Publisher: Gollancz
Released: 23rd of March 2023
There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath. The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity who inhabits the ancient hot spring. Yet this time it is not from Sulis Minerva that trouble starts. It comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger. A desperate rescue is attempted by his sister the right-handed bookseller Vivien and their friend, art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.
The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery performed by an ancient sovereign and guarded by monstrous living statues of Portland Stone. But this is only the beginning, as the booksellers investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths and try to unravel the secrets of the murderous Lady of Stone, a serial killer of awesome powers.
If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal.
What I Have to Say
I'm really enjoying this series. The characters are fantastic, the story has enough twists an turns to make the ending unexpected without making it seem too far out and it has wonderful pop culture references that make the 80s setting pop with life.
Merlin is a fantastic character. His quirky fashion sense, unpredictability and hints and gender fluidity come together to form a character who I very quickly came to love. Along with Susan and Vivien, he fends off threats that come after them.
Parts of this book took place in Bath, as you can tell from the title and it really did well to show off the wonderful bits of a city I love. I loved reading about bits of the city I knew, though it left me desperately craving Sally Lunn's buns!
If you haven't started this series yet, I would really recommend you do so ASAP!
4 stars
My thanks go to Gollancz and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.
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