The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

What a great start to this new series about library spies! I've been having so much fun reading books about books and libraries, and this one was really fun! It's got vampires and dragons and librarians traveling through other dimensions! There's some amazing quotes about books and reading, which I really loved. I wish there'd been more character development, as that aspect was sacrificed for adventure. I'm not always against this happening, but I do wish I'd gotten to know the characters better. It also felt like I was just thrown into the story with no real explanation of the world or what's going on. It was exciting, but also a little confusing. I'm not sure if I'll be continuing with the series or not.

There are so many things to like and say about Genvieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series, which continues with the release of the second book, The Masked City.

Regular readers will remember that I wrote a blog post about Librarypunk as a new subgenre. You can read that post here. At the time, I had just read Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine and wrote about Jim Hines’ Magic Ex Libris series. (And Jim, if you are reading, I would die for a Smudge of my own. Can you reach into a book and get one for me? Please?)

Now I’ve read the first two books in this new series and I think it is safe to say that Librarypunk is not an emerging subgenre anymore. It has fully arrived.

Our heroine, the scrappy and intelligent Irene, is a Librarian who can use Language (notice the caps) to shape the world around her. Her job is to go to different alternate universes, often very similar to oMasked City biggerurs, to retrieve books for the Library. The Library hoards the books-(they may object to my language) ahem–collect books that are unique, have some potential to add new words to the Language and which can anchor a world to the Library, creating stability. I said hoards above because while the Library is presented as an institution for the greater good, it is clear to the reader that the Library’s aims may be darker, murkier, or simply way-laid by a few who have selfish aims. Irene is going to reveal that to us, I am sure, by book 3.

I loved the choice of the name Irene from the first because I guessed, rightly, that it was chosen as an homage to Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes. Irene in this world plays with master sleuth Vale, who I honestly would love to have a meal with.

But the thing that has happened here that makes Librarypunk a Thing, is the evolution of the main character. Irene is not just a lover of books, or one of a chosen few that can use books as a portal to somewhere. No…she is a superhero! She’s Jason Bourne crossed with Wonder Woman. She is a super spy, trained in the art of coming and going without being seen, speaks at least 5 languages in addition to the Language, and she fights like a bad-ass. You gotta love her. And smart! This woman is clever folks, as you would expect given her namesake.

It took me a bit to get into these, I will admit. The beginning of the first book had a lot to do and I didn’t feel like the series picked up its pace until further into the book when Irene is on the way to travel to the alternate where the story occurs. So be patient with it, but dive in, give it a try. And if you have girls that love to read, give the books to them too. It’s good for them to see book-worm super women.

I'm pretty upset with myself for not starting this series sooner!  I've been collecting this series since its US release, but kept setting it aside for other reads.  In spite of hearing fantastic things!  I honestly could not tell you why I wasn't as interested in picking this one up to read until recently.  Perhaps the cover wasn't eye-catching enough?  Unknown!  But it's all good now as I listened to this book as an audio and loved it!

This book creates an intense pace, delightful characters, deep-seated secrets, and an investment to learn more about the world and the characters' backstories.  If you like thrillers, steampunk, libraries, secrets, things to get a little creepy, or the battle between order and chaos, you should have already been reading this series a long time ago!

So far, it looks like five titles have been released with a six scheduled for a December/January book birthday and a seventh that has been announced.  I know the first four books are sitting on my shelf, and I've just bumped them up much higher on my TBR.  Plus, I gave book one to a friend, so I'm sure she'll want book two very soon :)

The Invisible Library is a fantastic, fun read through alternate worlds with a fully-developed, intelligent female lead. The book blends science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, literary references, and heists into a wonderful adventure. Irene Winters, our main character, is a Librarian for a secret Invisible Library that is able to access multiple worlds. Each world exists in its own state, with varying states of chaos, order, and even different periods of time. There is so much possibility in the world based on the set-up. It's exciting to imagine where (and/or when) the series will go next. And I do want to see where it does next!

Irene, Kai, Vale, and even Lord Silver are fascinating characters that each have their own motivations and continue to learn and develop as new information presents itself. I look forward to seeing what happens next.

