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The Library at Mount Char: A Novel
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Published:
Crown 2015
Lexile measure:
HL: High-Low 590L
Status:
Checked Out
Description
“Wholly original . . . the work of the newest major talent in fantasy.”—The Wall Street Journal
Freakishly compelling . . . through heart-thumping acts of violence and laugh-out-loud moments, this book practically dares you to keep reading.—Atlanta Magazine
A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe. 
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.
 
Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.  
After all, she was a normal American herself once.   
That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father. 
In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.  
Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation. 
As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own. 
But Carolyn has accounted for this. 
And Carolyn has a plan. 
The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.
Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy. 
Praise for The Library at Mount Char
An engrossing fantasy world full of supernatural beings and gruesome consequences."Boston Globe
"Vivid . . . the dialogue sings . . . you'll spend equal time shuddering and chortling."—Dallas Morning News"
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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
06/16/2015
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780553418613
ASIN:
B00NRQRWAA
Lexile code:
HL: High-Low
Lexile measure:
590
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Scott Hawkins. (2015). The Library at Mount Char: A Novel. Crown.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Scott Hawkins. 2015. The Library At Mount Char: A Novel. Crown.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Scott Hawkins, The Library At Mount Char: A Novel. Crown, 2015.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Scott Hawkins. The Library At Mount Char: A Novel. Crown, 2015.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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There are 6 holds on this title.

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Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 19:42:07
Date Updated:
Dec 07, 2020 14:46:50
Last Metadata Check:
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OverDrive Product Record

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      • value: Horror
      • value: science fiction and fantasy
      • value: urban fantasy
      • value: Library
      • value: Adventure
      • value: revenge
      • value: novel
      • value: Thriller
      • value: Contemporary
      • value: librarian
      • value: Dark Fantasy
      • value: Nuclear Weapons
      • value: contemporary fantasy
      • value: scary books
      • value: violence
      • value: fantasy novels
      • value: visionary
      • value: fantasy
      • value: sci fi books
      • value: american gods
      • value: diane setterfield
      • value: haunted library
      • value: world building
      • value: horror novels
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      • value: horror books
      • value: fantasy book
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      • value: geek gifts
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creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Hawkins, Scott
      • bioText: SCOTT HAWKINS lives in Atlanta with his wife and a large pack of foster dogs.  When not writing he enjoys woodwork, cooking long and impractical recipes, and playing fetch with his dogs.  He works as a computer programmer.  The Library at Mount Char is his first novel.
      • name: Scott Hawkins
imprint
Crown
publishDate
2015-06-16T00:00:00-04:00
isOwnedByCollections
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title
The Library at Mount Char
fullDescription
“Wholly original . . . the work of the newest major talent in fantasy.”—The Wall Street Journal
Freakishly compelling . . . through heart-thumping acts of violence and laugh-out-loud moments, this book practically dares you to keep reading.—Atlanta Magazine
A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe. 
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.
 
Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.  
After all, she was a normal American herself once.   
That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father. 
In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.  
Now, Father is missing—perhaps even dead—and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation. 
As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own. 
But Carolyn has accounted for this. 
And Carolyn has a plan. 
The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.
Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling—and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy. 
Praise for The Library at Mount Char
An engrossing fantasy world full of supernatural beings and gruesome consequences."Boston Globe
"Vivid . . . the dialogue sings . . . you'll spend equal time shuddering and chortling."—Dallas Morning News"
gradeLevels
      • value: Grade 2
      • value: Grade 3
reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Cory Doctorow, New York Times bestselling author of Little Brother and Makers
      • content: "A first-rate novel... a sprawling, epic contemporary fantasy about cruelty and the end of the world, compulsively readable, with the deep, resonant magic of a world where reality is up for grabs. Unputdownable."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        April 13, 2015
        In Hawkins’s terror-driven debut, set in a twisted version of our world, the library at Garrison Oaks serves as both heaven and hell, a place where mastery of the library’s 12 sections can bring untold power or unending misery. Twelve children orphaned in a mysterious disaster are taken in by Father, the stern librarian at Garrison Oaks. The library’s millions of books cover topics ranging from the mundane to the downright spooky, and the orphans become Father’s students, each assigned to a specific area of the library for study. Young Carolyn’s section is languages, both human and other—but first and foremost she is learning fear, obedience, and deep, quiet hatred of Father. Readers may struggle with the opening sections, where much happens and little is explained, but they will be relieved by the belated inclusion of flashbacks that answer many questions. Hawkins’s cunning plotting is backed up by crisp dialogue, a sensation of constant dread, and a solid, subtly weird setting. Agent: Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        Starred review from April 15, 2015
        A spellbinding story of world-altering power and revenge from debut novelist Hawkins. Carolyn's life changed forever when she was 8. That was the year her ordinary suburban subdivision was destroyed and the man she now calls Father took her and 11 other children to study in his very unusual Library. Carolyn studied languages-and not only human ones. The other children studied the ways of beasts, learned healing and resurrection, and wandered in the lands of the dead or in possible futures. Now they're all in their 30s, and Father is missing. Carolyn and the others are trying to find him-but Carolyn has her own agenda and her own feelings about the most dangerous of her adopted siblings, David, who has spent years perfecting the arts of murder and war. Carolyn is an engaging heroine with a wry sense of humor, and Steve, the ordinary American ally she recruits, helps keep the book grounded in reality despite the ever growing strangeness that swirls around them. Like the Library itself, the book is bigger, darker, and more dangerous than it seems. The plot never flags, and it's never predictable. Hawkins has created a fascinating, unusual world in which ordinary people can learn to wield breathtaking power-and he's also written a compelling story about love and revenge that never loses sight of the human emotions at its heart. A wholly original, engrossing, disturbing, and beautiful book. You've never read anything quite like this, and you won't soon forget it.

        COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        Starred review from May 15, 2015

        Carolyn was one of a group of children adopted by a godlike father figure, brought to a library outside of normal time and space, and taught various disciplines. When Father disappears from the library, Carolyn and her siblings must go out into the world, our world, to find out what happened to him. If they fail to recover Father, there will be other forces trying to fill the power vacuum. The off-kilter cast of characters who are the librarians seem even more alien when juxtaposed with the normal humans who get caught in their schemes, with Carolyn as the most relatable and her sibling David, librarian of war, a truly monstrous construction. Carolyn seems the most in touch with her abandoned humanity, but it becomes clear that she is plotting and her plan could destroy not only herself but the universe. VERDICT This bizarre yet utterly compelling debut might remind readers of Robert Jackson Bennett's or Neil Gaiman's horror/fantasies.

        Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        Starred review from May 15, 2015
        Carolyn is a librarian whose father has gone missing; could he be dead? Well, maybe, but that would be strange, since he is nearly omniscient and, by all evidence, almost omnipotent. And Carolyn herself is no ordinary librarian: for one thing, she is the self-taught master of all languages, even that of storms! And she has the power to replace the sun (don't ask). Clearly, there is something weird going on here, but something wonderfully weird. Hawkins' first novel is an extravagant, beautifully imagined fantasy about a universe that is both familiar and unfamiliar. And it contains a library that may remind some readers of Borges' Library of Babel. It seems to contain all knowledge, and Carolyn and her 11 siblings were trained there, each developing a powerful specialty. Carolyn's is obviously languages; her brother David has more power than the Incredible Hulk can muster. Her sister Jennifer can resurrect the dead. In the father's absence, which of the siblings will inherit the library and the power that goes with it? Hawkins makes nary a misstep in this award-worthy effort of imagination. His language is entirely apposite; his characters are fascinating; his sometimes apocalyptic but always sly tone right on the money. And his novel is compulsively readable. Don't start it if you have something else to do because you won't be able to put it down. Consider yourself warned.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

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“Wholly original . . . the work of the newest major talent in fantasy.”—The Wall Street Journal
Freakishly compelling . . . through heart-thumping acts of violence and laugh-out-loud moments, this book practically dares you to keep reading.—Atlanta Magazine
A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe. 
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.
 
Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.  
After all, she was a normal American herself once.   
That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called...
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bisacCodes
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      • code: FIC009070
      • description: Fiction / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
      • code: FIC015000
      • description: Fiction / Horror