I loved [b:The Left-Handed Booksellers of London|49867186|The Left-Handed Booksellers of London (Left-Handed Booksellers of London, #1)|Garth Nix|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581368800l/49867186.SY75.jpg|67924695]. So I was super excited to be immersed again in Nix’s re-invented 1980s London, complete with left-handed booksellers who protect ordinary folk from mythical bad guys.
This next instalment disappoints on several levels. We see virtually nothing of the bookshops and the literary references that were so enjoyable in the first book are few and far between. The pacing is all over the place, it starts with a bang, then slows down to a crawl, then races to the finish. We are introduced to many new characters, but learn nothing about them, apart from what they wear (which is described in minute detail), what car they might be driving (again, so much information about different types of cars) or what weapon they are carrying. This level of detail added nothing to the story - in fact it bogged it down. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

The convoy back to London….was led by a Met Police Rover SD1-V8 with lights flashing; followed by Greene’s unmarked Jaguar XJ12; another Police Rover SD1; then Cousin Emilia’s astonishingly bright silver Range Rover, which Merlin explained had been custom outfitted for a Saudi sheik who then reneged on the deal, which explained its metallic silver finish, walnut panelling, camel leather seats with built-in heating, and armoured glass windows. If that wasn’t enough, there was a gold Ford Capri Mk3 full of booksellers following, and behind it a nondescript blue Ford Transit….; and bringing up the rear was a Met Police Triumph 2.5PI…

I am left-handed and was once a bookseller, so this book was made for me! In fact, it’s written for anyone who loves all things bookish. Garth Nix has spent his life immersed in books: selling them, promoting them and writing them. His love of this world is evident in his book, which is an ode to the power of books and reading. Nix is the same age as me and his many references to books resonated with me. As Merlin, our left-handed bookseller, says ‘Children’s writers, dangerous bunch’! So personally, I found this book a bit spooky as Nix repeatedly referenced books that I love, for example: Swallows & Amazons, Five Children and It by E. Nesbit, Margery Allingham’s The Tiger in the Smoke, The Ashley Book of Knots (which I just recently bought for my husband), Tolkien’s novels, William Goldman’s The Princess Bride and Adventures in the Screen Trade, Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers and the icing on the cake - the film Random Harvest. But, enough about me…

The plot is a classic fantasy quest. It is set in a re-imagined London in 1983, where the Old World can sometimes intrude on the New World. Susan is in London, searching for a father she has never met, and knows nothing about the Old World until she is rescued from an attacking giant bug by Merlin, a left-handed bookseller, whose responsible for ensuring the Old World doesn’t intrude on the New. Suddenly Susan finds herself in a race to find her father, while being pursued by malevolent creatures from the Old World. She finds allies in the society of booksellers and discovers that she is a part of a world she never new existed.

Nix sets a breathless pace, and he has created a complex world who’s laws and codes are explained along the way. It feels to me that he has invested a lot into this world, and I hope that he writes more books exploring the role of left-handed, right-handed and even-handed booksellers. Although promoted as a young adult novel, I can highly recommend this book for all fantasy lovers.