Books: The Library at Mount Char By Scott Hawkins (2015)

"Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts. After all, she was a normal American herself once. That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father. In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.  Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation. As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own. But Carolyn has accounted for this. And Carolyn has a plan. The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human."

Even as I struggled with the horror and graphic aspects of The Library at Mount Char, the novel is fairly original and very twisty. It’s clever and unlike anything I’ve ever read in a long time. As the plot unfolds, you are never sure quite what is going on, why it’s going on. And writer Scott Hawkins reveals little, until the end, when you realize all the threads of plot are brought together in a satisfying ending. To reveal more would to tread on spoiler territory.

But to break it down, it’s like a weird, coming of age urban fantasy that deals with children being taught the darkest and powerful arts by a God, I guess. The Library exists outside time and space –or maybe a pocket universe- where these children’s new “father” raises them in the ancient art of the pelapi –and those lessons are often horrifying. So with Carolyn, as the literary device of the coming of age genre shows, we see the psychological damage and the moral corruption of her and her new family. But eventually you realize that this also a tale of vengeance. And in this vengeance plot, as we see Carolyn playing a long game, that power she has, they have, doesn't only just corrupt, it also dehumanizes. And that’s where Steve comes in.

As I noted, the book is filled with violence and may trigger animal lovers, as it also contains multiple animal deaths, but it is also darkly funny, thrilling and very human.

My niece recommended me this book, and while it has been a few months since her suggestion, I’m glad I read it. Much like Drew Magary’s The Hike, I’ve not felt such a visceral feeling of reading such a bizarre and original tale.