Books: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London By Garth Nix (2020)

“In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn't get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin. Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops. Susan's search for her father begins with her mother's possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms. Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan's. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.”

Garth Nix’s The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is a familiar tale, but executed with some wondrous characters, shot with vivid, but cartoon, violence and sardonic, witty humor. While another take on the Chosen One trope of Harry Potter and others, Nix adds  elements of Percy Jackson and the quest for hidden secrets, lost fathers, ancient Gods of good and evil, and love.

The book is a fun caper, though, of alternate London and realms of fairy. As a former bookseller, this tale hits in all the right spots –we were warriors of some meddle, trying and hoping to keep the world retail books pumping in the Age of Information. The setting of 1980s was a great choice, but also an odd one. Beyond the fact that communication was limited to payphones and landlines, this book could’ve been set in 2022. Still, Nix’s world building is fun and believable, but not as deep as the Harry Potter franchise got.

Nix is well-known in the YA and kids book genre, and despite some of the violence and few choice swear words, the book is suitable for kids whose parents are not dicks about elements of magic. But it never devolves into anything horrifying –it’s just stuff we see every day on TV and movies. I mean, in the end, it’s an urban fantasy novel which any average kid or adult (because there are some complex adult issues here) will enjoy.

But books are magical, none the less, and Garth Nix has had a wonderful career creating tales that both kids and their parents can enjoy. And I found this standalone (?) tale a fun, often witty read.

Books: The Hollow Kingdom By Kira Jane Buxton (2019)

"S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim; trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (those idiots); and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer-Cheetos®. Then Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, and S.T. starts to feel like something isn't quite right.  His most tried-and-true remedies - from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of Big Jim's loyal but dim-witted dog, Dennis - fail to cure Big Jim's debilitating malady. S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis, where he discovers that the neighbors are devouring each other and the local wildlife is abuzz with rumors of dangerous new predators roaming Seattle.  Humanity's extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a foulmouthed crow whose knowledge of the world around him comes from his TV-watching education." 

The HOLLOW KINGDOM is a welcome, and utterly brilliant addition to the end of the world novels, often laugh-out loud funny, with ST (aka Shit Turd) narrating on his love of all things human, especially Cheetos®. It’s a weird tale as well, as author Kira Jane Buxton gives us a birds-eye-view (bad pun, I know) of what happens when things go sideways for the humans who run the planet. We really don’t get a reason for the apocalypse that turns people into mindless zombies, but it’s still a great thriller and exciting romp for ST and Dennis, the best bloodhound around.

While the book is far from original (it’s just the Walking Dead set in Seattle and told by protagonist who happens to be a crow), it offers just enough snark, just enough adventure, just enough daring dos to keep the reader occupied. It does slack towards the end when you get the sense that Buxton is setting up sequels and needs to slow the pace down and just adds a ton more exposition (which was fine in the beginning, but grows tedious as the page count closes down).

The books metaphors are fine, but, again, you get the sense Buxton was more concerned with them, then setting up could’ve been a one and done story.  

Books: Suburban Dicks By Fabian Nicieza (2021)

“Andie Stern thought she’d solved her final homicide. Once a budding FBI profiler, she gave up her career to raise her four (soon to be five) children in West Windsor, New Jersey. But one day, between soccer games and trips to the local pool, Andie pulls into a gas station – and stumbles across a murder scene. An attendant has been killed, and the bumbling local cops are in way over their heads. Suddenly, Andie is obsessed with the case, and back on the trail of a killer, this time with kids in tow. She soon crosses paths with disgraced local journalist Kenny Lee, who also has everything to prove in solving the case. A string of unusual occurrences – and, eventually, body parts – surfaces around town, and Andie and Kenny uncover simmering racial tensions and a decades-old conspiracy.”

Suburban Dicks is a very entertaining book, most of the time. Legendary comic book writer and co-creator of DEADPOOL, Fabian Nicieza’s debut novel is a send-up of small town racism, murder, and the effects it carries decades later. The idea is nothing new, as we’ve seen these tales of what people will do to protect their lives, their family name, and the town they grew up in for generations from the “new” people moving in. It is a very progressive tale, filled a multicultural characters, some wry humor, and desire to sweep away the darkness that sometimes exists in these conclaves of America where white people fear they’re being replaced.