Why did I pick up "The Invisible Library" by Genevieve Cogman? For starters: it's a book about a library, THE LIBRARY, which exists between worlds, outside the influences of time and space, and houses books gathered from every possible reality by dedicated, hard-working agents -- LIBRARIANS. The very premise of "The Invisible Library" was more than enough to tempt me; I succumbed without a whimper.

The idea of a universal library holding the collective wisdom of the ages -- of all ages, from all realities -- isn't a new one. More than two millennia ago, the Ptolemies attempted to collect the entirety of literature written in Greek, as well as significant works in other languages, housed in the Great Library at Alexandria. Although the Library was eventually destroyed, the idea of a "universal" library has survived to this day, in the real world as well as in fiction. A truly universal library could not exist in our world -- bound as we are by time, space, and access -- but projects to digitze millions of volumes are underway. "The Library of Babel" by Jorge Luis Borges is one of fiction's best known offerings of a universal library, and is akin to "The Invisible Library."

But I digress -- yet again! I picked up "The Invisible Library" because I have always longed to find that hidden storehouse of knowledge myself, and I can't resist reading about someone who actually DOES! However, what pulled me into the story -- and keeps me reading the series -- is the fast-paced writing, the wry (and dry) humor, and, of course, Irene. Loyal, dedicated, hard working, and blessedly normal, Irene is a delightful character. I also love her "sidekick," Kai, who never questions or resents being given orders by a woman, and is tough and highly capable himself.

This adventure sends Irene and Kai in search of a volume of Grimm's fairy tales, with orders to "retrieve" it from a Steampunk-y alternate Victorian England. They get some unexpected assistance from Peregrine Vale, an amateur (aristocratic) detective with a real flair for deduction and a love of mysteries. The book has disappeared, and Irene and Kai must find it and retrieve it -- before someone else does. Irene's former mentor, now nemesis, Bradamant and archenemy of the Library, ex-Librarian Albericht are also seeking the missing book, each with his own agenda.

"The Invisible Library" begins with a glorious premise, but it is the tight writing, quick pace, and the "real" quality of the characters that make this book (and the series) such a standout. Aspects of fantasy, scifi, mystery, Steampunk and literary fiction intertwine easily and the world is fully imagined and believable. Many of the elements of this book: Librarian-spies/agents, the universal Library, the former mentor turned nemesis, the ex-Librarian bad guy, the aristo amateur detective are not new, and could easily be considered cliche; however, the sense of realness, of ordinariness, that imbues Irene, Kai, and the Library itself serve to ground the story and give the reader a sense of real-ness and urgency.

All in all, I think that "The Invisible Library," and its sequels are well worth reading. And re-reading!

The Invisible Library is the first in the series following Irene and her assistant Kai as they attempt to find and retrieve a special book. Their adventure takes them into parallel worlds, all tied together by the Library, which collects important and unique books from each world. I love that Irene is so capable. She is in charge and usually keeps a calm head in most crazy situations. She is the leader of their little group and gives the directions. It is refreshing to have a smart heroine keeping things in control. I enjoy the discussion of the balance between chaos and control - I like seeing how creatures like fairies play out in different series and this one, with an emphasis on fairies playing out story tropes, does not disappoint. My only wish was that more time was spent inside the Library itself. I have so many questions about details within the Library that I can only hope will be answered in future books.

Enter the world of the Library, an interdimensional organization that collects important books from as many alternate dimensions as possible. Genevieve Cogman’s debut has an exciting premise and there’s a ton of possibilities to this world, but I struggled a bit with the execution.

The Invisible Library follows the journey of Irene, a junior Librarian, as she takes on Kai, a new apprentice, and is sent to an alternate version of Victorian-era London to steal an important book of fairytales. What should be a routine mission is anything but. The world is chaos-infested, one of the side effects of that being supernatural creatures exist, including the Fae. Things go wrong for Irene almost from the start, and she catches the attention of Vale, an alternate version of Sherlock Holmes, the powerful Fae Lord Silver, and an enemy of the Library who threatens to destroy not just Irene, but the whole world.

There are quite a few things that I liked about The Invisible Library. The premise is fantastic and of course a bibliophile like myself is ready and eager to enjoy a book about people who love books. The seemingly infinite number of alternate worlds means there’s a host of possibilities to explore, and I liked how Ms. Cogman set up the powerful forces of Fae and dragons and their respective representations of chaos and order. In short (so as to avoid spoilers), all the elements of a great story are there. That being said, the story did not live up to its parts. The world building was a case of tell, rather than show. There were seemingly endless amounts of exposition that slowed the book’s pace to a crawl. The characters aren’t very well developed (not even our principals, Irene and Kai, though Kai did charm me), most likely because there was no time to do so. Everything but the kitchen sink seemed to be thrown into this story, and quite a bit of it could have been cut without impacting the narrative. Less might have been more for a first book, as I’d have liked to have delved more into the characters and the different kinds of magic.

The Invisible Library is the kind of book I struggle with rating. While I did have a number of issues with this book, I can’t say I didn’t like it. The second half of the story found its footing and the pacing did pick up. More importantly (to me, anyway), I think Ms. Cogman has a great imagination and I’m excited to learn more about the world of the Library. There’s a lot of interesting information exposited in The Invisible Library that I didn’t unpack because it’d spoil the story. Suffice it to say that – while I struggled with the writing overall – the premise has me hooked and I look forward to seeing what Irene and Kai get up to in The Masked City.

Too much fantasy and sci fiction for this reader. Concept and plot overview is very promising, but it just got too weird and "out there" for me. I'm sure SiFi readers will love this book.
I did not review this on my blog or other sites.

I am posting this review on VBPL Recommends blog on Monday, October 9.

Maybe you have seen some of those “what people think I do” memes for librarians?
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/250244-what-people-think-i-do-what-i-really-do
Or this one?
https://thespeculativelibrarian.wordpress.com/2014/11/09/blog-6-librarian-meme/

Many people still see libraries as that quiet place for books and studying with a shushing librarian. There is that, but libraries also offer cool programs and events, access to free movies and music, downloadable books, internet access, and more. The shushing librarian image gets an upgrade with some fun and adventure in the Invisible Library series. Bibliophiles will love this premise: The Invisible Library is about a secret organization that exists in between alternate realities, and its agents travel to different realities on undercover missions to save books (the adventures are a side effect).

Readers learn about the Invisible Library and its workings by following junior librarian, Irene, and her new trainee, Kai to a steampunk world on a seemingly simple retrieval of a Grimm’s fairy tale collection that goes sideways quite quickly. You know it would not be much of an adventure or any fun if that was all. Throw in a rogue librarian agent, some magic of course, paranormal creatures, conniving Fae, a meddling shifter, a snooping detective, a book thief, murder and mayhem, interoffice drama, a possible romance, plus a car chase (technically a carriage) and an armored alligator attack at the ball, and this is just book 1. Things go way beyond Irene and Kai’s experience, and it gets quite interesting when they have to break the rules to make any progress.

This debut title is a solid read overall. The characters are likeable and well-developed. While adventures are fun and keep the pace moving, there is a strong plot and careful world-building to keep readers invested in this series. Having lower ranking agents as the main characters means readers get to learn about the Invisible Library and the steampunk world at the same time as the characters, especially when things go sideways, and they learn there is more to the Library and its objectives that is beyond their clearance and pay grade. Bibliophiles will love how a love of books and reading is the core of this series, and there is a deliciously meta feel about the power of words and books and the literal escapism of the alternate worlds.

Look for The Invisible Library in the VBPL Catalog. Try the other books in the Invisible Library series. For more adventures involving librarians, try Jim C. Hines’ Magic Ex Libris series (see review), Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series (see review), Michael R. Underwood’s Genrenaut series, Liz Williams’ Worldsoul, Mel Odom’s Rover series, Pearl North’s Libyrinth trilogy, Kiiro Yumo’s Library Wars manga series, and The Librarians TV series.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group ROC, and Genevieve Cogman for an advanced copy of The Invisible Library for an honest review.

I really enjoyed reading about Irene a Junior Librarian assigned to mentor Kai. Both are given orders concerning a certain book, a collection of Grimm's Fairytales, specific to the alternate Victorian London they are sent to. Irene and Kai are to secure the book and bring it back to The Library which itself exists outside of normal time and space but is connected to all kinds of alternative worlds. Things quickly change from what should be a standard mission to a world of danger and chaos. I can't wait to read the next book in this series and definitely recommend The Invisible Library.

