, or bibliophiles should be an automatic win.
Well, for me, it certainly scores points.
But, with that in mind, I must admit that I was a little disappointed by The Left Handed Booksellers of London, Garth’s first book in this series. Although there was a lot I liked, I should say that there were also elements that I was a little less happy with. There was a great pace and style in this alternate 1980’s story, one that reminded me of The Avengers (that’s 60’s TV series, not Marvel) or even Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series, but at the same time the odd clunky plot coincidence and a couple of characters that seemed to be trying just too hard.
I know that Garth can write. And I did say that I would want to read the next book in the series. And here it is!
The good news is that I enjoyed this one more than I did the first.
From the publisher: There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath. The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity who inhabits the ancient hot spring. Yet this time it is not from Sulis Minerva that trouble starts. It comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger. A desperate rescue is attempted by his sister the right-handed bookseller Vivien and their friend, art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.
The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery performed by an Ancient Sovereign and guarded by monstrous living statues of Purbeck marble. But this is only the beginning, as the booksellers investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths and try to unravel the secrets of the murderous Lady of Stone, a serial killer of awesome powers.
If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal.”
A quick reminder: the main premise of the series is that in this Britain, booksellers* act as guardians between this world and gods known as the Ancient Ones who sometimes intrude upon this modern world. In the first book, much of the plot was about Susan Arkshaw finding out about this secret society of booksellers, then discovering what her father’s real identity was and that she had a connection with the gods.
Now that (slight spoiler from the first book here) Susan knows that her father is a High King and that she is therefore a Child of an Ancient Sovereign, in this novel it is about how Susan deals with that knowledge and how it will affect her life. One of the plot points through the novel is that her talents seem to be growing, but the issue is that as much as Susan is drawn to the Ancient World, she wishes to lead her own comparatively ordinary mortal life - to carry on going to the Slade School of Art on her Painting course, and be as normal as possible – whatever that is.
The complication is that she is regularly called upon by the booksellers to help them - this time after an incident in Bath. (This one is actually less ‘bookshop’ and more Roman Baths.) It also doesn’t help that Susan is attracted to the mercurial Merlin, the young left-handed bookseller with whom she began a relationship with in The Left-Handed Booksellers of London. With Vivien, his sister, they are Susan’s minders, although their professional relationship is complicated. Early on in this book an incident means that Merlin is in need of Susan’s assistance.
It's not long though before the three of them are embroiled in a situation, as Susan’s connection to the Old World puts her in danger. With her new but growing powers, she is seen by some as a valuable asset needed to fulfil an ancient prophesy and bring back to health a demi-mortal currently being held in suspended animation, something that others mean to make happen at all costs, even at the cost of Susan’s life. As we approach the Winter Solstice, her friends are determined to protect her, but the situation could lead to a clash between the mythological world and this.
First of all, it does pay to have read The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, although not essential. There’s enough reminders of what has gone before to mean that you can read this one on its own fairly easily, although previous readers will understand some of the plot-points more, I think.
And talking of plot-points, I’m pleased that, this time around, I found the plot to be better. With less of a need to set things up, I felt that there’s more internal logic and less plot coincidence. I was struck by the thought that being set in the 1980’s, of course, means that the plot can’t be just solved with a quick look at Google or a quick call on your mobile phone!
As this is the second book in a series, we are able to look at some of the characters in a little more depth after setting things up in the first book. The relationship between Merlin and Susan continues to develop and there’s the reappearance of some we have met before. I’m still not entirely convinced by the actions of some of the characters, but interestingly Merlin seemed to be more James Bond and less Eddie Izzard this time around, although he does remind me a lot of Michael Moorcock’s Jerry Cornelius. (This may be deliberate.)
I also liked the situation created by Susan’s dilemma of wanting to help whilst at the same time determined not to be totally allied to the booksellers. There’s even a little suspicion on the part of Susan that the booksellers outside her own friends may not be entirely trustworthy. I think that this will be a plot development in future novels.
In comparison, whilst generally still quirky, the secondary characters are still a little nondescript, however, although the point is the need to focus on events around Susan.
In terms of the bigger picture, I liked that we discover more about the how the Ancient Ones operate – often in a different realm and usually on a different timescale to that of mortals. We meet new gods and their associates, with the focus being on events around the ancient city of Bath and its ancient Roman Baths. I can see this idea of different gods being in different parts of Britain being a continuing feature of future novels, combining Ancient History and bookshops. It made me think “Where to next?” Can we expect to see visits to cities such as Manchester, Lincoln, York and Nottingham in the future? And how many more titles can we come up with that use the idea of left and right? How about the next being “The Ambidextrous Booksellers of York”?
In my review of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London I said that I felt that it reminded me of 1960’s TV series The Avengers. Reading this book, although there are fewer 1980’s cultural references than in the last, I now realise that I need to reappraise my view and say that Garth is clearly channelling another 70’s & 80’s television series, The Professionals, which was a British crime-action drama show. (It’s even referenced by Garth in the book.) There’s a lot of car-chasing, gun-shooting and gallivanting going on, which is a lot of fun but also means that there’s fewer literary references and less time (sadly) in bookshops.
Nevertheless, in short, The Sinister Booksellers is a lot of fun. I am still amused by the idea that booksellers are action-heroes and scholarly intellectuals, and this unusual combination of action-drama and ancient mythologies is an interesting one. As Garth settles into this series, I find that I’m liking it more and more. There are still odd issues for me, but there’s enough for me to want to keep reading. I think that the series has legs. I’m hoping the next one builds on the successes of this one.
*(Just to explain further, ‘left-handed booksellers’ are the action-hero booksellers, the physical fighting booksellers, whilst the ‘right-handed’ agents are more intellectual. There are also a few select even-handed bookseller leaders, who do both.)
