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wyvernfriend's review against another edition
4.0
Libriomancer gets bonus points for being a very cool idea. More of a 3.5 than a 4 star read, in my estimation, but I found it interesting.
Isaac Vainio is a librarian, who adds information to books catalogued by him, things that only make sense to Libriomancers, he misses his days on the field, but now his life is more sedate, until some vampires come after him and he has to resurrect his rusty libriomancer skills and try to save the day.
I liked the concept, there were times when I felt a little lost by the story but overall I enjoyed it and look forward to more of this series.
Isaac Vainio is a librarian, who adds information to books catalogued by him, things that only make sense to Libriomancers, he misses his days on the field, but now his life is more sedate, until some vampires come after him and he has to resurrect his rusty libriomancer skills and try to save the day.
I liked the concept, there were times when I felt a little lost by the story but overall I enjoyed it and look forward to more of this series.
karenholmes's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a sucker for books about books, literary worlds inside books and magic. So it's no surprise I liked this book. It's a surprise I hadn't discovered it earlier, though. But anyway, I'm here and will continue reading the follow ups as soon as I can get my hands on them.
The plot is a bit convoluted and it has lots of info dumps, but to create an engaging world and move action forward you need the reader to bear with you, so I did. I'm going along the ride.
If you enjoy reading fantasy and sci-fi you might find another enjoyable part of the book as it winks to artifacts and objects from other books you might or might not have read.
There is a real potential for growth and to expand the story beyond what it's been done. So I'm looking forward to next installments. As for now, my favorite character is Sumdge, the fire spider that eats sweets.
As for Lena, I'm torn. I like her but at the same time, it's a girl written from a very male point of view and, as lately, I find men rarely capable of writing women the way we want to see ourselves. They rather write women as they want them to see us. Yes, she's a kick ass character and has lots to like but... well, you read and discover it all. I don't want to spoil it.
The older Porters are interesting and I'm willing to know a lot more about both Ponce de Leon and Guttenberg. I guess next books will deal with both.
I know I've written something convoluted that needs cleaning up, but I don't feel like it, for now. So I'll leave it as that. Might come some day and fix it. Or not.
The plot is a bit convoluted and it has lots of info dumps, but to create an engaging world and move action forward you need the reader to bear with you, so I did. I'm going along the ride.
If you enjoy reading fantasy and sci-fi you might find another enjoyable part of the book as it winks to artifacts and objects from other books you might or might not have read.
There is a real potential for growth and to expand the story beyond what it's been done. So I'm looking forward to next installments. As for now, my favorite character is Sumdge, the fire spider that eats sweets.
As for Lena, I'm torn. I like her but at the same time, it's a girl written from a very male point of view and, as lately, I find men rarely capable of writing women the way we want to see ourselves. They rather write women as they want them to see us. Yes, she's a kick ass character and has lots to like but... well, you read and discover it all. I don't want to spoil it.
The older Porters are interesting and I'm willing to know a lot more about both Ponce de Leon and Guttenberg. I guess next books will deal with both.
I know I've written something convoluted that needs cleaning up, but I don't feel like it, for now. So I'll leave it as that. Might come some day and fix it. Or not.
sbn42's review against another edition
3.0
How cool would it be if you could read about Dr Who’s sonic screwdriver or Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility and just reach into the book where you read about it and extract one for your own use? The Libriomancers have developed the ability, starting with Johannes Gutenberg as he began to use his printing press.
As many copies of books became available, it turns out that some readers could feel the attraction of an item. The more that did, the likelier it was that someone would be able to extract them. Gutenberg found a way to put a magical block on the worst objects, such as diseases and weapons that could obliterate the planet, or worse. Unfortunately someone has found a way to lift a corner off the block and has used aberrations of the bad things to take revenge on the libriomancers.
This was an interesting sci-fi book that explored a different angle than I had read before.
As many copies of books became available, it turns out that some readers could feel the attraction of an item. The more that did, the likelier it was that someone would be able to extract them. Gutenberg found a way to put a magical block on the worst objects, such as diseases and weapons that could obliterate the planet, or worse. Unfortunately someone has found a way to lift a corner off the block and has used aberrations of the bad things to take revenge on the libriomancers.
This was an interesting sci-fi book that explored a different angle than I had read before.
whovian223's review against another edition
5.0
As usual, Hines has written an excellent book full of wit and humour but also some great serious moments as well. The concept of libriomancy is really interesting, with practitioners able to use the magic of books to pull out useful items. I especially love the references to books I have known and loved for a long time, as well as the bibliography at the back of the book that tells which books are real and which ones Hines made up.
