Penumbra Revisited

A clerk and a ladder and warm golden light, and then: the right book exactly, at exactly the right time.

- Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore

Let's talk about the Penumbraverse for a moment.

Back in 2016, while wandering the stacks of (the now beleaguered) Tattered Cover in Denver, I came across a book I'd somehow not heard of, even though it had been around for four years by then. White background, bright yellow books (which I later found glowed in the dark – jarring) and an intriguing title.

I finished reading it before my trip had ended.

Since then Robin Sloan has built a world. Not Middle Earth style – it's not total invention from the ground up – but a world built on our existing one, a world that is just a touch more ideal than the one we inhabit. Every time I re-read one of the books (or re-listen – they're fantastic fun in audio form) I find myself happier. They're fun, they're interesting, and they feel so ... possible.

In-world, here they are chronologically. [No links, sorry, because I don't have the energy to feed the Amazon monster right now, although if that's your preferred book outlet I understand. Go find them!]

Ajax Penumbra, 1969 - A kid raised in the Midwest finds himself in the weird world of acquisitions for a library that loves the obscure. In his search, he trips over a book cult.

The Suitcase Clone - 20-something Jim finds his life turned sideways by a romantic entanglement and a fungus culture before embarking on a vine heist (who knew there was such a thing?). The fungus returns.

Sourdough - Lois has a normal life of single, tech-centric yuppiedom as a programmer in San Francisco until she meets a pair of nomadic cooks. Soon her life is overturned by a fungus culture and an underground foodie revolution.

There will be no going back.

Very shortly thereafter:

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore - Clay is finding his footing in the post-layoff, post-bubble world of 2010ish and takes the only job he can find of interest. Which sets him squarely in the path of a weird book cult that happens to revolve around a 16th-century typographist.

And the one that exists in some kind of parallel universe where magic and various entities are real:

Annabel Scheme - Somewhere in a '90s-punk-rock-fantasy world of 2009 (I picture a version of "Hackers" every time I read it), Annabel Scheme investigates in the fog that encompasses her version of San Francisco. Strictly speaking, she is tangentially investigating the fog itself... Look, this one is hard to explain. Just read it, okay?

Annabel Scheme also got her own episodic newspaper series during the fun of the summer of 2020. That one started with burrito cannons.

Anyway!

They do not rely on each other but they're loosely bound together, a smattering of characters overlapping and occasionally interacting. The CEO of a foundry visits an Italian winery. A graphic artist for a bagel company runs into a budding baker at a trade show. Somehow an Erdos turns up in multiple universes. The books are all standalones; reading them all together simply gives you a wider view.

Come June 11, he is releasing a new novel and I am so excited. Moonbound is set in the year 13777. There are dragons on the moon. And I really hope the AI the main character encounters is Hu...

If you need to find me on June 12, just ... don't. I'll be busy.