The Library at Mount Char
Ratings260
Average rating4
Gave up at 20%.
2021 seems like the year of abandoned books for me. This one has made me feel too much like I waste my time while reading.
I feel like you might like The Library at Mount Char. It's very weird and dark and shares a lot of DNA with the horror elements of Worm (I'd also compare it to Pact and the Umbrella Academy, maybe?). I read it a while ago, so I'm blanking on some of the specifics, but I remember it had a pretty cunning and morally grey protagonist a la Taylor. The characters have supernatural powers from being raised in a library where they each had to master a particular “catalogue”. The writing was excellent.
4
u/Lonewolf8424 Thinker 1 May 06 ‘19
Seconded. This is also one of the few books I've ever read that has made me actually laugh out loud several times.
Very memorable book all around.
2
u/A-wild-comment May 06 ‘19
One of my new favorites. Picked it up randomly and was blown away.
What caught my attention about this book was the description, more accurately the sentence: A library with the secrets to the universe. I clicked the request button without reading anything else wanting to ensure myself ne of the w5 available coies. I am so glad I did. It's one of the strangest, creepiest, memorable and shocking books I have ever come across.
What an opening sentence:
Carolyn, blood-drenched, and barefoot, walked alone down the two-line stretch of blacktop that the Americans called highway 78.
After that, I couldn't it it down without impatiently waiting to pick it back up. I still haven't fully absorbed all that I read, and am not sure that I ever will. I already want to pick it back up to restart reading this. I think I will, I am sure there will be more that I find the second time around now that I know what to expect. This is easily one of the best books I have ever read. I was so shocked to find out that this is the author's debut novel, I so wanted more from him. I hope there is more to come, soon, I am not a patient person.
The Library at Mount Char - 5 Stars
Let’s get one thing out of the way: the author has a sick imagination—this book clearly comes from a very damaged mind, and I mean that as a compliment.
The first part was a bit light on plot, and I started to lose interest. But once it gets going… oh boy. There’s a great setup, super cool characters, no-holds-barred scenes, and a solid writing style holding it all together.
It’s weird in all the right ways, the kind of story that sticks with you for its sheer originality.
I read an interview where the author admitted he’s been struggling to write a second book up to this standard. I thought that was a bit extreme—until I finished this. Now I get it. The Library at Mount Char is so unique, it would be hard to follow it up with anything average.
Verrrrrrrry weird sci-fi! I didn't really understand everything that was happening but I also couldn't stop thinking about it!
This is a very specific take on 'how to kill a god'. Parts of this were very well thought out heist-like planning. Other parts felt very like a first draft, important details being given a random conversation late in the book.
Absurd in the best way possible. It veers unpredictably from horrifying to hilarious. Incredible characters and a totally wild ride. Loved it.
How many technical writers have horror/fantasy/dystopian novels knocking around their brains? One is most certainly Scott Hawkins. This book is a wild ride for sure. And some of that ride is so horrific that you have to have a strong stomach to keep going. That's all I want to say about the tightly-crafted plot because the less you know going in, the better.
One of the most original fantasy(?) books I have read. Pacing is a bit weird, but definitely highly recommended.
UNDENIABLY 5 STARS. One of the best books I've read this year and that is not an exaggeration. (Not saying best because I finished the Remembrance of Earths Past trilogy this year and that series changed me as a person on a fundamental scale.)
Chaotic and absurd. Hilarious and horrifying. Beautiful beautiful ending. Absolutely everything.
Scott Hawkins has an absolutely unique and colourful voice as an author. Just remembering his words as I write this review has my heart pumping.
In the beginning it reminded me of a darker more fucked up Umbrella Academy and as I progressed it reminded me of a more put together, focused Homestuck. Absolute banger. Perfect in every way.
Didn't really enjoy this. Two things that stood out:
- Don't like it when an author wants to make one character the smartest in the room, and they do so by making other characters unreasonably stupid. There's a scene in this where the US secretary of state doesn't know who Oda Nobunaga is plsssss
- The Joss Whedon-style dialogue. It works in stuff like Buffy because there's a good balance of serious and snark. This tips way too far into pure snark. If you're not taking your own plot seriously why should I?
