• The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

  • By: Garth Nix
  • Narrated by: Marisa Calin
  • Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (16 ratings)

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The Left-Handed Booksellers of London  By  cover art

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

By: Garth Nix
Narrated by: Marisa Calin
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Publisher's summary

A girl's quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the best-selling master of fantasy Garth Nix.

In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn't get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.

Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones) are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.

Susan's search for her father begins with her mother's possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.

Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan's. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin and Vivien must find out as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.

©2020 Garth Nix (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group

Critic reviews

"Garth Nix sets the standard for Fantasy." (Leigh Bardugo)

"Garth Nix is one of the best world-builders in fantasy." (Brandon Sanderson)

What listeners say about The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

enjoyable light sci-fi fantasy

nothing complex about this story, it is light hearted and enjoyable easy read from first to last page. a combination of Neil Gaiman and Ben aaronovitch writing style is about the right description of the overall style of writing in this book.

looking forward to any further books should the author consider making it a series.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Garth Nix has a great style about him

I was captivated by Newt’s Emerald and this story, set in 80’s London also very enjoyable. Some clever layering. Genuine mixed with fantasy. Lovely little changes of male to female famous people. Thanks Garth. Can’t wait for the new one.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Not especially clever

I usually like (or even love) books by Garth Nix. All of his Old Kingdom books and stories are exceptional. I love their atmosphere and most of their characters. Angel Mage was interesting but sadly it seems a stand-alone book. But here, the Left-Handed Booksellers of London is compared to the above mentioned titles flat and almost uninteresting. Characters are moving around a lot, there's a lot of dialogue. But I feel no real urgency in their actions. They just wander/run/drive/fly from one calamity to the next and we're riding along for the explanations and yelling and crying and...

There are good bits though, and these I loved. The scene at the mountain for example. I just wish there were more story with real meat on its bones, as opposed to the fluffy cotton candy the rest is made of. Don't get me wrong: there's action, there's blood, there's death and a lot of world-building, as the saying goes. It just lacks the spark I had hoped to jump over to me.

Compare his Old Kingdom novels, heck, take one of his short stories or novellas to Left-Handed Booksellers and you'll notice the difference. The richness, the depth, how you care for the characters. Here, I had a hard time wanting to finish the story, but I soldiered through. *edit 2023: I listened to the sequel and thought that quite a lot more impressive and very good

Because everyone can have a bad day, I'm not angry, but I think of this book as a missed opportunity. Someone else wrote in their review, and I paraphrase, "Left-Handed Booksellers are at the low end of the Young Adult scale of books". I wish I had thought of writing that, because I tend to agree.

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  • Jennifer R.
  • 10-06-20

Booksellers

I have to say not a lot of books got sold but maybe that was because there was way too much otherworldly shenanigans afoot. Most enjoyable and fast paced. Enjoyed both the story and characters immensely!

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8 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Amazon Customer
  • 10-15-20

Dreadful

Dreadful narration. Dreadful book. One dimensional characters and flimsy storyline. Save yourself the time that I will never get back

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6 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • M. Tomos Green
  • 11-16-20

brilliant

Another great book from Garth Nix well worth listening to. Thank you for this book

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5 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Kate
  • 10-05-20

Excellent fun

Highly entertaining, quirky, funny - very enjoyable folklore-inspired take on a 'special one' story. Recommended!

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Chrissie Ann
  • 07-07-21

Fantastic

Susan, Merlin and Vivian are great characters who have a terrifying, fantastic wonderful adventure to find Susan's father. I am so glad I was able to go along with them. I loved it.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Cat
  • 05-16-21

Crime and a little bit of magic!

loved the story and the characters were very likable. The narrator was easy to listen to and made the characters distinct. very enjoyable

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2 people found this helpful

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  • Jennifer Munro
  • 02-02-21

I hope there is a sequel!

Really enjoyed the book, from start to finish. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a sequel! Very enjoyable rwad!

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2 people found this helpful

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  • DRM
  • 01-19-21

Excellent

Brilliant fun. Great storytelling. Outstanding narration. Enjoy.

And these are extra words because the stupid machine will not let me be brief and relevant. “ reviews must be fifteen words of over” Thanks Mummy for ruining that.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • David
  • 10-11-20

Slow

Very slow start, the first 3 hours should have taken 30mins. Unable to care about the characters as they are very 1 dimensional.

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2 people found this helpful

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  • Mot
  • 02-20-22

Great!!

Narration as always was brilliant by Marissa Callan.
loved the story.
Good book. would recommend

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  • Anonymous User
  • 10-05-20

Dope tale. However...

The story is so much fun. I recommend this book to you, yes, you. You will enjoy it.
My problem is with the narrator. Not the story. I found her voice to be grating. I didn’t mind it overly much to begin with but by the end I was over it. She does an excellent job of doing the voices of the different characters - All except for the main character - which is the most important. However, as intolerable as her voice became, I still recommend this book. Oh, and regarding the other current review, which says that she thinks a chapter is missing... I am fairly certain, though not 100% certain, that she wasn’t paying attention properly. I think this because I was looking out for a missing chapter and I didn’t find one. I think I know the bit she was talking about. It is easy to drift away listening to audiobooks as I’m sure you know, dear reader. Peace and love.

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  • Pamela J. Hayes
  • 05-01-22

Great fun!

An enjoyable Fantasy! I found I got involved with the characters and at the end I wanted more!

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1 person found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Anonymous User
  • 11-17-23

Nice easy to listen to.

Great one for the long drives. Easy to follow and listen to. Engaging story. Great voice.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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  • meganlizbet
  • 06-06-23

Interesting characters and myths

A little more young adult, but I enjoyed the characters. The narrator had trouble maintaining her accent consistency for each character and overdid some of the narrative descriptions. Fun story though and I'm not sorry I persevered to the end. Will probably read the sequel in paper.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Amanda
  • 12-01-22

A great modern fantasy novel

Very entertaining. I am not normally into fantasy novels, but this one was very fast paced and entertaining.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 01-20-22

Awesomeness!

Great fast paced and funny, the characters and story world were unique and great fun. Loved it and highly recommend

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Anonymous User
  • 10-23-21

Brilliant Story Teller

I really enjoyed the story, again an amazing original story by a fantastic mind!!

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  • Julie
  • 07-01-21

Amazing!! Loved every minute of the story!

Amazing!! Loved every minute of the story! I would recommend it highly to any one. Garth Nix has done it again!

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  • Anonymous User
  • 05-26-21

I won't be shoplifting from this mob

Garth's best book yet - brilliant.

Twisted and turned like a snake.

Beautifully read, while worth the listen.

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  • Anonymous User
  • 12-10-20

Splendid romp through faerie - tech glitches fixed

Engaging, frequently very funny. Issues with missing chapters found by previous reviewers are fixed. Recommend.

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