Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Review: The Library at Mount Char author Scott Hawkins

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Title: The Library at Mount Char
Author: Scott Hawkins
Series: N/A
Audience: Adult
Rating: 4
TL;DR: What are twelve adopted godlings to do when their “Father” goes missing, leaving the power of his famous library up for grabs?

Longer review: On Labor Day, 1977, a Pershing missile was dropped on the Garrison Oaks subdivision in a futile attempt to kill a god. Twelve of the children who survived the devastation thanks to the powers of “Father,” became his apprentices.

Years later, we meet Carolyn and her damaged and deranged “siblings”, as they gather together to learn the fate of their Father, who has disappeared.

Who will succeed him? The savage and brutal David, who has studied the arts of war? Mad Margaret, who has been murdered and resurrected thousands of times? Or will it be the quiet and crafty Carolyn, underestimated by all her siblings? Which sibling will be the first to gain access to Father’s vast and powerful library? And can these men and women manage to rediscover the shreds of humanity that remain to them after the years of physical, psychological and emotional abuse they underwent in order to become gods?

Author’s Websitehttp://www.shawkins.net/

Read alikes

American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny. If you enjoy the cut-throat sibling rivalry of The Library at Mount Char, you might also enjoy the intrafamilial intrigue of Zelazny’s series.

The Lost Swords series by Fred Saberhagen.

Review by Teresa Dahlgren, Waterloo Public Library