The Untold Story

»And here in the Library, even if our outer layer is order, we have an inner heart of chaos. We read too much for it to be anything else.«

When I first encountered “The Invisible Library” I was intrigued: A library beyond space and time; an autonomous realm that sends out its spies to “acquire” unique books in order to safeguard the balance between chaos and order not in just one world but all worlds!

Dragons, Fae, Librarians - what a premise! Adventures abound! As someone who loves every single “ingredient” here, I simply had no chance but to read the first book - and, ultimately, the entire series.

Don’t get me wrong: The premise is perfect whereas the actual execution isn’t always. Nevertheless, I loved reading every show more single instalment and it was with eagerness and a dose of sadness that I went on reading this “season finale” as Cogman calls it.

And what a finale this was! Sent out on a seemingly impossible assignment, undercover and under the guise of having gone rogue, Irene - supported by Kai (of course!), Vale (the local manifestation of Sherlock Holmes), and her apprentice Catherine, a Fae, goes on to try and get rid of Alberich for good, to solve the mystery of entire worlds disappearing and one that lies at the heart of the Library itself…

Since this time, the stakes are so high, Irene not only reluctantly accepts but embraces the help of her friends. That pays off not only in terms of the eponymous “Untold Story” (now, paradoxically, told!) but also in allowing us to get even more insight into Kai, Vale and Catherine and each of them gets their respective chance to shine bright which was a delight to read.

»‘All right,’ Irene said, accepting [Catherine’s] decision. And may God have mercy on my soul for dragging her and Kai and Vale into this.«

Many characters from previous books make an appearance and - in the light of the threat of annihilation - actually cooperate. Cogman expertly plays with archetypes, the resistance to work together and how each character overcomes their inhibitions towards the “other side”.

The entire book is fast-paced but intrinsically plausible. No plotholes occur, all the loose ends are picked up and brought together in a furious, brilliant, dramatic and astonishing final showdown.

Personally, I could go on reading about Irene’s exploits for many more books but I think it’s a smart choice of Cogman to - at least temporarily - leave her beloved characters to their own devices. Many authors’ heroes overstay their welcome to the point that we don’t even want to read about them anymore.

Some authors (cf. Elizabeth George) milk their literary “cows” to the bitter end, others wisely and sensitively dispose of them entirely (cf. Henning Mankell’s Wallander).

Just leaving them at the top of their game is, in my (rarely humble) opinion, a great choice: No need to complicatedly “resurrect” the hero (cf. Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes) or kill them.
Just let them enjoy prolonged (or possibly even infinite) holidays!

»Stories are like that. They’ll wait for you until you can come back to them.«

Anyway, I’ve loved every minute I’ve spent with being told the “Untold Story” - it was like revisiting a beloved place. Its ending provides much needed closure but opens up new opportunities and, thus, I’m definitely looking very much forward to reading whatever else Genevieve Cogman is coming up with.

I rarely know how to actually rate a book in terms of stars before I write its review but after having finished this book late last night in an almost desperate attempt to know how it ends (and in a race against sleep!), there was no doubt about it (and writing this review only reinforced it):

Five out of five stars.

»‘There are no limits to self-sacrifice when we’re doing our jobs,’ Irene said wearily.«


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In the final (for now) Invisible Library book, Irene must come to terms with her new knowledge about her parentage. At the same time, a new threat appears to be lurking as entire worlds are disappearing. As Irene and her friends attempt to determine what's happening they'll have to dig into the origins of the library, a feat which might destroy everything as they know it.

A solid final outing for this series, which I've so thoroughly enjoyed. There's plenty of adventure as usual (although not quite as breakneck as some previous entries) while also resolving several major plot points that have developed over the course of the series. Fans of the series should be pleased with this resolution.

So that is that, in this tale of origins and endings and Irene being forced to get to grips with her own origins, and the origins of the Library itself. That being the case, this becomes a hard book to review as there are a number of big secrets that I don't care to spoil, but if you've read the seven previous books I think that you'll wind up being happy with this concluding novel. That's the thing, there is something of a buying time quality to the first half of this book, before Cogman launches her big push (I still think that "The Mortal Word" was the peak of this series), but to write eight novels in one setting and always managing to keep it fresh is a worthy achievement, and I'd be perfectly willing to give the series as a whole show more five stars. show less

I think this was the perfect end to the series. To see Irene finally reckon with what all her logic might mean and where it comes from, acknowledging the beginnings of the library, and making peace with them. It was also nice to see Kai finally confronted with the idea that dragons might not be all-knowing, all-good beings. I honestly can't imagine a better ending for this group than they're great adventure and peaceful transition to just normal levels of hijinks.

Overall, this has been a great series. (Although this is the end for now, with questions answered and loose ends tied up, Ms. Cogman says she will likely write more IL stories in the future.) However, it took a direction in these last couple books that I didn't see coming and which got a little too fantasy for my taste. A dragon, a fae, and a book-hoarding human started the Library, get all power-hungry, then start manifesting as shadow ghosts and controlling Librarians like black-eyed puppets. Srsly? I was having a better time watching Irene and her companions (especially Peregrine Vale, one world's version of Sherlock Holmes) solve mysteries and retrieve books. If a continuation of the series has more of that now that the Library show more is rid of evil influences , I will be delighted. show less

It's taken me two and a half years to pick up the concluding volume of The Invisible Library after I correctly predicted the major "revelation" since finding out about a particular plot strand in the first book, but I really wanted to find out how the story ends. However, I struggled to get into it, not least because the plot seemed to be treading water for the first third of the book, at which point I skim-read to the end. Unfortunately nothing of what I read made me want to reconsider and read the book properly, though admittedly there were one or two neat ideas. It's possible that I simply wasn't in the right mind set any more, and I struggled to engage with the characters. What a shame after what I thought was a brilliant and highly show more original start to the series. show less

Genevieve Cogman says that The Untold Story is not the end of the series, just the end of the “current season.” All I know is that I consider it a great ending to a beloved series. All the answers, resolutions to ongoing conflicts, and satisfying conclusions to every pre-existing and new plotline. Ms. Cogman is fair to all of the characters and the Library. I hope this is not the end because I am going to miss Irene and her friends.