REVIEW | The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar (Angry Robot)

Lavie Tidhar has been making quite a name for himself the last few years as one of the most original voices in the short story game garnering placements in many anthologies including a couples year's best collections. The Bookman is a bit of a departure for Tidhar as he generally goes for something a bit edgier and weirder than Steampunk. Don't get me wrong there is still plenty of weird going on and The Bookman is probably the most out there Steampunk novel I've yet read. Tidhar has thrown in everything from dissident robots, Karl Marx, a Lizard ruling class, Jules Verne, giant mushrooms, whale songs, and exploding books into the fray. Even amidst the strangeness, The Bookman feels like Tidhar's love letter to K.W. Jeter, Alan Moore, and all those who came before him.

One of the fascinating aspects of Steampunk is how authors alter the timeline and introduce historical characters, which The Bookman has in spades. The story starts off a bit sedately, but quickly moves into something all action oriented with nary a slow spot. The world building is immense as Tidhar has warped history into something altogether wonderful and exciting, which also shows the authors great love for the written word and the power it can convey.

This is a world that veered off course hundreds of years ago with the discovery of a race sentient Lizards called Les Lézards, who upon learning of humanity's great empires summarily took over the biggest, which was of course Britain. Orphan is the all too aptly named protagonist who I immediately fell in love with despite his total lack of forethought and insight into his situation and personal history. So many things are foreshadowed yet Orphan never seems to realize any of it or even try to figure it out on his own. Still Orphan is an affable fellow who is surrounded by a very intriguing cast of people. All of whom are not necessarily human.  After losing someone close Orphan makes it his goal to get to the bottom of who the Bookman is, what he is after, and if he can returned his beloved to him.  The answers to all of these leads Orphan deeper and deeper into the world's political center stage.

The Bookman is very much a setup novel, but what a fun setup it is. Dozens of twists, turns, and revelations await that you that kept me turning the pages. I give The Bookman 7 out of 10 hats. Tidhar only gives you glimpses of most characters and with so much hinted at the next book in this trilogy will be must.  The second book in the trilogy is titled Camera Obscura which will released in November in the UK with the US date still to be determined.


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