Pub. Date - July 7, 2015
3.5 stars
In an alternate reality, the great library of Alexandria was never destroyed and so books become the world's most important commodity. Librarians are specially trained with their own armies and there are rebel groups that try to upend the whole society. I was initially drawn in by the premise, what book-lover wouldn't be, but the characters and their relationships kept me reading. The main character, Jess, comes from a family of prominent smugglers and while finds a good fit at the library academy also knows that he must still fulfill familial obligations. There are other characters from around the region creating an interesting cultural perspective of the different European countries and their reputation in the larger world. I did find that the book got sluggish quite often with staggering world building details which included; wars between countries, a strange division of librarians locked in a tower and a lot of strange technology. The details of all of this bogged down the overall flow of the story. That said, there is potential for an interesting series and I think that future books will probably be free of these explanatory details. As it is a wonderful read for book lovers with truly interesting world building, I look forward to seeing this series progress. I received this book from Penguin's First to Read Program in exchange for an honest review.
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