I was initially attracted to The Invisible Library because I enjoy fantasy stories and I used to be a librarian! Here is what I thought about the first book in this series.
The Blurb
The first in a gripping fantasy-mystery series, The Invisible Library is the astounding debut from Genevieve Cogman.
Irene must be at the top of her game or she’ll be off the case – permanently….
Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she’s posted to an alternative London. Their mission – to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it’s already been stolen. London’s underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book.
Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested – the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene’s new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own.
Soon, she’s up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. Yet failure is not an option – the nature of reality itself is at stake.
The Invisible Library is followed by the second adventurous title in the The Invisible Library series, The Masked City.
My Review of The Invisible Library
This was a great introduction into this fantasy world of dragons and demons, fae, vampires and more. It’s also a world with many dimensions which can be accessed by The Library where time stands still.
The main character, Irene, has the job of visiting alternative worlds and retrieving books for the library. She is given a new partner for her latest escapade who is on his first mission.
Overall, I thought the story was great, there was plenty to keep you fascinated and turning the page (or listening as I do.) What seems like a simple retrieval from a Steampunk type London, turns into something much more dangerous. Facing foes and making new friends, Irene and her new partner Kai find themselves on a fantastical journey.
You need to use your imagination and suspend your beliefs of the real world, but that’s what good fantasy writing requires.
I really enjoyed the story, and found it was paced really well with plenty of character development. Some parts where a little confusing, and some conversations a little too drawn out, but overall it was a good read.
The narrator was good, she portrayed the characters well and kept the pace of the story in her voice. If you are listening to an audio book it’s always good to listen to the preview first because you are going to be listening to that voice for hours (unless there are several narrators) and you want to make sure you are happy to do that.
I will probably get the second book in the series, I would like to know more about Irene and Kai’s adventures.
If you don’t want to listen to the audio book it’s also available in hardback (pretty expensively) and paperback (nice and cheap) on Amazon.
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I don’t usually like fantasy, but I must admit I do like the idea of the steampunk London setting, so maybe I could brave reading this one!
I love stories set in libraries and this sounds really different to anything that I’ve read before. Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
#MMBC
It sounds like a good read – I’ll have to try to read it. Thanks for the review. #MMBC