The Society of Unknowable Objects by Gareth Brown

Amy    
Lynnie 

contemporary fantasy, magical realism 

 

In London, there is a society of individuals who have taken on the responsibility of safekeeping magical objects. When the Society of Unknowable Objects determines that someone has started collecting these objects with the intent to cause harm, they decide they must take action to protect the world.

 

Lynnie's Review

I loved Gareth Brown’s previous novel The Book of Doors - it was one of my favorites of 2024.

This follow up, the Society of Unknowable Objects, is in the same world as The Book of Doors, but focuses on a slightly different subject matter- objects, such as a necklace or a chess piece, are imbued with magic and enable the person who has possession of them to perform a variety of magical tasks. The society wants to protect the world from these magical artifacts.

Once this book got going, I really enjoyed it. I have to admit though, it has a very slow start and doesn’t initially sell you on why you should care about the Society of Unknowable Objects or its members’ lives - they are all kind of quiet, dull people initially. Eventually that changes as mysteries are solved, action ensues, and the magic is unveiled.

I really liked the characters and I found that even the story's villains were intriguing. I’m so glad Brown is continuing to spend time in this universe as it’s clearly full of opportunity. Unfortunately it’s the slow start that makes this book compare negatively to The Book of Doors. Still, if you like magical realism, you’re likely to enjoy this adventure. 

Amy's Review

While The Society of Unknowable Objects had its own storyline, its premise was identical to The Book of Doors—there are magical objects (instead of books) and, among the people who know of their existence, there are those who are interested in protecting them from being misused and others who have ill intent.

While I generally liked the characters, I never felt invested in them. The one exception about whom I was curious—a character who was introduced at the very beginning and then ignored til much later in the novel—turned out to be a minor character. 

It took me a long time to read this novel. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy my time while reading it, but it wasn’t calling me. I wasn’t thinking about the characters or their situations except while actively reading. There was no real hook for me. The one character into whom we gained the most insight, Magda, frequently disappointed me. She was supposedly smart. But she was so slow and hesitant to actually do anything most of the time. She would hem and haw and take too long to rise to the occasion. But then the few times she did take decisive action, it was without thoughtful consideration of the situation and her rushed knee-jerk reaction was unfortunate! Therefore, I really had trouble with her as a protagonist. I kept mentally screaming at her, depending on the situation, to either do something or to realize that she was making a mistake. I got tired of her internal turmoil. 

The last third of the novel was filled with action, much like Gareth Brown’s first novel, and was the most entertaining portion. Despite my problems with the characters, Brown’s creativity was certainly on display. I loved the magical items. And I loved the eventual link to his first novel. It just took me a while to appreciate it.

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Gareth Brown for giving us access to early galleys for our unbiased reviews. The Society of Unknowable Objects will be published on August 12, 2025.