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missflyer 's review for:
Codex Born
by Jim C. Hines
A whirlwind of a story once again – essentially non-stop action and story development, while keeping solid characterization and the magic of the first book going strong (both literally and metaphorically).
Events of the first book were more important than they first seemed, and in Codex Born the repercussions of Isaac’s magical use and his subsequent research are becoming more and more apparent – and more deadly. The magical being which tried to kill Isaac in Detroit is only the tip of the iceberg – or more accurately, the cover of a book which has been kept shut for centuries, but is now beginning to flip open. The world as we learned about it in [b: Libriomancer|12844699|Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1)|Jim C. Hines|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318277038s/12844699.jpg|17995680] is getting deeper and more nuanced, with shadowed corners being explored and Isaac testing the limits of libriomancy even more than before. It makes for a rich world, one that is thoroughly exciting and sometimes dangerous to visit, but always worth the trip and the wonder. I mean, can you complain when attitudes like this one run throughout the book/series: “Typical libriomancer response. Something wants to kill us? Cool! Where did it come from, and how does it work? And, depending on the inclinations of the libriomancer, how can I catch one and take it apart?” (page 8)
An addition to this book which I enjoyed were the chapter openings, each two to three pages, of Lena narrating her history to us, with her rather unique worldview showing forth. My absolute favorite one was hearing her perspective from when she . She has a very distinct voice, and it is evident in each of her passages. Which in all actuality is probably why after many of them I would feel rather jarred with the abrupt switch back to Isaac’s first-person narrative, even though I knew it was coming. Selling a reader on such short perspective shifts to the point where they are shocked by the return to the standard perspective of the book is very telling of the skill involved in the writing.
While I really enjoy the action-packed nature of these books, and how the characterizations are always very solid, I could use at least a little more introspection and reflection from Isaac, or even more observation which the reader gets to partake in as well. In part because it would help things from blurring together since events basically roll from one to the next, with barely any breathing room in between them. There is never a dull moment, that is for sure, and rarely is there a moment where something is not going down. Also, Mr. Hines does a great job of showing us who each character is, beyond any doubt – and they are faithful to those characterizations. Now I never really thought I would say this, but I kind of wish that there was just a bit more telling going on, too, in regards to characters. Telling in the respect that Isaac provides us with just a bit more narration about how he perceives others. He does have some one-off lines to that effect, but rarely does anything go deeper than an initial comment; he spends little time on his own analyses of what he observes, or at least not as much as I would like to see (I think this is mostly due to the nearly non-stop action of the story). At the end, once the action has wound down, I did feel like this was remedied to an extent, with Isaac’s blunt statements about the after-effects on him of what had happened. Of course, this is an entirely subjective opinion on my part, and not enough to truly hurt how I would rate this book.
When all’s said and done though, I can hardly wait to start in on [b: Unbound|17672182|Unbound|Cara McKenna|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1373975839s/17672182.jpg|24671250]! And so will the buddy read with Naomi continue!
Favorite quotes:
We had always assumed that e-readers would be useless for libriomancy, that the variety of reading devices and the impermanence of the files would prevent anyone from tapping into that collective belief. – page 4 – Not going to lie, that “impermanence of the files” is part of my view of digital book files, too – hence the reinforcement of my preference for physical books over digital copies.
“Rules were never a priority [with him]. Once you start playing God, nothing else matters. You’re incapable of walking away from an idea, no matter how bad an idea it might be.” – page 74
“The instinct to survive is so strong. Stronger than love. Stronger than fear. Threaten a man’s life, and you push him to truly live.” – page 111
Those were all good and valid reasons [why I picked this particular gun], but the truth was, I picked this one because I got to shoot evil with lightning bolts. – page 126
She had become the embodiment of everything I had learned to fear these past months. Of everything Gutenberg had feared since the founding of the Porters.
But she was also a refugee from a magical war that had been erased from our history. She hadn’t asked for any of this. She hadn’t known what she would bring back. – page 216
“[…] He’s not the same man he was. How much have you changed in your lifetime, Isaac? Your beliefs, your values, your knowledge, they all evolve with time and experience.” – page 224
Was it the total of all our experiences that defined us, or was it the key moments and choices that truly mattered? – page 230
[Lena said,] “The doors are locked, everything’s powered down for the night. This place should feel empty, but it doesn’t. That’s what you found here, isn’t it?” She spun on one foot like a ballerina. “Libraries kept you from being alone.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Don’t.” I could hear her smiling. “Books were your friends growing up. Your companions, your teachers.”
