Libriomancer

I wanna be a libriomancer!
Seriously, this concept is so awesome. And the book references many of my favorite books and authors as part of the hero's library. Also, we have a hero who is a librarian and damn proud of it.
This book had a great idea and explored the implications of that idea thoroughly, while leaving room for expansion later. The characters are well-drawn and relatable. I would recommend this book to anyone with even the faintest interest in speculative fiction.

Squee!!!...Wow! Awesome! What a Ride!

Right after I put this book down, that was all my brain could function to come up with for a review. This book was that good. I'll try to do a more useful review below.

It's a unique take on worldbuilding. Never at risk of interrupting the flow of the story or what the characters are going through; but, a wonderfully rich, developed piece of worldbuilding. Once reader accepts the basic premise, everything works. Even if you have not read the books mentioned. Instead of esoteric bits and pieces of books, he manages to just share a love of books and the wonderful worlds within that completely permeated the pages of this one without getting in the way of the story (and I was not lost even though had not show more read everything mentioned).

Isaac is a former field agent with the magic of libriomancy and one of three central characters. The story is told from his viewpoint and richly imaginative, often distracted, and occasionally lusty geek mind. He was retired from the field for overdoing things and plunked into a small library branch. Libriomancy is the power, within some logically presented limits and risk, to pull magic literally from books. The more thoroughly believed or widely read by readers, the more powerful and the more likely things happen like vampires becoming a part of the real world. Some potentially horrifying things within the pages of even the most beloved books caused a society to be created to handle the dangers. The plot revolves around one of the worst case scenarios including the society founder being kidnapped and a lot of their powers being used against them. Includes so much (like incipient war with the vampires), it is one helluva romp. But it all flows very well as only such a talented storyteller could do with so much to juggle. Very well done.

The sheer imagination behind some of the magic Isaac does and the situations he gets into is staggering. I can't wait to see in the sequel what other bits are lurking in the author's mind.

Where I said Isaac was one of three central characters--well, the next most central character was Smudge. Yes, the spider-sized fire spider who was a pet of Jig the Dragonslayer. Isaac pulled him out of Hines' Goblin Quest series and was unable to put back without killing him (Smudge would have burned the book and himself if tried). How on earth such a tiny, nonspeaking, nontelepathic and rather uncommunicative character could become such a part of the book and come so much to life -- before reading this book I could not have imagined. But he does. And it's a grand element of the story that should be unbelievable but is not.

Another character literally showing up on Isaac's doorstep is Lena, a dryad and definitely a kickass (although not typical) heroine. Isaac's mentor, her lover, and several of their fellow libriomancers are endangered (or dead) from the events going on, either actively in the conflict, kidnapped by vampires or the yet unknown evil forces. They team up to get to the bottom of things. I almost always despise love triangles in urban fantasy (one too many icky YA genre ones as well), but this one was different. I felt for everyone involved and things took a twist pleasing at least to Lena. More on that would be spoiler.

A complex, tense, action filled plot. But I laughed out loud a lot. Isaac definitely has a great, warped sense of humor that goes over well despite all the more serious themes like free will that run through this book.

A complete story on the one hand (no buy-my-next-book-or-you-won't-have-story-finish cliffhanger) but definitely there is more to come. Isaac still has much to figure out on the evil forces, the libriomancer society seeing some changes, the love triangle resolution and all the other character lives.

Not really a part of this review or something I base purchases on, but, hey, is that a cool cover or what?

I know there's a hundred other plot points, character thoughts and actions and things I should mention. Despite the well flowing story, there was just so much going on a review is just not going to do it justice.

So, again, just "Wow!"

