I enjoyed this installment slightly less than the first, possibly because the whimsy and uniqueness wasn't a surprise in this book, it was expected.

However, overall very enjoyable and I can't wait to see where the story goes next!

I loved the Left-handed Booksellers of London and was super excited to be able to read this one. Returning to Susan and Merlin we are thrust back into their dangerous world of ancients. I loved the continuing development of these characters and this book kept me eagerly turning the pages.
Highly recommended.

I don't know where to begin with this book. It takes us back to the world that Garth Nix created in the Left-Handed Booksellers of London and further expands on it. We are introduced to an alternate 1980s timeline, which is very enjoyable. The book is complete of action and has many heart-stopping moments. We catch up with Susan and Merlin; Merlin is still flamboyant, with a fantastic wardrobe that takes you back to the 80s. The world that Nix has created is so rich and wonderful, and I cannot wait to add this book to my ever-growing collection of Garth Nix's work. He is an auto-buy author for me; I do not even need to know what he is writing about. If he writes it, it's going straight into my basket.
This book is fantastic, and if you liked the first one, you'll definitely enjoy it. How Bath and the other locations are described, immerse you in the story. Garth Nix has been to these places before because he writes about them well.

The premise of this series is just so much fun - a group of booksellers protecting our World from the darkness, magic and monsters of the Old World. The characters are a lot of fun, in particular, Merlin made me laugh a lot. The creatures of the Old World were also really interesting and I loved the way he brings them to life.

I’m a big fan of Garth Nix’s writing having loved the Old Kingdom series and I have really enjoyed dipping into this urban fantasy.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Silly me didn’t realise that this was the second in a series when I picked it up but it didn’t really matter and, save for perhaps not knowing the characters as well as I might have had I read the first one, I don’t think it spoiled my enjoyment.
I found the premise really appealing, a bunch of magical booksellers monitor the interactions between our world and the Old World and adventure ensues when the two meet.
The characters were great, and I felt like I’d like to spend time with some of those lesser used in the book as well as the main characters. I could have been more invested in the relationship between Merlin and Susan but that may well be due to my skipping the first insallment.
The magic system and the Old World were also intriguing and can no doubt be mines for many future adventures.
Whilst I did enjoy this book, I wasn’t completely whisked away by it but I think perhaps that’s just a matter of personal choice or taste rather than any issue on the part of the book.
This book would be perfect for fans of English based low fantasy, with gods and monsters and a whimsical sense of humour.

I loved this as much as I did the first book. Loved the setting, the 80’s nostalgia and the found family. I also really love books about books/libraries etc so this ticked all of my boxes.
Highly recommend both books in this series.

Garth Nix has a real skill in creating and explaining fictional worlds in such a way that readers quickly and easily understand them and can then immerse themselves in the story. I found the plot intriguing and there were some lovely deft touches (one is hidden with the spoiler tag on my Good Reads review).

This is a fun read and I always appreciate the humourous moments Nix includes in his work. I enjoyed learning about the new entities we are introduced to in this book, Susan discovering her new powers, and the diverse cast of characters.

The book contains references to places and events that I assume Nix carefully researched/remembered from his own visit during the time the book is set (1983). However I felt that these often took me out of the story rather than adding to the setting. Likewise the descriptions of each piece of clothing a character is wearing rarely added to the story for me and instead got in the way. That might just be my own lack of interest in sartorial matters though! With regards to the mention of events and places it is perhaps because I am not familiar with them that they throw me. For someone who knows the area/time period I can imagine it would be lovely to come across these references. I certainly enjoyed the references to books and authors.

Despite those minor quibbles I really enjoyed this book and hope there will be more to come. There have been mentions of other bookshop locations so I am crossing my fingers for York as at least then I should get the geographical references.

I loved the first in the series and am pleased to report that this second outing for our magical booksellers does not disappoint. There is plenty of action, but also a lot of humour. I also like the mix of the modern (albeit an alternate 80's setting) and the ancient. I am learning quite a bit about British myth and legend from this series. I hope the author has a lot more planned. Highly recommend.