Gratuitously violent. To the point of gross. Just not my thing. Had to hit almost the halfway point before it started to click, and at that point the violence was less and the story took more of a starring role. Back half is much better than the front half. If this was a series, I wouldn't feel compelled to continue.
And there's a point in that first half where I practically shrieked, ‘tell me you don't know anything about jurisdiction without telling me you don't know anything about jurisdiction!' Find a lawyer to run the premise past and course correct the scenario as needed. Sigh.
Slow start for me but halfway through I was fully engaged and I did not predict the end at all.
4.5 rounded up
What did I just read?? I had to keep going back to pay attention at the details. For those of you expecting your classic dark academia, nope. There is an element of black widow sort of training, but the worls building, the nature of the library take over that pretty quick.
Our MC is fantastic, and at the same time, we're not necessarily rooting for her. The side characters, especially Erwin, but also David, Michael, Jennifer were great to learn about. Father was also a very compelling character, though i wished we had time to learn more about him.
Like i said, the world was just amazing. And when things went south the stakes were very high. We aren't necessarily invested in Carolyn's emotional quest, we just want her to succeed and see what happens next. There was a lot going on in this book
I highly recommend this for people who like sci fi, a bit of dark academia and mayhem. The descriptions were pretty graphic, especially when describing smells, it really made you be right there in the story, grossed out and graphic.
Absolute batsh*t ride, different, exciting, dark, inventive, just something different to clean your palate (mind you it has very gross moments)
I love it when I get no information about what is going on, just me, context clues and great vibes.
I wasn't sure what was happening (in a good, mysterious way) until the end. A strange, but engrossing book.
I'm slightly at a loss as to how to describe this book. Think....a secret society with forbidden knowledge has their leader disappear. As you follow the students/disciples on their quest to find him, you learn more about their society along the way. This is a fantasy novel, and I think would sit in the “dark academia” subcategory. But this is DARK academia. Way dark. It also gets pretty weird/trippy, although I think that is what saved it for me. Some of the characters are so bizarre that they tip over into being charming. The plot is also pretty bizarre, to the point that by the end you're just shrugging your shoulders and saying, “sure, why not?”
I had a few points early on in reading that I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through, but by the end I was enjoying it. If you're looking for a spooky-ish novel to read under a blanket during spooky season, this could be the book for you.
This was a strange book. I almost gave up approximately 20 percent in. That's when stuff started to be more cohesive.
There is a guy who is called Father who has a lot of adopted children, and he has a library section for each of them to learn. Carolyn, who is the main character, is a bit off the wall which we learn why later. It turns out that Father made them immortal, and he is a supreme being of some sort. Carolyn gets Steve involved in her schemes and weird stuff happens. I can't tell too much or it will spoil the book.
This book reminded me of the final seasons of the TV show Supernatural. What would happen if an all-knowing god actually lost a battle or two. I also got some higher intelligence treats us like pond scum vibes. By the time things all shake out you get some empathy, deeper layers of understanding, a sacrifice, and a hankering for some BBQ. Or not...
