TL;DR
The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu starts an excellent new urban fantasy series. The main character, Ropa, entertains and will make you laugh. If you’re an urban fantasy fan, this is a must read book. Highly recommended.
From the Publisher
WHEN GHOSTS TALK
SHE WILL LISTEN
Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker – and they sure do love to talk. Now she speaks to Edinburgh’s dead, carrying messages to those they left behind. A girl’s gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone’s bewitching children – leaving them husks, empty of joy and strength. It’s on Ropa’s patch, so she feels honor-bound to investigate. But what she learns will rock her world.
Ropa will dice with death as she calls on Zimbabwean magic and Scottish pragmatism to hunt down clues. And although underground Edinburgh hides a wealth of dark secrets, she also discovers an occult library, a magical mentor and some unexpected allies.
Yet as shadows lengthen, will the hunter become the hunted?
Review: The Libary of the Dead by T.L. Huchu
The Library of the Dead introduces us to the world of Ropa, a child with the ability to talk to the dead. In fact, her job is to relay messages from the deceased to their still living loved ones. She’s even licensed to do so. In the beginning, Ropa is hustling to make ends meet, to keep her younger sister, Izwi, in school and to afford the rent for the next month. To talk to the ghosts, she uses an mbira to find the right frequency for each spirit, which is a neat bit of worldbuilding. I like the implication that understanding someone different than us takes work, but harmonizing is possible. Ropa took over the ghost talking services from her gran, who is going blind with cataracts. On her way home, a ghost who can’t pay asks Ropa to do a job, but she refuses at first. However, her curiosity and a horrific discovery make her accept the job. It will take her over and across Edinburgh; it also opens up her world to larger forces working behind the scenes. And this job draws the attention of these larger forces to her. At the young age of 14, Ropa becomes embroiled in heroic struggles that take all of her skill and cunning to make it back home to Gran and Izwi. Somehow, along the way, she’s also got to make a little bit of rent money.
This book had me from the end of chapter one. Ropa is an entertaining main character, and she carries the story easily on her shoulders. The worldbuilding is excellent. Huchu slowly reveals it to the reader, and I appreciated this approach. The reader isn’t dunked into a new world and told to swim. Huchu eases us into the differing aspects of his world. This reveal had two parts, one with Ropa learning about new parts of her own world and the other where Ropa acts as a travel guide. The magical system isn’t explored very much, but from what Ropa learns, it’ll be a scientific system. She’s able to pick it up academically but struggles with application. I look forward to watching her discover her own powers in future books.
Miss Ropa
We’re told Ropa is fourteen, but she didn’t read like any fourteen year old I’ve met. And this is a good thing. She’s very intelligent and interested in a variety of topics. Though she dropped out of school, education remains important to her. She listens to podcasts and audiobooks to improve herself and to escape the bleak surroundings of her world. She’s witty and sharp in a way that keeps the reader entertained, but when she’s in her caravan with Izwi and Gran, she can let down her guard.
Ropa’s introduction to the magical library in Edinburgh goes about as well as expected. I’m sad we didn’t get to see more of her exploring this place, but I imagine that will come with future volumes in the series. Based on her inherent curiosity, Ropa will be drawn to the library, and I think we’ll see her working extra hard to afford membership fees. From the little we get to see, Ropa seems suited to academic magic. I hope we get to see her studies in future volumes.
World Building
From the magical library to the magical licensing to the dystopian setting, The Library of the Dead takes place in a world adjacent to ours. Like our world, there is vast economic inequality. Ropa has to hustle to stay one step behind, but the others we see in the library clearly aren’t concerned with finances. As the novel progresses, we get hints of deep world building: the afterlife, the fae, different forms (?) of magic, etc. I’m looking forward to getting more exposure to it.
One small topic made me smile was the boilerplate warnings Ropa has to give ghosts before accepting their message. I love the idea of magical bureaucracy, and it rings true that if magic were present in the world, the government would seek to control and license it. This shows how mundane magic is in Ropa’s world. If properly controlled, magic would be commonplace instead of wondrous. For Ropa, it’s a job just like any other. If she hadn’t found the library and could make more money somewhere else, I think she might leave the job as a courier. She wouldn’t drop magic all together because it’s a connection she has with her gran. But her everyday use of it keeps a roof over their heads.
An Introduction
The Library of the Dead takes some time to get into the conflict of this novel. There is a lot of buildup and getting accustomed to the world. Thus, it reads a bit slow at first with a lot of action at the end. It was a bit jarring for me. But I read this as an introduction to a longer story. Library introduces us to Ropa’s world in a progressive way that doesn’t overwhelm us with bits of worldbuilding. So, even though it’s a bit of a slow read, I didn’t put the book down.
Conclusion
T.L. Huchu’s The Library of the Dead introduces readers to a wonderful character in an interesting world. Ropa carries this story and remains poised on the cusp of life-changing adventures. This is an exellent start to a new urban fantasy series that I’ll be keeping my eye on. With The Library of the Dead, T.L. Huchu has added wonder back into the world.
The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu is available from Tor Books on June 1st, 2021.
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