Lady Friday
Garth Nix
Scholastic Press, January 2007
U.S. hardcover, first edition
ISBN 0-439-70088-4
320 pages; $17.99

I’d been eagerly awaiting this book, having devoured Mister Monday, Grim Tuesday, Drowned Wednesday and Sir Thursday virtually in one sitting. Unfortunately, the series plot about how Arthur Penhaligon is gradually taking over the mystic House that apparently rules all universes has become so complex that it is difficult to figure out what’s going on in Lady Friday. Unless a reader wants to reread the first four novels of The Keys to the Kingdom, she or he will be hard-pressed to remember all the characters, all the worlds, all the rules of the House, all the various weapons, and so on. Nonetheless, the imagination shown in this book, as in the rest of the series, is on the outside edge of what one sees in young adult science fiction and fantasy. Here clothes are made of paper, travel takes place by means of The Improbable Stair, Nithlings composed of Nothing pose incredible danger, and Arthur wields the powers of the First through Fourth Keys, which means he is risking the loss of his humanity. The writing is crisp and the suspense grows with every page. Perhaps it might be best to wait until the entire series has been written and read them in sequence, as I did with the first four, because this is truly one big, complicated story. By the way, ignore the fact that this series is marketed as for kids; grownups should be able to have a great time with these books, too, and they’d be perfect for reading together.

The Harrowing
Alexandra Sokoloff
St. Martin’s Press, August 2006
U.S. hardcover, first edition
ISBN 0-312-35748-6
256 pages; $21.95

The Harrowing was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for a first novel, a nomination it deserved; it did not win, which was also appropriate. This is a good book, but not a great one. Five college students who stay in their dorm over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend find that the dorm is haunted by a strange being from one of God’s aborted creations who happens to like Ouija boards. Sokoloff’s use of the Kabbalah gives this book a special spookiness and brings a darkness to the story that never lifts. Sokoloff’s background as a screenwriter is evident in the way she sometimes neglects to fully describe an event, a character or a place, so that occasionally the book reads like a novelization rather than a novel. For a first effort, though, this novel works.

The Lies of Locke Lamora
Scott Lynch
Spectra, June 2006
Hardcover, first edition
ISBN 0553804677
512 pages, $23.00

One of the most enjoyable new fantasies I’ve read in years, The Lies of Locke Lamora is a first novel for Scott Lynch, and the first in a series about the title character (Red Seas Under Red Skies will be in bookstores on July 31, 2007). Locke Lamora is a young orphan when he is taken in by a Fagin-like character, the Thiefmaker, who turns children into expert criminals very quickly under his excellent tutelage. Locke’s skills at confidence games soon get him into trouble, however, and he is sold to another thief, Father Chains, who concentrates on improving this ability by teaching Locke about clothes, manners and culture. Years later, after Chains has died, Locke leads a group of Chains’s “heirs” in major con games against the aristocracy. Once again, his skills get him in enormous trouble, and this time the trouble is greater than he ever imagined. How Locke manages to get himself out of the city in one piece despite a ravening sorcerer, and with honor, makes for exciting reading. My only complaint about the book – and it’s a big one – is that Lynch misuses flashbacks, even to the point of having flashbacks to earlier the same day. Perhaps he just got some bad advice from an editor who encouraged him to break up the tale of Locke’s upbringing. It doesn’t render the book unreadable – to the contrary, I was riveted for the entire 512 pages. In fact, I wish I could read the lovely picaresque novel again for the first time.