Le Bilbliomancien

Interesting premise. (Makes me wish I would have thought of it.) Loads of potential. I'm hoping the character development will mature in the following book(s). Definitely willing to give the second book in the series a shot.

Hines seems to have a reputation as one of the liberal good guys in SFF. Which is odd, because every female character here is a dreadful adolescent male wank fantasy.

Excellent book. Mediocre audio version due to the narrator mispronouncing words. Go for the dead tree version. For full enjoyment, read Jim Hines' “Goblin Tale” books first so you know all about Smudge (it's not necessary to enjoy “Libriomancer” but I think it adds personal satisfaction).

Books, magic and literary references mix in this fun adventure story filled with likeable characters and a blend of genres that really spoke to the book lover and geek in me. It's Fast-paced and set in an interesting world where magic, objects and creatures can be pulled from the pages of books. In a twist it also featured only the second spider character that I actually liked (I HATE spiders and Charlotte from Charlotte's Web is first and only one I've actually been okay with until this book). His name is Smudge and he's a magic fire spider pet....and he totally won me over! I also enjoyed the human or humanoid characters as well. The interesting places that the story took had me flipping pages fast and enjoying the ride. I don't think I loved it, but I did really like it.

This book is the perfect example of why I should listen to my brain about a book instead of my heart.

My heart told me: they use books to pull things through into our world. My heart also told me that the author is an amazing person (which he is) and that I should read all his books in support.

My brain told me: I don't like urban fantasy. I've tried several times but there's always something holding me back from liking - much less loving - any UF book that I've read. (The real test will come when I read Lindsay Buroker's UF series.)

So, listening to my heart instead of my brain, I read it. And, honestly, was mostly bored through it. Sure, there were things I liked and things I didn't, but my overwhelming thoughts are of indifference and, while I was reading it, wondering when it would be over.

I can definitely see this book appealing to people that already like urban fantasy. The idea behind the world building - basically that certain people can reach into books and draw things out - is inventive and super creative. Though more than once it also left me feeling that that was too easy.

I have no complaints about Isaac, which in and of itself is unusual. He's got several fairly typical traits of UF main males - such as his snark and his getting beat up. (I've given it my all, but now I have to dig even deeper and give just a little bit more.) But no, don't worry, he's okay. (Though his beating is more mental than physical.) But, he's a nice guy, with a great sense of humor and he'd be someone fun to hang out with. At least once everyone and their grandmothers stopped trying to kill him.

I also love the fire-spider, Smudge. And I HATE spiders. Seriously, the creepy crawly things are just ugh. But, Smudge is so great that I was left kind of wanting one for a pet.

Then there's the requisite love interest. Who, thankfully enough, isn't just a love interest. (Unlike most other UF books I've read.) Looking at Lena objectively, she's a compelling character - and there's plenty of opportunities for a ‘free-will' argument/discussion with her. She is also NOT stick thin. However, and I think this is partially because of what she is, I've failed to get attached to her.

The plot is pretty typical. A bit of a war breaking out between vampires and our select group of magic users. Things are kept from being too predictable by the fact that there are a whole passel of different ‘breeds' of vampires. Sometimes I definitely though there were too many, but it does make some sense. And there's indications that all is not as it seems.

While reading the book, a head/heart battle started again. Only this time it was over me knowing objectively that the book is probably good for UF fans, and me not really liking it much.

(Originally posted on my blog: pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com)

As soon as I got the concept I thought “wow!” Then as I read through the book I thought “That's it? That pretty much summarizes the book I think. The writing style is more young adult thus making the book a bit shallow. But points for the idea and some thought behind the system. Plenty of loop holes though. May give the next one a read. Let's see.

