The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library Novel)
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 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!
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 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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Community Reviews
This was a fun, steampunkish, romp through an Alternative London. I'm usually not a fan of steampunk, and thankfully this work didn't really lean too heavily on the usual tropes to actually tip it over into that genre (at least for me). If you enjoy either The Librarians or Warehouse 13 (and maybe a little Doctor Who thrown in) then you will enjoy this book. While I wouldn't classify this as YA, it definitely leans more towards YA than more mature fantasy. Let me preface this next sentence with this: I did enjoy the book: with that said, while I was reading this I found myself wondering how this work could be improved if it were less YA. I'm sure this is not what Cogman was going for, (and that's perfectly fine, this is her story and her work so it's fully her decision), but I did find myself wanting more. I can't pinpoint exactly WHAT I wanted more of, but if I do I'll come back and edit this review.
However, she does do a great job of utilizing "name" magic in the use of The Language throughout the book, which was fascinating for me. The thing I liked about The Language was that it fit well with the nature and character of who a Librarian should be (according to the description given). That they have a specific Language that only they can use and understand seems to fit well with a Librarian. I thought that the characters were very well developed and I appreciated the use of the more "typical" fantasy creatures that one would expect to find in most Earth-bound fantasy novels such as werewolves, vampires, and Fae. It is obvious (but not in a bad way) that Cogman modeled Irene after herself with both of their love of Sherlock Holmes and Irene's choice of her Librarian name. On that note, I did very much enjoy the character of Vale and hope to see him return in book 2.
With that said, I'm looking forward to picking up The Masked City the next time I'm in the bookstore.
However, she does do a great job of utilizing "name" magic in the use of The Language throughout the book, which was fascinating for me. The thing I liked about The Language was that it fit well with the nature and character of who a Librarian should be (according to the description given). That they have a specific Language that only they can use and understand seems to fit well with a Librarian. I thought that the characters were very well developed and I appreciated the use of the more "typical" fantasy creatures that one would expect to find in most Earth-bound fantasy novels such as werewolves, vampires, and Fae. It is obvious (but not in a bad way) that Cogman modeled Irene after herself with both of their love of Sherlock Holmes and Irene's choice of her Librarian name. On that note, I did very much enjoy the character of Vale and hope to see him return in book 2.
With that said, I'm looking forward to picking up The Masked City the next time I'm in the bookstore.
I really liked a lot about this book! It had steam punk, mild flirtatious talk and thoughts, enemies, a secret society. Not sure if I'll read on in the series, but this one was pretty good
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