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When I learned that Elizabeth Knox had written a new fantasy novel, I barely even looked at its summary on Goodreads before I plunked down my digital dollars for a Kindle copy and scampered away with my e-purchase. Her books Dreamhunter and Dreamquake (and then Mortal Fire, set in the same world) made such an impression on me, transporting me to a truly unique fantastical setting with a story that packed an emotional wallop, that I was more than ready to follow her into whatever creation she had dreamed up most recently. And rather than feel cowed by its goodly length of 640 pages, I was blissfully grateful that she had crafted a world that would allow me plenty of time to immerse myself in it even while I couldn’t help but tear through it.
This is one of the rare stories that feels nearly impossible to summarize somehow because of its very nature. But here goes: Taryn is a woman in present-day England who is still grieving the loss of her sister, Beatrice, to the hands of a murderer. Since that day, when she was barely entering adulthood, her heart has become a lifeless thing in her chest, keeping her alive just enough to pursue an education and career but not truly feel and connect with others. When someone obliquely offers her an opportunity for revenge, she quietly agrees to it.
Later, Taryn has just published a book about libraries and ways they are being threatened. A police officer who had questioned her previously about the death of her sister’s murderer comes back into her life. And then a strange young man appears and pulls her to a whole other world.
At the center of the story is an ancient object that had been for a time in her grandfather’s library at the family estate, a box called the Firestarter because it had been said to have survived at least five fires over the course of a few centuries. Supernatural beings are seeking it, and Taryn gets transported among present-day England and New Zealand, the fairy realm, and even Purgatory in search of it.
The world of The Absolute Book encompasses demons and fallen angels, Norse mythology, Irish fairy folk, a touch of Arthurian legend, and heavy-handed, secretive government agencies. It’s a plea to conserve knowledge, books and manuscripts and to fully fund the work of libraries, which do much more than simply check out books to patrons. It’s a reminder that our planet is in need of saving and we humans aren’t doing much about it.
Anything can and does happen in the story, and it’s far from being predictable. Knox yanks readers into the story and pulls us along much as Shift grabs Taryn and takes her on marvelous journeys through the Sidh. I just let myself fall into this brilliant, wondrous and nearly indescribable brew Knox cooked up and savored each morsel. It’s a bit quirky and may not be for everyone, but it is magical and thoroughly memorable.
Rated: Moderate. Just on the border of high, but considering the length of the book, the content is rarely strong. There are seven instances of strong profanity, a few instances of mild and moderate profanity, and one use of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes a few brief vulgar references as well as a sexual relationship between a male “Sidhe” (fairy) and a male human, which mostly involves a few instances of kissing and the knowledge that they are lovers. Violence happens occasionally; a young woman is murdered; a man is murdered; a man stalks a woman and then attacks her and a man, tying them together and intending to drown them. There are references to a long-ago battle between fallen angels and demons, with the most disturbing part being that one angel is killed and cut apart by other angels.
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