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A high-ranking member of a secret organization that battles supernatural forces wakes up in a London park with no memory, no idea who she is, and with a letter that provides instructions to help her uncover a far-reaching conspiracy.Tags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
dphseven The sequel
pwaites An urban fantasy mystery taking place in London.
LongDogMom Both of these books are fun reads that have a similar style and feel. I think if you like one of them, you'll like the other as well.
LongDogMom Both books are about British secret agencies protecting humans from supernatural threat and both are laugh out loud funny.
LongDogMom Same kind of quirky humour and style
pwaites Urban fantasy with a strong female lead and no romance.
dphseven Playful start to a series of novellas of a christian minister and her witchy friends fighting the forces of chaos. Similar feel to the Rook.
Member Reviews
Where to put this novel? On one hand, the plot and action tend toward spy thriller. On the other hand, the clandestine organization involved employs individuals who would be at home in the X-Men, so there's the fantasy aspect. On still the other hand, it's reality fiction about self-discovery, or about coping with impending death, or both. On the fourth hand (stick with me, four is not out of the question), some are going to plop for a bit of satire. This could have been the cafeteria Mystery Stew or it could have been bouillabaisse. I'm going with the bouillabaisse...maybe not from a restaurant with multiple Michelin stars but definitely from one that knew the basics of cooking.
Despite the wide-ranging setting, Daniel O'Malley has show more enough skill at world-building to carry it off and has given us a thoroughly likable heroine to inhabit it. The story is suspenseful, quite funny at appropriate moments, tongue-in-cheek silly in others, and poignant when it needs to be. I don't know if this is a single book or the start of series—it could go either way—but I thoroughly enjoyed it. show less
Despite the wide-ranging setting, Daniel O'Malley has show more enough skill at world-building to carry it off and has given us a thoroughly likable heroine to inhabit it. The story is suspenseful, quite funny at appropriate moments, tongue-in-cheek silly in others, and poignant when it needs to be. I don't know if this is a single book or the start of series—it could go either way—but I thoroughly enjoyed it. show less
A woman wakes up in a garden, surrounded by several men in latex gloves, and with no memory of who she is or how she got there. Fortunately, Myfanwy (rhymes with "Tiffany") Thomas left her future self some notes: she is a Rook of the Checquy, a secret society who takes care of supernatural threats to Britain. The only trouble is that someone in the court is out to kill her. Can she find the traitor in time?
I almost don't want to say anything more about the book, because seeing how everything develops is more than half the fun. I found it hilarious, page-turning fun and loved the inventive premise of a whole new personality just dumped into a woman and trying to figure out how to use her supernatural powers and deal with a life already show more there while trying not to let anyone know she was different. I also liked the former Myfanwy, and the way her letters and meticulous notes allowed the present Myfanwy and reader to learn more details (contrived, yes, but in a good way). On the one hand, I can't believe I missed this book when it was new, but on the other it was perfect timing to read this now when the sequel comes out in a few months. This may be a fun recommendation for fans of zany mashups like Thursday Next. show less
I almost don't want to say anything more about the book, because seeing how everything develops is more than half the fun. I found it hilarious, page-turning fun and loved the inventive premise of a whole new personality just dumped into a woman and trying to figure out how to use her supernatural powers and deal with a life already show more there while trying not to let anyone know she was different. I also liked the former Myfanwy, and the way her letters and meticulous notes allowed the present Myfanwy and reader to learn more details (contrived, yes, but in a good way). On the one hand, I can't believe I missed this book when it was new, but on the other it was perfect timing to read this now when the sequel comes out in a few months. This may be a fun recommendation for fans of zany mashups like Thursday Next. show less
It's sorta a spy-ops type of book, but the spies have superpowers. All sorts of superpowers. To the point where you'll be wondering why you don't find it over-the-top when, really, you should. But you won't. It is written with such a straight-face that you won't even bat an eye at a girl with leaves for hair.
The way the amnesia was dealt with was interesting and original and, at the same time, gave the author a chance to flesh out some other parts of the world by exploring events outside THIS rook Thomas' world. You get to see events from the past that aren't, technically, flashbacks.
