The Library at Mount Char

by Scott Hawkins

390 pages

English language

Published April 4, 2015 by Crown.

ISBN:: 978-0-553-41862-0
OCLC Number:: 944534906
Goodreads:: 26892110

(8 reviews)

After she and a dozen other children found them being raised by "Father," a cruel man with mysterious powers, Carolyn and her "siblings" begin to think he might be God. When Father disappears, they square off against each other to determine who will inherit his library, which may hold the power to all Creation. As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come she has a play. The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human ...

7 editions

P. E. T. Conroy reviewed The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Let down by weak writing

3 stars

The writing isn't it's strongest part. The story is strong, the characters quirky, but the ending is weak if mostly satisfying. Resurrection seems to be the main fantastical tool used with few archaic Arabic sounding words that just feel thrown in. The size of the library becomes a little too Warehouse 13 or those TV movies and series 'The Librarian' or 'The Librarians' - where this story diverges is not in missing artifacts or books, but rather in the focus on 'The Librarians' being criminally insane and it's an adopted-family feud. I did enjoy this book, but it lacked something in the story, the writing was the weakest part, dialogue was fine, but the actual writing was the weakest part.

nemo reviewed The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

Review of 'The Library at Mount Char' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Just picked it up on a whim after seeing it mentioned on an article on weird fiction somewhere. This is possibly one of the best examples of "weird" or "other-wordly" fiction. I've read it tagged as "urban horror" in a few places, although I'm not very sure of that label (I don't read much horror).

This book in particular takes you through a lot of weird places and scenarios, all the while continuing to move along in the plot. It does not sacrifice its plot or its characters for the "fantastic" elements in any manner, and that is what makes it a great book.

If you liked [b:American Gods|30165203|American Gods|Neil Gaiman|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1462924585s/30165203.jpg|1970226], this might be worth a read.