A New Leaf (pun intended!)

Greetings, fellow readers! As some of you know, I have long resisted the encroachment of Kindles, Nooks, and other pernicious e-readers upon my reading domain, but tonight marks the moment of my conversion: I have downloaded the Kindle reading app onto my computer so I can read a book published only as a Kindle single. The story:

Ajax Penumbra 1969 by Robin Sloan

Those of you who have been following my blog will no doubt recall my review of Mr. Sloan's novel Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, which I read over the summer. This short story is a prologue in which we are introduced to Penumbra and Corvina as young students, and to al-Asmari, their teacher and owner of the 24-hour bookstore.

While I was excited to hear that Sloan had written a prequel, I have mixed feelings about the quality of the work as a whole. On the one hand, the writing is awkward and lacks the narrative flow of the novel, hitting its stride only about halfway through, which, for a Kindle short, is too late. Penumbra and Corvina's "National Treasure"-esque quest to recover a lost book is not a well-developed plot, though I could see shades of a Dumbledore vs. Grindelwald clash of wills in the relationship between the young men. Other characters from the novel make cameo appearances, but the most interesting figure is the enigmatic al-Asmari. Through this character, Sloan gives us a window into the 24-hour bookstore as a tradition, a legacy passed down from teacher to student. And who wouldn't love a man whose recommended reading list includes Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and "a copy of Through the Looking Glass with a slightly psychedelic cover"?

Though Ajax Penumbra 1969 did not quite live up to my expectations, I enjoyed it for what it was. Sloan has the ability to create an immersive "bookiverse," and I hope he will continue to write. We must remember that Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore started out as a Kindle short, also. I did not read it because I choose to read only the final version of the book, the finished product rather than the work in progress, because that is what the author presents as the definitive story, but perhaps Sloan will work Penumbra 1969 into a more fully developed sequel.

Final thoughts: I read this story as a member of a cult following, and on an electronic device to boot. My love of books combined with my use of technology is making me consider new methods of reading and literary analysis. I think Mr. Penumbra would be proud.

Festina lente,
Anna