Books help us anchor our souls, or re-anchor them; particularly for us, the left-handed, given the things we have to do.

Abhorsen is one of my favorite series, full stop. The Keys to the Kingdom were … weird? But I remembered liking them well enough. And I haven’t been back to The Seventh Tower in years (since I started writing reviews). But somehow in there I managed to miss seeing the Left-Handed Booksellers of London.

It’s a fun older, lighter style of urban fantasy, set in 1980s London. You have magical booksellers, a missing parent (who of course is going to be magical), and all manner of mysteries, beasties, and mysterious beasties. On top of that, some delightful side characters (Merlin St. Jacques is my favorite) and some magically described scenes.

I think Merlin has explained to you that the mythic landscape is layered, and usually quite local. Entities and environments are generally confined to a particular geographic area and often also to particular times of day or night, phases of the moon, that sort of thing. Even weather, as with the things that come out after rain, or only when it snows. And they are bound by custom and lore to behave in certain ways, to do certain things, and of course these days are mostly dormant anyway.

I enjoyed this book. It’s not up to the level of Sabriel and it’s sequels, but it was a fun read and I’m glad to have found it. And I am curious where the apparent sequel might go, which is always a good sign.

Fantasy writers, they’re the bane of our existence!

Onward!