And while the bulk of the book was spent covering supernatural material, the mystery as to who caused Thomas' memory loss (and how) was also well done and show more very suspenseful. I can even see the point of Bronwyn's appearance - it throws a bit of a wrench into the mix and I spent a good part of the book waiting for her appearance to "mean something".
Would I have liked the pace to be a bit faster, yes, probably... and I don't know that the last "manifestation" scene added anything to the story other than to make it a bit longer. But this might have been because by this point in the story I wanted to know who Thomas' enemy was...
I really enjoyed the wrap-up and how Thomas grew so much in such a short period. Her character was believable and likable. I will look for other books by this author. show less
The way the amnesia was dealt with was interesting and original and, at the same time, gave the author a chance to flesh out some other parts of the world by exploring events outside THIS rook Thomas' world. You get to see events from the past that aren't, technically, flashbacks.
And while the bulk of the book was spent covering supernatural material, the mystery as to who caused Thomas' memory loss (and how) was also well done and show more very suspenseful. I can even see the point of Bronwyn's appearance - it throws a bit of a wrench into the mix and I spent a good part of the book waiting for her appearance to "mean something".
Would I have liked the pace to be a bit faster, yes, probably... and I don't know that the last "manifestation" scene added anything to the story other than to make it a bit longer. But this might have been because by this point in the story I wanted to know who Thomas' enemy was...
I really enjoyed the wrap-up and how Thomas grew so much in such a short period. Her character was believable and likable. I will look for other books by this author. show less
Myfanwy (rhymes with Tiffany) Thomas awakens to find herself surrounded by several dead people wearing latex gloves and no idea who she is or how she got there. Not knowing what else to do she puts her hands in her pockets and pulls out a letter, which she begins to read.
"Dear You,
The body you are wearing used to be mine. The scar on the inner left thigh is there because I fell out of a tree and impaled my leg at the age of nine. The filling in the far left tooth on the top is a result of my avoiding the dentist for four years. But you probably care little about this body’s past. After all, I’m writing this letter for you to read in the future. Perhaps you are wondering why anyone would do such a thing. The answer is both simple show more and complicated. The simple answer is because I knew it would be necessary.
The complicated answer could take a little more time."
The Rook is the first novel by Daniel O'Malley and I was immediately hooked. Set in modern day London the story is part Jason Bourn, part X-Men and quite the page turner!
The story gives a gradual reveal as we learn about both Myfanwys through a series of letters that the "old" Myfanwy writes to the "new" Myfanwy while "new" Myfanwy tries to figure out what exactly the old her has gotten herself into. It's a brilliant set up that works seamlessly to give us history about the Checquy and insight into other characters while not hindering the mystery or any of the action. We also get a great contrast between the two Myfanwy's and it's great to see her grow into this role she's found herself in.
The breadth of supernatural powers and events O'Malley has created is amazing. From a malevolent cube of flesh to one mind that inhabits multiple bodies there are no boring, run-of-the-mill powers here!
The mystery is well thought out and the action is engaging. There is even a heavy dose of dry humour that was a pleasant surprise. I found myself laughing out loud several times.
While The Rook is a great standalone book I'm so happy O'Malley decided to continue the series. I look forward to the next book! show less
"Dear You,
The body you are wearing used to be mine. The scar on the inner left thigh is there because I fell out of a tree and impaled my leg at the age of nine. The filling in the far left tooth on the top is a result of my avoiding the dentist for four years. But you probably care little about this body’s past. After all, I’m writing this letter for you to read in the future. Perhaps you are wondering why anyone would do such a thing. The answer is both simple show more and complicated. The simple answer is because I knew it would be necessary.
The complicated answer could take a little more time."
The Rook is the first novel by Daniel O'Malley and I was immediately hooked. Set in modern day London the story is part Jason Bourn, part X-Men and quite the page turner!
