Rachel Caine

Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his familys spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Librarys service.

Ink and Bone

"Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly, but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden ... When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life--and soon both heretics and books will burn"--Provided by publisher.

"There are three parts to learning: information, knowledge, and wisdom. A mere accumulation of information is not knowledge, and a treasure of knowledge is not in itself, wisdom."

I was recommended this book by a friend as part of my 12 Challenge, she said to me - 'You'll like it if you want Harry Potter mixed with The Atlas Six but with a bit more maturity and soul, and add a bit of The Book Thief too' and she knows that The Book Thief is one of my all time favorite books. She was right, I really liked this book. Imagine an alternate reality where The Great Library of Alexandria survived being burned and became the nexus of written word, with daughter libraries created called Serapeum around the world that would protect physical books. But now imagine that owning physical books would be illegal for anyone but the library, where written word is controlled and mandated, and only selected texts and ideas are allowed to be distributed. Jess comes from a family of covert book smugglers, endangering his life as a runner to deliver books to wealthy clients, when his father enrolls him with the library as his undercover advocate. Jess gets swept up in a world of political intrigue, secrets galore and surrounded by people he doesn't know if he can trust, or whether they should even trust him.

"Without the Library’s steady guidance, this device would allow the uncontrollable spread not only of knowledge, but folly. Imagine a world in which anyone, anywhere, could create and distribute their own words, however ignorant or flawed!"

This is a fantastic concept and the world building of this book was really its strong point, I immediately felt absorbed into this universe that felt so much like our own world but also so different too. I loved the fact that the restriction of knowledge meant that the world was backwards in some ways but also so much more advanced in others, high speed trains that could travel London to Alexandria in just one overnight trip alongside steam powered carriages, codices with mirrored copies of books at everyone's hands but the concept of a printing press is outlandish and dangerous. It was truly fascinating.

One thing that let this down for me, however, was the "magic" system - not so much magic but alchemy, but it really wasn't explained in a way that made sense and it didn't felt like it completely fit into the idea of the rest of this world. I am sure that was purposeful given their name of 'Obscurists' and that this is something that will be explained further in the rest of the series - but it didn't quite piece together for me that this felt like a real world "what-if" story but then only some people were born with these 'powers' like a fantasy novel. I want to know the origins of the mystical power but of course, this means I'm even more likely now to read the next book to find out what this all means.

The characters were fun, Jess had amazing growth through this book, his loyalties and morality were tested again and again and it was refreshing to have a main character that wasn't automatically great at everything. I really did get Harry Potter vibes, we had our Ron - Thomas, Ginny - Morgan, Hermione - Khalila and Draco - Dario (it even felt a bit like a Dramonie fanfic at parts) and the fact that they were in a school boarding system just brought that feeling home completely. I did struggle at parts to feel connected to the characters, in fact the characters I felt most connected to were Wolfe and Santi - maybe that's just my age, as I imagined them both to be around 30 - and I think the pacing of some of this book really prevented us from forming a deeper bond with the characters, unfortunately. I wish we had been given a bit more of the found family, cosy bonding feeling, that feeling of finally finding people who share your interests and passions - and thankfully by the end I felt that a bit more but I think the depth of this was brushed over a bit too lightly for most of the book.

Overall, this was a fantastic entertaining read and I am definitely going to pick up the next book in the series when I can, I think this was a solid first novel in a series and I'm excited to see where this story goes and my friends recommendation definitely was completely on point.

"You don’t just have ink in your blood. It’s in your bones. Your skeleton’s black with it."

Genevieve 

"There are three parts to learning: information, knowledge, and wisdom. A mere accumulation of information is not knowledge, and a treasure of knowledge is not in itself, wisdom."

4.25 ⭐'s

I was recommended this book by a friend as part of my 12 Challenge, she said to me - 'You'll like it if you want Harry Potter mixed with The Atlas Six but with a bit more maturity and soul, and add a bit of The Book Thief too' and she knows that The Book Thief is one of my all time favorite books. She was right, I really liked this book. Imagine an alternate reality where The Great Library of Alexandria survived being burned and became the nexus of written word, with daughter libraries created called Serapeum around the world that would protect physical books. But now imagine that owning physical books would be illegal for anyone but the library, where written word is controlled and mandated, and only selected texts and ideas are allowed to be distributed. Jess comes from a family of covert book smugglers, endangering his life as a runner to deliver books to wealthy clients, when his father enrolls him with the library as his undercover advocate. Jess gets swept up in a world of political intrigue, secrets galore and surrounded by people he doesn't know if he can trust, or whether they should even trust him.

