It’s 1983 in a London very similar to our own, and Susan Arkshaw is looking for the father she’s never met. She gets a tip that a local crime boss may know something, but when she arrives, she watches him turned to dust by an attractive man named Merlin. Merlin and his fellow booksellers are a group of magical beings who police the creatures of the Old World in London. There are the left-handed booksellers such as Merlin (the fighters) and the Right-Handed Booksellers (the intellectual ones). Merlin’s quest is to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother, and Susan still wants to find her father. These two agendas may overlap more than either realize, and of course, they’ll have to fight their growing attraction to one another in the process.

I really enjoyed this one. I love magical realism and or fantasy stories that are just out of normal life, including creatures, lore, and magic, so this was right up my alley. The book moved quickly, there was tons of action at every turn, and I didn’t even mind the budding relationship between Susan and Merlin. I loved the way their stories intertwined and came together, and of course, there’s always more to the bad guys than you might suspect.

The good news, yet again, about my backlog is that if you’re up for a magical adventure, this book is out and ready for you to read it right now! Check it out at your local library or favorite, indie bookstore.

3.5 stars. 1983-era London, with a half-twist toward the fantastic, mingles with ancient British mythology in Garth Nix’s new urban fantasy, The Left-Handed Booksellers of London. Art student Susan Arkshaw, a punkish eighteen-year-old from rural western England, takes leave of her loving, vague mother and heads to London to try to find the father she’s never met. She starts with an old family acquaintance, “Uncle” Frank Thringley, but Frank turn out to be, in rapid succession, (a) a crime boss, (b) disincorporated by the prick of a magical hatpin, and (c) a Sipper — which is a milder type of bloodsucker than a vampire.

The wielder of the silver hatpin is attractive nineteen-year-old Merlin St. Jaques, who sweeps Susan out of Frank’s house, just ahead of a horse-sized louse and an eerie black fog hiding more dangers. Merlin is one of London’s organization of booksellers who engage with the magical world, policing its interaction with what normal humans think of as reality. As one of the left-handed booksellers, he actively fights against dangerous magical incursions into our world; the right-handed booksellers are charged with the more intellectual types of protection, including researching the magical world and casting spells to counter threats.

Those supernatural threats appear to be targeting Susan. Merlin takes an interest in Susan, both because she needs protection while she continues her search for her father and because his ongoing investigation into his mother’s death six years ago may have some connection to Susan’s mystery. And also because, well, she’s caught his eye, though Susan doesn’t quite trust this overly-charming young man and is determined to keep him at arm’s length. As Merlin and his sister Vivien (one of the right-handed type of booksellers) seek to protect Susan and introduce her to their world, the dangers of the magical Old World explode.

Nix was inspired to write The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (as he related in his acknowledgements at the end) by a fortuitous comment from a left-handed bookseller in Leith. He pulls on his memories from his first trip to the United Kingdom in 1983 (among other things, he hiked the Old Man of Coniston, a famous mountain in the Lake District) and his past experience working as a bookseller. It was both amusing and engaging as I realized just how many actual British landmarks he has woven into the plot of this novel. And also uniquely British foods — Branston pickle sandwiches were a revelation, and I don’t think I’ll soon recover from checking out pictures of stargazy pie.

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Yum?

Susan is an appealing main character but somewhat of a stock character. Though somewhat bewildered by the magical events that suddenly beset her, she’s unfazed. Susan clearly has a destiny and moves unswervingly toward it. She’s not nearly as vivid as Merlin, who’s brilliant and frustrating, whiny and brave, wrapped up into one charming and exasperating package. He’s also somewhat gender-fluid (apparently booksellers have the ability to shift sexes if they choose) and enjoys wearing the occasional dress, though after establishing this early on, Nix doesn’t follow through on this point and pretty much completely drops it, leaving me muttering about Chekhov’s gun.

