Book Synopsis:
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 wintry return to the somewhat alternate 1980s England of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London.
My Review:
I absolutely loved the first book in this series so I was hugely excited to receive a copy of The Sinister Booksellers Of Bath. Once again the author has written a gripping, absorbing and magical book that I thoroughly enjoyed.
It was great fun to be back with the wonderful booksellers solving another mystery alongside Merlin, Vivien and the reluctantly involved Susan. They make such a wonderful team and I loved how they all had different strengths that they use to their advantage. They are people I’d love to be friends with in real life, not least cos I’d happily be pulled into a magical adventure with them.
The world the author has created is absolute brilliant and I loved exploring it alongside the characters. There’s something tantalising about a magical world that might be just out of our reach and I enjoyed learning more about it, particularly about the different types of magic that the Booksellers have to deal with. The alternative reality the characters find themselves in was fascinating with some almost fairy tale aspects to it cut through with a much darker side. The author definitely has an amazing imagination and I loved all the vivid details he includes in the book that makes the world seem so realistic at times.
This book was pretty fast paced and there always seemed to be something happening to keep me reading. Even the slightly slower parts of the book were enjoyable as it gave me the chance to explore the world more or just hang out with the marvelous characters. I really hope this isn’t the end of this series as I’d love to spend more time in this wonderful world.
Huge thanks to Ellen and Jenna from Gollancz for my copy of this book. If you like magical adventure stories I highly recommend this book.
About The Author:
Garth Richard Nix is an Australian writer who specialises in children’s and young adult fantasy novels, notably the Old Kingdom, Seventh Tower and Keys to the Kingdom series. Before becoming a fantasy writer, he worked his way through the publishing industry, as a bookseller, sales rep, publicist, editor and then literary agent. He is a multiple bestselling author, and winner – twice – of the Aurealis Award.
He lives in Sydney, Australia.
Learn more by visiting http://www.garthnix.com or by following @garthnix.
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