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!

A great first in a new fantasy series. And a major plus: it's about the "Library"!

A fantasy based around a library? Yes, please! This is a great start to the series, one I'll definitely be following.

'The Invisible Library' by Genevieve Cogman is the first in a new series about a secret society, librarians protecting stolen book, alternate worlds, alternate literary characters, fey, dragons, robotic reptiles, airships, and more. All that is part of the problem I had with the book.

Irene works for the library. The book starts with her rescuing a book, ala James Bond movies. She then gets sent on a mission to retrieve a book from an alternate London. She is sent with a new partner named Kai. While in London, they run into a mystery and there are attempts on their lives. They find an ally in a really smart detective who seems really familiar. They also find out a mysterious enemy of the library is on their trail.

I liked the basic concept of this book, but it seems like lots of other things get piled on along with it. When those other story elements came in, the story felt a bit more muddied to me. I would have liked a bit more character development this time around, and more of the chaotic worlds involved as the series progresses. I did like it, and I will try the next volume.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Roc, Berkley Publishing Group, and NetGalley in exchange for an hoest review. Thank you for allowing me review this ebook.

The thing with this one is that it had some good story going, nice plot, interesting characters...but then just as it's starting to pick up speed, WHAM, Cogman throws in content that just didn't need to be there (and really wasn't very well supported). I'm not opposed to sexual content--it's part of life--but when it's out of the blue, and then suddenly you have these random bits that are reading more like smut than a novel...well. I just didn't care for it. It was like Cogman was putting in there to try to make the story more interesting--when in reality, it would have been fare more interesting if she had kept it subtle and less overt and slutty. It was enough that I quit reading, and won't likely ever go back. Which is sad, because like I said, the story was interesting. Just not interesting enough to put up with smutty writing.

What librarian could resist books about librarians as world-saving heroes? Cogman's writing means most readers won't be able to resist this series, either, and that's a great thing. Highly recommended!

I’m really sad that I haven’t read this book before because this delightful series is about what the bibliophiles would want to do with their lives and their afterlives. Essentially Irene is tasked with working for the library for eternity as long as she helps them to retrieve books and help to preserve them. Basically, the ideal job for a bibliophile, which is mentioned several times throughout this book.

This story takes place in an alternate London, where steampunk and zeppelins are the norm and vampires and werewolves are everyday sights. Irene is sent to collect an original version of the Grimm fairy tales, which could be different from ours because it is in an alternate dimension. However, along with her new assistant Kai (new book boyfriend!! Or at least overprotective male friend?), Irene ends up finding herself in much more trouble than originally planned. I found myself thoroughly enjoying the characters. Irene was my favorite, a confident and devoted member to the Library who thoroughly cares about the books and discovering the best fantasy story that can be offered. Add in her assistant, Kai who is quite obviously more than he seems and you have a wonderful pairing that will be able to seriously kick some butt. We also add in a Sherlock Holmes-esque character and you have Sherlock Holmes meets Doctor Who, maybe we will even get Cybermen soon!

Basically everything about this book makes me super happy, there were a few tropes that I couldn’t help but find unoriginal, but overall I loved it and plan on reading the rest of the series. So far, there are three books out and the fourth one is set to be released the end of this year. Looks like there will be five books in the entire series, so I’m pretty excited. I would highly recommend this book for any bibliophiles in the world who want a glimpse at what many of us fantasy lovers crave in our lives.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for the opportunity to read and review The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman! Any book with the word library in the title is going to catch my attention, so I began reading with anticipation of awesomeness. Irene is part of a group of librarians who save literary works from everywhere - even alternate realms. The librarians search for library books and steal them to take to the Invisible Library. The books Irene searches for are important to language in some way and must be preserved. She is searching for Grimm's Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm in this book. Invisible library workers travel throughout the world, throughout history and as I already mentioned, to alternate realities. The story shows true creative imagination through its details. A fantasy fiction with a bit of steampunk, this world contains dragons, vampires, library magic, much intrigue and (eww) skin in a jar - 4 stars for uniqueness!