This is a delightful book, a joy of a book, a veritable feast for the imagination.
As with the one in my previous post, this is very much a children's book, but this time a very accessible one too. It would indeed provide a wonderful way into fantasy for any coming new to the genre as well as a treat for young readers seeking further escape into a magical world. Even though the novel has two narrative strands, with key incidents from the earlier life of magician Lucien Silver interspersed through the main tale, this important back story is always well signposted. Its inclusion would make a good introduction to the added challenge, and excitement, of a slightly more complex structure.
The story revolves around benevolent Silver's creation of a magical time-and-place-travelling emporium, whose 'customers' are treated to a panoply of wonders. Even though they do not remember these after their visit, the experience nonetheless enrichs their lives. The young protagonist, orphan Daniel, is taken on as Silver's apprentice but, together with the magician's mysterious and spikey daughter, is left to try to rescue the situation when his master disappears and the emporium begins to crumble around them.
To young readers coming new to the story it will, I'm sure, provide a fresh, engaging and exciting escape into what is itself a world of imagination and wonder. To a far older reader like me, who has been around all the roundabouts of children's magical fantasy many times, it feels like a mashup of many precedents, whether conscious of unconscious. In here I find echos of numerous other works: there are elements of Doctor Who, of Dahl's Chocolate Factory, of the Sorcerer's Apprentice, of Harris's Chocolat, and even something of Blyton's Faraway Tree, along with many others. However this feeling of déjà vu is not a negative, for what author Ross MacKenzie does is take many classic elements of magical fantasy and skilfully rework them into a delightful new tale of his own.
Part of what makes The Nowhere Emporium so successful is the strength of its writing. In common with The Box and the Dragonfly, which I recently reviewed, its prose is so skilfully composed that it always falls comfortably on the reader's inward ear. Its simplicity belies its art and it communicates directly and powerfully, propelling the narrative most effectively. Its characters are most engaging too. Although orphan Daniel, his aprentice master Silver, and the malevolent Vindictus Sharpe are all essentially stock characters, they are effectively drawn. Young Daniel particularly is captivating in his mixture of naïvety and determination; his growth into his own magical potential captures every child's hopes and fears as it always does in the best work of this genre. There is additional interest too in the particulaly strongly conceived character of the magician's chippy but touchingly loyal daughter, Ellie. The narrative rattles ahead apace, with short telling chapters, which lead quickly from one page-turner to another. Consequently the reader is securely led through an increasing threat of disaster to a warm and satisfying denouement. No surprises here, but sometimes feelgood suits best. In the end, and true to the genre, an exciting if uncertain future lies ahead for the young protagonists - and perhaps a sequel for the reader? Who knows.
There is one more massive difference however between the core nature of this book and that of The Box and the Dragonfly. In that work the author was at pains to explore explanations for all its supernatural elements, leading the reader into complex reflections on what might or might not be possible and what the consequences might be if it were. Here there is no such depth.Many things happen without any rational explanation. However in this instance it does not matter at all. It is enough for the characters in the story, and ultimately for the reader, that things happen by magic. This book is nowhere close to rational. It is pure whimsy. It is something approaching a children's equivalent of Erin Morgenstern's Night Circus. The whole book is a flight of fancy. It is a celebration of imagination: the characters', the author's and, of course, the reader's. As such it is a wonderful thing in its own right. It is well worth a place on any child's shelves and the deserved successor of many older classics of the genre.
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