Thisby Thestoop and the Black Mountain by Zac Gorman (review)

A dungeon filled with the most terrible beasts and monsters known to man is housed within the Black Mountain of Nth, and would-be heroes from far and wide arrive each day in search of treasure and glory just to end up eaten by ogres, ghouls, and assorted were-creatures. For much of her life, Thisby Thestoop (a misreading of the note left behind when she was abandoned at the mountain as a baby, "Found This By The Stoop") has been the "gamekeeper," responsible for maintaining the dungeon and caring for its abominable residents. It's a job as thankless as it is dangerous, but when Thisby and Princess Iphigenia must work together to thwart a plan to conquer Nth, Thisby's experience turns out to be useful. While the realization that both girls have made perhaps their first ever friend is endearing, the bad guys' plan seems as forced and convoluted as the history of Nth proves to be, and it becomes difficult for readers to pick sides in the impending war between the relatively good yet enslaved monsters of the dungeon and the relatively bad yet enslaved monsters of the "Deep Down." While there's no reason to believe circumstances have improved for anyone by the conclusion—the Deep Down is again dubiously secured; despite her brother's attempt on her life, Princess Iphigenia is still in line for a throne she's indifferent to; and Thisby turns down a promotion to continue caring for the dungeon—the strength of this first novel of a planned series is certainly its menagerie of familiar and unfamiliar monsters, which Thisby helms as a young and extraordinary zookeeper. Black and white chapter headpieces and slightly cartoonish full-page illustrations add entertainment value. WJ