The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Synopsis:
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.
Review:
The premise sounds a lot like the tv show, The Librarians, so I had to check this out. But instead of artifacts, this library is strictly for books – from alternate realities. Irene has to train a new recruit on a difficult first mission that takes a detour for which neither are prepared.
The Invisible Library is an inspired novel with plenty of mystery, magic, and humor. I’m hoping this is just a start of a long series, as it has so much potential. From vibrant characters to unique and mysterious worlds – book lovers will enjoy this highly enjoyable story. This story centers on a fantasy world of magic where mythological creatures are real. Events build to a big and surprising finale with plenty of excitement. And I look forward to the next adventure.