Please note, The Sinister Booksellers of Bath is a direct sequel to The Left Handed Booksellers of London. With that in mind it is entirely possible, if you’ve not read book one in this series, what follows might contain the odd spoiler or two. Consider yourself duly warned!

There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath. The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity who inhabits the ancient hot spring. Yet this time it is not from Sulis Minerva that trouble starts. It comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger. A desperate rescue is attempted by his sister the right-handed bookseller Vivien and their friend, art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.

The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery performed by an Ancient Sovereign and guarded by monstrous living statues of Purbeck marble. But this is only the beginning, as the booksellers investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths and try to unravel the secrets of the murderous Lady of Stone, a serial killer of awesome powers.

If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal.

Back in October 2020, I stumbled upon The Left Handed Booksellers of London and I was immediately smitten. Crammed full of secret societies, mythical creatures and magical types with fabulous dress sense there was lots to enjoy. As I said, I was smitten. Now, here we are a few years later and the Booksellers are back. Prepare yourself people for more gleeful urban fantasy delivered in the best possible taste.

Susan is still coming to terms with the existence of the supernatural and how she is directly related to it. Part of her is keen to just live a normal life. A creative day at art school should be all she has to worry about, but there are otherworldly powers at play that Susan can’t avoid. Once again Susan is a target and the only people who can help are a very particular group of long lived, eccentric bibliophiles.

Merlin remains a firm favourite. Quite how he manages to cut such a fine dash with his eclectic wardrobe I’ll never know, but all evidence suggests he does so with aplomb. I can only hope that one day I will have the opportunity to learn at his feet. Anyone who is prepared to dive headlong into battle wearing a kilt gets my vote every time.

After much pondering, as I’m want to do, I’ve come to a pretty shocking conclusion. I think Garth Nix is hiding the truth in plain sight. I’ve met a few booksellers in my time and they are a suspicious bunch. I think Nix is trying to convince us that the Booksellers novels are works of fiction. Sneaky old so and so; rather than making it up all he is doing is chronicling the truth. The only thing I have to do now is prove it!*

As you’ve probably already guessed, I loved this book (and its predecessor). Nix is clearly having a ball writing this. I think you can spot when an author loves their work, their uncontained enthusiasm permeates every sentence. This is the sort of fiction that ignited my imagination when I was young and carefree. It’s books like this that got me into reading in the first place. Chock full of action, adventure, lemon drizzle cake and more late 20th century nostalgia than you can shake a stick at. The Sinister Booksellers of Bath is an urban fantasy joy. I’d love to see this get adapted for the screen. It would be all kinds of awesome.

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath is published by Gollancz and is available from 23rd March. I can highly recommend seeking this series out. There had better be a bloomin’ sequel to this book or I shall be mighty peeved**.

Sometimes, when it comes to choosing a musical recommendation to accompany a book, the gods of music turn their gaze toward me and smile. The soundtrack to Lockwood and Co by The Flight is a perfect fit with the novel. It has a suitably supernatural vibe and there are more than enough 1980s-style musical nods that will delight everyone. My advice, as ever, is to read one whilst listening to the other and enjoy both.

*My silence can be bought by immediate membership into the Booksellers august ranks. I have no discernible supernatural abilities but I’m pretty tall and I’d imagine that should prove useful if books need to be retrieved from high shelves. I’m also quite good at looking surly but I’m not sure that’s quite as relevant.

**Trust me, no one wants to see that.

I was so excited to see this follow up the The Left-Handed Booksellers of London and can confirm that it didn't disappoint.

A really enjoyable and quite cozy fantasy read, equal parts mystery and magic. Merlin, Vivian and Susan are back together again to help tackle another creature from the Old World. I especially enjoyed Susan's character development in this book, however I don't think Merlin will ever stop being one of my favourite book characters ever.

I thoroughly enjoyed this return to the world of the left-handed, right-handed and even-handed booksellers, where Susan has discovered her magical heritage and is abjectly refusing to embrace it, while inevitably being sucked in to a world of magic, mischief, and stonemasons. Merlin was as carefree and delightful as in the first books, his sensible sister Vivien following behind and cleaning up his capricious messes. My issue, I think, my only issue, was Susan's reluctance to be part of the Old World while so clearly being part of the Old World. She spends the whole book with one foot in and one foot out, and it's honestly exhausting and frustrating. Just make up your mind, woman! But that was a minor niggle in what was otherwise a thoroughly enjoyable rollick through Bath, London, and another richly detailed and thoroughly engrossing magical world created by Nix.

