at its most basic level it's a dark fantasy version of a bildungsroman in which orphaned children are schooled in esoteric and powerful arts by a man known as "father," whose lessons are dangerous and frequently cruel. they grow up in the flexible time of his library and are raised according to the ancient rituals of the pelapi, which distances them from the americans they once were. they never break into song like the charming orphans in annie,

After each one, I'd put the book down for a second and start to rethink the story from the new vantage point that the author had just provided. Similarly, several times excessive force is used rather arbitrarily. This is understandable for Father and the Pelapi who obviously work on a slightly different scale, however even normal characters seemed to regard violence or threats as a first resort, something which again made neither Steve nor Erwin, our supposed perspective characters particularly easy to sympathise with. One of the most sadistic characters, if not the most sadistic character, I've come across in fiction, Father is thousands of years old and has written the books contained in the world's largest library (the one at Mount Char), cataloging all of the knowledge of all times. When Carolyn's and 11 other children's parents are killed, Father adopts them all and begins training them to be Librarians. The ways in which he does so are..... are.... well, let's just say he would never win the Parent of the Year award. This is a very brutal, rather crazy/flaky book that is so compellingly written it just drags you off on its bizarre journey.The writing was pretty good and there was a surprising amount of humor. I thought the scheme the mastermind pulled off was very well done. And, despite my prior complaints about the foundations of Hawkins’ world, I did get the ultimate message about what happens when we allow ourselves to hide from the world in response to pain. If I just look at The Library as an allegory illustrating an important lesson about human reactions to injustice, violence and misfortune, I can see its value. Gods walking the earth is one thing, but to actually watch them perform an infinite regression of events to create their own successors in such a way that the poor sap doesn't even realize it until long after the big battle is a scale of craft that ought to be left to actual gods, and not some person named Scott Hawkins, who, out of the blue, blew my mind by actually pulling it off. Then I started to really like it when the kids were in Mrs. McGillicutty's house with Steve, it got comical and I started understanding an eenie meenie bit more! :-) Yes, the writer uses the tired cliché of the tragic fate awaiting the President of the United States (and it was not even organically necessary). But it is still amazing.

although the majority of the characters are most unlikeable (which makes this story so engrossing), I did have an affinity for "Steve" and "Erwin"; and, The most genuinely original fantasy I’ve ever read. Hawkins plays with really, really big ideas and does it with superb invention, deeply affecting characters, and a smashing climax I did not see coming." - Nancy Kress Conclusion: I was not a fan, but a bit selfishly, I’d recommend it if only so that I can hear your thoughts. Plus a bunch of people love it – so don’t let this review deter you.It was such a clever way to start a mystery book. It’s not a woman dead on the road. It’s not about the detective standing over her body. It’s about a woman who has just killed a detective, which sets you up for just how wild things are going to get.

sci-fi жанра би си пожелал. Интересни герои, за които да ти пука, страховита ситуация и препускащо темпо на събитията, съчетани с превъзходното авторово въображение и усет към детайла. Като добавим изпипания стил и липсата на разтегливост в текста, се получава приятно, занимателно и дори смешно на моменти четиво. Може и по сълза да се пусне в края, никой няма да ви се подиграе. Based on the first two thirds this was an EASY 5 star book. No doubts at all in my mind. But based on the final third? I'm so let down. And not in a "I'm not happy that x won" way, but in a "it's great x won but why did we find out they won by them sitting there explaining it all to us" way. I'm not completely sure how I felt about this book. Hell, for most of the book, I wasn't sure who was supposed to be the main character. However, I did enjoy it. Here's how it all went down. initially it is unclear when this takes place, if this is our world or just a version of our world, if there has been some sort of global event that forced people to live …differently and have different associations and only vague memories of something called Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. children are abducted by a powerful man and are tasked with learning his collected knowledge of the earth's secrets.

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What is more, is that while Carolyn and her fellow Pelapi are fairly casual about some aspects of the fantasy world, there are plainly others that terrify them, not the least Father himself.

Secondly, was execution. The first third was great - the concept of fathers children specialising in various folios, their upbringing, the burglary, etc was really well done and a fantastic setup. I got real "American Gods" vibes but in a better way - better characters, better pacing. An engrossing fantasy world full of supernatural beings and gruesome consequences." ��� Boston Globe Though he dresses in a purple tutu, David is anything but a sissy. In fact, he is a ruthless killer, with a helmet made of blood and hair, and a string of intestines slung over his shoulder. PS—I first heard of this book from this article: Just Trust Me: In Praise Of Strange Books — piquing my interest with: "Give me something dark … Give me a book that sunk its teeth into you. One that changed you, left you a little different by the time you were done.”All the oddness of this book, its sheer creativity, blows me away. All its characters become real and archetypes and real all over again, wrenched from all those endlessly tired grounds to become something new and fantastic again. Let’s say you’ve experienced something weird that is difficult to articulate, but you really enjoyed it. So, you want to recommend it to people because you think they’ll dig it. But, the more you try to explain it and what you liked about it, the less likely they are to want to give it a shot, because it really is weird. And violent. And graphic. And mind-bendy. And kind of gross. And perplexing. And unusual. And sometimes a little bit funny. And sometimes a little bit dark. And sometimes a little confusing. And even a little non-sensical. And, so, when you describe it, people might be like, “Whoa, easy there, Tiger—I’m not into things that are simultaneously weird and violent and graphic and mind-bendy and gross and perplexing and unusual and a little bit funny and a little bit dark and a little confusing and a little non-sensical. I prefer cats, though whether they’re alive or dead, I don’t care.” A first-rate novel… a sprawling, epic contemporary fantasy about cruelty and the end of the world, compulsively readable, with the deep, resonant magic of a world where reality is up for grabs. Unputdownable." - Cory Doctorow