The Library at Mount Char: A Novel

It took me until December, nearly Christmas!, to find the book of the year that is just plain good fun while feeding my soul. I always think it is incredibly dopey of most people to go around quoting movie lines that actors deliver without thinking through to the idea that somewhere, sometime, a WRITER put those words in the actor's mouth. We should have authors that we follow around with the some slavish devotion that we assign to witless actors. But I digress. Scott Hawkins deserves more accolades than he will probably ever get as a "lowly" author. It's how our universe runs....but it could be a lot worse if we peek into the Library at Mount Char. Ever wrestle with the idea of what life really means? Is there a God up there? And if there is, what does he expect? Is there any way to turn the wheels of time and quantum space itself? Can one person ever amass too much knowledge? All of those ideas get turned on their heads in this book and examined from all angles. We follow an acolyte of God Himself/Herself/Father (as we dimly realize the hierarchical sets) through life-changing experiences. Along the way, our heroine, Carolyn, picks up your average Steves and Mrs. McGillicuddys and Erwins and breathes life into them without destroying their essential humanity and likableness. These characters will fulfill reoccurring roles, almost like reincarnations. Sure, we have the usual immortal Titans that are cruel (and infinite in their cruelty)...but at the same time Titans enjoy brownies, too. Even lions get a chance to help save the universe along the way by getting rid of a few horrible singers and their crappy songs. I don't know how long it took Mr. Hawkins to write this book but every chapter is infused with humor, a little bit of slap-stick, and thoughtful, truly mind-blowing revelations. Alright, and some gross stuff. But you can't have a car chase without some crashes. It is a little bit fantasy, a little bit science fiction, a little bit philosophy, a little bit spiritual and a whole lot of not for the faint-hearted or easily grossed out. There are rapes, both metaphorical and actual, many people die in creative and quick ways, and humanity is shown to be mostly full of crap and laziness. As one would expect by looking around the world now. So pretty realistic but delivered in a hopeful not hopeless fashion. I don't want to write synopsis of the book that you can get in the introduction. Instead, I want to tell you how I felt when I read the book. I could not put it down. I wanted to read just one more chapter. I laid in bed all Saturday only stopping to raid a chocolate stash, grab more hot tea, kick the cat out, and hop back into bed. To read. The story was engrossing, thrilling, and, for you feminists out there, satisfying until you realize that gender doesn't really matter to the story. It's how you are as a human being, a heart coal....and as a newly created God.

What if there was an all powerful man who stored all of his knowledge in a library that could only be read by his twelve "children"? And what if that man disappeared one day, causing the library to be totally unreachable to those children? This is the mystery at the heart of "The Library at Mount Char". Naturally, of course, if quickly becomes something else entirely - but still very enjoyable. Like most fantasy novels, it does take a while for the story to really get going. It's always well-written, but the first 25% of the novel, or so, is filled with a lot of exposition that's needed to set up the world of the story. It's important information, but it is a bit of a slog to get through. However, once you get through it, the story definitely takes off. Throughout the book, the point of view shifts between different characters and a number of interludes shift the action between different times. This was a bit challenging for me to get into, at first, but I did eventually wrap my head around it and all of this point of view shifting and time shifting ends up coalescing in a really interesting conclusion. It's not a super surprising one - the book is definitely littered with clues as to how it eventually ends, but that doesn't make the journey any less fun. Ultimately, "The Library at Mount Char" is a really fun book. It's very well written, filled with a number of very interesting characters. It tells a wholly complete story, though does feature an epilogue that sort of sets up a sequel were the author to want to revisit the world in the future. If you enjoy weird fantasy stories or stories about quasi-Gods, this is the book for you.

Without a doubt one of the most bat-guano-crazy stories I've ever read. It is dark, and it is cruel, but it is also hilarious, surprising, tender, and simply wonderful. The characters and the things they do are absolutely bonkers. Something else I love about this story is that it takes the time to resolve the story. No spoilers, but the climax of the story happens at the end of the second act. The third act almost feels like an epilogue, and that's weird for most stories. It fits this one perfectly. Not for the squeamish or the young. Not for people unwilling to be dropped into the deep end and still read when nothing seems to make sense. But if you are willing to be surprised & shocked... by things that make you squirm, things that make you laugh, and things that make you shout WTF!?... then this story may just scratch an itch for you that you didn't even know you had.

