The Invisible Library

Description

Irene must be at the top of her game or she'll be off the case - permanently... Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests fiction from different realities. And along with her enigmatic assistant Kai, she's posted to an alternative London. Their mission - to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book. Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested - the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene's new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own. Soon, she's up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. Yet failure is not an option - the nature of reality itself is at stake.

Genevieve Cogman started on Tolkien and Sherlock Holmes at an early age, and has never looked back. But on a perhaps more prosaic note, she has an MSC in Statistics with Medical Applications and has wielded this in an assortment of jobs: clinical coder, data analyst and classifications specialist. Although The Invisible Library is her debut novel, she has also previously worked as a freelance roleplaying game writer. Genevieve Cogman's hobbies include patchwork, beading, knitting and gaming, and she lives in the north of England.

I absolutely loved this ... flavored with truly unique mythology and a dash of the eldritch. Such clever, creepy, elaborate worldbuilding and snarky, sexy-smart characters * N.K. Jemisin * A dazzling bibliophilic debut * Charles Stross * It's a breath of fresh air ... with a companionable heroine in Irene, and a satisfyingly complex plot, The Invisible Library - the first of a series - is a book in which to wallow * Guardian * Written in a similar vein to Deborah Harkness's All Souls trilogy ... Contemporary meets fairy-take in this novel * Big Issue * Cogman writes with a vivacity and wittiness that breathes new life into the genre . . . Reminiscent of the works of Diana Wynne Jones and Neil Gaiman, Cogman's novel is a true treat to read * Publishers Weekly (starred review) * Surrender to the sheer volume of fun that appears on every page...thoroughly entertaining * Starburst Magazine * Fantasy doesn't get much better ... If you're looking for a swift, clever and witty read, look no further * Fantasy-Faction.com * This witty and spirited adventure sets up a potential gold mine of lore for the writer to plunder in future sequels ... a fun and original page-turner * SciFiNow.co.uk * Highly entertaining ... It reminded me a lot of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series * TheBookPlank blog * The Invisible Library is everything I could ever want out of a book . . . a stunning work of art that has me absolutely begging for more * FantasyBookReview.co.uk * Hits the spot straight from the opening page ... one of the most pleasurable debuts of the year * Upcoming4.me * An adventure story to delight the heart . . . The characters of Irene, her companion and those they encounter are vividly drawn, and the story moves along at breakneck speed to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion * ScifiBulletin.com * A book that was a sheer joy to spend time with ... solid prose alongside great pace * FalcataTimes blog * Cogman's dialogue is clever and funny, and her characters delightfully flawed. With this book she has crafted an exciting, fast-paced introduction to a world you will yearn to revisit ... Books such as The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games series are paving the way for stories like this * Geekchocolate.co.uk * A mix of Doctor Who, Fringe and The Librarians . . . Genevieve Cogman has crafted a well-paced, smart and fun novel that will certainly be a quick read for most people * TheFictionalHangout blog * The Invisible Library is currently at the top of my list of favourite books read this year . . . so much fun * Fantasybookcafe.com * Cogman's debut is a tremendously fun, rip-roaring adventure with protagonists that are easy to love and a setting that couldn't have suited my tastes better ... I can't wait for the second instalment * AFantasticalLibrarian.com * I've seen it compared to Doctor Who, I'm sure it'll be compared to Harry Potter, and it'll probably get compared to every Anglophile novel full of vim and fun that's ever been written. These comparisons will all be well-earned * BastianBalthasarbooks.co.uk *