Originally published in Unravellations.Once I got into the hang of this book, I couldn't put it down. I had to find out what was going down with this mysterious mystery surrounding the murder of various Porters and who was behind it all. It was a fortuitous chance that I picked this book up along with [b:The Eyre Affair 27003 The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next, #1) Jasper Fforde https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1419904150s/27003.jpg 3436605] (not having heard of either of these titles before, and only happened to chance upon them while browsing through library shelves) because their premises run along the same lines (book magic, basically).The tone of this book was decidedly darker than The Eyre Affair, though not so much that it dims the pleasure of reading (I usually prefer a light-hearted narrative tone unless it is incompatible with the plot). This book deals with libriomancy, a nicely crafted magic system whereby naturally talented users (libriomancers, of course) can reach into books and access the book's world. Unlike The Eyre Affair, they do not actually immerse themselves into the book's world and interact with characters in it, but depending on what page they flip to, they may be able to pull out various useful items from the books (a lightsabre, anyone?). While The Eyre Affair dealt mostly with classic literature, Libriomancer was more focused on the current pop culture books (vampires known as ‘sparklers' make a cameo appearance...), which made it very relatable since it was only published 3 years ago.I think there was room for character development, although perhaps Jim C. Hines was planning to save that for a later book in the series. Isaac Vainio was a field agent for the Libriomancers, but suddenly because he accidentally tapped into some kind of power while on a job, he's been forcefully resigned from the field and pushed into a cataloging desk job in the library. He meets Lena Greenwood (although they've apparently met before, though I'm not entirely sure where - Dr Shah's office?) and they're plunged into a top-speed adventure.Thoughts on characters (mostly Lena):It's clear that there's more to Isaac than meets the eye, probably even more than he realises at the point of the novel's closure. Gutenberg, having only made an appearance nearer the novel's ending, seems primed to play a bigger role in future novels either. I'm also not sure whether Isaac's decision to spare Gutenberg's life at the end would play a part in future books. Gutenberg, meanwhile, turned out to be a more pleasant character than I expected. I thought he'd be a grubbing, secretive and suspicious old man but when he did wake up, he turned out to be a more neurotic version of Dumbledore.Anyway, the character that I felt could open a lot of discussions was Lena Greenwood. She's a dryad (tree being) that Isaac assumed was born out of nature in the real world, but she eventually turned out to be a sort of male fantasy creation pulled out from a steamy romance novel by an untrained amateur in libriomancy. That means that she's "written" (or programmed) to sense desire, lust and to shape her personality and character traits into what would most attract her mate. On top of all this, however, she also harbours some pretty strong nature magic that saves both her and Isaac's asses plenty of times in the book, though I wouldn't call her exactly the motorcycle-riding, ass-kicking dryad that the blurb on the back cover describes. For one, she barely rides a motorcycle in this novel.The first time she started making advances on Isaac and when we come to realise that Lena is part of a romance novel creation, a lot of feminist repulsion came into mind. Was this going to spiral into predictability and romance-novel stereotypes? But I continued reading. Lena is a pretty complex character for someone who could've turned out to be just another stereotype. She has long bonded with her lover, Dr Nidhi Shah (I applaud this book for daring to put in a lesbian, interracial relationship), but Dr Shah's kidnapping threw all of this off-balance. Because Lena is written to shape herself according to her lover's needs and wants, she is afraid that she might be used for darker purposes assuming Dr Shah has been lost and turned into a vampire, she decides that she needs to find a new mate - Isaac. Seriously, at this point, I started re-thinking what this novel was about.After a whole bunch of flirting, some near-sex, the startling conclusion for this love triangle is that: Lena wants both! Not because she's a nymphomaniac (hah, but she's a nymph though), but because when she feels torn between two lovers, her personality can't direct itself into one particular direction and so it comes closer into something that belongs to neither lover, and something she can call her own. OK, interesting and non-stereotypical resolution!I think the idea that this female character is written to shape herself according to her mate's desire (I'll not say a man's desire, because her relationship with Nidhi Shah, an Indian woman, is 9 years long before the novel even starts) and to be closely associated with sex, desire and lust because had me reeling for a while. I'll admit that feminist alarm bells were ringing for a bit. But then I quieted them and tried to read deeper into Lena. I realised that she could have easily turned into a sex-obsessed dryad who just wants to get into Isaac's pants now that her previous mate is MIA, but then I also realised that there's a lot more to her than that. I know internal struggles are also a romance-novel stereotype nowadays, battling with the conscience and all, but the ones that happened in this book were believable and not at all cringe-worthy.I know loads of people have criticized Lena, calling her a "sex slave" and all that, but I think there's more to her than that. In fact, if we apply it to the real life, there are women out there who are - we'll not say written as in the book - naturally inclined to having lover after lover, and each time tweaking a bit of their personalities to best suit their partner. Are we to call them sex slaves too? There is nothing inherently wrong with such a behaviour. Lena, in a sense, wants to hold her own, and to develop her own personality (hence the resolution of having 2 lovers at once), essentially making the best of what she's been given and what she can't change.Oh, I like also that Lena is described as veering more towards the ancient Grecian ideal of beauty, being on the more voluptuous and plump side. At one point, an emaciated vampire calls her a "fat chick". Rather than singling out that one moment of what some would see as body-shaming, I'd like to highlight that throughout the entire novel, told from Isaac's perspective, he finds Lena nothing less than extremely attractive and desirable, despite her figure being what some others would call "fat".I'd recommend this to anyone who is looking for an adventure story with some comic moments, a well-crafted magic system and most importantly, who loves reading. A critic's blurb on the back cover said something about this book being written for those who love books, and I have to agree with that.P.S. I LOVE SMUDGE. I don't think I've ever had any affection for any kinds of fictional spiders before but Smudge is such a darling despite us not having any idea what he's thinking.