I am a big fan of literary (or just well-written) adult / urban fantasy sub-genre, and tend to be on a lookout for promising new authors. Usually it's same old, same old. Last time I encountered something truly original (and eminently readable) was The Rook, which came out circa 2012, if memory serves. Magician's Land (2014) was not uninteresting, but one had to work (and sometimes struggle) through two prequels first. The Library at Mount Char came seemingly out of nowhere, and is as close to a perfect modern fantasy as it gets. I noticed that most of the critical reviews were concentrating on either gore (too much) or the plot (assorted complaints). With all due respect, allow me to disagree. Gore / violence is about average for this kind of book, and is associated mostly with one character (which is kind of the point). Halfway through it becomes borderline cartoonish. The plot is in fact one of the major strengths. It's straightforward without being simplistic, unpredictable without forced twists, and has a sufficiently protracted (but not meandering) ending, which to me is much more satisfying than just "and now the final battle... good guys win!... close with hinting at a sequel, and... cut!" The three protagonists are... strange. Complex and entertaining characters. Major antagonist(s), ditto. If there is a weakness to a book, it's the secondary characters. Most of them are underdeveloped --- I guess there was just so much space, but still, this aspect feels unpolished. Which cannot be said about the writing. I had to double-check to make sure this was the author's first novel. Let's hope it's not his last. The basic premise is that the ancient God is missing, and there is your "war of Spanish succession", but with a major twist: his direct heirs are twelve adopted humans, and the inheritance is knowledge rather than power per se. There are other forces at play, and it all happens in modern USA. If this sounds familiar, yes, the closest analog is probably American Gods, but the underlying mythology and the way the tale is told are very different and wholly original. To make a long story short, if The Rook, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, and The Master and Margarita ring the bell, you'll enjoy this.

Hawkins has achieved something quite stupendous for a debut novel. I should rephrase, he has achieved something which I find lacking in almost all fantasy books. He has built a world in which the amazing can exist in the modern world and the interactions feel believable. This is not to be underestimated – how many times in any medium; book, film or TV do we get kicked out of the suspended imagination when the protagonist does something that feels ‘not real’ even in an unreal universe. There was a time when Carolyn and the other children were normal, before the time of Father when they lived with their proper families. The children now study and learn in the Library while Father teaches them how to draw lightning or raise the dead but Father has gone missing and if He is God, what do you do when God may be dead? What is instantly arresting is that this is a book of Gods and mythology but unlike any I have read. Many books, for instance Neil Gaiman’s “American Gods” explore the fun conceit of what happened to the pantheons of earlier times as their worshippers diminished but this novel explores Godhood from a totally fresh perspective. Each child is given a college to study but they cannot share knowledge lest they grow too powerful. Each child as they grow becomes a simulacrum for Gods we have heard of but with a slight twist and in some cases totally original cloth. This is a masterful dance which allows the reader to feel comfortable with the growing band of characters and yet never on solid ground. Hawkins takes a bold chance in weaving his other storylines and characters from the beginning of the book. The reader is often off balance as to what is happening and eager to see the fuller picture but as the book brings the threads together especially after the mid-point of the novel, the strategy pays off with a much richer tale as the novel picks up speed. I will say that some readers could get left behind in the onslaught of information but to those who pick up the assorted breadcrumbs, they will be richly rewarded. This book also has a great sense of humor which is quite rare in fantasy stories unless they are parodying the genre. Like a Tarantino film, Hawkins can flip you a scene of horrific intensity only to have you laugh at genuine character moment next. I for one think we have a new superstar author and cannot wait to see what he serves up next.

I went into this blind based on Goodreads and it is literally one of my favorite books! I love how the author paints the scene and how messed up and weird this book is in the best way.

3.5 stars. I am more than a little baffled by the (mostly) stellar reviews of this book. While the concept warrants great praise (it is largely unique, multi-layered, and interesting), the execution leaves much to be desired. Most glaringly, the dialog often feels stilted, with normal "American" characters asking questions that seem out of place merely to move plot forward (in rather obvious and inelegant ways) or, worse, to fill space. Much of the detail work, as Hawkins depicts scenes or describes the movements and facial expressions of characters, also feels superfluous - with details offered that do nothing to enrich the story or deepen the characters. Hawkins does his best work in the introduction to the book, which grabs a reader immediately, and with the various librarians, who feel suitably different from "normal" characters. You feel things are alien and unsettled and wrong. Interludes that flesh out the librarians, their studies, and the enigmatic and threatening Father are the best parts of the book. However, when dealing in the here and now and when interacting with characters that are meant to be normal Americans, the characterizations are flat and often one dimmensional. Jarringly, where a character (rightfully) feels overwhelmed or horrified, Hawkins will sometimes first allow the character to feel this horror and then implausibly have the character easily slip back into non-horrified interactions. It just does not ring true. Finally, the characters I am meant to care about, the ones that drive the plot and one in particular who is supposed to act as a humanizing catalyst for an evermore powerful (and possibly mad) burgeoning god, just never truly come alive. The final chapters are left rather flat. Not only because they attempt to take a rather shallow and all too credulous character and make him into the catalyst for conscience and world changing love, but because it falls back on that old trope of having everything explained (by a conveniently resurrected character). In the end, Hawkins had a lot of good ideas, but the execution of dialog and creation of characters just did not live up to the plot's potentials.