This was a good sequel and the adventure was as wild as the first one. I didn't like that we got alot more Susan and less Merlin in this one as he was always my favourite character from the first one.

This was just as good as the first in the series! A magical romp with the librarians + found family = urban fantastic! This is a great read for all ages. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

From a quiet bookshop in Bath, the Sinister (as in left-handed) Booksellers keep an eye on the activities of beings of the Old World, particularly the goddess Sulis Minerva who lives in the hot spring. One day, unpacking a parcel they stumble on an old map, which pulls bookseller Merlin into its depths. His sister, Vivien, and his on/off girlfriend, Susan, follow in an attempt to save him, and all three find themselves trapped in a sorcerous world created by an Ancient Sovereign, and guarded by living marble statues. Escaping from the map is only the beginning of their problems though, as they realise they aren't the first to be lured in, but might, in a very unpleasant way, be the last.

I've done that weird thing here of joining in with a series on book 2, but I found it didn't hamper my enjoyment. Nix fills in enough of the previous events to enable the reader to understand the background to book 2, but without telling the whole story and robbing us of a desire to read it.

On to book 2 though, and its Sinister Booksellers ... set in an alternate 1980s where magic and the humdrum everyday world exist side by side, it's a non-stop exciting read with very little quiet down-time for either characters or readers (though the characters do find time to sample quite a lot of delicious-sounding cake). For the 'booksellers' this is all comparatively in a day's work - their role is after all to keep people safe from the magical world and to keep that world secret - but for Susan things are different. Until recently she'd assumed she was as average as the next person, but finding out her father was an Ancient Sovereign known as The Old Man Of Coniston has changed all that. She'd like to go back to how things were but having an ancient being pursuing her, feeling the call of her father's realm, plus her growing relationship with Merlin, all seem to be acting against that.

I've seen The Sinister Booksellers of Bath described as YA but more off a crossover/ YA plus book, one as appealing to adult readers as their younger counterparts. It's not without its breath-holding moments but nothing too terrifying. A 5 star read which I'd definitely recommend to fans of Neil Gaiman or Alan Garner.

This is the sequel to the Left-handed booksellers of London. As the Winter solstice approaches, ancient forces are waking up and threatening the peace and normal life Susan desperately wants. She finds she's centre stage in a ancient murder mystery where stone creatures come to life and Susan discovers she needs to tap into her slowly emerging powers if she's to stand a chance of surviving at all.

I'm a big fan of Nix's style of writing. He's incredibly imaginative and witty and has a knack of creating the warmest of characters that's it's practically impossible to dislike. The main 3; Susan, Merlin and Vivian and all equally well brought to life. I particularly like all the little touches that brought the winter of 1983 to life. Nix has certainly done his research with this novel!

Nix is really adept at building fascinating yet very believable magical worlds that are easy to follow and understand. I found the middle of novel a bit slow and felt the ending was rushed, however, I feel there's a possibility that's setting us up for the next instalment from the world of the magical booksellers.

Another wonderful and inventive fantasy novel from Nix. Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc in return for an honest review.

I was enjoying reading this book as I sped through Bath on a train. I admit to feeling a bit apprehensive as I had found its predecessor a bit disappointing compared to the Old Kingdom series.

This book of course had less exposition and "world building" compared to the first book. It also benefitted , in my opinion, from being mainly Bath based with the Roman Baths having an alternate reality.

I also liked the map plot line involving the inimitable Merlin and Susan's struggles trying to reconcile her mythic inheritance with studying art in the "real" world.
Like all Nix books the action sequences would make this great for a film adaptation and an atmospheric one at that. I am sure that people local to Bath will also enjoy all the local detail and jokes.
An enjoyable "romp" but I am sorry I miss the Abhorsen's house, the Disreputable Dog, the sarcasm of the Mogget and the Old Kingdom , whilst realising that Nix has to write other things. I have reread he Old Kingdom series multiple times but probably won't reread this series.

