However, her curiosity and a horrific discovery make her accept the job. On her way home, a ghost who can’t pay asks Ropa to do a job, but she refuses at first. Ropa took over the ghost talking services from her gran, who is going blind with cataracts. I like the implication that understanding someone different than us takes work, but harmonizing is possible. To talk to the ghosts, she uses an mbira to find the right frequency for each spirit, which is a neat bit of worldbuilding. In the beginning, Ropa is hustling to make ends meet, to keep her younger sister, Izwi, in school and to afford the rent for the next month. In fact, her job is to relay messages from the deceased to their still living loved ones. The Library of the Dead introduces us to the world of Ropa, a child with the ability to talk to the dead. Yet as shadows lengthen, will the hunter become the hunted? And although underground Edinburgh hides a wealth of dark secrets, she also discovers an occult library, a magical mentor and some unexpected allies. Ropa will dice with death as she calls on Zimbabwean magic and Scottish pragmatism to hunt down clues. It’s on Ropa’s patch, so she feels honor-bound to investigate. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone’s bewitching children – leaving them husks, empty of joy and strength. A girl’s gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Now she speaks to Edinburgh’s dead, carrying messages to those they left behind. Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker – and they sure do love to talk. Huchu’s The Library of the Dead, a sharp contemporary fantasy following a precocious and cynical teen as she explores the shadowy magical underside of modern Edinburgh. Huchu makes Edinburgh, Scotland both more magical and more sinister in his excellent debut novel.ĭisclaimer: The publisher provided an eARC of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. In fact, the best urban fantasy makes the world both more magical and more horrific at the same time.

But just because the story brings a bit of magic to the real world, it doesn’t mean the stories are light or ignore real world injustices. Whether it’s a city I’ve visited a lot or not at all, the setting of urban fantasy stories get polished with possibilities. But the genre of urban fantasy can return that sense of the world being a magical place. As we age, we lose that sense of magic, and the mysteries become less about evil wizards and more about keeping a roof over our heads. It’s full of mysteries and possibilities. When we are young, the world is a magical place.

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu