A really interesting, imaginative fantasy. I quite like the characterization "Supernatural meets The Da Vinci Code" -
It's a hefty tome (or eBook) - comprised of 16 "episodes" that were serialized over some time. It makes for a substantial read, and an interesting one. But I wonder how it might have been improved if it'd been written by one author as a single tome...?

Nevertheless, interesting and definitely worth a read.

I tried several times to get into this book. I just don't like the disjointed feeling from having so many different authors.

I received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.

At eight hundred pages, divided into sixteen fifty-page episodes, this series reads like a novelized TV show, which has its strengths and its weaknesses.

The episodes largely reflect a standard TV episode structure, introducing a victim, followed by the team’s actions in solving the case. The pacing reflected television in moving along swiftly, and providing plot arcs that resolve, for the most part, by the episode’s end.

But the novelization feel shows in how briefly characters are sketched in, making most of them seem like types, right down to the Chinese character being of course a martial artist. Backgrounds seemed like prose versions of Hollywood sets at times, especially in episodes that read like “MOW” eps (Monster of the Week).

Most of all, though the story is dealing with mythic material that borders on big questions, and the characters employ big powers, there was surprisingly little corresponding sense of wonder. However, that could just be first pancake syndrome—the writers settling the world, the characters, and how it all will work.

Considering the pedigree of the various authors, I feel certain that the next season will delve into more interesting territory, now that the foundation has been laid.

I'm a little wary of multi-author narratives in print, which is a little goofy, considering that this is basically how all television is scripted. I love me some television, but, of course, it must be said that the strength of the singular vision -- the showrunner or creator -- is a huge factor in whether any given show is successful. (Successful to me, anyway; I'm not talking folding green. That's a whole other thing.) But I've been burned with uneven and unsatisfying multi-author novels before, so. I picked this is up because I've been slow-burning my way through Max Gladstone's Craft sequence. Maybe his name is top of the marquee because he's the best known of the writers, but I suspect not. This has his fingermarks on it, narratively speaking -- from the baroque murder mystery plotting to the strange other gods and devils.

But even if Gladstone wasn't the showrunner, if you will, whoever it was did an excellent job. I greatly enjoyed Bookburners, even despite my prejudice.. I felt like it overcame the lumpiness of multi-author novels I've read through what must have been good editorial control, which nevertheless allowed the individual writers to show off their specific style. Each section is episodic like television, with a mini-arc that has its own satisfaction. Sometimes the episodes were more mythology heavy, and that's fun too. The possibilities of the premise are no where near exhausted by the end, which is also a plus, given how many television shows / series / trilogies / whatever should be strangled after the first outing. How many Matrix movies are there, for example? Want to talk about season 2 of Heroes? or Lost?

Anyway, much fun was had by me.

This is a fun read - a squad fighting magic by confiscating the books that let the monsters out. My rating 4.25.

This book tells the tales of a squad known as the Bookburners. Thank goodness they don’t really burn books – well at least Team 3 doesn’t. They capture the magical books that allow monsters, usually evil and harmful, out to hurt the world.

The reader first meets Detective Sal Brooks when her brother shows up at her home with a strange book. The next thing Sal knows people are knocking on her door looking for her brother. The strangers burst into her apartment and she experiences a warp in time as her brother vanishes. Sal joins ‘the team’ to find her brother and soon learns that things are much stranger than she knew.

The team is based out of the Vatican and consists of a Menchu, a priest, Asanti, an archivist, Liam, a computer whiz, Grace, a fierce monster fighter (with secrets) and now Sal, an observant and determined detective. Actually, they all have secrets from their pasts that resulted in them being selected or recruited to Team 3. There are other teams who may be called in if Team 3 can’t contain the situation or if there needs to be clean up after Team 3 captures the book and shuts down the demon it contains.

The book consists of 16 Episodes which were apparently originally released in serial form. Combining them made this a bit long (at least for me) but I liked reading all of the adventures together. The episodes tell different assignment adventures running chronologically. There are four authors but the episodes flow well together. Although several of the monsters are very strange, there were only two episodes that I found really bizarre. One of those was a trip into a very strange ‘hellish’ realm.

I really liked the characters, whose traits, quirks and vulnerabilities are revealed though the assignments with each getting a time when their strengths are ‘showcased’. The interactions of the team add engagement beyond the monster fighting action. I found myself rooting for them to work things out together and to overcome the enemies within their own organization. This is a bit zany but a lot of fun. I recommend it to readers who like monster hunting adventures served up with humor.

