Here are the highlights of the reviews / blurbs:
“A wholly original, engrossing, disturbing, and beautiful book. You’ve never read anything quite like this, and you won’t soon forget it.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“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.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“A bizarre yet utterly compelling debut…might remind readers of Robert Jackson Bennett’s or Neil Gaiman’s horror/fantasies.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“A first-rate novel… a sprawling, epic contemporary fantasy about cruelty and the end of the world, compulsively readable, with the deep, resonant magic of a world where reality is up for grabs. Unputdownable.”
— Cory Doctorow / boingboing.net
“If you read only one book this summer, make it this one. Sheer perfection.”
— Mybookishways.com
“An early contender for my favorite book of the year. … Set it up people, let the hype flow. This is a book to look out for.”
–Fantasy Review (5/5 stars)
The LA Times included it in their May 28 feature “Get Ready To Be Obsessed With These 29 Page-Turners.” Mt. Char came in right next to Austin Grossman’s new one. (I love Austin Grossman.)
“Funny, horrifying and original…the kind of story that keeps yanking you off in ridiculous new directions every time you think you know what’s coming next.”
—David Wong, New York Times bestselling author of John Dies at the End
“The most genuinely original fantasy I’ve ever read. Hawkins plays with really, really big ideas and does it with superb invention, deeply affecting characters, and a smashing climax I did not see coming.”
—Nancy Kress, Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author of Beggars in Spain
“This book is batshit crazy. From the very first pages, the story grabs you by the guts and doesn’t let go. It mashes together fantasy and thriller, love stories and dark comedy, into a wild trip at once unpredictable and unforgettable. You’ll never look at a librarian in quite the same way.”
—Keith Donohue, New York Times bestselling author of The Stolen Child
“A pyrotechnic debut…The most terrifyingly psychopathic depiction of a family of gods and their abusive father since Genesis.”
—Charles Stross, Hugo and Locus Award-winning author of Accelerando and The Apocalypse Codex
“Don’t pick up this book unless you want to read something you’ve absolutely never read before. The Library at Mount Char is funny, bizarre, moving, frightening, and surreal. The most original work I’ve read in ages.”
—Walter Jon Williams, New York Times bestselling author of Destiny’s Way and This is Not a Game