"Without the Library’s steady guidance, this device would allow the uncontrollable spread not only of knowledge, but folly. Imagine a world in which anyone, anywhere, could create and distribute their own words, however ignorant or flawed!"

This is a fantastic concept and the world building of this book was really its strong point, I immediately felt absorbed into this universe that felt so much like our own world but also so different too. I loved the fact that the restriction of knowledge meant that the world was backwards in some ways but also so much more advanced in others, high speed trains that could travel London to Alexandria in just one overnight trip alongside steam powered carriages, codices with mirrored copies of books at everyone's hands but the concept of a printing press is outlandish and dangerous. It was truly fascinating.

One thing that let this down for me, however, was the "magic" system - not so much magic but alchemy, but it really wasn't explained in a way that made sense and it didn't felt like it completely fit into the idea of the rest of this world. I am sure that was purposeful given their name of 'Obscurists' and that this is something that will be explained further in the rest of the series - but it didn't quite piece together for me that this felt like a real world "what-if" story but then only some people were born with these 'powers' like a fantasy novel. I want to know the origins of the mystical power but of course, this means I'm even more likely now to read the next book to find out what this all means.

The characters were fun, Jess had amazing growth through this book, his loyalties and morality were tested again and again and it was refreshing to have a main character that wasn't automatically great at everything. I really did get Harry Potter vibes, we had our Ron - Thomas, Ginny - Morgan, Hermione - Khalila and Draco - Dario (it even felt a bit like a Dramonie fanfic at parts) and the fact that they were in a school boarding system just brought that feeling home completely. I did struggle at parts to feel connected to the characters, in fact the characters I felt most connected to were Wolfe and Santi - maybe that's just my age, as I imagined them both to be around 30 - and I think the pacing of some of this book really prevented us from forming a deeper bond with the characters, unfortunately. I wish we had been given a bit more of the found family, cosy bonding feeling, that feeling of finally finding people who share your interests and passions - and thankfully by the end I felt that a bit more but I think the depth of this was brushed over a bit too lightly for most of the book.

Overall, this was a fantastic entertaining read and I am definitely going to pick up the next book in the series when I can, I think this was a solid first novel in a series and I'm excited to see where this story goes and my friends recommendation definitely was completely on point.

"You don’t just have ink in your blood. It’s in your bones. Your skeleton’s black with it."

'A magical new series that will leave readers begging for more’ Deborah Harkness, author of A Discovery of Witches In a world where the ancient Great Library of Alexandria was never destroyed, knowledge now rules the world: freely available, but strictly controlled. Owning private books is a crime. Jess Brightwell is the son of a black market book smuggler, sent to the Library to compete for a position as a scholar . . . but even as he forms friendships and finds his true gifts, he begins to unearth the dark secrets of the greatest, most revered institution in the world. Those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life – and soon both heretics and books will burn . . . ‘A first-class storyteller’ Charlaine Harris, author of the True Blood series

The internationally bestselling author's epic new series

Courtney

I really really liked this! It's reminiscent of a mix between Fahrenheit 451 and The Book Thief, but with a major fantasy twist!

BOOKS. EVERYWHERE.
Harry Potter meets The Book Thief meets Fahrenheit 451 indeed. Need I say more? Honestly I want you guys to find out the juicy details for yourselves but trust me, TRUST ME when I say this book is an incredible read.

Far cry from perfect, but hella entertaining! I need the sequel, like, now.

jess

This was cool. I admit I was totally expecting straight up alt history but this was more fantasy, which threw me off. It reminded me of kid's adventure series but with a bit less of the charm, but still! This is my shit. My history-loving heart clenches at the loss of the Library of Alexandria. It's one of my favorite theories of alternate history: what would happen if it had survived? We would have had so much more knowledge about the era. Heck, we could have been riding hoverboards by now. This is a reality that I hadn't thought about; it's not true alternate history, but rather fantasy. 

I took a star off because it was kind of confusing at first, and I didn't relate to any of the characters. I liked Thomas, though, and I liked that the cast was so diverse - like, this is a society that still uses trains to get around; it takes place in Alexandria and it's a lot more diverse than a lot of books that take place in modern-day America. Only thing I wasn't really getting was how Catholicism was pointed out. I know Gutenberg existed but the printing press didn't take off in this world, but the term "Catholic" is only really used to distinguish Catholicism from other sects of Christianity. But minor issue. 

