The Invisible Library
Genevieve Cogman
2016, 330 pages
Adult Fiction/Fantasy
Irene is a skilled operative for the Invisible Library, gathering important books from alternate worlds, and returning them to the library for preservation. We meet her at the end of one daredevil assignment, and she soon finds that she is being sent directly off again, to an alternate London, with a new, mysterious and unwanted assistant in tow. She arrives to find that their target book has been stolen before their arrival, and she is thrown into a maelstrom of powerful Fae, a murder mystery, a great detective, opposing librarians, opposing magical forces and action galore.
The world-building in this fantasy is precise and consistent, and the characters are accessible, interesting and smart. The action-filled plot keeps the reader engaged and turning pages. As Irene’s adventures in this smoggy, chaos-ridden version of Victorian London charge forward, she must decide on the fly whom to trust, how to use her librarian skills against different kinds of magic, and how to navigate the traffic-choked streets and arrive at the exciting denouement.
The Invisible Library is the first book of a series, which continues with The Masked City, The Burning Page, and The Lost Plot, all of which are available at Concord Public Library.
Tricia HutchinsConcord Public Library
Visit CPL at concordpubliclibrary.net.
