#Review - Mislaid in Parts Half Known by Seanan McGuire

Mislaid in Parts Half Known (Wayward Children, No 9) 
Seanan McGuire
Tor, HB 20 February, e-book 9 January, audio 9 January
Source: Purchased
ISBN(HB): 9781250848505

I purchased this book as an audio. I will also buy the hardback once that's available, as, while the audio is empathetic and engrossing, I think that the Tor hardbacks of these stories are just beautiful objects to own (and as short books, they use little shelf space!)

Of all the Wayward Children stories so far, Mislaid in Parts Half Known is I think the most direct continuation, picking up Antsy's story from Lost in the Moment and Found more or less where it was left, with Antsy's arrival at Eleanor West's School. As such, it suits reading out of sequence much less than some of the other parts of the series - not only because of spoilers but because the previous book has established Antsy's character, rooted in her terrible experiences and in the betrayal she suffered from her adopted friends in her world-hopping Store. All of those things matter when a nine year old girl in a teenager's body tries to fit in at a school already full of misfits, and they affect how Antsy's very special gift - of being able to find anything - will be seen by those who, more than anything else, want to find their Doors and return to their own adopted worlds.

As with several other of the books in this series, these pressures force Antsy - still basically a nine year old, this bears repeating - into making some very subtle moral judgements and decisions about those who are older and ought to be wiser than her. The whole of McGuire's endlessly fascinating universe is like that, of course. The School is predicated on the existence of diversity, the different worlds from which the Wayward Children have returned representing that diversity, but it highlights a paradox because it brings together those who would rather inhabit their own, less diverse worlds, worlds that call to something distinct inside each of them. (Mine, I'm sure, would be the Moors). 

This tension produces some fascinating dynamics and calls the kids to balance their desire for their one, true and only world with care and love for their very different friends, against a backdrop of their necessary accommodation with a harsh and uncaring primary world (Earth) that doesn't understand any of them. Not all of them pass the test: some may come to this with further experience, some may not. 

While these themes recur in the series, the contradiction is, I think, especially acute for Antsy, possibly because "her" world was a nexus, a hub with many connections, and she was abused by those she trusted, at considerable cost. For her, then, the fantasy landscape has darkness at its core. It's not just the losing of the desired world that has hurt her, it's the core experience of it. How she resolves that and redeems herself and her world is the heart of the story, and it is a beautiful and revealing story which I loved to read.

There is, though, more here - we see alliances and authority in the school shift and Eleanor, that rock, seems to be crumbling somewhat. The School isn't static, and these books continue to explore and develop new themes and challenges. Roll on Book 10!

For more information about Mislaid in Parts Half Known, see the publisher's website here -