It reminds me a lot of kids' books and in a good way. All the books that take history and mold them into a story a la the 39 Clues, Seven Wonders, and The Copernicus Legacy: this was very similar to these, and maybe I'm growing too old, but all of those read young for me. Ink and Bone was great in that regard, because I have been yearning for a YA book along those lines. I love historical conspiracies. Assassin's Creed is one of my favorite stories for this reason. 

I'm excited for the next book!

Sonja H

Sehr schöne Ideen interessant umgesetzt mit wenig Kitsch, viel Spannung und glaubwürdigen Charakteren!

Celeste Richardson

Actual rating: 4.5 stars, rounded up.
“Lives are short, but knowledge is eternal.” 
I’ve discovered that alternate histories completely fascinate me. And what could be more fascinating that a world in which the Great Library of Alexandria didn’t burn to the ground? Not only did it survive, but it became the intellectual equivalent of the Catholic Church during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire, but with even more power and longevity. And instead of encouraging and cultivating creativity and the pursuit of knowledge, the Library has been systematically suppressing ideas and inventions that would change the world, some of which we in reality currently enjoy and take for granted. This idea really made me stop and think and appreciate, but Ink and Bone is so much more than just a treatise on the vital importance of intellectual freedom. It’s also a killer story with an incredibly compelling cast of characters. It was well paced and well written and I think it’s the beginning of something truly magical.

Jess Brightwell is a runner for his book smuggler father. In this version of the world, it is in most cases illegal to own real, handwritten books. Instead, people are issues blanks, books in which the print appears and disappears by magic and at times of the Library’s choosing. These blanks remind me of multi-page readers, but I’m digressing. Jess runs books for his father, risking arrest and even his life smuggling books from an incredibly young age. But he loves books and the knowledge they contain with a ferocity that his father decides to use to his own advantage and buys Jess’s way into testing that could lead to his becoming a Library Scholar. Jess passes the test and heads for Alexandria, where we meet the rest of our cast.

The dynamics among this group of students as they compete and reluctantly become friends reminded me very much of Harry Potter for some reason. But I think the biggest reason I was reminded of Harry Potter was Wolfe, the Scholar in charge of this new group of students. Wolfe is a much cooler, more vibrant Professor Snape. While I love Jess and Thomas and most all of the students, I adore Wolfe. Even though he’s technically a background character, he took center stage for me. 

I’m so intrigued by the world building, by the thought of a Library basically running the world. The settings for different and compelling, and the plot itself was multilayered in a way that ensured there was never a dull moment in the text. Also, it doesn’t hurt that the books themselves are gorgeous. While this is YA, which isn’t my favorite genre, it never annoyed me, and it avoided common YA tropes that I dislike. All in all, this was a great beginning to what I suspect will be a fantastic series. I’m definitely interested in seeing where the story goes next.

Vilde

4.5

I've been eyeing this title for a while. One word: Library. And the world of The Great Library is absolutely fascinating. I love how the world seems to be stuck in a world pre-Johannes Gutenberg (the one who invented and introduced printing and the printing press to Europe), and yet somewhat a modern world that has evolved beyond this and into an alternative modern era. Information and knowledge is the key and a valuable commodity in this universe. The world of The Great Library series is regulated by a huge international institution, which is the Library. The Library pulls the strings in Ink and Bone, and it is in the Library's interest to keep the information and knowledge contained in physical books, only to be disseminated through their regulated codexes. It is therefore given that physical books are sought after and valued, some titles more than others.

The universe of The Great Library series is so far a spectacular world, and I'm beyond excited to see more of this. However, I do have some remarks about Ink and Bone - as my rating show I haven't given Ink and Bone a full five stars-rating - whilst it was fascinating to read about the world of The Great Library, the plot in the story didn't come fully to life until I had passed the halfway point. Whilst I do appreciate well-built worlds and etc., I do prefer the plot to kick start a bit earlier. Characters-wise was great, a lot different types of people here, and I appreciated a lot of them throughout Ink and Bone, although I did get a bit mad at Jess (view spoiler)[as he became a touch too fixated on Morgan, and I got tired. In other words, why does the romance aspect seem to kill my interest? (hide spoiler)]. I do however love how Ben Allen narrated the characters, with their accents and etc., it was a wonderful narration.

