The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

What fun! Woven out of a potpourri of classic English children's books ([[Lloyd Alexander]], [[Susan Cooper]], [[Alan Garner]] and more!) and with loads of cameo appearances by other favorite books and authors, this story weaves them into a completely original framework where the booksellers of London, tasked with interfacing New England with Old England (and its denizens) become involved with solving the mystery of Susan, who just wants to find who her dad is and then start art school in London. Well done!

When Susan Arkshaw turns eighteen, she leaves her dreamy artist mother behind and goes to London to get a job, go to college, and perhaps find her father, who has never been a part of her life. But when a bookseller named Merlin runs into her at a crime scene that involves the hidden magic world that rarely comes to the surface, circumstances seem to throw them together while they fend off an unknown enemy and continue Susan's search for answers.

This had a fun magical premise, and if there are more set in this sort of alternate 1983 London, I'll be interested in continuing. The romance angle was weak, and the world-building took a lot of set up, but that's me nitpicking and probably in part because I read the first half in very short show more increments, followed by a good solid reading of the last 100 pages or so. show less

Garth Nix has done something I haven't seen in a long time: He created characters who were outside of social norms with their style, but without the stereotypical personalities that screenwriters and authors would usually assign to them.

A badass female protagonist who, with her looks and fashion style, would be considered a "tomboy". The beauty of her? She's not portrayed as the typical "tomboy". She's not gruff, buff, rude, or offended by anything "feminine". She's still perfectly feminine, smart, and can admit she needs help. Oh, and she's neither a lesbian nor an innocent who is magically attracted to the first boy she meets.

A male protagonist who crossdresses, changes outfits every 5 minutes, and has more clothes than any other show more character who is confident in his masculinity and sexuality while being a badass magician, hunter, and killer? *Chefs' kiss*

Add in all the other amazing characters, unique magic system, politics between factions, and great action and world-building and you have a freaking amazing book. show less

When Susan Arkshaw turns 18, she leaves her mother in their country farmhouse to travel to London, intent on discovering the identity of her father before she starts her art course in college. She first visits the one person whose full name she knows (because he always sent Christmas cards), but before she can ask him anything, he is, well, discorporated and she is forced to flee with the person responsible: Merlin, an impossibly handsome left-handed bookseller, whose work involves protecting England from the more unsavory aspects of the Otherworld. Together with Merlin’s right-handed sister Vivien, Susan embarks on an extraordinary journey to find her father, who may or may not be mythical - or alive…. I’ve heard of Garth Nix, show more possibly read some short stories, but no novels until now; I may need to rectify that omission soon, on the basis of this YA novel. The fantasy elements are distinctly British, with elements from Celtic and Norse and more generic Pagan mythology, but Mr. Nix is able to blend these disparate stories into a seamless whole. Which is to say, I completely believed his “hidden world” and its interactions with the “real” world of (a somewhat different) 1983 London and more generally England. I gather that this is a stand-alone, but I’d love to read of the further adventures of Susan, Merlin and Vivien as they continue to interact with the fantastical realms just underneath our normal one; recommended! show less

Garth Nix's The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is one of those young adult novels that easily makes the crossing to adult reading. Set in a version of 1983 London, where the worlds of the ordinary and the magical, the present and ages past, overlap. The Left-Handed Booksellers of London follows the journey of Susan Arkshaw, 18 and about to begin art school, on a hunt for a father she's never known, as she's flung into the dangers of that magical world in the space of a few hours.

What makes this novel a good adult read, as well as a good YA one?
• A complex ethical substrate that leaves the reader with relatively few fully bad or fully good characters (though there are some) and that poses open-ended questions.
• A playfulness with show more gender that is both affirming and thought-provoking.
• Characters who know how they want to live their lives and work to build those lives with integrity and imagination.
All that said, this is not a "heavy" read. It's one of those books you'll find yourself staying up late to finish—and not regretting that choice the next morning.

This novel works as a stand-alone, but I'm hoping Nix has some ideas for sequels percolating. I would gladly spend more time in Susan Arkshaw's London.

I received a free review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. The opinions are my own. show less

In the summer before attending art school, Susan moves to London to try and find out more about the father she's never known. When she starts out by visiting an old family friend, she gets caught up in some seriously weird (and dangerous) stuff. Fortunately, she also falls in with a couple of booksellers, who guard the bounds between our world and the Old World of faeries, goblins, and more.

A fun premise, deftly realized. There's plenty of action and I'd definitely call this book fast-paced, as it seemed to be mostly racing around from one danger to another. I was worried, toward the end, that there weren't enough pages left in the book to wrap things up in a satisfactory manner, but Nix managed to pull it off at the last.

Oh my, but this is a lush and convoluted pseudo-modern (set in an alternate 1983 London) fantasy. Rich in details, world-building, and fabulous characters, it is very much the strong story I have come to expect from Nix. Particularly recommended for adults who grew up reading/loving Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series, and/or Diana Wynne Jones’ darker fantasies.

I was particularly delighted by one scene, when our protagonist offers to take a sword as weapon, and it turns out that they do actually have a reason for knowing how to use it other than just being the protagonist.