However this felt fresh, exciting and contemporary. Well done Garth Nix !

I'm really enjoying this series. The characters are fantastic, the story has enough twists an turns to make the ending unexpected without making it seem too far out and it has wonderful pop culture references that make the 80s setting pop with life.

Merlin is a fantastic character. His quirky fashion sense, unpredictability and hints and gender fluidity come together to form a character who I very quickly came to love. Along with Susan and Vivien, he fends off threats that come after them.

Parts of this book took place in Bath, as you can tell from the title and it really did well to show off the wonderful bits of a city I love. I loved reading about bits of the city I knew, though it left me desperately craving Sally Lunn's buns!

If you haven't started this series yet, I would really recommend you do so ASAP!

There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath.
The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity who inhabits the ancient hot spring. Yet this time it is not from Sulis Minerva that trouble starts. It comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger. A desperate rescue is attempted by his sister the right-handed bookseller Vivien and their friend, art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.

The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery performed by an Ancient Sovereign and guarded by monstrous living statues of Purbeck marble. But this is only the beginning, as the booksellers investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths and try to unravel the secrets of the murderous Lady of Stone, a serial killer of awesome powers.

If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal.

REVIEW: Well, this is a heap of fun! I haven’t had the pleasure of reading Nix’s work before – and this is a delightful introduction to his writing. This fantasy adventure mines the rich history of Britain, reminding me a bit of Juliet E. McKenna’s outstanding Green Man series. There are a lot of similarities between Susan, Nix’s protagonist and Dan, who is McKenna’s half-dryad hero. They are both offspring of magical deities and finding that they don’t fully fit in either world.

But then, this book goes in a very different direction. For starters, there is an organised response to magical wrong-doing in Nix’s slightly alternate 1980s England in the form of the Booksellers. I enjoyed the evident tensions within the organisation – inevitable when you get a bunch of strong-minded and talented people together. Merlin is a delight, with his quirky fashion sense. And it reminded me that back in the early 1980s, even in relative backwaters like Bath, young men and women were far more in the habit of dressing extravagantly in the New Romantic fashion. It’s not overdone, but Nix regularly drops in period details that remind me just how much things have changed since then.

As for the story itself, I was hooked right from the start and zipped through this one far too fast. The enticing world, quirky and well depicted characterisation and gripping adventure added up to a thoroughly entertaining and engrossing read and finished too quickly. This one is marketed as a YA read – frankly, I’ve no idea why. Don’t let that deter you from picking this one up if you enjoy well-written, British-based fantasy with strong characters, touches of humour and a 1983 setting. While I obtained an arc of The Sinister Booksellers of Bath from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

This is the sequel to The Left Handed Booksellers of London and follows a trio of magically gifted teens to are thrust into a fight with the Old World.

This series is so quirky and whimsical, I love escaping into it. It has an old shop that sells new books, sorcerers who are always hungry, maps you might just fall into and Merlin. Yes, Merlin deserves his own mention because I love him and will fight countless statue monsters to save him (he of course would do a much better job, in style).

The Sinister Booksellers of Bath is exactly what a feel good fantasy should be: fun, fast and a little explosive. It’s such a comfort read and I flew through both books in the series!

You should read this if you enjoy:
✨portal magic
✨laugh out loud moments
✨urban fantasy
✨history
✨low romance
✨magical quests

This is Bath as you've never seen it before! From the ancient entity residing in the Roman Baths, to mythical creatures made of animated Purbeck marble, to a sinister, snail-like Stone Lady hunting and killing in the tunnels under Corsham, this story takes a well-known UK city and makes it altogether more magical.

It is here we find the characters we grew to love in The Left-Handed Booksellers of London – Susan, Merlin, Vivian and their whole crew of magical misfits. I love their banter, expression, diversity and talent under pressure, and the way they each come into their own in this book, showing facets of their personalities we were only beginning to see by the end of book one.

I laughed out loud at the characters' antics, was thoroughly invested in the plot, and enjoyed the well-researched, outlandish creativity I've come to expect from Garth Nix's work. This is good old escapist fun, and I'd venture a guess that there will be more to come in this series (all of which I will definitely pick up).