With the future of the Great Library in doubt, the unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone must decide if it’s worth saving in this thrilling adventure in the New York Times bestselling series.The corrupt leadership of the Great Library has fallen. But with the Archivist plotting his return to power, and the Library under siege from outside empires and kingdoms, its future is uncertain. Jess … its future is uncertain. Jess Brightwell and his friends must come together as never before, to forge a new future for the Great Library…or see everything it stood for crumble.
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This book is the 5th and final installment in the Great Library Series by Rachel Caine. The Great Library is on the verge of collapse facing major threats to its survival. A group of friends are bound to stop at nothing to ensure the survival of the Great Library against the corrupt Archivist looking to take control.
Caine created this amazing world and amazing set of characters. I absolutely enjoyed every page of this book! I am so amazed by the high impact action of the stories and truly made this such an exciting read. Even though I have not read the previous four books, which by the way, is not going to be very long since I have already ordered all of it, I believe that this worked for me and still found it truly entertaining.
The spellbinding, action pact conclusion to this epic fantasy tale was as unforgettable as I had hoped for and at the same time more than I bargained for. The author took a young group of people full of expectations that we wholly their own and broke them down to their basest self and created a powerful force to be reckoned with. Side by side they will fight for the future of the Library and all it stands for until their last breath, against insurmountable odds and enemies in their midsts. I am sad to see it end at the same time it’s a relief to have it reach its conclusion. This story will always have a cherished spot on my bookshelf and I hope to share it with my children. Thank you so much to the author for another epic tale that has taken me places I could never have dreamed of!
Oh my heart! I can’t with this book Sword and Pen by Rachel Caine is the final book in her The Great Library. Y’all I’ve loved this series from the start and I have to say the finale lived up to all of my expectations. I might have aged 10 years while reading it though. SO stressful! If you are a fan of the series, I highly recommend it. If you are coming across this review and haven’t heard of the series, be forewarned there are minor spoilers for the previous books (though I’ll do my best to avoid them). Picking up right where Smoke and Iron left off, Sword and Pen is a breathtaking final stand for the scholars against the injustices of the prior regime.
The group dynamic has changed from the start of the series, and the progression for each of the scholars is believable with what each of them has gone through. Jess, who normally takes the lead, is grieving and lost at the start of the book. He’s drifting and his friends are taking turns caring for him. Khalila and Thomas are working with the new archivist. Dario is using his connections in Spain to stop an impending war. Glain is taking over a squadron of soldiers, and Wolfe and Santi while not as prominent in this book still stand out.
The main goal of this book is for the scholars to find the Archivist and stop him from trying to regain control of the Library. This doesn’t sound like a lot, however it is nonstop action from page one. There is little downtime in this plot. And the suspense….y’all I didn’t know if any of my favorites would make it to the end. I could not stop listening! Julian Elfer brings the characters to life, giving a unique voice to each so I had no trouble telling them apart. While I didn’t want it to end (and that ending shattered my heart), I’m happy with it. Rachel Caine ties all the loose ends together nicely, leaving no questions as to what will be happening in their world after the end.
Overall Sword and Pen is a phenomenal ending to a fantastic series. I’m sad and happy all at the same time. All of the characters come full-circle in their development, the plot comes to a conclusion, and the final words “The End” are perfect. If you’ve enjoyed this series, you will love the book. If you haven’t started it yet, I highly recommend it for anyone that enjoys steampunk and dystopia.
I have been reading this series for years now and now that it’s over what am I going to do now that it’s over? I’m so going to miss this world, these characters, Oh these characters, they are so freaking amazing, I fell in love with them from the first book and with each new book I was more and more in love with them, the world building just got better and every time I was reading it, I just wanted to be in there with them. Alright, let’s get to this last adventure with our little crew…
Since our last book, the Great Library has fallen, but the corrupted Archivist is still very well alive and he is plotting and it’s up to our dear friends to find him and bring him to justice. But not all of them will be in that crew, because some are need to protect the city from upcoming threats and others are need to protect the new Archivist. They are separated but at the same time looking out for each other and that’s what it makes them the perfect team to make the Great Library whole again.
The jobs are not easy, Brightwell is dealing with death in life and OMG, my heart was in my throat the whole entire book. But the twists and turns in this book, I really wasn’t expecting them, every time I thought I knew what was coming something else came along and man, I really wasn’t ready for ANY of them.
The new future of the Great Library is everything for these friends and they will do ANYTHING to accomplish it and so be ready my friends because everything is possible.
The ending was cruel and unexpected, my heart is broken, is happy, is sad, is twisted, is everything and more. I still have sooooo many emotions and still don’t know how I truly feel about that ending, but with Rachel Caine I should have known that she would have done something like that. Am I happy, yes I am. It wrap everything up, but I’m still going to miss this gang a lot.
