young adult

NOVEL

Author: Steven Paulsen

Publisher: IFWG, 2023

In which fellow Ballarat-based writer Steven Paulsen draws on his own travels, a tonne of research and a well-honed imagination to conjure a thrilling chase across a chunk of 1400s Anatolia. Ali is a poor youth with a valuable gift – a gift he barely understands but drops him into the centre of a bloody power struggle. To survive he must fulfil a quest that involves unexpected allies and merciless pursuers, the prize a sheer delight. The story is pitched at a YA audience but rewards the older reader, even if some of the turns and reveals may not be too unexpected. The characters are enjoyable, the setting well detailed, and moments of magic are beautifully entwined in the historical period in what must draw references to the Arabian Nights. There’s an earthiness, a darkness, the flavours and scents of the food and the landscape, that keep the flights of fancy grounded while giving the story plenty of lift. Good fun.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, by Garth Nix (Allen & Unwin, 2020)

In 1983 England, all is not what it seems in this slightly askew historical setting.

Creatures of folklore and myth intrude into the human realm, with a dedicated band of booksellers keeping them in check.

The booksellers, versed in lore and adept in magical and martial battle, police the realm with a nod and a wink from the authorities.

Enter art student Susan, with a family secret that leads her into the secret world, with left-handed bookseller Merlin and his right-handed sister Vivien keeping her company as they pursue their own quest.

The characters are vibrant, the world as intriguing as you’d expect from a master of the genre such as Garth Nix.

There’s an engaging voice to the narrative that harks to the likes of Susan Cooper, Alan Garner and others who have brought the mythic into the mortal, and Nix is not adrift in that company as he doffs a fresh hat to that tradition.

A version of this review appeared in the Herald Sun, 31/10/2020