THE LIBRARY AT MOUNT CHAR
by Scott Hawkins
This was an incredibly weird book that has stuck with me over the last month much more than I expected. Set in a dystopian near-future, The Library at Mount Char imagines a set of gods or demi-gods who have controlled human history, and are in a moment of great upheaval. The current all-powerful being, know as Father, has recruited (or kidnapped) ten young scholars and has been training them in different areas of all-knowingness. Cleverly, each child only learns one area, so none will ever actually have the power or knowledge to overthrow him.
Things start to unravel when Father appears to be missing and the children, known as librarians, must work together to figure out what is going on. They end up having to recruit some regular Americans as well, which causes no end of trouble.
Hawkins writes in a style that makes you constantly question the assumptions you have made just pages before, and if you like figuring out puzzles, you will love the intricacy of the world Hawkins creates. I can’t say I enjoyed every page of this book, but it certainly has me looking at the recent string of natural disasters in the world a little bit differently. (Lily)
