Summary

Susan Arkshaw travels from her home in the country to London in the hope of finding her estranged father, who is unknown to her and unmentioned by her absentminded mother. Arriving, Susan seems to fall into a world far beyond her expectations when meeting the handsome Merlin, a member of a family of supernatural booksellers. While their day job consists of the usual components of the field, behind the scenes, they exist to protect and manage the line between the magic of ancient beings and human life. Likewise, they identify themselves based on their handedness, with right-handed booksellers being the reason and mystics of the operation, and left-handed booksellers are the fist and weaponry.

Susan finds that the quest to find her father is deeply interconnected with the family, as not only does she realize herself to be a little less human than originally thought but that her family may also be somehow involved in the murder of the mother of Merlin and his sister, Vivien. Susan, Merlin, and Vivien go on a perilous journey that is laced with encounters of both friends and foes, both human and not, in order to seek their answers. Likewise, the budding attraction between Susan and Merlin and its potential fulfillment rests upon what they find.

Analysis Rant

I give props to Nix for his ability to mix together the oldest forms of mythology with this new idea of a family of supernatural booksellers. Perhaps, the execution wasn’t flawless, but it was a seriously good effort. Nix seems to excel at world-building and creating history around the supernatural. Likewise, coming across favorite mythological creatures was like seeing the return of a favorite character and even without the redundancy. It honored the mythology of the past while also adding its own spin to it.

He is excellent at creating truly unique settings and backgrounds that (beautifully) stink of history. If he ever writes a book taking place in the school for booksellers or describing how they each get their powers, then I will absolutely jump on that. Unfortunately, though, whether it is a product of comparison or just a flaw, his human characters lack this depth. It’s not so much that I would have erased Susan entirely from the story, but her lack was so harsh in comparison to the vibrant world-building of the Old World and the booksellers’ place in it, that I almost wish she was a side character that Merlin found rather than the main character who was suddenly introduced into this world (and then found to be a part of it). Susan and her story just didn’t feel strong enough for me. It felt… bleh. The booksellers, though, were a favorite to which I want to know more about, as I can tell that there is more there to be told. I didn’t feel that was the case with Susan. Although it may be interesting to see how he grows her.

Nix is a favorite of mine when it comes to the grotesque. His ability to craft the picture and feeling of repulsion around the creatures with his words always impresses me. Not only the image, though, but Nix can also create motion and action with his monsters in a way that makes me feel like he can see what is happening. While I didn’t feel a huge emotional connection with Susan—partly because I think she was being passed off as a “cool” girl who could handle herself in all situations, and therefore, lost some of the human connection—as a reader, I felt very much that I would NOT like to be in her shoes most of the time. Because while she didn’t respond in a way that most people would, I still felt it and felt what it would have been like. That dissonance, as well, added to the disappointment a bit, but I get that wasn’t what he wanted for the character.

The first 100 pages were rough to get through. Between the cliche of “girl sets out to find father and instead finds love… I mean, herself,” the “tough girl” trope who chooses her own destiny (and man), “conceited man-boy who knows that he is good looking who turns himself around for the one girl who is different,” the redundancy of information that was being given (particularly around her book preferences), and the name-drops of famous authors and texts that felt like the author was trying to make a point that this character knew books (while in the process, showing that all they knew was popular books), only my faith in Nix’s writing pulled me into the next 100. And I was pleased that I did… but mostly because of the booksellers, the monsters, the fairy tales, and the fluidity of action. Those were good. The supernatural world-building was good. Susan, on the other hand, left me feeling kinda conflicted and a little bit bored. Likewise, the general outline of the story itself felt a little too “perfect.” And the “coincidences” really pile up.

All in all, though, it was a decently average book that I enjoyed for its strengths, and its weaknesses didn’t leave me wanting to throw the book against the wall by the end of it. The last lines of the book, though, were super punchy in a weird way and felt like they were just thrown in there for the Merlin-Susan simps but in a way completely inconsistent with the characters he had just spent 300+ pages trying to create. Was not a fan of that, but as I said, it didn’t leave me hating the book, just added one more thing to the “whhhyyyyy would you do that?” category.

Aaand, just one more “why” for now… I have read the entire book, and now I am looking at its title and wondering about that choice. Why specifically the “left-handed” booksellers? For sure, Merlin is left-handed, but Vivien, another key player in this game, is right-handed. There also isn’t a focus on left-handedness in the book either, when considering the bookselling family. I’m confused. However, the title is catchy and is likely more catchy than just “The Booksellers of London.” Adding “left-handed” adds to the mystery of the story and maybe hints that something is different than just your typical booksellers. Likewise, there seems to be a significant bias toward right-handedness in this world, and I like showing off left-handedness in a positive or at least equal light.

Anyway, a sequel is planned, and I do intend to read it, but I’m really hoping for a new main character…

Writer’s Takeaway

• The historical background should create the depth to carry the present-day conflict forward, but if the present-day conflict or characters are weak, then it can only help so much.
• Tropes are tropes for a reason. While not always bad, attempt to look on the outskirts of tropes to find creative inspiration. Just doing the opposite of a bad trope often just creates another bad trope. Write real, not just responsive to other literature.

Annotated Passages

The Grail-Keeper suddenly stopped skipping and skidded to a halt as the path ahead forked, though in both cases it continued through the wood and the two paths looked no different. “Shall we take the left- or right-hand way?”
“I don’t know,” said Susan. “Where are we going?”
“Where do you want to go?” Susan opened her mouth, shut it, and thought very carefully. One part of her simply wanted to go home and go to bed and pull the Moomin troll quilt her mother made her when she was eight over her head, and have Jassmine absentmindedly bring her cold cups of tea she’d made hours before. She even felt this might be possible, that this strange, fey little girl before her might be able to arrange that. But she also knew her mother’s house would be only a very temporary refuge.

“… The Silvermere of the St. Jacques is not for you, at least not on this occasion. You may pass through this Silvermere with me, but you may not linger, nor may you eat or drink, for you are not an invited guest. I have allowed Merlin and Vivien to bring you here, but not to stay.”
“And I have to leave without them? Without Merlin and Vivien?” asked Susan. She tried to sound strong, but couldn’t help a faint tremor in her voice.
The girl nodded, very solemn now. “This isn’t one of those things where one path leads to my doom and the other to redemption or something, is it?”
“Perhaps both paths lead to your doom,” said the Grail-Keeper. “But either one will take you where you say you want to go.”
“I’m not simply saying it’s where I want to go!” protested Susan. She took a breath and repeated herself, slowly and firmly. “I need to go to my father. To the Old Man of Coniston. I’d love to have the help of Merlin and Vivien, because I do believe they are my friends. But I will go alone if I have to. And I will take the right-hand path.”
“Good,” said the girl. She winked and added, “It’s a bit quicker.”

→ Serious C.S. Lewis “Prince Caspian” Lucy vibes. I dig it. Also, it was kinda funny to turn that on its head and show that, in the end, it wasn’t such a deep question. Makes me think about how we so often attribute more meaning to the decisions that we make in life than sometimes they have. Sometimes a decision can change your life, sometimes a decision is the difference between “black” and “white,” “death” and “life,” and sometimes, it’s just a small decision that moves you in a general direction. Those small decisions can add up to something more meaningful, and I still think that it’s important to consider things carefully, but I do think that sometimes putting the full weight of life and death into every decision is a good way of paralyzing yourself from making a decision at all. One should be intentional, but too much intention can unintentionally make you stuck.

Recommended Books (and Mentioned Books)

• Sabriel series by Garth Nix
• Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis