The Invisible Library

Parallel universes, clever women, a strange pupil, a famous detective and lots of old books - this novel has everything a bibliophile reader could wish for!

Nach den Büchern von Jasper Fforde und Ben Aaranovich war ich auch auf der Suche nach neuer spanender Fantasy-Lektüre und habe sie in Cogmans Debütroman gefunden. Jeder, der gerne mal etwas über geheimnisvollen Assistenten, einer Bibliothek jenseits von Zeit und Raum und einer Protagonistin, die für Bücher alles tut, lesen will, ist hier an der richtigen Stelle.

This was an intriguing story. I liked the plot and genuinely wanted to know what would be the answer to all our questions regarding Alberich, that one book Irene, our young librarian, was sent to fetch, and even the Language. The concept of the world(s) felt big, and I knew that this must be a series - even before I looked it up. It takes a while before the book picks up the pace, still, it always kept me intrigued - I wanted to know. The perceived vastness of the world made me think that there had to be so much, and that we'd get so many relevant pieces of information along the way. However, the magnitude of the world and the magic we encounter also felt a bit too uncontrolled. Some information in regards to the different realities/parallel worlds would have helped. Also, why were Fae, Werewolves, etc. a thing in the reality Irene was sent to? I felt like this part was not sufficiently explained. It rather felt like too many things being "stuffed" into this story. It read a bit like the author didn't really know either or didn't know how to share this information bit by bit within the story of this first book. I agree that one doesn't have to have ALL the information from the beginning - that would be boring to read - but I as a reader need to be confident that the author knows all. And I just didn't get that feeling up until the last 50 pages or so. That's also when I really started to care for some of the characters. Before that I just tagged along and wondered who Irene was. Not in regards to her heritage or her identity, but what made her her. I know that she's diligent and determined, I know that she's open when it comes to her sexuality and things of this nature. I know that she's still a relatively young librarian, and therefore has to get some more experience. Still, some of her reactions and decisions didn't quite fit with the information we have about her. All in all, I feel like, the distribution of information throughout the story was a bit off which, in turn, lets it sit in the middle ground in terms of enjoyment of stories. I will be reading the second book, as I really like the premise and the idea behind the story, and I want to know if some more information will help with understanding and caring for the characters, and make this a good series rather than an okay fantasy story.

Join Irene – a professional spy – on her mission to retrieve a special copy of Grimms' Fairy Tales for the Invisible Library, involving handsome assistants, great detectives, cyborg alligators and an annoying coworkers. A diverting dive into alternate universes!

"The Invisible Library" is the first book in a fantasy/crime series by Genevieve Cogman. Like every other librarian, Irene loves books. She collects them, reads them, is passionate about them. Unlike most other librarians, Irene has to travel to alternate worlds to collect them, which can be quite eventful and at times even pretty dangerous. In this installment we follow Irene to an alternate world to obtain a unique copy of the Brothers Grimm's fairytales. Unfortunately she and her apprentice aren't the only ones who are looking for said book and the situation escalates fast. In order to defeat vampires, rogue librarians and faes, Irene and Kai have to liase with a local detective. Can he be trusted, though? Unsurprisingly, the importance of books is what intrigued me about this novel and made me read it. Although it has a good plot and an interesting setting, "The Invisible Library" didn't captivate me as much as I hoped it would.