I enjoyed the modern setting with fantasy elements. The various species of vampires based on different vampire books was amusing. Nice to read a book set in the northern midwest.

Executive Summary: A book whose main strength is the interesting magic system, and not the characters or story.Audio book: Brian Eslik is a good, but not great reader. It's been several audio books now, but my recollection was he didn't really add or detract from the book at all. I think this is one of those books that choosing between reading or listening is more a matter of which works best for you rather more than anything else.Full ReviewI feel kind of bad. I had been looking forward to reading this book for awhile. The concept of the magic system sounded really cool.I was looking for something fun and light to hold me over between books. This seemed like it might fit the bill.Overall however, I was underwhelmed. I blame [a:Jim Butcher 10746 Jim Butcher https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]. For me, everything seems to pale compared to the Dresden Files.The other problem I had was it seemed like a generic Urban Fantasy series with stock vampires. Or mostly stock. Mr. Hines does work in a large variety based on various popular vampire novels over the year, including the sparkly variety that have pretty much have ruined what little interest in vampires I once had.The main character seems generic too. Well except that he's a librarian instead of private eye or some sort of field agent. This may appeal to the librarians out there, but I'm not sure who else.The second half of the book was a lot better however. Thankfully the whole thing wasn't about vampires. We also got more with the magic system, which is really the only thing that makes this book stand out. Mr. Hines has come up an interesting and certainly unique system. Pulling magic items out of books. My only gripe is that while some things are explicitly named (Harry Potter, Doctor Who), other things are only alluded to (Star Wars). I'm not sure if it's over copyright concerns or what. If so that's yet another negative side effect of copyright. There is no way I'd confuse this book with a Star Wars book, simply because a character pulls a lightsabre out of a book. I mean who WOULDN'T do that if you had the ability?Overall I think this is a book that will largely depend on how much you enjoy Urban Fantasy. If you're a fan, this may be a book to check out. If not, I don't think the strength of the magic system is enough to compensate for the mostly generic Urban Fantasy story.

How did I forget to log this? Grr. This was a silly romp that I read for fun sometime in March. I liked it enough to order the sequel, which I have not gotten to yet.

When I picked up this book, I was expecting light-hearted fantasy fare. That's not what I got. Instead, this book is an action-packed fun ride filled with an interesting magical system, lots of entertaining literary references, and not a few very interesting philosophical quandaries. It resembled a Dresden Files book in pacing and theme, but with it's own voice that set it apart. The ending sets the story up for follow-up books (and has an amusing twist), so I'll be looking forward to sequels.