I received this title through NetGalley.

What if books were written like television series? Instead of having one or two authors write a novel, get a group of authors, put together a series bible with the long-range plot and character arcs, and have the authors write a series of adventures involving these characters. That's what serialbox.com does with five series released one episode at a time.

Bookburners (available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook) is a collection of the first season of the same-named serial. These fifteen episodes follow the adventures of a Vatican black-ops magic hunting team, Team Three of the Societas Librorum Occultorum. Their job is to hunt down and neutralize books of black magic, containing demons who can take control of human bodies.

The main character and reader surrogate is Sal Brooks, a NYC cop in her early thirties. She does not believe in God or magic. When her younger brother Perry visits with a magical book and talks of being under surveillance by a group he calls the Bookburners, strange things starts to happen. Her partner claims she's made the whole thing up and the building videotapes do not back up her story. Naturally, she investigates and discovers the Bookburners, who identify themselves as special consultants to the police department with the backing of the police chief.

It turns out that Perry is possessed by a demon called The Hand. To break the possession, someone has to close the book in which the demon lives. After the inevitable confrontation, Sal joins the team, telling them that they need a cop.

In the early episodes, the team confronts magic and demonic possession, helped by a magical orb that alerts them to new magical problems. At first the episodes seem independent, but gradually an arc emerges and the reader discovers connections across the episodes. There's corruption in the Vatican, one of the teams enjoys the violence too much, and there may be a traitor on Sal's team.

Each member of the team has their own secrets and their own reasons for becoming involved in this hidden world. Liam, their tech guru, lost two years to his own demon possession. Grace has super-strength and speed, but a lifespan tied to the burning of a candle. And Asanti, an archivist, is too willing to turn to magic as a solution.

This series can be considered the Vatican's supernatural version of the X-Files. The writers' styles blend seamlessly (or at least are edited well). Characterization is several notches above any television series and print does not have to worry about the cost of special effects or actors leaving the show.

Fans of X-Files-type adventures or a grown-up version of Buffy will find themselves right at home here. Readers who wonder what would happen if first-rate fantasy writers suddenly found themselves running a TV series with an unlimited budget will find Bookburners fits the bill. It's also suitable for fans of urban fantasy. While serialbox.com has already started a second season of Bookburners, this volume has a very satisfactory ending, not a cliffhanger.

One part Warehouse 13 and one part Supernatural, Bookburners is one extremely long wild ride in pursuit of books and artifacts bent on destroying the planet. This novel was originally publish in serial format and Saga Press compiled Season 1 into a single book for better or worse.

At the start, Bookburners shined. Episode 1 drew me in with the known (a cop trying to rescue her brother) and the unknown (a secret Vatican agency hunting demons). Each installment or episode was another adventure. Each story was contained with a few short chapters with a bit of backstory about each team member slowly leaked out creating a cohesive story. Sure some of the stories were stronger than others (the story in Scotland about Ashanti’s mentor was a bit of a mess), but I enjoyed them like a binge reading fool. It also helped that there was a bit of dark humor and religious philosophy to keep the mind thinking and mulling over deeper elements hidden between the lines.

But in the end, Bookburners is just too long. It clocks in at over 800 pages, now I’m not afraid of big books, especially since my goal every year is to read 20,000 pages. Right around episode 10, the mood and focus of the book changes. With few hints that the big baddie from episode 1 has returned, suddenly Bookburners wants to become a cohesive novel with a single overarching storyline. By about episode 13, I repeatedly checked my percent progress through the book because the elements I loved about the first 9 episodes were gone.

If Bookburners had remained truly episodic and maintained its lighthearted dark humor nature through all 16 episodes, I would be more likely to explore this serial further. As it stands now, I can’t honestly recommend all 16 episodes of season 1 because of the poor connection between episode 1 and the later episodes in the serial. The attempt to create a novel out of serialization failed in Bookburners and left me upset the tone and direction of that the story changed so dramatically between page one and page 800.

A great premise - especially for one who is a die-hard book lover - I felt like there were shifts in pacing and style that made the read feel choppy. I generally don't read multi-author work, and this is a big part of the reason why!

This book was originally published online and will now be available in print in January. The obvious comparison for this book is The Da Vinci Code on steroids. Infused with magic, Sal joins a groups from the Vatican to search for the Book of Hand. Her brother opened the book and is now sharing his body with a demon. Great writing and characters keep you reading well past your bedtime. Lots of small details that I want to go back and re-read when I have more time to savor. Great for lovers of the paranormal and and mystery and suspense fans.