Review: The Society of Unknowable Objects

5/5 stars

The Society of Unknowable Objects, by Gareth Brown (2025)

Ooooh I enjoyed this almost as much as The Book of Doors! A very close second. You don't need to have read The Book of Doors to enjoy it - all different characters and magic - but there is a fun nod to the book at the end of Unknowable Objects that hints at, perhaps, a cross-over book on the way, which would be awesome.

Where The Book of Doors has magical books that do different magical things, this novel is an assortment of magical objects - could be anything from a ring to a lone chess piece to a map. No one knows where these magical objects came from or how they were created, but the members of The Society of Unknowable Objects, based in London, have sworn to keep the objects that they find safe. These items each have immense power that could be used for evil, so the members keep them hidden. A ring that allows the wearer to walk through walls, a yes-no die that always answers truthfully to any questions posed, and a crucifix that can bring back the dead are just a few examples.

Frank is longest-standing member and head of the society. Will is a watchmaker, and an extremely reluctant member of the society. Magda is our main protagonist - daughter to (the murdered?) Imelda, who died while out hunting down magical objects, and Henry (Henrietta), who has left the society but has not been replaced, and is still invited back for the semi-annual meetings. Society membership is passed down within families, so all the members are related to the original four founders of the organization.

When Frank calls an emergency meeting to announce that a new object has been located, Magda volunteers to travel to Hong Kong to retrieve it from someone who knows all about the society (and really shouldn't). Within just a few hours of her arrival she comes face to face with Owen, a single-minded, professional killer who also knows all about the magical objects, and will stop at nothing to get as many as he can.

Magda returns to London, but upon her return she begins to learn that not everything is as she's been told. The Society, and Frank in particular, holds secrets she could never have imagined. In order to locate stolen objects, keep them out of nefarious hands, and, ultimately, to save the world, she will have to face some very uncomfortable truths about her own ancestry and the founding of the Society.

The main story, Magda's, is interwoven with a few other POV's and backstories that only add to the suspense. This is a fantastic mix of mystery, adventure, and fantasy. It's fast-paced but not at the expense of world-building. The lovable characters are vivid and realistic, at times maddening, at times delightful - and always quirky. And the not-so-lovable characters are richly abominable.

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