I did embrace the progressive ideology here, that diversity and multiculturalism are America’s strengths, even if the book can be a bit shallow here and there. But for those who feel that the word “progressive” and “liberal” are dirty words, then they may find this book a bit less interesting, especially as one character points out:

“Except that there are 50 years of institutional racial bias straining all aspects of this case. But be very aware and make it plainly clear that it was a young African-American man killed in 1965 and a young Indian man killed now. You have a Chinese mayor who has completely supported the investigation. You have Hispanic FBI agent leading the investigation in Newark and you have a stubborn New York Jew talking to you all about it now.” 

But that leads to another uncomfortable question: “What is the likelihood that a white police chief, a white former police chief, or a white farmer will be convicted of anything?”

It is here, I suppose, were most people who hate the whole idea of America becoming so mixed, will throw their hands up.

The book has some great characters, but the relationship between journalist Kenny and profiler Andrea stretches some credibility. The idea is that they have a love/hate relationship, but, at times, this seemed because the story required it more than something done organically. It’s hard to do in a book, but it seemed these two characters had zero chemistry. Andrea’s husband Jeff also gets a short-shift here. We’re told that something happened in his life, that he did something bad, which forced them to move and put them in the current financial state they’re in (which made me wonder why they were having a fifth child). But the reveal comes late in the book and seemed like Nicieza editor reminded him of this sub-plot and how it should be resolved before he reveals the murder of the kid.

Finally, the book takes a good, reliable premise that races the pages away, only to lose itself in the weeds about three-quarters in, before a satisfy and pretty funny ending. I’m not sure Nicieza can expand this into a franchise, even though he’s at work getting the book adapted for streaming, but as a one-and-done mystery, it’s a fine addition to the genre of the darkness that exists in small towns.

Books: Moon Over Soho By Ben Arronovitch (2011)

“The song. That’s what London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant first notices when he examines the corpse of Cyrus Wilkins, part-time jazz drummer and full-time accountant, who dropped dead of a heart attack while playing a gig at Soho’s 606 Club. The notes of the old jazz standard are rising from the body—a sure sign that something about the man’s death was not at all natural but instead supernatural. Body and soul—they’re also what Peter will risk as he investigates a pattern of similar deaths in and around Soho. With the help of his superior officer, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, and the assistance of beautiful jazz aficionado Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter will uncover a deadly magical menace—one that leads right to his own doorstep and to the squandered promise of a young jazz musician: a talented trumpet player named Richard “Lord” Grant—otherwise known as Peter’s dear old dad.”

In 2011, Aaronovitch began a series of urban fantasy novels that added the aspect of also being a police procedural, thus, Midnight Riot was the first volume (though it was released in England under its original title, Rivers of London). That novel centered on the adventures of Peter Grant, a young officer in the Metropolitan Police force who, after an unexpected encounter with a ghost, is recruited into the small branch of the Met that deals with magic and the supernatural (a cross between The X Files, Harry Potter, and CSI). So Grant becomes the first English apprentice wizard in over seventy years, now deals with the weird side of London and its surrounding villages.

It’s been six years since I read the first book, always meaning to get to them, but I never felt an urgent need to do it. But Moon over Soho surprised me and reminded me why I liked the first book, even though this sub-genre of fantasy, Urban Fantasy, is not always my cup of tea (I find them a bit formulaic). I mean, I get why they sell, as do offer a world set in places readers can identify with. Some non-fantasy readers have difficulties conceptualizing things like Rivendale, Gandalf, and orcs, but when a book is set in a modern city with modern, easily understandable locations, objects and names, the reader feels more connected to the story and the characters. I guess.

Meanwhile, Aaronvitch does gets the reader updated with the events of the first book, some of which I forgot, but we also get a continued detail history of the famous city and music genre of Jazz.

Peter is also a likable hero, flawed, with a smart mouth, but charming none the less. This book series is also diverse –Peter is biracial and Muslim Detective Constable Sahra Guleed- but it’s well paced until it isn’t –it could’ve used a better editor. And despite some misgivings about setting up a third book (it’s ballooned to nine, now), I still enjoyed the book. We’ll see how long before I get to book three…