kleonard 's review for:

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix

2.0

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I don't like this series much, despite my deep and enduring love for much of Nix's other work. The Bookseller series (well, there are 2 now) has a generally rushed tone, often frantic, with mania just one step away. Occasionally there are glimpses of Nix's better writing capabilities, where he slows down a bit and gives readers small sips of more measured descriptions and dialogue. But for the most part, both books feel as if they've been written as quickly as possible. The characters and the developing lore reflect this: Susan remains flat and dull, and her mother remains a cardboard figure entirely, and Merlin is a completely self-obsessed jerk. Vivien is a bit better developed, but still not very well fleshed-out; other characters seem to be there simply to fill in spaces. There's a lot of representation of minority identities, though, but most of them are small roles and their differences are denoted though awkward constructions. There's a lot of description and detail about cars; can we inject the characters and places with the same enthusiasm as the cars get? The plot is okay--the maps are clever and having Susan make one is great--but the antagonists are not exactly original. In fact, one is similar to the Stilken Lirael fights in *Lirael,* with the hooked arms and shape-changing abilities. There are fantastic ideas in the Booksellers books, but Nix isn't taking the time to let them breathe, and the hurrying pace throughout is detrimental.