The Night Diver

There are a lot of books I’ve read where words cannot necessarily describe the entire experience, but I will try my best here. Chaotic is one word to describe this book, but that’s not the entire story, really. Everything from the character, the world, and the overall narrative seems like someone mashing together almost disjointed concepts, but Scott Hawkins puts it all together in a way that ties together almost beautifully.

The book mainly follow Carolyn, a woman who is under the tutelage of a mysterious ‘Father’ alongside her other ‘siblings’. They are told to study specific disciplines at this ‘Library’ they all habit, the knowledge seemingly bestowing them skills and powers, such as healing, animal communication, fighting, and more. After the Father disappears, a dangerous race for his position is set into motion. Of course, these descriptions are only the surface-level understanding of the roles these people play. The ‘Father’ is a mysterious and brutal character, with his true nature always in question throughout the story. His teachings and methods have bestowed powers on the main cast of this story, but they have also been morphed into almost inhuman characters themselves, embodying their disciplines in unnatural fashions. These characters are every bit of weird, but also fascinating to watch as the events unfold through the story.

The most enthralling part of this book is the way it weaves an almost YA-like fantasy premise with horror, as well as a chaotic cast of characters. Aside from Carolyn and the other Disciples, we journey along with a burglar with a heart of gold, a wily security officer, and literally two lions. Even amidst this chaotic. almost zany setup, the story is filled with moments of deep, rich emotion, and horrific brutality. After all, no punches are pulled in a war for mastery over reality. Even though I’ve seen this book understandably classified as fantasy many times, there is a lot of horror present, both unsaid and explicit, which made it a fitting addition to my collection here too.

Every page is an invitation to a new wrinkle, a new unknown stitch added to the tapestry Hawkins weaves, until its all pulled together, leaving me in stunned silence. I absolutely enjoyed my time with this tale, and I would recommend this book to anyone who can embrace the weird, and see it all to the end.

My final rating for this book is: 5/5 stars