The Library at Mount Char

Best of 2015

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I’m happy to report that The Library at Mount Char made it onto a number of “Year’s Best” lists over the last few weeks. Please pardon the shameless self-promotion. I’m pretty excited, and you only get to do this once.

 

 “A wholly original, engrossing, disturbing, and beautiful book. You’ve never read anything quite like this, and you won’t soon forget it.”
–Full Review here
Unlike anything I’ve ever read before, this book is a surreal, violent, adrenaline-fueled punch to the brain, a book you can’t stop thinking about. More, please.”–Full Review here
 “Like a dark-hearted take on what might really happen if child wizards like Harry and Hermione weren’t so well-behaved, Hawkins debut is harrowing, entrancing, and never less that utterly original.”–Full Review here
 “A wild ride of a novel, fierce and totally bonkers yet moving and humane, The Library at Mount Char will stun you on every page.”
–Full Review here
“Dark, demented, and drop-dead funny, Scott Hawkins’ twisted fantasy morality play is the best genre debut in years!”
“The Library at Mount Char is a brilliant, highly original piece of fantasy that more people should be reading.”
–Full Review here.
Nominated for the Best Debut category in the Goodreads Choice Awards, and lost. Badly. (Final result: 13th out of 16.)
But it was in fact an honor to be nominated.
Full list here.
 The audiobook, narrated by Hilary Huber, is fantastic. She recently won a “Best Voice” award from AudioFile magazine.
Minnesota Public Radio included The Library at Mount Char on their “Top sci-fi and fantasy picks of 2015” list.
“Scott Hawkins is a recent discovery for me personally, but he’s a talent I’ll look to in the future, as he’s given the world one of the greatest stories to hit shelves in 2015.”
–Full Review here
“Scott Hawkins doesn’t have time for your stinkin’ genre conventions. The Library at Mount Char winds its way through the realms of horror, fantasy, and mystery—sometimes occupying all of these spaces at once.”
–The Lineup Presents: The Creepiest Reads of 2015
 All Books Considered included it in the 2015 Best New Authors roundup.
“This debut fantasy novel creates a magical and surreal world that’s similar to our own yet imbued with supernatural danger, deities, and plenty of adventure.”
–Full Review at ReadItForward.com
 Top 10 Books of 2015


The Library at Mount Char Reviews

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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

The Twelve Catalogs, Cataloged

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A couple of the advance readers have mentioned that they’d like to know what the complete list of catalogs is. To be honest, I had a little trouble keeping track of it myself. The big five (Carolyn, David, Margaret, Jennifer, Michael) are pretty clear, but the rest of the librarians don’t get a lot of page time. The problem was compounded by the fact that I wrote a dozen or so scenes involving catalogs that never made it into the book. In some cases the catalogs were owned by librarians from the final list, other times not. So, like, Al, the librarian of flying might have ended up on the cutting room floor. It was a mess.
Also, I tend to misremember names. Eventually I ended up keeping a spreadsheet just for myself.
By the time we got through editing and copyediting I *think* all the conflicts were resolved. Big thanks to my editor, Julian, and the copy editor(s?) whose name(s) I never learned.
Anyway, here’s the list. If you think you caught me in a mistake, it may not be your imagination.
Jennifer     Medicine, healing, reanimation/resurrection (white catalog)
David         Killing / war / martial arts (red catalog)
Carolyn     Speaks all languages (green catalog)
Michael     Ambassador to animals.
Margaret     Death, and the exploration thereof. She’s the librarian of getting killed a lot. (I often feel quite bad for Margaret.)
Peter         Math, engineering, and cooking. (violet catalog)
Alicia        Time travel and, by extension, seeing the actual future
Rachel        Her ghost children see the possible futures (as distinct from the actual future)
Jacob        Left blank for possible sequels
Richard    Armorer
Emily        Finder of secrets and lost things
Lisa Garza     Persuasion / mind control