Gemma Reilly

I didn't even finish this book and after one year I've gave up on trying. I just couldn't get into it.

Kayla

(NO ACTUAL SPOILERS, BUT I DO HINT THAT UNSPECIFIED THINGS HAPPEN TO UNSPECIFIED PEOPLE.)

I AM DONE AND EVERYTHING HURTS (even though the sneak peak of the next book spoiled the "big thing" that happened at the end of the first one). 

I bought this book because Books-a-Million was having a Buy Two Get One Free paperbacks sale and I needed a third book, but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the whole concept of the book: The Great Library of Alexandria survives, and the power it gives humanity causes society to cease changing after the early 20th century, and the Library literally BECOMES the world-wide government. Like, WHAT?!? I am a huge time travel nerd (Doctor Who WOOT WOOT) and supporter of the multiverse theory (at least I like the idea of it), so this universe was all perfect for me. Probably a little inaccurate, but I love the symbolism of the Library's power. 

For me, the main problem with this book is the characters. I liked them, but they were all so flat. They made sense, but I just couldn't get attached to them as easily as I do for other characters in other books. I didn't even cry when the BIG THING (if you've read it you know what I mean) happened because I wasn't emotionally connected to the characters involved. However, I LOVED the characters' stories, which I guess just means that I loved the story, not the characters. 

This book had my heart racing a few times, and I did tear up at one point (even though it wasn't at the part I feel like I was SUPPOSED to tear up at). I laughed a little too, even though this isn't really a funny book. 

While reading this book, something happened that has never happened to me before: THE COUPLE THAT I SECRETLY SHIPPED BUT ASSUMED WOULDN'T HAPPEN TURNED OUT TO BE CANON??? That NEVER happens! For the main couples, yeah, those are usually obvious from the beginning, but the "side characters who are just friends?" Never. I was pleasantly surprised. 

This was just a good book. Certainly not my favorite, but I enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next book in the series. I highly recommend this book to, well, book lovers, for reasons you won't understand until you read the book.

Nat Welch

Left a little too much for future books, but interesting premise and quick read.

Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly, but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden. When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life, and soon both heretics and books will bur.

Ink and bone

Kathleen Boyle

The Great Library of Alexandria never burned and if this is the world it created then maybe it burning was for the better!
I absolutely loved this. I can't believe I've barely heard anyone talk/read/mention it! I was enthralled from the very first page and my interest didn't dip at any point! I loved the writing style as well as the characters. Their overall development was very interesting to see, especially the way things panned out. 
I couldn't really guess where any of this was going and the plot definitely went to bigger heights than I first expected it to go! The stakes were immensely high and the author takes no quarter!

laura

I really enjoyed the concept of this book alot. Loved having a male as a lead character and all the other character me met along the way. I really loved the premise and also how the story progressed. The world building was a tad weak but hopefully in future books it will get better!

Anastaciya

I rate this 2, maybe 2.5 stars. 
The book is not bad, but I didn't love it. I often give higher rating in such cases if the writing is special, but it's nothing breathtaking in this book. 
I am surprised I didn't hear anything about the series on booktube. I had no expectations or hype, and yet... it wasn't what I expected. Definitely intrigued to see where things go in the next books.

Kerri McDonald

Ok, this book ticked all my boxes. Complex characters with not immediately apparent motives? Check! Intense plot that chugged right along with barely a moment to breathe? Check! A nefarious and seemingly unbeatable bad guy? Definitely check! But you know what made me give it five stars? This book made me cry. Legit real tears. That hasn't happened in quite some time. I've teared up before and been sad, but I haven't cried in awhile. I would (and will!) recommend this book to all of my fantasy-loving friends. Who am I kidding? I'll probably recommend this to ALL of my friends!

Kate

2.5 stars. I feel as though I'm the only person who's read Ink and Bone and didn't enjoy it. :( I had such high hopes for it but unfortunately I just couldn't get into it at all. The last 50 pages or so I enjoyed, I just wish the rest of the book previously had been as exciting. There were a few characters and parts to the plot I felt were interesting but for the most part I just found it slow paced and lacking in excitement, there just wasn't anything that gripped me to the story. I'm so sad I didn't enjoy it as much as everyone loves it!

Yaelle N Nisinzweig

Lo Gray

Andrea Mack

Lindsy Rice

In this exhilarating series, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.… Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden. Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service. When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn....

Ink and Bone

Reviews