The story gives a gradual reveal as we learn about both Myfanwys through a series of letters that the "old" Myfanwy writes to the "new" Myfanwy while "new" Myfanwy tries to figure out what exactly the old her has gotten herself into. It's a brilliant set up that works seamlessly to give us history about the Checquy and insight into other characters while not hindering the mystery or any of the action. We also get a great contrast between the two Myfanwy's and it's great to see her grow into this role she's found herself in.
The breadth of supernatural powers and events O'Malley has created is amazing. From a malevolent cube of flesh to one mind that inhabits multiple bodies there are no boring, run-of-the-mill powers here!
The mystery is well thought out and the action is engaging. There is even a heavy dose of dry humour that was a pleasant surprise. I found myself laughing out loud several times.
While The Rook is a great standalone book I'm so happy O'Malley decided to continue the series. I look forward to the next book! show less
So, I was in a bookstore in San Francisco and Abby really wanted to recommend a book to me, but nothing really sounded good. I bought the Rook more out of a sense of wanting to buy a book in that particular moment rather than any hope that this specific book would speak to me. And then, it happened to be in my backpack when I found myself caught on a bus without the book I was reading. I got to "The body you're wearing used to be mine" and found myself completely unable to put the book down for the next 450+ pages.
This is really true perfection: a spy novel-y romp of deception and double-crossing, with some lovely world building (on the heavy side of expository, but well-explained by the protagonist's amnesia) and a female character show more that's nuanced and has agency and kicks butt and takes names. The sort of book that's like a warm cup of spicy cinnamon tea in my hierarchy of comfort.
I also had many lovely existential conversations prompted by the Rook: Is present Myfanwy the same as past Myfanwy? Just without trauma? Is she a totally new person? What does identity mean, anyway?
I'm so in for the series, but I think the framing device of amnesia really made this book shine, not sure how it'll keep up in the future. show less
This is really true perfection: a spy novel-y romp of deception and double-crossing, with some lovely world building (on the heavy side of expository, but well-explained by the protagonist's amnesia) and a female character show more that's nuanced and has agency and kicks butt and takes names. The sort of book that's like a warm cup of spicy cinnamon tea in my hierarchy of comfort.
I'm so in for the series, but I think the framing device of amnesia really made this book shine, not sure how it'll keep up in the future. show less
Have you ever wondered what you would get if you took Men In Black, The X-Men and MI-5/Spooks and mashed them all together? Then Daniel O'Malley's The Rook is the book for you. O'Malley created a world where occasionally people are born with special skills, such as one person's consciousness sharing four bodies, or the ability to don a protective skin. These people are trained to use or control their abilities, and a secret agency (The Chequy) helps to control and end any hazardous threats that may be caused by people with unique abilities. The world is a blend of your favorite espionage stories with your favorite science fiction tales.
Myfanwy is one of these people with special abilities, but we learn things at the same time as show more Myfanwy, who recovers her past through a series of notes and letters left by herself, before she lost her memory. The result is being dropped into the middle of the action, however I found some of the letter chapters a little slower than the present. By the middle of the novel, the use of the letters drops of dramatically and the pace really picks up.
I really enjoyed entering this world O'Malley created in The Rook and would love to read or see more set in this world. show less
Myfanwy is one of these people with special abilities, but we learn things at the same time as show more Myfanwy, who recovers her past through a series of notes and letters left by herself, before she lost her memory. The result is being dropped into the middle of the action, however I found some of the letter chapters a little slower than the present. By the middle of the novel, the use of the letters drops of dramatically and the pace really picks up.
I really enjoyed entering this world O'Malley created in The Rook and would love to read or see more set in this world. show less
Finally! First great read of the year. Admittedly, that's because I'm hoarding [b:Days of Blood & Starlight|12812550|Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #2)|Laini Taylor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461353798l/12812550._SY75_.jpg|17961723] and [b:The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There|13538708|The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There (Fairyland, #2)|Catherynne M. Valente|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1334547766l/13538708._SX50_.jpg|14556391] like a survivalist with canned goods, or a chocoholic with a secret stash of Toblerone in the back of the freezer (not that I'm speaking from experience). And show more while I tempered down my five stars to a more reasonable four, the fact is this was a perfect read the first time through.