As Susan settles into her new life in London and is shown the secret life of booksellers by Merlin and Vivien, Nix delves for a time into the bookstore settings, which will be a natural attraction for readers who love books. Humorously, the Old Bookshop sells new books and the New Bookshop sells older ones, along with other collectibles and rare objects. These magic-infused shops are described in great detail and, while the world-building is reasonably interesting, the pacing does start to lag. But at the half-way point, there’s a dramatic turn in the plot, and the rest of the book kept me turning pages late into the night.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is an engaging fantasy adventure that immerses the reader in British mythology and society, with a slice of bookstore culture on the side.

So much mythology and worldbuilding was packed into the book right away, so much so that I had trouble getting into the story. Merlin seemed to appear out of nowhere and it almost felt like the author was trying to make him as much unlike the mythical Merlin as possible...for example, it was weird that Merlin was flirtatious with the main character right away. This novel reminded me of "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore," but this had a more outrageous and convoluted plot. I wish the novel had spent more time developing the main character's personality traits and history before shoving her straight into the action.

In the mid-1980s, Susan comes to London to work for a few months before starting art school—and also to look for her father, about whom she only has a few vague clues from her equally vague mother. Unfortunately, when she visits the first man on her list, he’s busy being killed because he’s actually a Sipper (a kind of vampire). She falls in with the killer—a bookseller who specializes in overseeing the arcane, and who with his sister helps her navigate her rather complicated heritage. It’s reasonably cute.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London was exactly the magical escape I needed. It was my first Garth Nix book, but I dare say it won’t be my last.

In a nutshell, the Booksellers are the guardians keeping ‘Old World’ magical stuff from leaking through to modern-day London. The Right-Handed Booksellers are the brains of the operation, while the Left-Handed are the muscle.

Our heroine, Susan Arkshaw is on a search for her dad (whom she’s never met) when she finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and falls smack dab into the middle of Bookseller skirmish of sorts, and meets the altogether-too-handsome Merlin (a Left-Handed Bookseller). Things proceed to get wilder from there, and she’s exposed to a whole world she didn’t know existed.

I couldn’t find any evidence online that there will be a second Booksellers book but I sincerely hope there will be, because I feel like we’ve only just scratched the surface of this alternate universe and I can’t wait to read more!

This book definitely has a Peter Grant / Rivers of London vibe to it, but for younger readers. So if you’re a fan of Ben Aaronovitch I dare say you’ll enjoy this as well.

Fun fact, Garth Nix is Australian and went to the University of Canberra, in Australia, where I also studied my undergrad and graduate degrees.

I grew up rereading The Abhorsen trilogy constantly so I was thrilled to pick up this book by Nix in a new world with a new cast and new rules. I wasn't disappointed by any means and love that it is a self contained one book story even though the world is so fleshed out it could be many more. Nix has the ability to tell you just what you need to know about the world without going down rabbit holes so everything makes sense but doesn't big down the pacing. Loved this whole book and have already recommended it to several others!

Picking up this book was a no-brainer - Garth Nix wrote the Sabriel books, which I absolutely loved, and when I saw that this was set in London, and involved magical booksellers? Well, it was obvious I had to read it.

The book takes place in London, 1983, where 18-year-old Susan has just arrived. She’s looking for some independence, but is also determined to find her father - a man she has never met and knows next to nothing about. Her first stop is to an old family friend, Frank ... who is suddenly (and somewhat unfortunately) turned into dust by a young man named Merlin St Jacques. Merlin wears a glove on his left hand only and has the ability to kill people with hat pins, and Susan doesn’t know what to make of him.

Merlin is a left-handed bookseller, part of a huge magical family who help control and police the Old World of magic from taking over the New. Left-handers do most of the physical part of this defence, while right-handers handle the research and intellectual side of things ... and they also sell books. Gotta make a living somehow, right?

Susan, Merlin, and his sister Vivien are soon caught up a battle for their lives, and all the while, the search for Susan’s father continues. The trio encounters goblins, Ancient Ones, lake sprites, the walking dead, and varied other creatures on their journey, as they travel through the country following a strange trail. Soon, some disturbing information about Susan’s father comes to light, and she has to figure out how to balance her knowledge of the Old World and its inhabitants with her understanding of the world as she thought she knew it.

