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Cover image courtesy of publisher.
y separately published work icon The Sinister Booksellers of Bath single work   children's fiction   children's   fantasy  
Issue Details: First known date: 2023... 2023 The Sinister Booksellers of Bath
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Return to the enchanting world of ABIA winner The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, as a team of booksellers must fight to keep dangerous magic under cover before the stuff of legends destroys our world. From master world builder Garth Nix, this riveting fantasy adventure is set in an alternate 1980s London.

'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.

'A wintry return to the somewhat alternate 1980s England of The Left-Handed Booksellers of London.'(Publication summary)

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

This work has teaching resources.

Teachers' notes via publisher's website.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2023 .
      image of person or book cover 3848028119566904759.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 400p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 21 March 2023
      ISBN: 9781761180002
Form: audiobook
    • Tullamarine, Keilor - Sunshine area, Melbourne - West, Melbourne, Victoria,: Bolinda Audio Books , 2023 .
      image of person or book cover 138153084280138410.jpg
      This image has been sourced from the publisher's website
      Edition info: 9 CDs; 9 hours 54 minutes
      Note/s:
      • Published  1 April 2023 
      ISBN: 9781038637819, 9781038637826 (MP3 CD)

Other Formats

  • Large print.
  • Braille.
  • Dyslexic edition.

Works about this Work

Gender and Power : Three New Young Adult Novels Ben Chandler , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 459 2023; (p. 32-33)

— Review of Some Shall Break Ellie Marney , 2023 single work novel ; The Sinister Booksellers of Bath Garth Nix , 2023 single work children's fiction ; Nightbirds Kate J. Armstrong , 2023 single work novel

'Three new novels from Allen & Unwin explore gender power relations – with mixed results. In Ellie Marney’s Some Shall Break ($24.99 pb, 382 pp), a young woman helps law enforcement hunt a serial killer who is kidnapping and raping young women. Garth Nix’s latest offers interesting parallels, though The Sinister Booksellers of Bath ($24.99 pb 330 pp) includes plenty of fantasy elements to vary the formula. Meanwhile, Kate J. Armstrong’s Nightbirds ($24.99 pb, 462 pp) follows three different women who are navigating magical, political, and romantic intrigues.' (Introduction)          

Locus Looks at Books : Colleen Mondor Colleen Mondor , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Locus , May vol. 90 no. 5 2023; (p. 20)

— Review of The Sinister Booksellers of Bath Garth Nix , 2023 single work children's fiction
Locus Looks at Books : Colleen Mondor Colleen Mondor , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Locus , May vol. 90 no. 5 2023; (p. 20)

— Review of The Sinister Booksellers of Bath Garth Nix , 2023 single work children's fiction
Gender and Power : Three New Young Adult Novels Ben Chandler , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 459 2023; (p. 32-33)

— Review of Some Shall Break Ellie Marney , 2023 single work novel ; The Sinister Booksellers of Bath Garth Nix , 2023 single work children's fiction ; Nightbirds Kate J. Armstrong , 2023 single work novel

'Three new novels from Allen & Unwin explore gender power relations – with mixed results. In Ellie Marney’s Some Shall Break ($24.99 pb, 382 pp), a young woman helps law enforcement hunt a serial killer who is kidnapping and raping young women. Garth Nix’s latest offers interesting parallels, though The Sinister Booksellers of Bath ($24.99 pb 330 pp) includes plenty of fantasy elements to vary the formula. Meanwhile, Kate J. Armstrong’s Nightbirds ($24.99 pb, 462 pp) follows three different women who are navigating magical, political, and romantic intrigues.' (Introduction)          

Last amended 2 Nov 2024 12:23:10
Settings:
  • Bath, Somerset,
    c
    England,
    c
    c
    United Kingdom (UK),
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
  • 1980s
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