What a fun book! I think it would make a terrific movie, too.

Set in 1983 in an alternate version of England, the plot centers around Susan, who travels to London to try to solve the mystery of her father’s identity. On her first day there, she encounters an odd young man named Merlin who saves her from being killed by magical monsters. That’s Susan’s introduction to the Old World, the world of myth and magic that lives at the margins of what we “fondly call reality,” as Merlin puts it. From there, it’s a series of adventures for Susan, Merlin, and Merlin’s twin sister Vivian, as they protect Susan and try to figure out just why she’s important enough to want to kill, anyway. Which seems to have something to do with her father . . .

Making booksellers the protectors of the mundane human world is a stroke of genius, given that most of us booklovers think of bookstores as kind of magical anyway. In this case, though, the stores run by the booksellers are rather more magical than usual, as are the booksellers themselves. They’re still human, just with added abilities. Left-handed booksellers like Merlin are warriors, while right-handed booksellers like Vivian are the clever ones who generally handle the magic.

Merlin is a standout character, even if Susan is the focus of the story. He’s given to extreme behavior that adds a healthy dose of humor to go along with the excitement of the magical battles that take place through the story. Merlin is also gender non-conforming, switching matter-of-factly from male to female clothing. I love that the author was willing to play with gender norms and make his heroic sword-wielding fighter also “like to wear a nice dress from time to time.”

So, the book’s got magic, cinematic action scenes, humor, and a bit of romance between Susan and Merlin—everything I want in a fantasy novel. It’s not slated to be part of a series, but I would be happy to read more set in this world. Here’s hoping Nix revisits it at some point!

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for me to review; all opinions expressed are my own.

I enjoyed this light-hearted fantasy adventure/mystery. Nix has developed an intriguing spin on the question of belonging and identity, reminding readers about pursuing their own strengths but not being put into a box. In my opinion, Nix sacrifices some deeper character development (and, therefore, a deeper reader connection) in order to move the plot along and achieve a lighter tone, but it may have been an unnecessary sacrifice. The book is delightful as-is, but it would not have suffered and would probably have benefited from some more meaningful moments.

This was without a doubt a fun read! I loved the concept of booksellers who are essentially special agents that protect the world from mythical creatures. The storyline was unique and kept me on my toes. I loved the characters and felt like they were nicely developed throughout the story alongside the world building.

I am not entirely sure if this is a stand alone or if it will continue as a series. I felt like the ending left it sort of open to either possibility, or at the very least will allow for other standalone's in the same universe to easily occur.

If you're interested in partaking in a mysterious and magical adventure, I highly recommend this one to all!

Disclosure: I received a complimentary eARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes. I'd like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this opportunity!

I have been reading Garth Nix for 23 years and my favorite thing (always) about his books is his protagonists. The way he write capable young women and the way the world never questions their capability is so refreshing. His newest book is no exception.

Susan is moving to London to go to University and decides to move a couple of months early. Her plan is to find a flat, get a job, oh, and find the father she never knew. Almost right away she stumbles into a magical world she never knew existed. She quickly meets a young man named Merlin who is a bookseller, but a special brand of bookseller who protects the modern world from the creatures of the magical one.

I love the characters. Nix’s humor is apparent through the whole book, even when the stakes are high and the action to moving quickly. There’s a high comfort level to know that there can be humor even when things are dark and grim.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is an absolutely fabulous read. In an alternate 1983 Susan Arkshwaw has turned 18 and is trying to find out who her father is but everything goes sideways when she walks in on the murder of her “Uncle Frank”. Of course murder is a bit of an understatement when “Uncle Frank” pretty much disappears once killed. Her eyes are opened to a whole different world with the Old World and New World overlapping. My inner geek loved the rich vocabulary and the amazing fantasy adventure. The supporting characters were fabulous and I just enjoyed Nix’s sense of humor in this story.

