The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix

Title: The Sinister Booksellers of Bath

Author: Garth Nix

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 21^st March 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 352

Price: $24.99

Synopsis: Return to the enchanting world of ABIA winner The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, as a team of booksellers must fight to keep dangerous magic under cover before the stuff of legends destroys our world. From master world builder Garth Nix, this riveting fantasy adventure is set in an alternate 1980s London.

‘This is the book for anyone who has ever said “I don’t read fantasy”.’ – Fran Atkinson, Sydney Morning Herald, about The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath. The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity who inhabits the ancient hot spring. Yet this time it is not from Sulis Minerva that trouble starts. It comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger. A desperate rescue is attempted by his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, and their friend, art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.

The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery performed by an Ancient Sovereign and guarded by monstrous living statues of Purbeck marble. But this is only the beginning, as the booksellers investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths and try to unravel the secrets of the murderous Lady of Stone, a serial killer of awesome powers.

If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal.

A wintry return to the somewhat alternate 1980s England of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London.

~*~

Susan, Merlin, and the other booksellers are back – and this time, they’re in Bath, and the Ancient Sovereign is out for blood amidst the mythical trouble in Bath. These booksellers look after bookshops and the Old World, to make sure the two worlds don’t collide detrimentally. There are left-handed booksellers, right-handed booksellers, and even-handed booksellers – each type of bookseller has their own talents, and they all contribute to the world of bookselling and protecting the Old World and its secrets. Merlin is a left-handed bookseller, and he has found a magical map – a map that leads him into danger, and so his right-handed sister, Vivien, recruits their friend, Susan, to help him. Susan is still coming to terms with her own heritage – as the daughter of the Old Man of Coniston, an immortal, and the mortal Jassmine. Now, as she is coming to terms with it and saving Merlin in the winter of 1983, leading up to Christmas, Susan, Merlin, and Vivien are drawn into an ongoing mystery – centuries of disappearances and deaths – all linked to the Ancient Sovereign. And now, it is up to Merlin, Susan, and Vivien to stop her and find out what has been happening.

Set in an alternate 1983, The Sinister Booksellers of Bath continues Susan’s adventures and quest for her true identity and place in the world. Again, everyone is allowed to be who they are – they can identify as they want, they present as they want, and nobody bats an eyelid. These characters are accepting of each other, so the focus is purely on the plot and what it means for Merlin, Susan, and Vivien, and their goals – the way they are trying to thwart the Ancient Sovereign. But the Ancient Sovereign has a plan for one of them, and the way that Garth has plotted this out is exceptional – layers upon layers of story that are slowly peeled back as the characters discover what they need to know – facts and things revealed at just the right time. Yet again, we are drawn into the world of British Mythology in a modern, or somewhat modern setting, that for readers today is historical but at the same time, feels a little familiar with the references to the 19890s and some of the things we still have around today.

I liked the way that yet again, Garth has melded fantasy, magic, mythology, and mystery in a contemporary twentieth century world. It gives a sense of difference to the genre, showing that medieval-based stories are not the only fantasy worlds that can work. In fact, I think the power in this story is setting it in a time when technology was starting to become commonly used by more people, but still some way off from being as common for everyone as it is today. It is a nice reminder to read books set during this time as we can see where the world has come in the decades since then. I was interested to see where a sequel to 2020s The Left-Handed Booksellers of London would go – and I wasn’t disappointed. It was so well-written and fits in very well with its predecessor and draws on what we know and a few new things that hint at what might come or how things might work out for the characters in the future, particularly for Susan and Merlin.

Merlin is, as I imagine him, a reimagined version of the Merlin we know from the Arthurian legends, and I always find it interesting to see how authors reimagine well-known stories, myths, fairy tales and characters like Merlin for a new audience – I have seen it work and not work, and in this case, it works seamlessly with the known stories and myths of Merlin whilst also being its own entity, and this works very well

Much like Garth’s other books, this one is well-plotted with everything used carefully placed and thought of – it is another great fantasy book by a well-known Australian author, and I think it will sit well with his other books – the series, the standalones, for all ages. It is a book that will appeal to a young adult audience and adult audience, and fans of Garth’s previous books will hopefully enjoy it.