A girl's quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting
booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world.
From the bestselling master of fantasy Garth Nix. In a slightly alternate London in 1983
Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley
might be able to help her but Susan doesn't get time to ask Frank any questions before he is
turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive
Merlin. Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones) who with the
right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones) are an extended family of magical beings who
police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world in addition to
running several bookshops. Susan's search for her father begins with her mother's possibly
misremembered or misspelt surnames a reading room ticket and a silver cigarette case engraved
with something that might be a coat of arms. Merlin has a quest of his own to find the Old
World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister the
right-handed bookseller Vivien tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police
investigation from years past they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan's. Who or
what was her father? Susan Merlin and Vivien must find out as the Old World erupts
dangerously into the New. Praise for Garth Nix Garth Nix sets the standard for Fantasy (Leigh
Bardugo) A swashbuckling adventure . . . and the most original magic I've seen in years (Joe
Abercrombie) Garth Nix is one of the best world-builders in fantasy. (BRANDON SANDERSON)
Angles are called and swords are swished and there are jealousies and romances galore in this
riotous romp. (DAILY MAIL on ANGEL MAGE) An exciting adventure full of intrigue and action
while portraying women in power in a refreshingly casual way. (KIRKUS REVIEW on ANGEL MAGE)