The characterizations of Isaac, Lena, and the others are top-notch as well.
Pop culture references abound, and it's entertaining to to figure out which ones I recognized.
Hines is still an evil man, however, for what he did to the Smurfs.
The characterizations of Isaac, Lena, and the others are top-notch as well.
Pop culture references abound, and it's entertaining to to figure out which ones I recognized.
Hines is still an evil man, however, for what he did to the Smurfs.
featurecreep's review against another edition
5.0
Good character and fantasy world building combine with enough modern pop-culture sure to sate any geek.
topdragon's review against another edition
4.0
I first heard of this novel back when it was published in 2012 and have been meaning to jump on it ever since. After all it combines some of my favorite things: a very cool, complex, and well-thought out magic system…and books. The idea of people with the ability to pull fictional items out of books and use in real life is actually one I’ve thought of myself. To be able to use Excalibur against the neighborhood bully or reach into a popular sci-fi novel and pull out a plasma rifle to use against a stronger foe is the stuff of dreams. I suspect many a young kid who daydreams instead of listening to a school lecture has thought of this concept as well, and I daresay there is more than one fanfic piece revolving around this concept out there as well. Nevertheless this is the first time I’ve seen this awesome concept developed so well before, complete with complex rules on what works and what doesn’t and, most importantly…why.
The best way I can describe this novel is as a combination of a Brandon Sanderson [b:Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians|623976|Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332516621s/623976.jpg|2591148] novella and Ernest Cline’s [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406383612s/9969571.jpg|14863741]. It’s a fun read, full of plot twists character moves and counter moves, and some interesting characters as well. It also includes numerous references to popular geek/book/genre culture, from Doctor Who to Firefly, from Lord of the Rings to Dune, and from Hannibal Lector to Professor Moriarty. If you were to imagine a scale from 1 = “whimsical” to 10 = “dead serious” I would rank this novel at about a 4. It’s definitely a lighter read and even when the peril is high, there is a certain element of fun to the writing.
A nice reading experience all the way around and I’m looking forward to book number two, [b:Codex Born|15824178|Codex Born (Magic Ex Libris, #2)|Jim C. Hines|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348840241s/15824178.jpg|21554984].
The best way I can describe this novel is as a combination of a Brandon Sanderson [b:Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians|623976|Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Alcatraz, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332516621s/623976.jpg|2591148] novella and Ernest Cline’s [b:Ready Player One|9969571|Ready Player One|Ernest Cline|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406383612s/9969571.jpg|14863741]. It’s a fun read, full of plot twists character moves and counter moves, and some interesting characters as well. It also includes numerous references to popular geek/book/genre culture, from Doctor Who to Firefly, from Lord of the Rings to Dune, and from Hannibal Lector to Professor Moriarty. If you were to imagine a scale from 1 = “whimsical” to 10 = “dead serious” I would rank this novel at about a 4. It’s definitely a lighter read and even when the peril is high, there is a certain element of fun to the writing.
A nice reading experience all the way around and I’m looking forward to book number two, [b:Codex Born|15824178|Codex Born (Magic Ex Libris, #2)|Jim C. Hines|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348840241s/15824178.jpg|21554984].
liinukka's review against another edition
2.0
There was something super cheesy about this story that I just couldn't get behind. The info dumps felt very inorganic, revealing the mechanics of the world in a very textbook kind of way. Then there was obviousness of the name dropping of various famous books/people. These elements made this novel annoying and painful to read at times. I groaned every time they mentioned Gutenberg, and that was often.
It got interesting (finally) near the end but too little too late. I won't be reading the rest of this series.
It got interesting (finally) near the end but too little too late. I won't be reading the rest of this series.
t_shaffner's review against another edition
2.0
This was a very meh book. Relatively flat characters, kind of cartoonish dynamics, fight scenes that were a bit boring. It took a long while to get going as well, and I spent much of the book debating if I wanted to return it for being bad. In the end it was just entertaining enough for me to get through it and thus feel I should keep it, but it was a close call. I will note, this felt like another situation in which the author might become good with practice, but this was clearly not an example of that point being reached.
If you have low expectations and just want a light escape, this will serve the purpose.
If you have low expectations and just want a light escape, this will serve the purpose.