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  • The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

  • Written by: Garth Nix
  • Narrated by: Marisa Calin
  • Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (19 ratings)

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The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

Written by: Garth Nix
Narrated by: Marisa Calin
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Publisher's Summary

A girl's quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the best-selling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.

In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn't get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.

Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones) are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.

Susan's search for her father begins with her mother's possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.

Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan's. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.

©2020 Garth Nix (P)2020 Listening Library

What listeners say about The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Well-paced adventure in a well-crafted world

Garth Nix is back in full strength, bringing the reader into a world so much like our own and yet magically different. The characters in this book are likeable and fun, and if the story follows a certain pattern, it is never boring.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Magical fun

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The magic combines with folklore and a dash of Doctor Who (in the sense of things appearing normal until they are not) to create an exciting romp through the UK. There is also a good dose of humour, which had me laughing out load in places, plus some genuine creepiness too. The narrator does a good job making the many characters sound unique. I am looking forward to the sequel, which will be available shortly, so I can see what the characters will get up to next.

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  • Whimsical Dragonette
  • 2020-11-30

absolutely delightful

This was delightful and zipped along at a breakneck pace from beginning to end, which is how I ended up listening to an audiobook in just 3 days.

From the first, I adored everything about this novel. The entire concept of the Left-Handed Booksellers, both selling books and keeping the Old World and its entities (benign and malevolent) in check. Merlin, in particular, a charming gender-fluid Left-Handed Bookseller and rogue who gives off definite Doctor Who vibes. The Tenth Doctor, maybe, or Captain Jack. His and Susan's mutual simmering attraction gets hints and nods and stolen moments here and there - my absolute favorite sort of love story.

I hated to stop listening. I'm so glad I decided to stick with the audiobook, even though I wasn't keen on the narrator at first. She grew on me. This is one I'll definitely be listening to again, and perhaps I'll even go back and finish/reread the Sabriel books.

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10 people found this helpful

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  • Eain
  • 2021-06-10

Another quality story by Garth Nix

I love just about everything Garth Nix has written so I am perhaps a little bias, but as far as stories regarding the Old Kingdom— this is another hit!

Well worth the time, and something I will years from now inevitably read again. Just like with the Abhorsen Trilogy. This book has a different take on the Old Kingdom and I really like the way it was explored. My only complaint is that this is the only one so far. It really left me wanting another book in the series. Not because it felt incomplete but because — time flies when you’re having fun.

That being said — at the very beginning of the book it did feel a little slow. Give that environment time to unfold in your mind a little and things get moving fairly quickly. It’s important to understand while this is the Old Kingdom universe, the Wall, and entry into the Old Kingdom is very different in this book. So let the story fill you in before making too many assumptions. It really is a good book.

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6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Bruce
  • 2020-10-23

Very clever title

Take the concept of a lost princess searching for her father and give it a twist: make her of post-secondary age. Add a fey police force and a character like Ghibli's Wizard Howl. The characters blame children's fantasy writers like Lewis, Tolkien, Nesbit etc for making life more difficult for them. I blame Percy Jackson, Nick Gautier, and Artemis Fowl (and Holly) for giving this story a familiar feel. If the aforementioned names are unfamiliar to you, this book will seem like a clever enjoyable read instead of just being enjoyable.

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5 people found this helpful

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  • Sullivan
  • 2020-12-04

Loved it!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Nothing I read has been able to retain my interest lately until this one.

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3 people found this helpful

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  • the black rabbit
  • 2020-09-27

An odd blend of various fairy-tales and RPOne

An odd blend of varied fairy-tales, Thor, Harry Potter and Ready Player One. Overall, Bizarre.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • J. Wagener
  • 2020-12-10

A clever new take on London

I quite liked this book. It was a clever new take on urban fantasy/alternate history of England. Definitely influenced by Suzanne Cooper and maybe a little bit of The Librarian. It was well written with compelling scenery and descriptions. I hope that this author will do a sequel.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Michelle Robertshaw
  • 2021-07-22

Not my favorite Garth Nix

I have read several of Garth Nix books. This was not my favorite. It was hard for me to get invested in the story line and the characters (for me) felt two dimensional.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • AmBeth Stuart
  • 2021-07-14

A brilliant gem!

The world building, and characters, along with the storyline and narration made this delightful. Mixing old world magic, and characters, with a well paced story, it was a real find. Will definitely enjoy again.

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1 person found this helpful

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  • Elisabeth Carey
  • 2021-05-17

Mystery and magical intrigue in London

In a 1983 that is perhaps slightly different from the one we remember, Susan Arkshaw turns 18 on May 1, and shortly thereafter goes to London. In three months, she'll be starting art school. In the meantime, she wants to find her father, whom she has never met and about whom her mother has told her almost nothing, including not telling her even his first name.

She does have some clues, though, including a few items that may have belonged to her father, and the name and address of one potential candidate--"Uncle" Frank Tingley, who sent her cards at Christmas for years. When she reaches his home, though, she finds that "Uncle" Frank does not seem at all a likely possibility, and moreover seems to be a rather creepy person she'd rather not be associated with. As she's preparing to sneak out of the house, a very attractive young man comes in, and sticks Frank with a pin, which causes him to disintegrate into dust--which is not the kind of creepy Susan had been worried about.

Soon the young man, who says his name is Merlin, is leading her on an escape from beings who came in after Frank disintegrated. Their pursuers are a dark cloud and a huge, bug-like creature, and their escape route is only superficially more natural. When what might be a park ranger shoots at Susan, not Merlin, Merlin decides she needs to meet some unlikely people.

Merlin St. Jacques is one of the left-handed booksellers of London, part of a large, extended clan that includes the right-handed booksellers of London. These booksellers are engaged in more than just selling books; they are protecting the world from supernatural destabilization.

It appears one of the ancient Sovereigns, the powers most capable of destabilizing things, and some of whom are actively malevolent, is taking an unusual and worrying interest in Susan

What follows is terror, adventure, betrayal, magical places and experiences, and disturbing revelations about Susan's background, as well as intrigue among the booksellers. Meanwhile, there's no question that Susan and Merlin are finding each other interesting. Yet they are rather distracted by other things, and Susan is not at all sure that Merlin would sustain anything other than a very short-term relationship.

On the other hand, the fact that Merlin is considering changing from male to female in the indeterminate future, and in the meantime seems to enjoy wearing dresses and suits in about equal measure, doesn't appear to strike either Susan or anyone else as a possible obstacle to a romantic relationship between them.

It's fun, it's interesting, the characters are great, and it really kept me listening the whole time.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

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  • M.
  • 2021-04-24

LOVE IT!

Such a great story! Very hypnotic and hard to put down. Great dynamic characters too!

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