I liked this more and more the further I got into it.

As so many Mitchell books seem to do, this book chronicles the lives of some mysterious young twins. We get this story via Slade House. We get it via ghost stories experienced by other people who venture into its nooks and crannies, probing for different things each time jump. From 1979 to 2015 the supernatural reigns over this curiosity across from the Fox and the Hound pub.

It unfolds quite satisfyingly too. Just when I was done with the patterning, it changed it up, and to great effect, I felt. It’s a short book that knows the half life of its stylistic cycle well.

This also adds on some to the meta story in interesting ways, but that’s spoiler territory for both this book and two others. I’ve been making YouTube videos on this little journey I’m taking, reading all of the Mitchell books to get the full meta, or Uber novel, as some call it, and making note of the connections. It’s a fun time and one that’s getting more interesting as more of the meta gets built upon.

And as usual, I think Mitchell is pretty adept at slipping into various voices. From historical to contemporary, we get unique cadence and diction and personality. And when it’s over, it does still feel like a ghost story but it also certainly, more than any others, probably requires you to know the meta components to grasp everything, as a Horologist makes an appearance. But I also think it could be an interesting launching pad to jump into another book with said meta stuff, if it piques your interest.

For me, going from Thousand Autumns to Bone Clocks to this was a very nice arc, though. It contextualizes everything, doesn’t spoil anything, and nicely sorts the arc. I read Cloud Atlas first and remember it quite well but it tied into the end of the Bone Clocks only tangentially, from what I remember.

Regardless, it’s short, fun, spooky, and, as noted, adds to the meta novel in interesting ways. It steadily rose from a 3 to a 4 star rating.