Well, for me, it certainly scores points.
But, with that in mind, I must admit that I was a little disappointed by The Left Handed Booksellers of London, Garth’s first book in this series. Although there was a lot I liked, I should say that there were also elements that I was a little less happy with. There was a great pace and style in this alternate 1980’s story, one that reminded me of The Avengers (that’s 60’s TV series, not Marvel) or even Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series, but at the same time the odd clunky plot coincidence and a couple of characters that seemed to be trying just too hard.
I know that Garth can write. And I did say that I would want to read the next book in the series. And here it is!
The good news is that I enjoyed this one more than I did the first.
From the publisher: There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath. The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity who inhabits the ancient hot spring. Yet this time it is not from Sulis Minerva that trouble starts. It comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger. A desperate rescue is attempted by his sister the right-handed bookseller Vivien and their friend, art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.
The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery performed by an Ancient Sovereign and guarded by monstrous living statues of Purbeck marble. But this is only the beginning, as the booksellers investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths and try to unravel the secrets of the murderous Lady of Stone, a serial killer of awesome powers.
If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal.”
A quick reminder: the main premise of the series is that in this Britain, booksellers* act as guardians between this world and gods known as the Ancient Ones who sometimes intrude upon this modern world. In the first book, much of the plot was about Susan Arkshaw finding out about this secret society of booksellers, then discovering what her father’s real identity was and that she had a connection with the gods.
Now that (slight spoiler from the first book here) Susan knows that her father is a High King and that she is therefore a Child of an Ancient Sovereign, in this novel it is about how Susan deals with that knowledge and how it will affect her life. One of the plot points through the novel is that her talents seem to be growing, but the issue is that as much as Susan is drawn to the Ancient World, she wishes to lead her own comparatively ordinary mortal life - to carry on going to the Slade School of Art on her Painting course, and be as normal as possible – whatever that is.
The complication is that she is regularly called upon by the booksellers to help them - this time after an incident in Bath. (This one is actually less ‘bookshop’ and more Roman Baths.) It also doesn’t help that Susan is attracted to the mercurial Merlin, the young left-handed bookseller with whom she began a relationship with in The Left-Handed Booksellers of London. With Vivien, his sister, they are Susan’s minders, although their professional relationship is complicated. Early on in this book an incident means that Merlin is in need of Susan’s assistance.
It's not long though before the three of them are embroiled in a situation, as Susan’s connection to the Old World puts her in danger. With her new but growing powers, she is seen by some as a valuable asset needed to fulfil an ancient prophesy and bring back to health a demi-mortal currently being held in suspended animation, something that others mean to make happen at all costs, even at the cost of Susan’s life. As we approach the Winter Solstice, her friends are determined to protect her, but the situation could lead to a clash between the mythological world and this.
First of all, it does pay to have read The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, although not essential. There’s enough reminders of what has gone before to mean that you can read this one on its own fairly easily, although previous readers will understand some of the plot-points more, I think.
And talking of plot-points, I’m pleased that, this time around, I found the plot to be better. With less of a need to set things up, I felt that there’s more internal logic and less plot coincidence. I was struck by the thought that being set in the 1980’s, of course, means that the plot can’t be just solved with a quick look at Google or a quick call on your mobile phone!
As this is the second book in a series, we are able to look at some of the characters in a little more depth after setting things up in the first book. The relationship between Merlin and Susan continues to develop and there’s the reappearance of some we have met before. I’m still not entirely convinced by the actions of some of the characters, but interestingly Merlin seemed to be more James Bond and less Eddie Izzard this time around, although he does remind me a lot of Michael Moorcock’s Jerry Cornelius. (This may be deliberate.)
I also liked the situation created by Susan’s dilemma of wanting to help whilst at the same time determined not to be totally allied to the booksellers. There’s even a little suspicion on the part of Susan that the booksellers outside her own friends may not be entirely trustworthy. I think that this will be a plot development in future novels.
In comparison, whilst generally still quirky, the secondary characters are still a little nondescript, however, although the point is the need to focus on events around Susan.
In terms of the bigger picture, I liked that we discover more about the how the Ancient Ones operate – often in a different realm and usually on a different timescale to that of mortals. We meet new gods and their associates, with the focus being on events around the ancient city of Bath and its ancient Roman Baths. I can see this idea of different gods being in different parts of Britain being a continuing feature of future novels, combining Ancient History and bookshops. It made me think “Where to next?” Can we expect to see visits to cities such as Manchester, Lincoln, York and Nottingham in the future? And how many more titles can we come up with that use the idea of left and right? How about the next being “The Ambidextrous Booksellers of York”?
In my review of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London I said that I felt that it reminded me of 1960’s TV series The Avengers. Reading this book, although there are fewer 1980’s cultural references than in the last, I now realise that I need to reappraise my view and say that Garth is clearly channelling another 70’s & 80’s television series, The Professionals, which was a British crime-action drama show. (It’s even referenced by Garth in the book.) There’s a lot of car-chasing, gun-shooting and gallivanting going on, which is a lot of fun but also means that there’s fewer literary references and less time (sadly) in bookshops.
Nevertheless, in short, The Sinister Booksellers is a lot of fun. I am still amused by the idea that booksellers are action-heroes and scholarly intellectuals, and this unusual combination of action-drama and ancient mythologies is an interesting one. As Garth settles into this series, I find that I’m liking it more and more. There are still odd issues for me, but there’s enough for me to want to keep reading. I think that the series has legs. I’m hoping the next one builds on the successes of this one.
*(Just to explain further, ‘left-handed booksellers’ are the action-hero booksellers, the physical fighting booksellers, whilst the ‘right-handed’ agents are more intellectual. There are also a few select even-handed bookseller leaders, who do both.)