I'll save the detailed summary; this is one time when the blurb gets it right. It starts rather hard-core action movie: woman coming to consciousness in a midst of a circle of bodies, no memory of self or events, dripping from the rain and blood. She discovers an envelope in her pocket from the Myfanwy-That-Was. Soon it evolves into a James Bond-style government agency spy thriller crunched with identity disorientation of The Bourne Identity. Halfway through I realize O'Malley is channeling [b:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|11|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)|Douglas Adams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531891848l/11._SY75_.jpg|3078186], or at least Men In Black, and that the flashbacks felt a lot like X-Men. (I'm finding it disturbing that I'm describing a book by referencing movies. Is that acceptable in a book review?)
Narrative shifts between letters from Myfanwy-That-Was to the current scramble of Myfanwy-That-Is to solve the mystery of who is trying to kill her. While that had the potential to become a tiresome device, O'Malley uses it well, giving context to Newbie just before she needs to use it, cuing the reader at the same time. Sometimes Senior relates an incident, sometimes she lays out structure and organization, or gives a dossier on other characters. For the most part it was able to maintain pace and tension through the shifts. At times, O'Malley is tongue-in-cheek: right as Myfanwy thinks, "I suppose I should do some more homework on how this organization actually works," the next section is from one of the letters, under the title of "How This Organization Actually Works." I actually found it rather delightful, highlighting the mental similarities in how they process information.
As the story develops, Myfanwy starts to take on her own personality, more abrupt and direct than the prior, who she now thinks of as "Thomas," their last name. I thought the transition between the two was handled well, and as the story developed, I cared just as much about what happened to Thomas and wanted to know her story, even though I knew where it would end (here's where my habit of peeking at the end of books comes in handy; it's kind of like the book is a spoiler for it's own self because we know Thomas is 'dead,' or at least, gone). I enjoyed Myfanwy's character breaks, and it set the stage for gentle humor as she responded almost--but not quite--in character:
"An emergency has emerged, and both you and Rook Gestalt have been summoned to an interrogation," the secretary replied in an unruffled manner.
"Oh. Okay." Myfanwy looked down and her desk, thought for a moment, and then looked up. "Are we getting interrogated, or are we doing the interrogating?" she asked.
Then there is:
"It's time for your dinner with Lady Farrier."
"Oh, crap," she sighed, then noticed Clovis's shocked expression. "I mean, oh, good, this should be delightful."
The humor isn't out front in the beginning, which now strikes me as one of the delightful parts about the writing. Tightly wound around an action core at the start, O'Malley sneaks in humor one subtle comment at a time, gradually becoming more absurd. The first hint that we aren't in London any more comes about three chapters in when we meet Rook Gestalt, really one of the more innovative creations in sci-fi/fantasy literature that I've happened upon. One mind, four bodies. I found myself trying to wrap my head around that one (somewhat distracted by comparing it with Zaphod and his two heads) and just got rather smacked with the possibilities. By the end, the absurd veered out of control at a couple of points, but for the most part O'Malley was able to maintain the balance between chuckles and tension.
Before too long, the American version of the Court comes to call, and the subtlety gloves come off when the American Bishop Shantay and Myfanwy take on some fungus--after lunch, of course.
"'That is experience talking,' said Shantay. 'In these situations the glass is always half-empty.'
'Always?'
'Always,' confirmed the Bishop. 'Right until it fills up with some sort of spectral blood that grows into a demon entity.'
Or a threat:
'I'll kill you first,' promised Myfanwy in a cold voice. 'I'll kill you twice if I feel like it.'
Truly riveting fun, exactly what I needed after an awful start to the week--it was the ideal book experience of immersion and diversion. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a dose of humor with their surreal action-spy-mystery thriller.
Four out of five stars. Or are they?
Update from Dec. 2015 re:read: I think I nailed it fairly well the first time, except that part about humor. It's seriously funny almost all the way through, in that very British way.
Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/the-rook-by-daniel-omalley-or-the-firs...
