Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is the debut novel by Robin Sloan, and a publishing sensation - it was Amazon's Best Book of the Month in October 2012, and received a lot of attention and praise from reviewers, authors and readers. No wonder - who wouldn't want a 24-hour book store?The novel aspires to be classified as a "literary mystery", or an "intelligent thriller" - both labels are somewhat insulting by suggesting that mysteries and thrillers are by default a lower tier of literature, and that the classic whodunnit does not require the use of the reader's brain other than to remember what the detective is called, hence the need to emphasize that this particular one is in fact intelligent and should not be grouped together with the common paperback, featuring the latest case of inspector Z in the series Y. Its premise usually aims to be more complex than a simple murder scenario: the protagonist(s) usually search for a long lost document of great importance, one which can change the history of the world. Of course the existence of such a thing is also known to the bad guys, here played by an underground group/secret society. This scheme presents plenty of opportunities to include laboriously researched data, allowing the reader to feel the impression that they're learning facts along with following the plot, which moves at the pace of a "regular" thriller - and you've got a bestseller. The poster boy of this movement is of course Dan Brown, who with his The Da Vinci Code shot up to fame and popularity unexpected by anyone; hundreds of novels following aiming to cash in on the scheme have appeared since its publication in 2003.Mr. Penumbra reminded me heavily of Lev Grossman's forgotten novel Codex, which also follows Brown's pattern: Both Penumbra and Codex have a male protagonist who is friends with a computer genius; the central mystery involves a special book (and a secret library) and features the use of contemporary technology to understand its contents. It also struck me as completely plain and almost juvenile, despite being marketed as a work for adults.The characters lack depth and originality, and barely provoke any interest in the reader; from the paper-thin protagonist and his wealthy IT yuppie friend, the love interest - a slim and geeky girl who is of course attractive and willing to be interested in our protagonist (she's described as having feline-like qualities, and is called...Kat) - because the author makes so. Even the old Mr. Penumbra with his quirky name provokes little interest. There's a foreing character from Belarus, who's also hopelessly presented with attempts at a foreign accent and a foreign name of Igor (at least it's not Ivan).Although the book is set in San Francisco, it does not have any sense of the place; it could have been set in any city on the East Coast - or West Coast for that matter, or in truth in any major city in any country: the only references to San Francisco are the mentions of the IT businesses and people profiting or getting laid off, and just once - "the smell of the ocean". The setting is like a cardboard prop in a B-movie, threatening to fall apart at the slightest gust of wind.The central mystery does not feel like a mystery at all, as there is no sense of any possible danger looming ahead; although the main character is presented as a man in a tough spot he and his friends always easily find a convenient solution to any problem, which comes at a little to any cost. The novel is short - very short - and packed with references to pop culture and books - communicating via Skype, the inner workings of Google, working at a bookstore and dealing with weird customers - but these references seem to do little for the overall plot, as they are what most of us already experienced and know well. With a well-oiled engine to drive this book forward, the pace slows down, and the road ends up nowhere.I was not surprised when I discovered that the author has initially published a short story, which he later expanded into a novel. I did not find the short story any better, and the added fat did not give the novel any extra merit: it has been done before and better, and undoubtedly will be again. This book is forcefully hip, tries to accomplish too much and accomplishes too little; even as an allegory or fantasy it's too bland and obvious. The comparisons readers and critics make strike me as unbelieveable - Umberto Eco? Neal Stephenson? William Gibson? Really? I remain puzzled by its popularity and the praise it gathered - perhaps the real (and much more interesting) conspiracy lies there.

Initial thoughts:1. Loved Clay. He is wonderfully funny, and geeky. His journey throughout the story was fantastic.2. Loved the combination of new and traditional, young and old. Seeing ideas, and characters that are different and opposite come together.3. Lot's of wonderfully geeky elements. Design, typography, technology, books, and other very nerdy things. It was AMAZING.4. I really liked and appreciated how the characters and the story was grounded in reality. There are a lot of elements that had the potential to shoot off in the fantasy/sci-fi realm, but I was glad that it didn't. Really grounded the story and made it more realistic.5. Why doesn't my cover glow in the dark?! -__-;

Well, I can't say I've been charmed by a book more in a while, and jealous I didn't write it. This is a totally hipster book that rings all my bells, I feel like it sort of summarizes the zeitgeist of our internet generation, the gap between old and new.Basically the main character, Clay, is unemployed tech guy, gets a job in a run-down bookstore that has a mysterious agenda that he can't help but get roped into. I'm a sucker for secret societies, and there's a touch of Amelie whimsey that is right up my alley in this as well. I mean, Google comes into it, it's so almost a cliche for me this book!If I were to quibble, it's that the ending isn't quite dramatic enough, but the journey was so fun I can forget that. Recommended!