It's good to know that 'The Library of the Dead' is the first book in a series, called 'Edinburgh Nights', because it wraps up the focused story it wants to tell but leaves a heck of a lot of questions about a broader story that are going to have to come from further volumes. Much of this involves the setting, because, while we're clearly in a version of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, it isn't the Edinburgh that a couple of my nephews live in. I know; I was there earlier in the month.
I'm not sure if this particular Edinburgh is supposed to be an alternate one or a future one. Either way, there's a cloud hanging over it that has something to do with the catastrophe. Quite what the catastrophe is, we'll need to extrapolate, but there's a king rather than a queen and some sort of separatist faction, presumably trying to extricate Scotland from the United Kingdom, lost its attempt to do so. Now there are no cars, every policeman is corrupt and there's a ritual greeting in place that everyone uses, clearly a statement of allegiance. "God save the King!" "Long may he reign!"
And there's a supernatural element to Auld Reekie that goes beyond the standard ghost tours. We'll get to the Library of the Dead soon enough, but first we meet our heroine, Ropa Moyo. Like the author, T. L. Huchu, she's an intriguing cross between Zimbabwe and Scotland and she works as a "licensed extranatural communicator", a ghosttalker. She can exorcise ghosts who are hanging around when they shouldn't, but mostly she does small jobs for them, usually acting as a conduit between the living and the dead by passing on messages for cash, like a medium, except what she does is real and so are the ghosts she talks to.
She's a fantastic character, perfect for a YA novel like this. She's a fourteen-year-old goth/punk hybrid, clearly a product of her African heritage, tuning into ghostly frequencies on her mbira, or thumb piano, but one who has a distinctly Scottish delivery to her conversations. The novel is hers, so it's told in a street slang that reminded me of Lister from Red Dwarf, but younger, female and Scottish. She lives with her gran and younger sister Izwi in a caravan and has a pet fox called River. Her friend Jomo, now working at the members-only library that his dad runs, is her invitation into the Library of the Dead.
And, for a book that carries that title, we don't get to see a heck of a lot of that library here and it doesn't play the emphatic part in the mystery solved in this novel that we might expect. Clearly it's important though and it will no doubt play a major part in the series to come. For now, we're happy to follow Ropa on her adventures as she tries to take care of a problem that she doesn't want because it isn't paid for. A ghost called Nicola haunts her in a sense, trying to get her to find her son, but she resists, in favour of paying gigs. It's only when her gran pays on Nicola's behalf that she takes the job and a tough one it turns out to be.
I liked this a lot, though it does feel like some scenes are toned down somewhat for the YA audience. While that works great, it would also work great as a darker novel for adults. The tone would be a little different, but little of the content would need to be changed; the framework is perfect as is. One reason I liked it is because I liked a character as vibrant as Ropa. She's a tough kid living in a tough world and she's grown up a little faster than we might hope that kids do, but she's still a kid. She makes bad, usually impetuous, decisions as well as good ones. Her heart is definitely in the right place, but she still has growth to do to.
I also liked the ideas. The background is tantalising but somewhat ephemeral, almost appropriately for what is, after all, a kind of ghost story. I want to know more about what changed Edinburgh but I have a feeling that, ten as yet unpublished books in, I'll look back and acknowledge how well Huchu handled the patient delivery of key details in his worldbuilding. I liked the ghosts and the monsters, human or otherwise. I liked the community of it all, whether the poor and destitute living on other people's land at their sufferance or in what amount to gang squats, or the rich and entitled continuing to be rich and entitled at the Library of the Dead even in very trying circumstances for their city.
I even liked the slang, which was mostly easy to follow and unique without becoming annoying. I definitely need to look up some of these terms, though, because not all of them are clear even in the context. When the Clan, a well-meaning gang of ne'er-do-wells, claim to do a "bit of stouthrief and hamesucken", we can assume that it has little to do with helping old ladies across the street. When Priya states, "That was a right nippleskimpel that", I assume she's talking about danger and maybe how close escape from it was. When some old man in the street shouts, "Watch yersels, yer twally-washers", the context is pretty clear. But what are duthchas? I'm intrigued to find out.
While this is a debut for Huchu in YA, he's previously written novels for adults, successful ones, too, with awards to their name and translations into multiple languages. What's interesting to me is that they aren't genre at all, “The Hairdresser of Harare” and “The Maestro, the Magistrate and the Mathematician” contemporary fiction. This would seem to be quite the leap then, even if he's written science fiction for anthologies. I have to say that I'm impressed by that versatility which, along with the sheer character of this book, means that I'm interested in reading a lot more of what he writes. ~~ Hal C F Astell
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