If you haven’t started this series, you are missing so much out; books, friendships, romance, adventure and lots of action, everything you need in books.
What rating did I give? 5 out of 5 stars of course 🙂
I got a free copy of this book from NetGalley…
Sword and Pen is the final installment in The Great Library series. Throughout the series, the critical element here has been the diverse cast of characters that has driven the story forward. Each character in this series has gone through so much, and finally, in the last installment, readers get to see how the events of the previous four novels have affected the characters. In Sword and Pen, each character has a distinct voice as well as their own perspective used to both expand the scope of the novel as well as allow the characters time to come to life. So much has happened in the course of the series and in previous novels, the characters were only known through the perspective of one character. Now that each has their perspective they have time to shine, they have tome o become full-fledged characters, and their narratives allow the reader to see just how everything in the previous novels has affected him as well as highlighting their character development and the growth in their character dynamics. Readers can connect to them more in this novel than in previous novels. The diversity of the characters also adds more depth to the story and the characters. They all have different backgrounds and origins that lend a hand in understanding where they came from and how they have grown through everything. Their voices are all distinct and compelling, ensuring the reader’s relatability to them.
As for the novel itself, the pacing was well constructed and dynamic because from one page to next, something is happening to keep up the fast momentum. The added tension of the political upheaval, the twists and turns and layers of betrayal and mystery keep the reader engaged in the progression of the story. A revolution is happening and, as with any revolution, pieces of the previous corrupt power remain, creating that drama and tension necessary for the progression of the story. It also adds some much-needed realism to the story as it moves forward. There are losses in the novel, personal, emotional, and mental losses for the characters that mean something to the story, that creates layers of depth as it evolves the world that readers have come to understand. The story is as much a journey for the readers as it is for the characters.
Overall Sword and Pen was by far the best way a series could go out as it is probably the most engaging and action-packed of the entire series.
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“Tota est scientia,” he said. “Knowledge is all. It either is, or it isn’t; you can’t say some knowledge is evil because it’s inconvenient for you.”
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I LOVED this series!! I am beyond sorry to see it end, but what an ending…
The Great Library is on its last legs. Enemies are closing in on all sides. The team is facing unbelievable new provocations, threats, and opportunities. And merciful heavens, did they – and the story – rise to the challenge!
This has been an incredible series, with exemplary world-building and characterization. Caine has done a remarkable job with it, and I think it is by far her strongest, best work. In this final installment the action and tension are ramped up to an almost unbearable level, yet she manages to tap-dance among land mines, keeping her cast moving forward at levels that exceed previous expectations – and that’s no small feat AT ALL.
The writing is strong, the plot brilliantly twisty (as are the characters’ motives, actions, and relationships), and the action never lets up. It is difficult for an author to maintain tension across a number of series books (this is #5 – incidentally, to me, the perfect number in a complex series), particularly when it involves younger characters who have to grow into the situations that they face. Caine has done a marvelous job with that.
Her characters have continued to develop in a believable, likable (or dislikeable – depending on the character) way throughout the series. I was surprised at how strongly I reacted to the action – and consequences – facing them in this final story, and it delighted me. I was also pleasantly surprised at her ability to keep the pace even throughout, particularly given the significant action/adventure elements that she laid out almost from the onset of the series. Things developed in a way that felt organic and entirely believable, despite their ramping up to almost unbearable levels. In this it reminded me of the Harry Potter books – things went from relatively light to incredibly dark, but they did it in a way that felt natural and evenly so at each development point.
This is a marvelous series and I will definitely come back to it again. There is SO MUCH going on here that I’m sure I missed some interactions and foreshadowing/final resolution moments from start to finish. I read each book in a furious race as it came out (again, redolent of the HP books), beyond eager to see where things would go. It meant that I no doubt missed some of the nuance, and one of my favorite things about series like this is the ability to go back and revisit them to catch any things I may have missed. If you haven’t started this one, you definitely should – it’s well worth the time you’ll spend on the five-volume set!
Oh, and I have to comment on two affiliated bits – the cover and the omnipresent playlist that Caine always includes at the end of her books. Her covers are usually amazing; in this series they’ve been PHENOMENAL. And the playlists – she always appends a list of the music she listened to while writing. It’s a cool idea and I think adds a depth and flavor to both the author and the stories, by offering a glimpse into the space in her head that she occupies while she comes up with her tales. There are usually only a few titles that I’m familiar with, but I’ve found some incredible bands and songs by investigating her playlists, so be sure to check that out also!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy.