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Summary
Summary
Neil Gaiman meets Joe Hill in this astonishingly original, terrifying, and darkly funny contemporary fantasy.
Carolyn's not so different from the other human beings around her. She's sure of it. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. She even remembers what clothes are for.
After all, she was a normal American herself, once.;
That was a long time ago, of course--before the time she calls "adoption day," when she and a dozen other children found themselves being raised by a man they learned to call Father.
Father could do strange things. He could call light from darkness. Sometimes he raised the dead. And when he was disobeyed, the consequences were terrible.
In the years since Father took her in, Carolyn hasn't gotten out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient Pelapi customs. They've studied the books in his library and learned some of the secrets behind his equally ancient power.
Sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.
Now, Father is missing. And if God truly is dead, the only thing that matters is who will inherit his library--and with it, power over all of creation
As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her.
But Carolyn can win. She's sure of it. What she doesn't realize is that her victory may come at an unacceptable price--because in becoming a God, she's forgotten a great deal about being human.
Author Notes
Scott Hawkins is an author who also works as a computer programmer. He lives in Atlanta with a large pack of foster dogs. He is the author of The Library of Mount Char which is a hot Webinar titile for 2015.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Hawkins's terror-driven debut, set in a twisted version of our world, the library at Garrison Oaks serves as both heaven and hell, a place where mastery of the library's 12 sections can bring untold power or unending misery. Twelve children orphaned in a mysterious disaster are taken in by Father, the stern librarian at Garrison Oaks. The library's millions of books cover topics ranging from the mundane to the downright spooky, and the orphans become Father's students, each assigned to a specific area of the library for study. Young Carolyn's section is languages, both human and other-but first and foremost she is learning fear, obedience, and deep, quiet hatred of Father. Readers may struggle with the opening sections, where much happens and little is explained, but they will be relieved by the belated inclusion of flashbacks that answer many questions. Hawkins's cunning plotting is backed up by crisp dialogue, a sensation of constant dread, and a solid, subtly weird setting. Agent: Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A spellbinding story of world-altering power and revenge from debut novelist Hawkins. Carolyn's life changed forever when she was 8. That was the year her ordinary suburban subdivision was destroyed and the man she now calls Father took her and 11 other children to study in his very unusual Library. Carolyn studied languagesand not only human ones. The other children studied the ways of beasts, learned healing and resurrection, and wandered in the lands of the dead or in possible futures. Now they're all in their 30s, and Father is missing. Carolyn and the others are trying to find himbut Carolyn has her own agenda and her own feelings about the most dangerous of her adopted siblings, David, who has spent years perfecting the arts of murder and war. Carolyn is an engaging heroine with a wry sense of humor, and Steve, the ordinary American ally she recruits, helps keep the book grounded in reality despite the ever growing strangeness that swirls around them. Like the Library itself, the book is bigger, darker, and more dangerous than it seems. The plot never flags, and it's never predictable. Hawkins has created a fascinating, unusual world in which ordinary people can learn to wield breathtaking powerand he's also written a compelling story about love and revenge that never loses sight of the human emotions at its heart. A wholly original, engrossing, disturbing, and beautiful book. You've never read anything quite like this, and you won't soon forget it. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Carolyn is a librarian whose father has gone missing; could he be dead? Well, maybe, but that would be strange, since he is nearly omniscient and, by all evidence, almost omnipotent. And Carolyn herself is no ordinary librarian: for one thing, she is the self-taught master of all languages, even that of storms And she has the power to replace the sun (don't ask). Clearly, there is something weird going on here, but something wonderfully weird. Hawkins' first novel is an extravagant, beautifully imagined fantasy about a universe that is both familiar and unfamiliar. And it contains a library that may remind some readers of Borges' Library of Babel. It seems to contain all knowledge, and Carolyn and her 11 siblings were trained there, each developing a powerful specialty. Carolyn's is obviously languages; her brother David has more power than the Incredible Hulk can muster. Her sister Jennifer can resurrect the dead. In the father's absence, which of the siblings will inherit the library and the power that goes with it? Hawkins makes nary a misstep in this award-worthy effort of imagination. His language is entirely apposite; his characters are fascinating; his sometimes apocalyptic but always sly tone right on the money. And his novel is compulsively readable. Don't start it if you have something else to do because you won't be able to put it down. Consider yourself warned.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Carolyn was one of a group of children adopted by a godlike father figure, brought to a library outside of normal time and space, and taught various disciplines. When Father disappears from the library, Carolyn and her siblings must go out into the world, our world, to find out what happened to him. If they fail to recover Father, there will be other forces trying to fill the power vacuum. The off-kilter cast of characters who are the librarians seem even more alien when juxtaposed with the normal humans who get caught in their schemes, with -Carolyn as the most relatable and her sibling David, librarian of war, a truly monstrous construction. -Carolyn seems the most in touch with her abandoned humanity, but it becomes clear that she is plotting and her plan could destroy not only herself but the universe. VERDICT This bizarre yet utterly compelling debut might remind readers of Robert Jackson Bennett's or Neil Gaiman's horror/fantasies. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
