Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore
By: Robin Sloan
[Fulfilling “A book about books” in the 2021 Spring/Summer Reading Challenge]
“We need James Bond with a library science degree.”
Their mission, should they choose to accept it, is to smuggle out ‘the book’ that’s locked in a guarded subterranean chamber, decode the encryption, and discover the key to immortality. (I know this is more Mission Impossible than Die Another Day- so sue me.)
The scene: A skinny little mysterious bookstore with the ‘Waybacklist’—the back shelves containing thick, old, encrypted books only “members” (who are all weird, old people) can reserve.
The caveat: These books are not ordinary books. They hold secrets. They are part of a historic and elaborate puzzle that is thought to hold the key to immortality.
I think this book endeared me from the start because I love books. But after a little further reflection I have to be realistic about some of its downfalls. And by reflection, I mean reading other people’s reviews and thinking, “Yeah… they have a point there… right next to the hole in their head. But that’s beside the point.”
But first, our cast of characters:
Clay- our main protagonist and narrator
Neel- “a bright haze of loyalty”
Kat- “the spark of life” also “most of her calories come from Google”
Oliver- “casually aware of what was happening in 1000 BC and what it all looked like”
Mat- “a secret weapon—he makes things that are beautiful”
Ms. Lapin- “the little eccentric that could”
Kindle- Ok, fine, I’ll tell you. It’s an Amazon e-reader. (You should know this)
and the infamous…
Mr. Penumbra- “his gray hair rises up around his head like a cloud of stray thoughts” also “teetering between charmingly weird old guy and disturbingly weird old guy”
So Clay, coder and designer, is unemployed and seeking a job. When he comes across Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, his curiosity gets the best of him and as fate would have it, he now has a job— climbing bookshelf ladders and helping the handful of oddball customers that come to request the mysterious books.
“The message is clear: do your job, and don’t ask questions.”
Obviously Clay does not heed the message. Who would?
Using a mind-boggling technological method using 3D simulations et cetera et cetera…
“If this sounds amazing to you, you’re probably over 30.” Touché, Clay Jannon. Touché.
…Clay solves the ‘Founder’s Puzzle,’ which is basically a gateway to all of this encryption stuff.
His discovery via tech-cheats triggers the aforementioned mission.
Using his team (see cast of characters), and their corporate Google connections, can he find the ever elusive immortality key or will this secret sect of peculiar book binders be disappointed once again?
In case you haven’t picked up on this yet, this is not a thriller suspense novel. It’s a bizarre story with intrigue, some wit, and a desire to marry technology with books. It’s not pulse-pounding but it is entertaining.
But alas, I had mentioned harrowing revelations.
Yes.
There are a few things that prohibit this book from topping charts.
For one: there is not a lot of depth to the characters. Sloan gave creative and endearing descriptions of everyone, but we don’t really get to know anyone. Especially Clay, the main character. We’re inside his head but we don’t gather much about his personality other than his affinity for tech, D&D, and… well that’s kinda it.
For two: It’s fairly anti-climactic in the end. Without giving too much away, the concluding message is weaksauce. All that build up and nothing to show for it. Sloan probably could have figured out something better if he was going to go through all the work of decoding it. (Oops. Okay… yeah. They decode it. But since this is more YA than suspense, you already knew that right?)
For three: Clay refers to his spider-sense. Which we all know is incorrect. It’s spidey-sense. Unless that’s trademarked. Anyone?
For four: There’s not a whole lot of ‘dire’ situations. For having a hodgepodge team, they rarely come against anything that challenging. Thanks to Google, I guess. It’s not far-fetched but it makes for a less interesting story. As readers we like to feel the tension. We like to wonder- Are they going to do it? Can they make it through? But I was always pretty much fully on my seat.
For five: The book cover totally should have been a picture of Mr. Penumbra’s book store from outside looking in. The cover with yellow books on shelves is more ‘Google’ and less ‘mysterious encrypted books.’ Plus then we could get a glimpse of the famous (fictitious) Gerritszoon typeface used on the door and discussed so much in this book.
Do I think you should still read this?
Actually yes. I still enjoyed reading it. I think it was an interesting enough story and did provide enough anticipation that you wanted to see what happens at the end. While I wasn’t impressed with the decoded message I did find the method of decoding pretty clever and creative. And I liked the thread of actual history woven in- more of that would have been nice.
If you go in with right expectations: that this is a light-hearted read with the simplicity of a YA fiction novel and the tenderness of a book lover, I think you’ll find yourself enjoying Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, too!
To their credit:
“The books I love most are like open cities, with all sorts of ways to wander in.”
P.S. I just found out this book was made into a movie. But I was wrong. It was just a book trailer. False alarm. Sorry everyone. It’s just a book. Also, what is a book trailer??
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