Update from September 2019: idk 'almost all the way through.' There is a lot of back story. show less
I'll save the detailed summary; this is one time when the blurb gets it right. It starts rather hard-core action movie: woman coming to consciousness in a midst of a circle of bodies, no memory of self or events, dripping from the rain and blood. She discovers an envelope in her pocket from the Myfanwy-That-Was. Soon it evolves into a James Bond-style government agency spy thriller crunched with identity disorientation of The Bourne Identity. Halfway through I realize O'Malley is channeling [b:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|11|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)|Douglas Adams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531891848l/11._SY75_.jpg|3078186], or at least Men In Black, and that the flashbacks felt a lot like X-Men. (I'm finding it disturbing that I'm describing a book by referencing movies. Is that acceptable in a book review?)
Narrative shifts between letters from Myfanwy-That-Was to the current scramble of Myfanwy-That-Is to solve the mystery of who is trying to kill her. While that had the potential to become a tiresome device, O'Malley uses it well, giving context to Newbie just before she needs to use it, cuing the reader at the same time. Sometimes Senior relates an incident, sometimes she lays out structure and organization, or gives a dossier on other characters. For the most part it was able to maintain pace and tension through the shifts. At times, O'Malley is tongue-in-cheek: right as Myfanwy thinks, "I suppose I should do some more homework on how this organization actually works," the next section is from one of the letters, under the title of "How This Organization Actually Works." I actually found it rather delightful, highlighting the mental similarities in how they process information.
As the story develops, Myfanwy starts to take on her own personality, more abrupt and direct than the prior, who she now thinks of as "Thomas," their last name. I thought the transition between the two was handled well, and as the story developed, I cared just as much about what happened to Thomas and wanted to know her story, even though I knew where it would end (here's where my habit of peeking at the end of books comes in handy; it's kind of like the book is a spoiler for it's own self because we know Thomas is 'dead,' or at least, gone). I enjoyed Myfanwy's character breaks, and it set the stage for gentle humor as she responded almost--but not quite--in character:
"An emergency has emerged, and both you and Rook Gestalt have been summoned to an interrogation," the secretary replied in an unruffled manner.
"Oh. Okay." Myfanwy looked down and her desk, thought for a moment, and then looked up. "Are we getting interrogated, or are we doing the interrogating?" she asked.
Then there is:
"It's time for your dinner with Lady Farrier."
"Oh, crap," she sighed, then noticed Clovis's shocked expression. "I mean, oh, good, this should be delightful."
The humor isn't out front in the beginning, which now strikes me as one of the delightful parts about the writing. Tightly wound around an action core at the start, O'Malley sneaks in humor one subtle comment at a time, gradually becoming more absurd. The first hint that we aren't in London any more comes about three chapters in when we meet Rook Gestalt, really one of the more innovative creations in sci-fi/fantasy literature that I've happened upon. One mind, four bodies. I found myself trying to wrap my head around that one (somewhat distracted by comparing it with Zaphod and his two heads) and just got rather smacked with the possibilities. By the end, the absurd veered out of control at a couple of points, but for the most part O'Malley was able to maintain the balance between chuckles and tension.
Before too long, the American version of the Court comes to call, and the subtlety gloves come off when the American Bishop Shantay and Myfanwy take on some fungus--after lunch, of course.
"'That is experience talking,' said Shantay. 'In these situations the glass is always half-empty.'
'Always?'
'Always,' confirmed the Bishop. 'Right until it fills up with some sort of spectral blood that grows into a demon entity.'
Or a threat:
'I'll kill you first,' promised Myfanwy in a cold voice. 'I'll kill you twice if I feel like it.'
Truly riveting fun, exactly what I needed after an awful start to the week--it was the ideal book experience of immersion and diversion. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a dose of humor with their surreal action-spy-mystery thriller.
Four out of five stars. Or are they?
Update from Dec. 2015 re:read: I think I nailed it fairly well the first time, except that part about humor. It's seriously funny almost all the way through, in that very British way.
Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/the-rook-by-daniel-omalley-or-the-firs...
