The Library at Mount Char

[Mary Pat]

This thread is to discuss Scott Hawkins‘s book, The Library at Mount Char.


***Please remember to mark spoilers.***

Participants: Kaylee, Kristina

[Mary Pat]

Suggested break down of reading so that you can check in and let us know how you're doing. The following breakdown is purely a suggestion and is therefore not set in stone.

Rather than putting dates for each section I've done it so that it takes into account that not everybody will necessarily have the book at the same time.

Week 1: 97
Week 2: 97
Week 3: 97
Week 4: 97

[Kaylee]

I've been waiting forever to read this book! I have no idea what to expect from this book (plot or otherwise) and that makes it even more exciting. Hooray for our tiny group :)

[Kristina]

Kaylee wrote: "I've been waiting forever to read this book! I have no idea what to expect from this book (plot or otherwise) and that makes it even more exciting. Hooray for our tiny group :)"

Hi Kaylee! I’m also really excited for this one. It’s been sitting on my Kindle for a while now. I’ll be able to start by the end of next week.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I finished this towards the end of 2017. I loved it! It was my favorite read of the year. It was nothing like what I was expecting though. I'm interested to hear what people think of it.

[Kaylee]

Kristina wrote: "Hi Kaylee! I’m also really excited for this one. It’s been sitting on my Kindle for a while now. I’ll be able to start by the end of next week."

Perfect! I have a tendency not to follow the suggested page break down, especially if the book is good enough to read in huge spurts. Here's to hoping!

[Kaylee]

So... I've made it to page 86 by now, and this book is wonderful and weird. It's the sort of confusing that I love, where everything feels properly mysterious and the author understands that the reader can figure it out on their own. Seriously, so wonderful and so so weird.

What do you think so far??

[Kristina]

I'm up to chapter 4 now (page 86 according to Kindle). The story is definitely interesting and unique. Also, it's much darker than I expected, but I'm enjoying it so far. I like the contrast of the past and the present the the way different aspects the of the story are revealed between the two time periods. It's not as dense as some of the other books I've been reading lately, but I feel like I definitely have to pay attention to the details because something minor or mentioned seemingly in passing ends up having a bigger significance. I'm excited to keep reading. I really don't know what to expect next.

[Kaylee]

Agreed! Darker than I expected, but also more humorous than I expected? The huge amount of small details involved feel important, which makes the story feel even more mysterious. I love not knowing (AT ALL) what is going to happen in this story; it's been a while since I've had a book like that.

Also... I'm on Chapter 7 / page 150 and my favorite part so far is Dresden's (view spoiler)[(the lion's) (hide spoiler)] perspective. What a gem :')

[Kristina]

Dresden's my favorite character lol (view spoiler)[I think because I like lions in general, but as soon soon as I read his part I just knew he was awesome (hide spoiler)] None of the other characters particularly stand out as favorites, but I do like how they are characterized and developed in the story. If nothing else they're interesting. I think because everyone is either strange or surrounded by intrigue that everyone was on an even level of interest until Dresden.

I'm on Chapter 11 now (page 262). (view spoiler)[So far I've really been trying to keep track of all of the detail and get a better understanding of what's going on. Some pieces are starting to come together. Carolyn's really smart (and knows more than she was supposed to learn in the Library) and her plan is definitely well thought out and complex. I have more of an idea now of what Carolyn's trying to do with the Library (or at least I think I do), but I still can't tell how it will end. It's also interest who she thinks is important to her plan and who she sees as expendable. I'm dying to know why Steve is so important and how it connects to that picture that Erwin had that captured Carolyn and Steve together as children. (hide spoiler)]

I'm going to catch up on a couple other books this weekend and then finish this one next week.

[Kaylee]

I haven't reached Chapter 11 yet so I'll hold off on your spoiler :) but I do agree that the one thing I dislike about the book so far is that I don't feel attached to any characters yet. Even Carolyn, who seems to be the main protagonist, isn't necessarily likable. But you're right, even if they're not likable or relatable they're interesting because of how strange they are. Strangeness is always fun to read!

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

I'm glad you are both enjoying the book! This was one of my favorite reads of last year. The plot is really well done and when I finished it was fun to look back and see what a journey the author took me on. And you're right, the sense of humor was great as was Dresden the lion.

[Kristina]

I just finished this! I'll share my thoughts later this week (since it's now almost 1:00am).

[Kaylee]

Finished just in time! Oh man oh man oh man. 4.5 stars for sure.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Kaylee wrote: "Finished just in time! Oh man oh man oh man. 4.5 stars for sure."

Good review Kaylee! I'm glad to hear you liked it. This is one I try to get all my friends to read, even though I know it's not the kind of book that everyone will enjoy. The author's website says he is working on a short story set in the same universe as this book, but it looks like he posted that comment a while ago and there's no recent updates....

[Kristina]

I finally have a moment to post my thoughts about the ending/overall book.

Major spoilers below:
(view spoiler)[I enjoyed seeing Carolyn's plan played out through the end and just seeing how all of the carefully planned details came together. I liked that it wasn't a smooth transition for her at first though. I thought that was more realistic. Since she had such little contact with the outside world she didn't really have a good understanding of what the needs of the world were. Turning David into the black sun was a good example of that (and also a very dark revenge).

I wasn't expecting that Father actually planned for Carolyn to revolt and be the next heir the entire time. But I thought it even more interesting that he had initially had David and Carolyn in reversed roles and that she was more ruthless in David's place than he was. I could see how she could fit into that role if raised to do so.

I felt bad for the whole Steve situation. Carolyn tried so hard to keep him with her as she rose to power, but she never really had a full understanding of humans or of Steve to see how that wouldn't work out. She was just too apart from everything to realized how strange, or how scary, she seemed, and that Steve did not want her world. I was glad that he ended up with kind of a happy ending. (hide spoiler)]

I really enjoyed this book. I hope that this author writes something else, even if it's not related to this book. I'd just like to read more of his work.

[Kaylee]

Randy, agreed! I actually tried to pitch this to one of my friends, but with the warning that it's really weird and unexpected. (Which is the best part, in my opinion!)

Kristin, I also think the climax happened early in the story but I wasn't exactly disappointed by that. There was this strange lull at the last quarter of the book (as in there was no immediate action) but that's when all the twisty plot unfolded which was entertaining enough for me.

Kristina, I agree about Steve! Except that I think I feel worse for Steve than I do for Carolyn. I really had to think through the ending because (view spoiler)[even though turning Steve into a sun is basically trapping him in eternal bliss, it still seemed a little messed up to me. I guess his whole "self-sacrificing nature" makes sense with this, like Father talked about toward the end. But still, I had a hard time with this. It was a messy and interesting way to end the book, especially because it felt like Michael kinda "took his place." Which I guess gives Carolyn a happy ending and makes the book end in a satisfying way, but still. Steve! (hide spoiler)]

[Kristina]

Kaylee wrote: "Randy, agreed! I actually tried to pitch this to one of my friends, but with the warning that it's really weird and unexpected. (Which is the best part, in my opinion!)

Kristin, I also think the c..."

I felt the same way about (view spoiler)[Steve becoming the sun. When Carolyn turned him into the sun I thought "oh...okay...I guess he's happy at least" lol. That's a good point you made though, linking in "self-sacrificing nature" to him becoming the sun, which traps him but also helps save humanity.

I forgot about Micheal. I was glad he was still around in the end. It was a nice gift for Father to leave Carolyn and just showed how meticulously planned everything was. (hide spoiler)]