Pearl North (1964–2022)

I don't use star ratings, so please read my review!

Avid readers often describe books as telling them the tales they contain, but imagine what it would be like if books actually talked to you. Libyrinth takes readers to a faraway world, in an unimaginable future where books are a threatened resource.

Haly was born in the Libyrinth, and is well on the way to being settled there for the rest of her life. But she keeps an unusual secret: She hears books talking to her, reciting their words. This show more makes it difficult for her to endure the yearly ritual in which the Eradicants – those who believe printed words are dead, and must be released – come to the Libyrinth to burn books.

But this year is different, as the hidden “Book of the Night” may have been discovered. This tome contains the lore of the ancients who made vast weapons of destruction.

Only Haly’s unique talent can unlock this book’s secrets, and thus she becomes a prize that both sides would kill to possess.

Although this is a young adult book, it speaks volumes on the subject of censorship. The Libyrarians and Eradicants both advocate the preservation of knowledge, but they take different approaches. While this does lead to a portrayal of book-burning, it also allows the author to show varying methods of saving and sharing information.

Such methods allow for some wonderfully sly jokes that reference familiar stories and rhymes in our own world. All the quotes that the books whisper to Haly are referenced at the end of this novel, so see how many you can identify before peeking!

Libyrinth also is a satisfyingly complex action story. More factions than just Libyrarians and Eradicants want the lost book’s forbidden knowledge, and the vast Libyrinth itself holds more secrets than are contained within books.

While a few aspects of the narrative are a bit abrupt, perhaps the upcoming sequel will address some of these issues.

Libyrinth is a thought-provoking look at censorship, and at how truly precious knowledge is. All bibliophiles should have this on their shelves.

This review originally appeared in the Davis Enterprise on September 17, 2009. show less

Pearl North's identity was a little mysterious, so after some digging, I found that she is also Anne Harris. I'd liked two out of three of her books that I'd read - only remembering that they were kind of awesomely weird. So is this one. On a far away planet in the far future, there is an enormous library crippled by failing high tech and threatened by book burners. Its books speak inside the head of one girl clerk. Somehow most of the books featured seem to be from the author's personal show more library (there is a bibliography). The familiarity of the books jars with the far flung story - which is awesomely weird. It's a hero's journey (two heroines) with monsters, queens, priests and singers. I'll be sure to check out the sequel. show less

I guess when I read Libyrinth I missed something key about Ilysies. I knew it was a matriarchal society, but I failed to notice that men are greatly outnumbered and treated as second class citizens. It is this second class status that has Po all mixed up in The Boy from Ilysies. Not only is he having problems thinking of Princess, I mean, Libyrarian Selene as just one of the girls and no more than anyone else, but he's also having trouble seeing himself as no less than. He's used to serving show more women like Selene, not working alongside them, and he's used to being emotionally taken care of, in return, by a matriarchal figure. All of this equality has left him feeling very alone and unsupported.

Much of the book is spent on this dilemma. It's interesting and important and turns gender stereotypes on their heads, but it wasn't what I was looking for in a sequel to the action-packed, literature-rich, POC and LGBTQ-featuring Libyrinth. I wanted more action than intrigue, more of Clauda's brashness and less of Po's confusion, more of the books' wisdom and less erections as feelings, more of the look-how-I've-grown Selene and less of the back-to-the-beginning Selene, more Nod(s), more Haly, and for the love, more Clauda AND Selene. When Po finally left on a quest, along with former Censor Siblea, Selene, and a few others, I was so happy. I just wish that moment had come before I was halfway through the book.

But that second half of the book was totally worth it for me. The above group sets out for the former Singer headquarters to look for a tool from the legends of every major cultures' folklore that will hopefully make the land around the libyrinth fertile enough to support the community living there. Of course, when they get there, things do not go as planned, but in the course of the search and the fighting, we find out more about the foundations of the Singers' society. Their (former) reasoning behind the fear and demonization of the written word isn't exactly spelled out, but it makes a lot more sense now. Their still present culture of abuse and neglect of women also butts up against Po's sensibilities in a way that makes him take action rather than wallow in confusion and self-pity. The trip is also filled with danger, suspense, a cute but damaged girl for Po, and a cliff-hanger of an ending. I'm re-sucked in to this trilogy (or series?) an eagerly awaiting the as yet untitled Book 3.

Book source: Philly Free Library show less

3.5 stars

One star taken off for the way-too-fast-paced beginning (jesus, I got whiplash) and half off for the sex (which was so hot, but you can have too much of a good thing and in this case, I'd rather have had more plot and smoother transitions).

I have it on very good authority (thank you, Heidi!) that this is a great series but even without that endorsement, this one intrigued me enough to want to read the rest.