Update from September 2019: idk 'almost all the way through.' There is a lot of back story. show less
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ThingScore 100
I became intrigued by Daniel O’Malley’s debut novel, The Rook, when Time book critic Lev Grossman raved, more than a month before the book’s release, that “this aging, jaded, attention-deficit-disordered critic was blown away.”
Indeed, The Rook is great, rattling fun, as if Neil Gaiman took Buffy the Vampire Slayer and crossed it with Torchwood.
It starts with a bang: Myfanwy show more Thomas awakens in a rainy London park, surrounded by a ring of dead bodies, all wearing latex gloves. She has no idea how she or the corpses got there. In fact, she doesn’t even know that she’s Myfanwy Thomas, because she is suffering from amnesia and remembers nothing about herself.
Myfanwy is a Rook, a junior-level member of the Court, an elite group of eight super-powered intelligence agents. The Court runs the Checquy Group, a British agency on Her Majesty’s Hyper-Secret Service, so powerful that it makes MI6 look lame. In fact, Myfanwy learns, “The Court answers to the highest individuals in the land only, and not always to them.”
Myfanwy discovers everything about herself from a dossier entrusted to her by “the original Myfanwy Thomas,” the person she was before she lost her memory. Her amnesia was no accident: One of her mysterious colleagues on the Court, she learns, is a traitor who wiped her memory and now wants her dead.
In the meantime, Myfanwy must step back into her own life and relearn everything about being Rook Thomas, all without anyone finding out what has happened to her. Her own life is anything but normal, because the Checquy Group is always on the lookout for monsters. One can never be too vigilant, since “Checquy statistics indicate that 15 percent of all men in hats are concealing horns.”
Thanks to the Checquy, Britons are blissfully unaware that supernatural forces constantly threaten the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. (The Checquy’s American counterpart is called the Croatoan, a little in-joke that is never explained but which students of American history will immediately get.) The worst of these threats to the U.K. are the Grafters, who come from Belgium, a mild-mannered nation that O’Malley manages to render extremely sinister.
Throughout a rip-roaring narrative, O’Malley off-handedly weaves deadpan humor. As a Rook, Myfanwy is more paper-pusher than field agent, and her job lacks glamour: “There’s a reason that there’s no TV show called CSI: Forensic Accounting.” She always gets stuck with tasks like “figuring out why the hell a two-door wardrobe in the spare room of a country house is considered to be a matter of national concern.”
But crises loom, duty calls, and Myfanwy soon finds herself using her own superpower to battle horrid Belgian monsters — at least whenever she isn’t “laboriously penning formal invitations to the members of the Court to come dine at the Rookery tonight before observing the unbelievably magical amazingness of the United Kingdom’s only oracular duck.
“Of course, I couched it all in slightly more impressive terms.” show less
Indeed, The Rook is great, rattling fun, as if Neil Gaiman took Buffy the Vampire Slayer and crossed it with Torchwood.
It starts with a bang: Myfanwy show more Thomas awakens in a rainy London park, surrounded by a ring of dead bodies, all wearing latex gloves. She has no idea how she or the corpses got there. In fact, she doesn’t even know that she’s Myfanwy Thomas, because she is suffering from amnesia and remembers nothing about herself.
Myfanwy is a Rook, a junior-level member of the Court, an elite group of eight super-powered intelligence agents. The Court runs the Checquy Group, a British agency on Her Majesty’s Hyper-Secret Service, so powerful that it makes MI6 look lame. In fact, Myfanwy learns, “The Court answers to the highest individuals in the land only, and not always to them.”
Myfanwy discovers everything about herself from a dossier entrusted to her by “the original Myfanwy Thomas,” the person she was before she lost her memory. Her amnesia was no accident: One of her mysterious colleagues on the Court, she learns, is a traitor who wiped her memory and now wants her dead.
In the meantime, Myfanwy must step back into her own life and relearn everything about being Rook Thomas, all without anyone finding out what has happened to her. Her own life is anything but normal, because the Checquy Group is always on the lookout for monsters. One can never be too vigilant, since “Checquy statistics indicate that 15 percent of all men in hats are concealing horns.”
