From the Bookshelf of Easley Library Bookworms…

The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co., #1)

Jonathan Stroud

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Oct 05, 2013 Werner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: alternate-worlds, books-i-own, action-heroines, urban-fantasy

Because of their line of work, the owners of Hearthside Books in Bluefield, WV are frequently favored by publishers with advance review copies of forthcoming books. Last month, they offered some of these free, for a limited time, to their customers; and this was the one I snapped up, intrigued by a glowing review from another member of the Book Review Exchange group. (She didn't steer me wrong!) The nearly month-long time it took me to read this isn't really indicative; it's a brisk-paced tale w Because of their line of work, the owners of Hearthside Books in Bluefield, WV are frequently favored by publishers with advance review copies of forthcoming books. Last month, they offered some of these free, for a limited time, to their customers; and this was the one I snapped up, intrigued by a glowing review from another member of the Book Review Exchange group. (She didn't steer me wrong!) The nearly month-long time it took me to read this isn't really indicative; it's a brisk-paced tale with easily flowing prose that would be a quick read for most folks. I put it aside at midpoint for some time only because I was doing some beta reading for a friend; otherwise I gave it priority, since it was an ARC (though I didn't even have to agree to review it in order to get it) --and I was very glad to, since it's the sort of book you open eagerly every time you read in it!

Technically, this could be called fantasy, since it's set in an alternate England; I classified it as what I call "supernatural fiction" because --aside from the Problem and its ramifications-- the setting is otherwise so much like the real world. (For much of the book, I thought it might be supposed to be our world, decades into the future, but a reference to capital punishment existing in England at the time of a 50-year-old murder precluded that idea.) But the ramifications of the Problem are big. For half a century, ghostly apparitions have become VERY common in England (it's not said whether that's true in the rest of the world), and universally recognized as real. The ghostly Visitors aren't always malevolent; but they can be, and their touch can kill. Curfews keep people indoors at night, iron and other charms are commonly used to ward buildings and people, and agencies that deal with apparitions are respected and profitable. But though most agencies are run and supervised by adults, only some children gifted with the sensitivity can see, hear or sense ghosts directly; and they lose this sensitivity as they become adults. So the field operatives of these agencies are tweens and teens; well-paid for their work, but subject to lethal danger all the same. Lockwood and Co. is atypical in not having adult supervisors; the teen owner and his two associates are on their own.

This brings us to one point that's admittedly unrealistic. I don't mean the idea that society would countenance putting minors in harm's way; if that's what it took to handle something like the Problem, politicians and pundits who now wax eloquent about protecting children and the merits of child labor laws would hesitate about one nanosecond (if that). But it's not likely that they'd tolerate three teens living together on their own and running their own business. True, Lockwood's an orphan. But he'd been "in care" at one time, and I can't see them voluntarily letting him out of it. Lucy's a runaway, though not without some reason; and the fact that her Talent made her the main breadwinner for her mother and sister would give the former a big incentive to want her back. (Her cavalier abandonment of her family is the one blot on her character for me; I can see leaving, but not just abandoning without a goodbye or any further thought or contact.) We don't know where George's parents are; they're not even mentioned. This is Stroud's way of freeing his teen characters to act on their own without adult guidance, and let his teen readers vicariously fantasize about being free to have their own adventures and show the mettle they think ((sometimes with a basis!) that they have, even if adults don't agree. It's certainly a conceptual flaw in the premise, though. (Like Ilona Andrews, he also doesn't deal with the massive revolutionary social and ideological implications that a cultural admission that the supernatural is real would have.) If I could deduct half stars for that, I suppose it would be fair to. But I rounded up without batting an eye, because this was a great read.

With its teen characters, this is marketed as a YA novel. In keeping with that, it has no sex, hardly any bad language, and no wallowing in ultra-grisly or gross violence (though the feeling of danger is very real). But it's not in any sense a dumbed-down or pablum read; it's a quality work, which can easily command the appreciation of adult readers. Stroud delivers a well-constructed plot, excellently drawn main characters whom you readily like (with the single caveat above) and root for, and a style that's about as pitch-perfect as one could ask for. The tone is mostly serious, and the author is one of the best I've read at evoking a menacing Gothic atmosphere in the right places. (This is one of the great haunted house yarns of literature, an instant classic in that respect; if you're a buff of that type of thing, you owe it to yourself to "visit" Combe Carey Hall --vicariously, with the light on.) But he also knows when to insert a light leavening of humor, and the interactions of his three teens are as real-seeming as they come. Lucy has a great narrative voice, and I'd classify her as an action heroine, given how she handles herself here. Intensely romance-allergic readers (yes, Mike, this means you! :-) ) can take note that there's none of THAT here --though I could imagine Lucy and Lockwood as a couple in a few years. And Lockwood's a smart, resourceful, capable hero, in the psychic detective mold.

Bottom line: this is good, clean supernatural fiction, as it's meant to be! I think most readers of the genre will eat it up with a spoon. ...more

23 likes · Like · see review

Aug 05, 2015 Paula Beasley added it

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls