"What do you seek in these shelves?"
(Sloan 8)
I recently read Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan. This was the author's first novel, and is based on a short story he wrote earlier. Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore is, as the title suggests, partly about a 24 hour bookstore owned by Mr. Penumbra, but its plot quickly dives into a much larger and mysterious story. When you first start reading, you are immediately introduced to Clay Jannon, a web designer, and ex-employee of a now defunct bagel shop. Clay finds a job at the night shift for a strange little bookstore run by an even stranger old man. Only after a few days on the job, Clay realizes that there are few real customers who buy books. Instead, a small group of dedicated customers "checks out" books from the back shelves, returning the previous book every time. Although Mr. Penumbra has forbidden him to do so, Clay looks inside one of the books at the back of the store and finds a complex set of code. This sets him on a journey to solve a 500 year old mystery with the help of his friends at Google, Mr. Penumbra, and modern technology. The theme centers around the old against the new and tradition against innovation. Filled with Google supercomputers, immortality cults, peculiar typography companies, and a worldwide network of "bookstores", Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore is a refreshing read among the scores of new young adult novels with the same basic plot and characters.
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| The cover glows in the dark! |
I thought that the concept for the plot was very innovative, but was at times not executed perfectly, especially towards the end of the book. Clay, Mr. Penumbra, and his affiliates are given time to develop in the novel, being dynamic characters. Slowly, Penumbra and others start accepting the ways in which technology can help them in the future. Clay, too, realizes that he got much more than he bargained for by working in the bookstore. Nearly every character has a long, philosophical conversation with Clay about new technology and its ramifications in society. This can get boring at times, but also adds dimension to Clay and his feelings about the future. Robin Sloan makes an attempt at indicating that the story happens in the near future; however almost everything in society is recognizable as the world we live in today with an abundance of references to Google, Amazon, Apple, e-readers, etc. This makes sure anyone can enjoy the novel, being a very close depiction of life in the early 21st century. For example, Clay shares the same problems as some of us do, contending that "I'd sit at my kitchen table and start scanning help wanted ads on my laptop, but then a browser tab would blink and I'd get distracted and follow a link to a long magazine article about genetically modified wine grapes..."(Sloan 4). I enjoyed reading Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore. The buildup to the end was very suspenseful, and kept the reader solving the mystery with Clay, until ending (which was a little disappointing). The tone is very conversational throughout the piece, and seems like Clay is sitting right next to you, describing what had happened. This novel is very unique in its plot structure, theme, and conflict- something you will not find in any other book. It combines an ordinary mystery with a unique approach that makes it meaningful for any reader today. Considering that the author used to be a Twitter employee and had little experience with writing, along with the interesting concept, I would rate this book at least 4.75 stars on a scale of 5. If you're interested in reading it, take a look at this goodreads page. After 288 pages of unstopping action, I can firmly declare that Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore is remarkable.
Here is an interview of Robin Sloan from NPR in which he talks about the novel:
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