Thanks to the Checquy, Britons are blissfully unaware that supernatural forces constantly threaten the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. (The Checquy’s American counterpart is called the Croatoan, a little in-joke that is never explained but which students of American history will immediately get.) The worst of these threats to the U.K. are the Grafters, who come from Belgium, a mild-mannered nation that O’Malley manages to render extremely sinister.
Throughout a rip-roaring narrative, O’Malley off-handedly weaves deadpan humor. As a Rook, Myfanwy is more paper-pusher than field agent, and her job lacks glamour: “There’s a reason that there’s no TV show called CSI: Forensic Accounting.” She always gets stuck with tasks like “figuring out why the hell a two-door wardrobe in the spare room of a country house is considered to be a matter of national concern.”
But crises loom, duty calls, and Myfanwy soon finds herself using her own superpower to battle horrid Belgian monsters — at least whenever she isn’t “laboriously penning formal invitations to the members of the Court to come dine at the Rookery tonight before observing the unbelievably magical amazingness of the United Kingdom’s only oracular duck.
“Of course, I couched it all in slightly more impressive terms.” show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Rook
- Original title
- The Rook
- Alternate titles*
- Codename Rook: Die übernatürlichen Fälle der Agentin Thomas
- Original publication date
- 2012-01-11
- People/Characters
- Myfanwy Alice Thomas; Ingrid Woodhouse; Gestalt
- Important places
- London, England, UK; Camp Caius, Wales, UK (fictional); Bath, Somerset, England, UK; Reading, Berkshire, England, UK
- Related movies
- The Rook (2019 | IMDb)
- Epigraph*
- Het lichaam dat je draagt was ooit van mij.
- Dedication
- For my father, Bill O'Malley, who read to me at bedtime,
and my mother, Jeanne O'Malley, who read to me the rest of the time. - First words
- Dear You,
The body you are wearing used to be mine.
She stood shivering in the rain, watching the words on the letter dissolve under the downpour. - Quotations
- According to Thomas, the city had once been a veritable hotbed of manifestations, with every sorcerer, bunyip, golem, goblin, pict, pixie, demon, thylacine, gorgon, moron, cult, scum, mummy, rummy, groke, sphinx, minx, muse, ... (show all)flagellant, diva, reaver, weaver, reaper, scabbarder, scabmettler, dwarf, midget, little person, leprechaun, marshwiggle, totem, soothsayer, truthsayer, hatter, hattifattener, imp, panwere, mothman, shaman, flukeman, warlock, morlock, poltergeist, zeitgeist, elemental, banshee, manshee, lycanthrope, lichenthrope, sprite, wighte, aufwader, harpy, silkie, kelpie, klepto, specter, mutant, cyborg, blrog, troll ogre, cat in shoes, dog in a hat, psychic, and psychotic seemingly having decided that THIS was the hot spot to visit.
Thus, while other members of the organization attain high positions through their remarkable accomplishments in the field, I became a member of the Court simply through my work in the bureaucracy.
Does that s... (show all)ound lame? I'm very, very good. There's not a formal timeline for ascending to the Court. In fact, most people never get in. I am the youngest person in the current Court. I got there after ten years of working in administration. The next-youngest got in after sixteen years of highly dangerous fieldwork. That's how good an administrator I am. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)In the end, no matter what choice you make, I hope you can be happy. I don't know what kind of person you are or what you'll do, but I've written dozens of letters to you, and I find myself caring desperately. You don't exist yet, but you're my sister (identical!). You're my daughter. You're my family. Maybe you'll be Myfanwy Thomas, or maybe you'll pick yourself a new name and never think of me. But no matter what life you choose, know that I think of you and pray that everything works out for you and that you have the very best life you can.
Love, always,
Me - Blurbers
- Harkness, Deborah; Grossman, Lev; Neville, Katherine; Grossman, Austin; Wells, Jaye; Harris, Charlaine (show all 11); Scalzi, John; Yu, Charles; Zalben, Alex; DuChateau, Christian; Keymer, David
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 823.92
- Canonical LCC
- PR9619.4.O52
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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- ISBNs
- 33
- ASINs
- 16