This was the book club pick for October and I loved it. That might be an understatement, this book alone justifies an entire year of meh picks and really highlights the value of reading books that are off of your radar. To my eye this is nearly a perfect book, it's got rollercoaster pacing, true-to-life dialogue, humor in spades, and the most cohesive/tight plotting of anything that I've read this year (and I finished The Culture this year). I cannot believe that outside of some technical manuals, this is Scott Hawkins' debut; this is a first try that has left me in awe. Before I dive in I usually do this for books that need one: Here is your mature content warning, this book has basically every possible trigger under the sun, there's graphic murder and gore, rape and sexual assault, there's mass murder and violence to animals. The story revolves around Carolyn, one of several orphans taken in by a mysterious and god-like figure known as Father. Each child is assigned a specific catalog of knowledge to master, and Carolyn's domain is the Library, a place that houses unimaginable secrets and powers. When Father goes missing, the children, now adults with god-like abilities, must confront the mysteries of the library and the past. If the summary left you glossy-eyed and uninterested I can't blame you, but this is one of those books that the blurb on the jacket won't ever be able to do justice to.As I draft this review I think I've written the phrase “unlike anything i've ever read” at least a hundred times only to delete and rephrase as I think about it a little more. The thing is that there are works that are similar to this in premise, atmosphere, or tone; examples from my list are [b:The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite 2795053 The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1 Apocalypse Suite Gerard Way https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327877097l/2795053.SY75.jpg 2820826], [b:The Wasp Factory 567678 The Wasp Factory Iain Banks https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434940562l/567678.SY75.jpg 3205295], [b:The Book of the New Sun 968868 The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388595738l/968868.SX50.jpg 6965668], and [b:American Gods 30165203 American Gods Neil Gaiman https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1462924585l/30165203.SY75.jpg 1970226]. But from a writing standpoint, this book is wholly unique, I saw it written in another review and I cannot help but agree, that reading this book is an exercise in trusting the author. So let's talk about the writing for a second. This is a complex and challenging book, it is non-linear in structure and the story is fragmented, with flashbacks interspersed every few chapters to drip-feed the reader the backstory and context. There is a distinct feeling of unreliability in the narration, reading this gave me the sense that I never once had the complete picture and that there was something truly horrible looming just over the horizon. If you're someone who reads a lot of fiction that sense of mystery and unease usually dissolves as you get a sense of what type of story is being told, but that moment is never within reach in this novel. Just when you think you've figured out the rules of the world, Hawkins throws in a curveball that leaves you questioning everything.Part of that unpredictability is rooted in the characters, and we have a whole host of eccentric and terrifying characters, not least of all the main character, Carolyn. All I can really say is that she is one scary-ass lady. As more of her is revealed in each increasingly horrible flashback the tension of this book ratchets up another notch as you piece together the plot and Carolyn's role in the story. It's not just Carolyn, this book reveals more and more facets of each of its characters; the more we know the more we have to take into account. Characters that you thought you knew can change completely with a simple revelation, all of their actions and your reckoning of them completely upended and leaving you blown away in the chaotic swirl.I don't want to paint this book as overly serious and dark, Hawkins is a master at pairing levity with horror. As much as this book made me wince and shift uncomfortably it made me laugh out loud at just how fun all this madness can be. This story jumps from one horror to another but he never fails to use humor expertly as a relief valve; the president could be beheaded in one paragraph and his head would blow raspberries and kisses in the next. Much of the humor is in the banter and dialogue which I also loved, Hawkins writes these absolutely wacky characters but gives them frank and believable dialogue with much of the humor being couched in absurdity and wit. I've got two closing notes and that's a wrap. The first is that I loved how direct the prose was in this book. This isn't to say there is an absence of beautiful and flowery language, because there is, but it's only used when appropriate. The majority of this book is direct and brutal, people don't get shot or pierced through, people get “Half their guts blown out” or get their “heart and lungs obliterated, sending a good bit of tissue out a fist-sized hole in his back”. The second note is that I loved the ending, it felt like every little puzzle piece fell into place and the things I took note of were addressed in a complete and satisfying way.TL;DR: The best description I can give is that there's a team of super kids with an unfathomable and terrifying father, intense flashes of violence and mayhem paired with dark humor, and non-linear dream-ish storytelling.
The start was a bit gruesome and hard to take but because the focus kept shifting it was bearable.
Towards the end [and personally I think there are 3 endings in this book] so after the first and during the second storyline I noticed this author took a different approach to world building, one that I really enjoyed.
Alot of authors will put the firehose in your mouth and turn on the tap, which eventually bogs down the storyline [if you ever get to it] and a storyline that moves is important to me. Others will throw you in the deep end of the pool and leave you to drown; they don't spend any time on the world building and their plot has huge gaping holes, which really ticks me off.
This author, doesn't do all the world building during the first story, there are clear gaps in understanding and the world, but not enough to bog down the progress of the storyline and piss off the reader.
The second story is pretty much all back trailing, filling in the gaps in the story and alot of world building which has me interested if there's a second book. The third story was the wrap up on individual story lines and tying up loose ends, leaving me contented.
This is a book I'd put in my personal collection to pull out when I'd forgotten the minor details and enjoy multiple times over the decades.