And one little funny to share from the book:

"State Farm does not cover acts of dinosaurs"

I am a big fan of the author's so to be honest I would have read this book whether or not the description interested me. This one sounded like could either be an inventive, unique take on magical worldbuilding or a terrible mishmash of esoteric bits from other books that only an uber geek could get or that could just be a bunch of filler for a lazy author (actually cringed a little when I heard he was going to write something with, among other creatures, vampires in it and feared maybe publisher pressure to get into a more lucrative genre). I gave it a whirl anyway because I consider Mr. Hines to be a very talented storyteller (yes, a very good writer, but beyond that a "storyteller" with stories that carry throughout the whole tale without ever losing my interest and characters that come to life)

I also wanted to share author's post of a "get out of work/school" permission slip if anyone has real life trying to intrude into their reading schedule. At this link:
http://www.sff.net/people/jchines/Temp/Excuse.pdf show less

Nothing better for book lovers than a magic system based on books -- particularly genre classics of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, and thriller fiction, although literary classics are not shortchanged. As an avowed SFF enthusiast for over half-a-century, and an English major, I found this great fun. While the main protagonist's demeanor, and awkwardness with women, draw the inevitable comparison with foundational urban fantasy heroes like Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden, "Libriomancer" Isaac Vaino and the power of libriomancy make for a compelling, oft-times funny enjoyable read.

This book is pure, unadulterated nerd crack.

It's quickly paced, it's got a magic system based on books that holds together really well. There's strong women, consistent logic, libraries and classifications of vampires based on literary traditions. There's same-sex couples, reasonable moral conflicts, a fire-spider and Gutenberg. And the ending rocks mightily.

Isaac Vanio used to be a Porter (a magic wielder who can reach into books and pull out items) but resigned his field agent status after an assignment went wrong and has spent the past two years working in a small town library in the upper peninsula of Michigan cataloguing books that might have items of interest or pose a danger to Porters. However, when he's attacked by a trio of vampires he gets pulled into a fight that may or may not have been started by Johannes Gutenberg, the head of the Porters and the original practitioner of Libriomancy.

This is just pure fun bookish urban fantasy. Isaac's world is delightful and while the book is heavy on the action, that doesn't prevent the characters from growing. I really loved the magic show more system developed here and the many strains of vampires that exist (and hints at other paranormal creatures who might be encountered in future). There's also plenty of references that will make any bookish nerd (particular SFF readers) delight. If this is a genre you enjoy, I highly recommend. show less

Not at all the book-magic I'm accustomed to from Genevieve Cogman and Rachel Caine...a wee bit infodumpy the first third, some slightly overextended scenes between our Porter protagonist and the Vampires, quite a large acceleration thereafter...but an EPIC ending. My fellow majgickq-disdainers: This is not the book we fear, it is a delightful expansion of a reality we all already know: Novels and tales are, in every important way, real and we can reach into them for what we love and need the most. If you were thrilled to your core by Harry Potter's Patronus or the fire lizards and dragons of Pern, you will adore Smudge the Spider.

I mean, can you resist this?

“Showing up on an acquaintance’s doorstep and asking him to become your

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lover . . . your mate . . . isn’t normal. Not for humans.”

“Normal?” she repeated. “Yesterday you fed me cake from Wonderland so we could ride your spider into a magical basement and fight a vampire.”

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Isaac has been working as a librarian for the past two years, cataloging works for both his small-town library and the secret society of magic users that he used to be part of. After over-using his magic, he almost got kicked out, but was allowed to remain on the fringes in this auxiliary role. All of that changes when a couple of vampires show up at the library and try to kill him. He's fortunate that Lena, a dryad, is following the vampires. Between Isaac and Lena, the vampires are dispatched (including the other vampires that were waiting at Isaac's house), and the two set out to figure out what's gone wrong with the treaty that usually keeps the vampires more or less in check. They discover that the aforementioned secret society, show more the Porters, is in disarray, with agents killed or kidnapped, including 400-year-old Johannes Gutenberg, the founder of the Porters. Could a rogue agent or former agent be behind it all?

That's kind of a sloppy summary, as I don't want to give too much away. There's a lot going on in this book, with the sort of plot that dashes from one big fight or disaster to another, with some witty quips in between. I loved the idea of Libriomancy, the magical ability to reach into books and pull out anything small enough to fit within the book's covers, though I am still confused, after finishing the book, about some of the rules and limitations of the magic. This is straight-up mind-candy, with not a lot of substance behind the flash -- and that's just fine; sometimes one needs just that kind of read. If it's what you're looking for, go right ahead. I probably won't read more in the series, but I don't regret having read this one. show less