A highly engaging book, full of creatures and myths, and one that I hope Nix continues - there is so much more I want to know about Susan, Merlin, and the whole bookseller family.

This is an exciting adventure perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. The world-building is superb and readers will be able to fully immerse themselves into the story as they follow the characters through a London that they have never before even imagined.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our library wishlist and recommended it to students.

While certain elements set this firmly in the YA camp (age of protagonist & language, allusions), the novel read as a middle grade selection. Usually I listen to audio books to help me multi-task, but in the case of this book, it actually helped me to hear the various accents of the characters. Those voices provided an additional layer of intrigue to the story. The action is slow to begin in this & like the protagonist, I felt like millions of things were happening around me without my understanding exactly what was going on. I’m not sure if that was the desired effect or not. As a reader, it made some of the intro a bit slow going. The tale does pick up and is a nice read. Kids who enjoyed the Inkheart or Fablehaven series will probably enjoy this one.

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews

Summary
Susan's mother has always been a little off - perhaps the result of overindulgence during the '60s. And her father - well, his name and origin are lost to the '60s as well. But when Susan heads off to London to study, she finds things are a little more complex, and that Ancient Sovereigns may be involved, along with other powers best left alone. Like booksellers.

Review
My knowledge of Garth Nix is limited. I was introduced to the Abhorsen books by my nieces, and enjoyed the first three, but other than that I’ve only read one book and a handful of stories. He’s one of those authors I’ve meant to explore, but never gotten around to. I figured The Left-Handed Booksellers of London was a good chance.

Booksellers was largely as I expected – smooth prose, engaging characters – yet disappointing all the same. While all the mechanics worked, all the elements were familiar. While the story worked well enough, it felt like an experienced author putting bits together by rote, and just letting the story spin out without much curation. Susan, the protagonist, is appealing, but she falls into an alternate world of goblins, ancient powers, and magic without blinking an eye. The requisite romantic thread is as entirely predictable as the rest. The one unexpected turn is that Nix doesn’t end at the first natural stopping place, but carries the plot a little ways further. I found it did more to raise expectations than to fulfill them.

A decent, accomplished, but in no way surprising book. Still, based on Abhorsen, I still have hopes for Mr. Nix, and will likely try again someday.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Really interesting world-building. Wonderful, compelling pacing and character development. I've loved a lot of Garth Nix's books and this one did not disappoint. So fun!

An enthralling and fast-paced story set in the punk-rock scene of '80s London with a little bit of the magical, otherworld thrown in. Right from the start, the plot pulls the reader in and its fast pace keeps the reader engaged. The world building is fantastic. The character development is vibrant and realistic.

I absolutely loved this book. It was just what I needed to read right now. It was filled with fun characters and the plot was so compelling that I didn't want to put the book down and go to sleep at night!

I had a difficult time deciding on what age range this book would best fit. It is advertised as Teens and YA but the characters seemed older and the plot and style would better fit adults. I enjoyed the book but could not think of a teen that I would recommend it to. Perhaps if they were fans of Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians or if you had any budding Jasper Fforde fans it would be a hit. It is one of those books that is different enough to make it interesting.

Susan Arkshaw arrives in 1980s London looking for her father, a man she never knew. Her first stop is a minor crime boss who knows her mother under mysterious circumstances, but things immediately go off the rails when the man (actually some sort of bloodsucker) is killed Merlin, a wildly charismatic left-handed bookseller who purports to be part of an entire clan of booksellers who police magic in the modern world. Merlin is on a quest to solve his mother's murder, and the case appears to overlap strangely with Susan's mystery…

I once had the opportunity to tell Garth Nix that his beautiful library from the Old Kingdom books is one of the reasons I'm a librarian. All that to say, Nix can really write about libraries and bookstores. His love of the written word and mysterious places leaps off the page, and that's certainly the case here. For me, the most charming parts of the book were the detailed descriptions of bookstores and other unlikely spaces , though other reviewers felt that's where the pace starts to slack.

