*SPOILERS AHEAD*
In this story we follow the character Clay Jannon as he begins working at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. We soon find out that this isn't a normal bookstore, as Clay works night shifts and encounters a few very strange customers. The main plot is about Clay unearthing the secrets of this bookstore and its history. He soon discovers the cult called The Unbroken Spine, which has several devout members, all working toward one goal: decoding a book that allegedly contains the secret to immortality. Along the way we see Clay bring in allies from all different aspects of his life, such as old friends like Neel, or his roommates Mat and Ashley, or a possible love interest; Kat, who works for Google. The fun adventures, interesting mysteries, exhilarating plot and romance in this novel have won Robin Sloan the Alex Award and placed this book as a finalist in Los Angeles Time Book Prize for Fiction.
The Author does an amazing job of connecting each character and their purpose to Clay. One of the many great examples of this are Aldus Manutius and Clark Moffat, he was an author who passed away many years before the story takes place. As Clay realizes, “it’s not just Penumbra’s scheme anymore. This has gotten much bigger than that (Sloan 227)” we get closer to finding out what Google is able to decode from Manutius’ codex vitae. Between Manutius’ codex vitae and the hidden messages left behind in Moffat’s book, we see an interesting use of the same character in multiple different places that ultimately come back to our main character. The overall usage of the characters Aldus Manutius and Clark Moffat are instrumental in Clay's journey, as both of their stories or novels were incredibly helpful to Clay. Clay's love for Clark’s books also played a big part in solving the story's big mystery of immortality. Because of his knowledge of Moffat’s books he was able to spot subtle details that led to the decoding of the codex vitae. Almost every character in this novel has or creates ties to the main character that come into play in various ways.
The mystery in this novel is arguably one of the best parts. You’ll always be asking yourself questions about what’s going on. Even when you think you’ve just solved one mystery, 3 more questions stem from that one. We learn that there are several bookstores and “No two are alike, but their function is the same, and Corvina oversees them all (Sloan 47)”, which only adds to the mystery. You wonder if Penumbra is somehow connected to all of these other locations. Once you figure out what's really going on in the store, you immediately start asking questions like “why are they doing this?”, “who all is a part of it?”, “How long has the operation been going on?”. You will never get bored with this novel. There’s always a question to be pondering, whether it’s about Penumbra, The Unbroken Spine, Kat and Clay’s relationship, or any of the other juicy subplots.
Personally, I think this novel is an amazing book for anyone, especially if you like stories with mysteries. But even for people who don’t like reading, this is still an interesting book that anyone would enjoy reading. The plot is easy to understand, and the writing is objectively good. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to read and only does it when it's for an assignment, but I loved the book, it sparked my interest in reading again. The only small complaint I have (BIG SPOILER HERE) is that the secret to immortality doesn’t actually exist. But I will admit it was nice that they didn’t just go with friendship being the key to immortality. However, each person who writes a codex vitae does get to “live forever” through their codex vitae, as they are published once the author dies. Overall, I truly enjoyed this novel, and I would fully recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting back into reading.
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