GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Book Review: The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library Novel) by Genevieve Cogman | I Smell Sheep

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Book Review: The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library Novel) by Genevieve Cogman

The Invisible Library (The Invisible Library Novel)
by Genevieve Cogman
June 14th 2016 by Roc
Pages: 352
Collecting books can be a dangerous prospect in this fun, time-traveling, fantasy adventure from a spectacular debut author.

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!


Review by Denise B
4 sheep
The Library is a shadow organization that collects important books from alternate realities. Sometimes the jobs are easy, in and out and no one even knew that Irene had been there. Other times, like this time, the jobs are complicated and dangerous. 

Irene is assigned a person to mentor named Kai and their assignment is to go to an alternative London that has been designated as a chaos world and retrieve a very important book that could be dangerous. When they are in this world they find the book has already been stolen and there are more players in the game than they even imagined.

Inventive and imaginative story by debut author Genevieve Cogman. As an avid reader, books are a fascination for me and this story brings to life so many possibilities. Each alternative world has different aspects. Some of technology whereas some do not. Usually a world doesn’t have both technology and traditional magic. Some worlds have vampires, werewolves and fae! Each world has so many possibilities. A good strong start for this author and I could look forward to the next book!



Review by Pamela Kinney
5 sheep
In this gaslight fantasy with revenants of steampunk, Irene works as an agent for The Library (and yes, librarian), which collects important works of fiction from different realities. Many of these unique works are saved in a place out of time and space. Just as she got back safe and sound from her latest adventure, the book she’d been sent to acquire now safely added to the Library’s shelves, thinking she would be able to relax and even read a good book; she is summoned by her superior, Coppelia to take on Kai, as her assistant and both are sent to retrieve the most dangerous Grimm manuscript, from a chaos-infested reality of London. The problem when they get there? The book has already been stolen. They meet a shrewd great detective that reminds Irene of her favorite literary detective, Sherlock Holmes, who will help them. Then there is the secret that Kai is keeping close to the vest, along with a terrifying archenemy and a handful of mysteries to unravel.

If you love steampunk fantasy, alternate reality stories, supernatural, and dragons, this book is for any book lover, especially when it has an interdimensional library and librarian spies. It reminds me of a TV show, The Librarians, where their library is in between time and space and the librarians are sent to preserve special works, and yet this novel and its characters are unique enough to stand on its own without copying that television show. The action starts well and picks up pace with an absolute crescendo of an ending. Description of the realities and the Library are well done. And I bet there will be more books to come. Light, but not lightweight, smart, cleanly and beautifully written, a book worth reading and rereading.

The Invisible Library reminds us that books are magic and doorways to fun and adventure, and this novel doesn’t disappoint this reviewer in fulfilling that.

Sheep review: The Masked City (The Invisible Library #2)

About the author:
website-FB-twitter
Genevieve Cogman is a freelance author, who has written for several role-playing game companies. Her work includes GURPS Vorkosigan and contributions to the In Nomine role-playing game line for Steve Jackson Games: contributions to Exalted 2nd Edition and other contributions to the Exalted and Orpheuslines for White Wolf Publishing: Hearts, Swords and Flowers: The Art of Shoujo for Magnum Opus: and contributions to the Dresden Files RPG for Evil Hat Productions. She currently works for the NHS in England in the HSCIC as a clinical classifications specialist.

She has had three books of her series about the multidimensional Library accepted by Tor Books, and the first two books, The Invisible Library and The Masked City, are now available. Her novels are represented by Lucienne Diver of the Knight Agency.

No comments:

Post a Comment