The Library at Mount Char

I finally got around to reading The Library at Mount Char, by Scott Hawkins, which had been on my TBR list ever since it released in June 2015. Thank goodness books are not buses – if you’re late, you can still catch it – because I loved this ride.

The Library at Mount Char by [Hawkins, Scott]

The book follows Carolyn, a young woman who has had a curious life. She was a normal, American girl until her parents died, at which point she – and other young orphans – went to live with Father, a man with unlimited power and knowledge. He brought them to live at his mansion, taught them to speak Pelapi (his ancient langauge), and sequestered them from American culture. Father set each of his newly adopted children to learn a specific section (“catalog”) of his Library with basically two rules: do not fail, and do not learn anything outside of your assigned catalog. The orphans do help each other when possible – assisting with some lessons, and helping with the after-effects of other lessons. Turns out that it is super helpful to have someone around who has been studying resurrection when you die.

After several decades of learning their assigned catalog, Father goes missing, and a mysterious trap settles around the Library that causes severe harm (and probably death) to any who get too close. Carolyn and her “family” must find a solution. The knowledge in the Library is vast enough for someone to be a God and truly rule the world; it must be reclaimed before Father’s enemies can take control of it.

And Carolyn, who is studious and organized by nature, has a plan. It’s actually a pretty damned good plan.

Unfortunately for Carolyn, all her studying and all her planning has not accounted for one tiny little detail: she was once a normal little girl. Little girls, as we all know, are full of hopes and dreams and emotions. In addition – and I have two young daughters so I can tell you this – little girls are full of sass, have a temper, and will hold a grudge.

Truthfully, that’s all I can really say about it without giving anything away. No spoilers for this book!

At first, I had a little trouble getting into it. I think maybe it was because the book seems to start in the middle of the story: Father has been missing for weeks, and nobody seems to have a solution yet. There is no ramp-up or “hey, here are our characters and the general setting”. After a few chapters, it starts to make more sense and you realize that the middle of the story really is the beginning of Carolyn’s journey. Helpfully, there are frequent flashbacks and memories that give readers the backstory and introduce us to the characters.

And trust me when I say these characters are really *characters*. David has been studying war; he walks around wearing a purple tutu. Margaret’s catalog is death, and she prefers the company of severed heads to living people. Michael has spent so much time training with animals that he has forgets words and has a hard time speaking to people. The others have their own unique little oddities. Honestly, if you saw them walking towards you on the street you might laugh and think they were crazy. Of course, they would probably kill you 20 times before completely eliminating your soul, but at least you would die laughing the first time.

The ending is very satisfying – things are somehow fully explained without completely closing the door on the option for a sequel, if the author can figure out a few small details. (There is no sequel announced but the author has not ruled out the possibility.) I would take a sequel, though, if anyone’s asking. And I wouldn’t let it sit for nearly 2 years on my TBR list.

So, if you like strange characters with a God-complex and you enjoy reading something that is truly nothing like you’ve ever read before, this is probably a good option for you. I very much enjoyed it.

Overall: 8.5/10

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