Lots of other lovely details here: British food and landmarks abound. Merlin is a vivid character indeed: frustrating, multi-faceted, and gender-fluid (an intriguing point about booksellers: they can seemingly shift sexes, something briefly touched on but sadly not addressed more thoroughly).

The book is a lovely, easy read and has closure. I'm not sure yet if it's intended as the start of a series, but I dearly love getting a real ending.

Magic and fantasy all in a book about books is right up my alley and this one did not disappoint! A fascinating story that kept me interested the whole way through.

I love books ABOUT books. I also love Garth Nix's writing, so of course, the combination of the two caught my eye.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London held up to most of my expectations. Nix wasted no time launching us into the plot. Susan, our protagonist, finds herself in the midst of the action just pages in, although the why takes a bit longer to unravel.

This story is fun, fast-paced, and big on fantasy creatures, action. It also has a likable cast of characters, including the quirky, over the top, and (possibly) gender-fluid Merlin (I was never quite certain) and Merlin's more level-headed, strong sister Vivien. This book has everything! For starters, there are gun-slinging, sword-swinging left-handed booksellers and magical and clever right-handed booksellers. All in all, this book has a whole cast of fascinating characters.

This is a very plot-driven novel with excellent world-building. The characters jump rapidly from one dangerous situation into another. In the first half of the novel, bit by bit and danger by danger, the world of the booksellers is revealed to Susan. Including, of course, how the layers of the different worlds interact.

While this looks to be classified as Teens and YA, it easily crosses over into adult reading. (In all honestly, I couldn't tell from the reading whether it was YA or not!) Nix wraps up everything neatly in the end, tying together both Merlin's questions about his mother's death and Susan's search for her father. This looks to be a stand-alone novel, but I still hope to see more of Susan, Merlin, and Vivien in the bookseller's world.

While I loved these characters, I would have liked more character development, particularly for Merlin and Vivien (backstories and the story of their mother). There's so much action that I'm not seeing Nix's usual detail to his characters. I suppose that's why I'd love to see more books about Susan and the booksellers!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Left-Handed Booksellers of London. It was a fast-paced, engaging, and delightful light fantasy read, perfect for YA readers of all ages. I'm giving this 4.5 stars (rounding up to five for Goodreads and bookseller reviews.)

THE LEFT-HANDED BOOKSELLERS OF LONDON by Garth Nix is likely intended for a young adult audience (the main character, Susan, has just turned eighteen), but I am highly recommending it for readers of any age who enjoy adventure and fantasy. It is the 1980s and Susan takes off for London, intending to find her birth father and enroll in college. Somehow, though, the veil between the New World and the Old World is shifted and suddenly magical creatures are in pursuit of Susan and Merlin, one of the title characters. Merlin and his bookseller relatives (some are right-handed and some are even-handed) use their varied talents to work quietly to keep the two realities separate and at peace. Deftly including suspense, humor and even a bit of romance, THE LEFT-HANDED BOOKSELLERS OF LONDON is an engrossing escape into a magical world. Nix's latest title received positive reviews from Booklist ("A remarkable romp..."), Publishers Weekly ("[an] immersive fantasy"), and Kirkus who writes, "Readers will beg for more adventures in this London." I agree.

What bliss it was to read this book!

I have loved Sabriel for such a long time and was overjoyed to receive an ARC from Netgalley for the Left-Handed Booksellers of London. As a former Bookshop owner, a London resident and a super fan of this type of fantasy - taking the real world and imagining a wonderful fantasy world running within/over/underneath, I knew I would love this. And I raced through it on a Sunday morning. The pace was excellent, the foes so well written and juicy with character and the three heros of the hour, entertaining and quirky. I haven't felt this much joy through reading for a few months.

Thank you Garth Nix for making me so happy!