It is very difficult not to reveal spoilers talking about this book. I'll do my best, but talking about the structure etc, will inevitably reveal some things. Scott Hawkins pulls off something amazing here, despite the odds. This isn't a perfectly polished novel; the POV choice, the structure, the concept and characters are all unconventional. But it was pretty close to perfect for me. I really enjoyed the sense of never knowing where it would go. It is obvious from the start that Caroline knows much more about what is going on than she shares with the reader. This could have turned out so badly, with the reader feeling very cheated, with the hidden knowledge feeling clunky and the reveals a let down - But no, I loved the slow reveal, and the clues dropped by the (excellent, very funny) dialogue. Caroline seemed very real, and what she was able to reveal, she did. The fact she knew more could never be allowed to come to light for reasons. I went with it totally. The structure of the book is odd. There is the most incredibe climax about two thirds of the way through. This is the first book ever that has made me yell out loud and slam the book down fast on the sofa beside me. I'm not sure if that is a recommendation. It was intense. I read on wondering how the actual climax (oh how I have been conditioned by genre fiction to always expect the same thing) would top that, but . . . there was no actual climax. The rest of the book is winding things up. Again - this could have worked out soooo badly. But it didn't. It was great. In another book, all the character developing and resolving would have happened before, during or right after the climax. Here it is drawn out - and it was refreshing to have that space. The clash between magic (I know, there is no magic) and the modern world is fantastic. I love how sweeping magical statements (linking to the plane of anguish) cause sci-fi effects to the orbit of mercury. The President, the news reporters, the outside world in chaos - I haven't seen it done so well. And to counter the sense of the normal world, the world of the 12 children is ruled by utterly different morals and expectations. I loved being taken somewhere so new, with rules so different. If you go with this novel, if you can get past the violence, it will take you somewhere very clever, emotionally satisfying, unique, sometimes wise, and very, very odd.

For the book that leaves you with “Whaaat?” in your eyes about half the time, it’s surprisingly smooth and easy to read. Many storylines and details seem wildly random, but Hawkins does a beautiful job converging them in the end. The book is weird and gritty and explosively violent, yet fascinating in a good way. Love the whimsical exploration of universal motives. Perfectly suitable language, the book is well-written. None of the characters fall flat - except for Carolyn, a little bit. Erwin was hands down my favourite.

It's these types of books that remind me why reading is so great. You can get a run of so-so books that you force yourself to plod through then, bam, an absolute gem lands in your hands. I'm not a hardcore fantasy fan - like another reviewer on here, I enjoy novels that have one foot in reality. Just a little something that tethers them to the world we know. And The Library at Mount Char does just that. The plot is amazing - it moves on at a gripping pace, and it's populated with wonderful and engaging characters. For me, the novel really started to hit its stride once Steve came on the scene. Oh, and then the lions. It's a great mix of my favourite genres - a little bit of gore and horror, a fair bit of humour, a sprinkling of magic. I haven't enjoyed a novel like this since Lev Grossman's Magicians trilogy. And I hope that Scott Hawkins will return to the Library, as I feel there are so many other stories bubbling under the surface. I won't re-hash the plot here: only say that it involves a group of Librarians with special powers (adopted as kids by a man known only as Father, they are educated in specific catalogues, such as war, languages, speaking with animals, reincarnation and suchlike (but woe betide anyone who tries to dabble in another person's catalogue). It features an ex con who's now going straight and experimenting with Buddhism (not easy when you suddenly get caught up with a group whose sole aim seems to be death and destruction); there's an enigmatic, ballsy and highly intelligent heroine; an ex military superstar; a tutu-wearing maniac; a girl who likes speaking to severed heads; an ensemble of living dead suburbanites, and a couple of influential lions (oh how I want a lion for a sidekick now!) All in all, this book is great fun. It delivers thrills, chills and laughs - and it makes you think too. It really needs to be turned into a movie. The writing is slick, and the story will stay with me for a long time. I absolutely can't wait to see what this author's going to come up with next.

This book is good, it slowly captivated me. After having read the first few chapters I was about to stop reading because the crude violence depicted was so gratuitous that it made me very uncomfortable. It eventually makes sense (at a literary level) that what is so heartbreakingly unexplainable to us is a triviality for the powers that be, just a move in their master plan.

Seriously, the best book I have read in a while. It is dark and twisted, but it has humor. Worth a reading, knowing it is WEIRD

This is a totally unique take on mythology and horror. Highly recommended