The Bone Magician
The Bone Magicianby F.E. Higgins
Pin Carpue is on his own in the world. His mother is dead and his father is missing after being labeled a suspect in a rash of murders. Pin finds a job working for the local undertaker as a body watcher, making sure people are really dead before they’re buried. The body he’s supposed to be watching tonight is currently surrounded by three people engaged in a most unusual ceremony. An old man, a bone magician, and his young female assistant are waking a woman so her grieving fiancé can have one last goodbye with her. Pin can’t believe it will work, but then the dead woman sits up and speaks.Pin is determined to discover how the magic works. He cannot believe they are raising the dead. He cannot believe his father is a murderer. Then Pin himself nearly becomes the killer’s next victim.As this mysterious tale unfolds with delicious creepiness, Pin will learn more about the bone magician, the girl Juno, and a hideous creature called the Gluttonous Beast that is kept in a local tavern where people pay for a glimpse. (goodreads.com)
I tagged this book as "Fantasy" but it's not really fantasy. It's sort of like... folklore fiction? Fiction with a twist? It's in a completely fictional world, but it seems to be based on the UK maybe? It's not fantasy with dragons and wizards, so I don't like to label it fantasy, but I am not sure what else to label it. Non-contemporary fiction with mysteries and some really bizarre characters and events? So stressful trying to figure this out! Argh!Tagging aside, I really enjoyed this book. Back in the summer I read The Black Book of Secrets by F.E. Higgins and fell in love. Now The Bone Magician isn't a sequel per say, but it does take place in the same world and there are tiny little cameos by the first book that you almost miss if you blink. I love the way things tie in together and you learn a little more about the mysteries in the first book as well as the second in each book.Told in a fantastic storytelling voice the novel captivated me within the first few pages and I almost couldn't put it down (sadly I needed to sleep AND work during the time that I was reading this book. I know, so awful!) Not only is the town of Urbs Umida so colourfully and creepily described but the cast of characters are all exceptionally fanscinating. There isn't one character you ever meet that is just bland and nondescript.The feel of the book isn't just related to the story, oh, no. The book itself is just as interesting. It is bound in the same hardback/library binding as The Black Book of Secrets. The pages are all torn at the end and the text is printed in a soft brown colour. There are newspaper clippings, flyers announcing the strange and enticing features currently at The Nimble Finger Inn. All of this makes the book feel like a walk through a scrapbook of the past, or of the town. Everything feels more real.I love when the physical book itself adds to the mystique of the story. I don't know why publishers don't do that more often - especially for kid books. Having the story be a full experience of texture, image and words really brings it alive. I am guessing it's a cost issue as well, but I feel like this is excellent marketing.So, I was just googling the author's website to try and find out some more information and I see these books have an actual series title! Tales from the Sinister City - I think that works as Urbs Umida is quite the city whether North or South of the Foedus river.There is so much I want say that I loved about this book but most of it would spoil both the first book and this one. It's just little things that made the story so much fun for me. I strongly urge you to find these books in your library or your local bookstore and pick them up. Make sure to read them in order or you'll ruin some of the fun. I feel this are for the upper Middle Grade level, though I see them noted as YA other places. There is no harsh language or sex or romance in any of these. I feel like they are more in the Harry Potter range of literature. There is death however and the books are a little dark (not disturbing dark, but more like Tales of the Crypt Keeper/Goosebumps?) I think these books would go over well with both boys and girls. In fact I am going to tell my husband that he needs to read them now because they seem like just the think he'd have devoured growing up. Think Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book.I am so happy I also had the next book which I read right away and am currently writing that post as well!Tales From the Sinister City