I was provided with an electronic ARC through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix is a fun romp through 1983 London with booksellers who can do a little more than sell books, old-world gods, and the various minions that go with the old world.
Protagonist Susan, with Merlin and Vivien, members of a group of booksellers who also help protect the new world from the old, set out to solve the mystery of who Susan’s father is and who killed Merlin and Vivien’s mother. As they learn more, the two mysteries seem to become more intertwined.
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is an entertaining and fun book that kept me engaged with its quick pace and likable characters.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix will be published on September 22, 2020.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a fast paced urban fantasy set in 1980's London. I'm a big fan of Garth Nix so I had high hopes for this one and it did not disappoint! Loved the characters, the adventure, the magic and the romance. I hope this is a series. I want to spend more time with these characters.

Flash back to London of the 80s in Garth Nix's latest fantasy novel. Strange things happen to Susan when she arrives in the city, which might have to do with her mother's mysterious past and the identity of the father she's never met. Folklore and mythology clash with modern life, and as usual Nix has created a fascinatingly off-kilter world with weirdness abounding, as well as clever and personable characters who are a joy to read about. Readers of Nix's previous stories will undoubtedly enjoy this one as well, and readers who are fond of writers like Charles de Lint should also give it a look.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is a new urban fantasy/crossworlds mashup by Garth Nix. Due out 22nd Sept 2020 from HarperCollins Children's imprint, it's 416 pages (hardcover) and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
Probably 80% of what I read and review is speculative fiction and murder mysteries. Of the SF/fantasy, urban fantasy is my favorite. Give me hobgoblins in Edinburgh, talking rats in the subway, genii locorum (yes, I had 7 years of formal Latin, sorry), or semi-mythical librarians/booksellers/archivists, and it's like catnip. This is that...lots and lots of that. I started reading and was delighted, quickly enraptured, and then spellbound. I stayed up way too late reading.

The plotting and nuts-and-bolts construction are well engineered and all the moving parts work. The dialogue is well done and doesn't devolve into pure annoying sarcastic snark at any point. There's a fair bit of violence and gore, but it's not egregious or overly graphic. I would put it around the PG-13 level. The language is somewhat rough (again, used in context). There is no sexual content.

There will absolutely be comparisons to Miéville's Un Lun Dun, and Aaronvitch's Rivers of London, and Gaiman's Neverwhere, but while I can say that fans of those esteemed worthies will find a lot to love here, Nix brings his own (inimitable) distinct narrative and it's original and enjoyable and fresh. It's not explicitly foreshadowed, but I hope this will be a long and very prolific series. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

I really really enjoyed this one. Four stars, a strong series (I hope) start.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

As a Left-Handed Bookseller, I thoroughly enjoyed this brilliantly, fast paced adventure into Bookselling Badassery! I will absolutely be handselling this title! Thank you!

Title: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
Author: Garth Nix
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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.

This was a fun book! Odd—delightfully odd—with great characters. I loved Merlin (and I can’t see him as anything except Johnny Depp in Willie Wonka). There’s a bit of mystery, some overtones of a thriller/murder mystery, and a whole lot of magic and legend in this book, giving it the feel of a fairy tale set in the modern—sort of—world. I definitely recommend reading this!

Garth Nix is from Australia. The Left-Handed Booksellers of London is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of HarperCollins Children's Books/Katherine Tegen Books in exchange for an honest review.)

This was a really fun read! I'm such a fan of Nix's work, and this book was definitely one of his good ones! I loved all the action, the fast pace of the book, it definitely kept me on my toes and turning pages. I loved the three main protagonists. Susan is so cool, so badass. I know she doesn't seem at all phased by her sudden immersion into the world of magic, but I think she just has one of those personalities where she can adapt quickly and move on. I liked her honesty, her belief in herself, and her emotional strength.

I also really enjoyed the magic of this world. It's really cool and I love that it's tied up with booksellers! Anything book-related gets me, and I liked the small literary details that Nix includes throughout, basically saying that writers of course have a closer understanding of magic than they realize,!

Anyway, this book is humorous, fun, and an action-packed urban fantasy and I like that it's a stand-alone. You don't get too many of those, these days!

