A review by vinpauld
Goblin Secrets by William Alexander

4.0

One of the best things about this steampunk children’s fantasy is its sense of atmosphere and place. William Alexander has conjured up a mysterious city named Zombay which is divided by the Zombay river. The two halves of the city are joined by the Fiddleway bridge. Large enough to hold shops and apartments, the Fiddleway not only joins the city, but serves as a sancutary - no one can be arrested while on the bridge. One half of the city, Northside, has streets that run in straight lines, the other half, Southside is more disorderly with curving streets and houses built on top of one another with newer rooms jutting out over the streets on stilts. It’s also dusty, with dunes of dust that are inhabited by dust-swimming fish. Some of the people in Zombay are fitted with gear-operated parts and there are even mechanical horses on the streets. Rownie, the main character is a young boy who lives in the household of the witch Graba, who walks around on gear-operated chicken legs and is reminiscent of not only Baba yaga, but Fagin from ‘Oliver Twist.’ This is a short book and what plot there is involves the main character Rownie, searching for his missing older brother Rowan. Along the way, Rownie is pursued by Graba and hides out by joining a traveling troupe of performing Goblins. As you’ll soon discover, masks and the performing arts are important elements of the story. The author does a good job of thrusting the reader into his fantasy world and then parceling out bits of information cluing us into the rules of his universe. Not everything is explained or spelled out, which might frustrate some readers, but it kept me wanting to read more. I think because this book has been nominated for the National Book Award, lots of readers are going to start it with high expectations. I know the award nomination was the reason I picked it up. I won’t say I was disappointed, but other than the fact that it’s beautifully written and highly original, I’m not sure what qualified it to be nominated. Maybe originality and good writing are all it takes. If so, then this book is a winner. I do recommend it, especially for those looking for a more off-beat type of fantasy. My one complaint is that I think it could have been longer. I wanted to learn more about the city and of the Goblin’s back-story. But who knows, maybe the author is saving those stories for future volumes.