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A review by bookph1le
Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines
3.0
3.5 stars
This book didn't hold me in its thrall the way reads I really enjoy do, but it was solid, and I liked it a lot. I'll try to ensure this review isn't too spoiler-y.
It was very refreshing to read about a hero who, while he does have some of the general cockiness you might expect from your typical male fantasy protagonist, is very self-aware. When Isaac messes up, he knows it and he owns it. He's also very thoughtful about his potential love interest and what the implications are of getting into a relationship with her, though I have to say I found her kind of stock.
The concept of this book is interesting too. Naturally, being the book lover I am, I think a magic system revolving around books would be awesome, and I really appreciated that Hines set up a solid system that involves rules that make sense. It's a given that our hero is going to find a way to take the magic beyond what he initially thought he could do, and while I thought that was fine in this book, there is the potential for things to become so god-like in future installments that I might end up disconnecting--I'm never a fan of fantasy books where the main characters have powers that are *too* uber. We'll see.
The other thing I admired about this book was how it grapples with the ethics of magic and tries to reckon with the secrets Isaac learns. I'm all about thoughtful portrayals of the consequences of one's actions, so well done, Isaac, for actually reflecting in the actions of yourself and others and questioning whether those actions were right. I also appreciated that there was a lot of gray area in these books, and that they were willing to go into lesser-of-two-evils territory.
This book didn't hold me in its thrall the way reads I really enjoy do, but it was solid, and I liked it a lot. I'll try to ensure this review isn't too spoiler-y.
It was very refreshing to read about a hero who, while he does have some of the general cockiness you might expect from your typical male fantasy protagonist, is very self-aware. When Isaac messes up, he knows it and he owns it. He's also very thoughtful about his potential love interest and what the implications are of getting into a relationship with her, though I have to say I found her kind of stock.
The concept of this book is interesting too. Naturally, being the book lover I am, I think a magic system revolving around books would be awesome, and I really appreciated that Hines set up a solid system that involves rules that make sense. It's a given that our hero is going to find a way to take the magic beyond what he initially thought he could do, and while I thought that was fine in this book, there is the potential for things to become so god-like in future installments that I might end up disconnecting--I'm never a fan of fantasy books where the main characters have powers that are *too* uber. We'll see.
The other thing I admired about this book was how it grapples with the ethics of magic and tries to reckon with the secrets Isaac learns. I'm all about thoughtful portrayals of the consequences of one's actions, so well done, Isaac, for actually reflecting in the actions of yourself and others and questioning whether those actions were right. I also appreciated that there was a lot of gray area in these books, and that they were willing to go into lesser-of-two-evils territory.