Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure—the first in the Invisible Library series! One thing any Librarian will tell you: the truth is much stranger than fiction… Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, a shadowy organization that collects important works of fiction from all of the different realities. Most recently, she … different realities. Most recently, she and her enigmatic assistant Kai have been sent to an alternative London. Their mission: Retrieve a particularly dangerous book. The problem: By the time they arrive, it’s already been stolen.
London’s underground factions are prepared to fight to the death to find the tome before Irene and Kai do, a problem compounded by the fact that this world is chaos-infested—the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic to run rampant. To make matters worse, Kai is hiding something—secrets that could be just as volatile as the chaos-filled world itself.
Now Irene is caught in a puzzling web of deadly danger, conflicting clues, and sinister secret societies. And failure is not an option—because it isn’t just Irene’s reputation at stake, it’s the nature of reality itself…
FEATURING BONUS MATERIAL: including an interview with the author, a legend from the Library, and more!
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I thought this was a fun adventure story though it was probably aimed at a younger audience. The central conceit, multiple worlds/universes and a universal, “invisible” library might not have been completely original but I liked the way the author hinted at all sorts of hidden layers, politics and vague menace associated with the Library. The heroine was interesting and likeable. I was a little put off by her assistant (I am not a fan of characters that are dragons in human form) but not enough to spoil the story for me.
Oh. My. Goodness. If you haven’t read this one you have to, it was extraordinary… There’s nothing I love more than a book about books, and a book about books AND secret libraries AND books that change/save/destroy the world(s) AND time-travel is simply too fabulous for description. The writing is great, the story moves at an excellent pace, the characters and world(s) building exquisite… This is the start of a new trilogy and I cannot WAIT to read the next installment (second one – The Masked City – came out Sept. 6; third – The Burning Page – due Jan. 10).
I really enjoyed this book. I’ve read other books having to do with “library portals” (Pagewalker was one and it was good too). This is one of the best with the whole library/book/portal concept. Fun. Loved the various characters and how different portals might contain other characters or changes to known history. Liked the twists and turns. Very fun read!
Strong world building. A different perspective on the role of the fae and the supernatural in the world. An unique take on dragons and their place in society. Riding over all of the action is the power and value of the written word.
Very enjoyable.
fun fantasy read – lots of action and twists
Loved the concept of a secret library and alternate worlds. Can’t wait to read rest of the books.
Excellent author – Very engaging dialog, interesting story, good enough where I bought the sequel “The Masked City” at full price, even though The Invisible Library was not a cliff hanger. Exceptional in that I’m not the greatest fan of dragons, vampires, werewolves, steam punk stuff, but she made it work for me
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Great characters and plot. Really liked it!
I love the woman protagonist, strong yet still a woman
I’ve just finished the book and immediately purchased its sequel—it was fun romp and I want more! The constituent ideas aren’t entirely new, but they are woven together into an original tapestry, so I never got bored.
Another reason why I never got bored is pacing: this is the first opus in a series set in a complex universe, so the author needs to share a lot of information with us. This is done here and there, always in logical places and situations, and always at moments when I was interested in learning more (one of the problems with info dumps found at the beginning of some books is that you don’t *care* enough yet to *want* all that information).
The basic premise of the series is the existence of a library—the Library—between parallel worlds. Its agents go to those different worlds to retrieve specific books. So, for instance, an agent may be sent to a world that has a Grimm book of fairy tales with one more tale than it has in other worlds. Such books unique to a world can be used to strengthen the Library’s link to this world, and, theoretically, could be used to *alter* this world.
That’s the background in a nutshell. But mostly, the story takes place in one of the worlds, and more precisely, in a steampunk London, with its weird science and some elements of magic.
If a world has magic and supernatural creatures (and which ones) depends on its position between the extremes of order and chaos. In this way and others, the author manages to structure what amounts to infinite possibilities. She also does a good job at presenting the limitations of the Language, though this “Librarian magic” still feels pretty free-form compared to the stricter magic systems favored by a Brandon Sanderson.
The descriptions are another strength of this book: they don’t spread over paragraphs but serve to underline the dialogues and action scenes, making them more vivid, more real, and allowing the author to fine-tune the rhythm of her narrative. And, sometimes, hiding clues. [SPOILER:] For instance, as she joins Vale and Kay for breakfast, Irene sees Vale using an egg and a spoon to illustrate some fine points of dirigible maneuvering. It’s just a line in passing, but it’s funny, and later you may remember it and not be surprised when Vale helps land a dirigible.
What else to say? The style is clear and elegant. Mistakes are few. All in all, this novel easily deserves 4 stars, and the series may reach a 5 in the future, when its world and characters gain in depth and complexity. [Edit:] You’ll find my review of the next volume here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2589OSHRHJS0T/
Fun concept, likeable characters. Would recommend as a light read
Very interesting with the alternative worlds. This is the first book of the series and the other books are just as good. I really liked the characters – librarian Irene etc. I recommend this book!
Irene is a Librarian, and that designation includes a tattoo on her back, the ability to speak the language of the Library, and being able to travel to alternate realities in alternate worlds. Irene has been sent to retrieve a book of Grimm’s Fairy Tales while at the same time mentoring her first student, Kai. This book is full of twists and turns, each turn producing a novelty (such as mechanized killer alligators). Steam Punk in some respects, fantasy in others, the plot and characters are intriguing. So why four stars and not five? At some points the story drags when characters get into esoteric philosophical discussions that didn’t seem entirely necessary.
A psudo-Japanese fantasy. Mixes traditional Japanese folklore with a modern setting very well. Good writing, characters, and plot.
Very promising beginning to a new series of connected worlds
It is difficult for me to give any book a 5 star rating. Small things like typo’s detract from my enjoyment. This book had very few of those, and was a good read. It is a little bit mystery and a little bit action adventure. Overall it is very entertaining. This is a good series, but a little pricey for ebooks. I’ve read the 1st and 2nd book in the series, but think the 3rd book is way over priced, hence my 4 stars in this case.
I would recommend this book for all to read!
Read the sequel and bought the third
What an amazing way to build worlds!