I enjoyed this book. I don't have a lot to say. It wasn't the best thing ever but i enjoyed the characters enough to want more.

The full review can be found over at the SFF Book Review.

A fresh writing style, some cool ideas, and a fire-spider called Smudge. These were the things I loved about the books. I hated the romantic interest, Lena. You can tell the author was trying hard to create a “strong, female character” but she ended up as a flat creature who is only there to give the protagonist a boner and save his ass occasionally. I still don't understand why there had to be romance at all - and the way that “romance” ends was just so wanna-be special. It made me groan.

That said, there are great things about this novel. It is a quick read, even though there are some pacing problems in the middle, and some side characters are deliciously likable. Smudge is my favorite but I also like Ponce de Leon's mysterious nature and some of the vampires.
The idea of taking objects out of books via magic is intriguing and I hope the author will explore it more in the next book. Because even though we get a lot of libriomancer-talks-to-dryad info-dump, the world building is not that great. Or at least, we don't get to see much of it.

In conclusion, this could have been a much better book. But it made me want to check out some of the author's other works. After all, he did make me laugh!

The saying “books are magical” might be viewed by many as a tired old phrase, a truism that's worn itself out from constant use. Many, many people know this to be true, so why repeat it? The fact remains, though, that for readers, this worn-out cliche rings very true indeed, which is why it has never really fallen out of favor, and why it's a sentiment that gets brought up and time and time again whenever people talk about books and the reading habit. And for readers, a book is literally magic: a portal capable of taking them away from wherever they are at the current moment; a doorway to new knowledge; a way to live lives other than one's own. If that isn't magic, then I don't know what is.

The ancients thought of books - and the act of creating them - as a magical, almost divine, process. Many ancient cultures believes that the act of putting down ephemeral spoken language and thoughts into a solid and, more importantly, permanent form was an act that paralleled the powers of the gods, a belief which carries into the three monotheistic religions of today: “The Word made flesh” is a phrase with powerful resonance across Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

But what if books were far more magical than ordinary readers thought? What if books were literally portals, into which a gifted few could reach and pull out whatever they so chose? What if books could give birth to the creatures within them? And what if the characters within them were far more alive than any reader could have ever imagined?

That's the world of the Magic Ex Libris series created by Jim C. Hines, and explored in the first novel of the series, Libriomancer. Isaac Vainio is a Porter: a member of a secret society that consists mostly of libriomancers like Isaac, though it has other kinds of magic-users within its ranks. At the beginning of the novel Isaac has been forced off the field, after his last field mission went completely haywire and the higher-ups have decided it might be safer for him to do desk work than risk having him out there doing more mayhem. It's been quiet for a while, but that peace is shattered when a couple of vampires - including a sparkler, more properly called Sanguinarius Meyerii (three guesses which book the vampire comes from, and the first two don't count) - attack him at the library he's currently working at. This leads to a chain of events wherein Isaac finds out that all is not quite well in the Porter world, and likely he's the only one standing between the organization that rendered him powerless, and a threat that could destroy not just the Porters, but the entire world.

So far, so standard, at least for most urban fantasy novels. With regards to the plot, at any rate, Libriomancer is pretty much par-on-course: a supernatural/magical threat looms over the world, and it's up to the protagonist and her/his friend/s and/or colleagues to stop it before the secret of magic/supernatural creatures leaks out into the mundane world and causes even more havoc. This similarity to other urban fantasy novels, is, however, forgivable, because it's not the plot that keeps most of us fans of the genre reading: it's more about the world-building, and of course the characters. Fortunately, Libriomancer has some pretty sturdy world-building, and some good characters - though it isn't without its problems.

The characters are, for the most part, a fun bunch to hang out with. Isaac in particular is interesting, and this is a good thing: the novel is told in first-person, and if Isaac were intolerable it'd be difficult to get through the rest of the novel without wanting to chuck the thing across the room in frustration and annoyance. Thankfully, he isn't irritating to listen to at all: he has a good sense of humor - not quite as sharp as Peter Grant's from Ben Aaranovitch's Peter Grant series, but just as fun nevertheless. Isaac also has the amusing tendency to get lost in spinning out ideas and questions while in the midst of a crisis, which inevitably forces his companion to snap him out of his thoughts so he can focus on the task at hand.

Isaac's companion in this whole adventure is Lena, a hamadryad, specifically a Balanos hamadryad, since her tree is an oak. However, Lena isn't what one would call a "natural" hamadryad, meaning that she is a true mythological creature that has existed in the world for thousands of years. Instead, she's a magical construct from a book, pulled out by some anonymous libriomancer, likely one who was not aware of his or her talents. Now, while Isaac mentions that it's impossible to pull anything out of a book that's bigger than the book itself, Lena explains that she came out as an acorn, which fell to the ground and then grew until she popped out of it. She is in many ways the kind of female character I enjoy reading about: kick-ass and no-nonsense, thinking sensibly through crises and making sure Isaac doesn't really do anything supremely stupid. She does, however, present one particular aspect that makes me blink and raise my eyebrow - the primary reason why both I and Hope were pulled up short by this thing.

In the novel, Lena explains that she comes from a pulpy and very questionable sci-fi/fantasy novel, wherein nymphs like her must - emphasis on must - attach themselves to a lover, or else they die. Once they do so, they shape themselves to become exactly what their lover wants - and the nymph has no choice in this matter, because it's in their nature. When she drops this bomb on Isaac she says this because she assumes that Nidhi is already dead, and though she gives Isaac time to think it over, she puts him in the most uncomfortable position of taking her as a lover, or leaving her to die. Lena's behavior is something both Hope and I find rather skeezy, to say nothing of the basic idea of a female character who has no choice but to take a lover and shape herself to that lover in order to survive, but what bothers me even more is that the novel from which Lena comes from isn't even a real novel: it was one that was made up specifically for this story by Hines. I can't speak for Hope, who has a better head for this sort of thing than I do, but even I find that very troubling and rather insulting. I find romance interesting enough, even for something that's not a paranormal romance, but couldn't Lena have just been a strong, sensible female character with magical origins, without any of this "lover or die" business? She would still have been an interesting character even without that particular character trait.

Aside from that particular wrinkle, the world of Libriomancer is fascinating, intriguing, and solidly-built. The ground rules laid down for libriomancy are pretty clear-cut, but with enough space in between for playing around - mostly because there's a lot about magic that even the libriomancers don't understand. This makes sense, because magic isn't something anyone is really supposed to understand completely: some people may understand it more than others, (in the case of the Porters, that would be their founder, Johannes Gutenberg - yes, that Gutenberg), but even the experts can come across parts of magic that they either didn't know was there, or which are simply beyond their understanding. What is understood of it, though, is carefully monitored and policed - sometimes with unfortunate results. All of this makes for a cohesive, well-built world, and in urban fantasy, as with other kinds of fantasy, the world-building is usually half the battle, and Hines has done a marvelous job with his.

Overall, Libriomancer is a fun yarn, set in a world that will have many avid readers side-eyeing their libraries and wondering if, just maybe, they're actually latent libriomancers after all. Isaac is a pretty good character, with a great storytelling voice that will let the reader slide into the Hines' world with no problems at all. The plot might be pretty standard for the genre, but the action is well-paced and pretty exciting, striking a great balance between introducing the world and making that world both dangerous and desirable. On the other hand, though, Lena's characterization will leave a rather sour taste in readers' mouths, especially once that complication regarding lovers and survival comes into play. It's rather sad that this potential deal-breaker should appear in an otherwise fun novel, but there it is. Given the ending of the novel, it's certain said complication will play into succeeding novels, but hopefully Hines won't put such a spotlight on it now that the first novel's already explained it away.

Up until the closing pages of this book, this was my favorite Hines book – and I've read all his novels – but...ugh. I know, I know, I'm a prude, I'm narrow-minded, I'm...well, whatever. Right now, I can't see me reading anything else in this series. Crud.