This is the most fun novel that I have read in awhile. Great characters, interesting world, light-hearted, and humorous. Every time I had to put it down I couldn't wait to pick it up again. A delight!

I really enjoyed this mix up of fantasy and mystery with some thrillerish elements. Susan Arkshaw is on a quest to discover who her father is when she encounters a young man and woman who hurriedly free her from a supernatural villain.

That starts a wild quest that veers between bookselling and the oldest myths of England, Susan not only discovers her father, but comes into her own by the end of the book, making it quite satisfying.

All the thrillerish stuff, like wild car chases and sentient swarms of birds, only add to the fun.

4.5 Stars.
Loved this book. It took me over two weeks to finish this one(which is rare) but I wanted to savor each chapter.

You are immediately immersed in 1980s England at a time that feels both familiar and distant. The mythical world-building is exquisitely and lovingly crafted. The parallel worlds have overtones of Gaiman's Neverwhere although not as thoroughly explored. This title is more of a swift tour of English mythology. The careful choice of words really solidifies the tone for the entire book as well as made me crack open a dictionary a few times. Each episodic chapter increases the fevered pitch of the story.

And can we talk about how gender fluidity was present but not a "thing" or plot point? It was just someone's nature and that's great. On to the next horror. Great!

This one has a timeless fairy tale/fantasy feel but is done is such a way that feels fresh. I will definitely be recommended this title to teens that could use a challenge and those who already love Nix's other works.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy.

This romp through an alternative London in the 1980s was so much fun. It was not a hard read nor was there a lot of depth. But, not all books need these elements. This one sure didn't. If you are looking for a quick travel-read or just to escape for a while joining the booksellers to fight magic is a great way to pass the time.

A fun and caper-y light fantasy novel with all of the creativity and adventurous spirit of standard high fantasy and none of the bleakness and heavy subject matter.

This is a huge departure in tone for Nix from the Old Kingdoms series, and a welcome one for this reader. While I thought Sabriel and the rest of the series were well written and well conceived, the tone and subject matter here was far more to my liking.

Nix’s wry sense of humor is on full display here, as is his ability to flesh out a story with unusual and clever details. There are a lot standard fantasy tropes included in this book, but each is presented with a fresh spin.

The villains are a tad cartoonish and obvious, but the protagonists are likable and interesting enough to make up for it. Susan and Vivian are easy to root for, and Merlin is an utter delight.

The pacing is a little uneven and the story goes a little off the rails during its denouement, but overall it’s a fun, clever read that keeps your attention while not being overly emotionally demanding.

The worst thing about this book is that I HAVE FINISHED IT AND THERE'S NO BOOK TWO! Seriously, I really want to learn more about Merlin and Susan and all of the booksellers and their world.

Nix's books can be a little on the weird side so I was a little apprehensive picking this up, but all my fears were unfounded. This is a jewel of a book. I'm pretty sure it's going to be marketed as teen or perhaps new adult (the main characters are 18/19) but it's a book that anyone who loves good urban fantasy can pick up and thoroughly enjoy. Definitely recommended!

The whole book reminded me a lot of Doctor Who. There's a "normal" girl thrust into a world, protected by omnipowerful peacekeepers, that she knows nothing about. We experience this parallel world through the normal girl's eyes. Luckily, the girl is able to hold her own which keeps her from feeling like a Mary Sue. I did like that the setting wasn't just London; good to see the Lakes District in a novel published in America.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book! I really wanted to love it, since I love Garth Nix's other works, pretty much across the board. However, this one fell very flat for me. I felt like so much of the book was just different creatures appearing trying to kill or kidnap Susan, and Susan kept responding with "what's that? what's that? what's that?" It just seemed like too much was being thrown at her (and the reader) without much explanation or any coherent strands connecting everything together aside from, "Susan is special; her father is a powerful being". I didn't really love Susan's character either, though I did enjoy Merlin and his sister, as well as some of the other booksellers. Unfortunately, the great supporting cast just didn't make up for a dull main character and a frenetic plot.