“I had friends.” I tried not to sound too defensive.
“How many of those friends understood you as well as the books did?” she teased. “Every book opened your mind, showed you the infinite paths that lay before you. Each one connected you to another soul.”
“When did you get so poetic?”
“Tell me I’m wrong.” She stepped closer. “I dare you.”
“You’re not wrong.” I breathed in the familiar smells of the library. Paper and ink, cloth-bound books and binding glue, magazines and old newspapers. – page 238-239
“You didn’t kill that woman, Lena. He made the choice to pull the trigger, not you. Don’t you dare take that responsibility away from him.” -- page 251
[…] that damage would flow through other copies of the book, and only time would heal it. – page 258 – Ah, okay! I was wondering how/if books could become useable again after being charred. I mean, considering how many times Isaac has used the Odyssey to pull out Moly…
The more we narrow the definition of beauty, the more beauty we shut out of our lives. -- page 282
New comments and questions poured forth, one atop the next.
“That’s a hell of a magical kluge.”
“Can you change the body you create? Make it younger or thinner?”
“Or better looking? Especially for Bobby over there.”
“Bite me. What about cloning? If you had access to the mind, how many copies could you make?”
“Have you examined the body at the genetic level? Are they affected at all by their dryadic birth?”
“Do they have belly buttons?”
Lena turned to me and mouthed the word “libriomancers” while rolling her eyes. I gave her a sympathetic smile. – page 302-303
Sassing Gutenberg wasn’t a wise life choice. – page 359
“[T]he mistakes of the past do not excuse the mistakes of the present. Nor do they protect us from the consequences of those mistakes.” – page 361
Events of the first book were more important than they first seemed, and in Codex Born the repercussions of Isaac’s magical use and his subsequent research are becoming more and more apparent – and more deadly. The magical being which tried to kill Isaac in Detroit is only the tip of the iceberg – or more accurately, the cover of a book which has been kept shut for centuries, but is now beginning to flip open. The world as we learned about it in [b: Libriomancer|12844699|Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1)|Jim C. Hines|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318277038s/12844699.jpg|17995680] is getting deeper and more nuanced, with shadowed corners being explored and Isaac testing the limits of libriomancy even more than before. It makes for a rich world, one that is thoroughly exciting and sometimes dangerous to visit, but always worth the trip and the wonder. I mean, can you complain when attitudes like this one run throughout the book/series: “Typical libriomancer response. Something wants to kill us? Cool! Where did it come from, and how does it work? And, depending on the inclinations of the libriomancer, how can I catch one and take it apart?” (page 8)
An addition to this book which I enjoyed were the chapter openings, each two to three pages, of Lena narrating her history to us, with her rather unique worldview showing forth. My absolute favorite one was hearing her perspective from when she
Spoiler
pulled Isaac out of the automaton in [b: Libriomancer|12844699|Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris, #1)|Jim C. Hines|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318277038s/12844699.jpg|17995680]While I really enjoy the action-packed nature of these books, and how the characterizations are always very solid, I could use at least a little more introspection and reflection from Isaac, or even more observation which the reader gets to partake in as well. In part because it would help things from blurring together since events basically roll from one to the next, with barely any breathing room in between them. There is never a dull moment, that is for sure, and rarely is there a moment where something is not going down. Also, Mr. Hines does a great job of showing us who each character is, beyond any doubt – and they are faithful to those characterizations. Now I never really thought I would say this, but I kind of wish that there was just a bit more telling going on, too, in regards to characters. Telling in the respect that Isaac provides us with just a bit more narration about how he perceives others. He does have some one-off lines to that effect, but rarely does anything go deeper than an initial comment; he spends little time on his own analyses of what he observes, or at least not as much as I would like to see (I think this is mostly due to the nearly non-stop action of the story). At the end, once the action has wound down, I did feel like this was remedied to an extent, with Isaac’s blunt statements about the after-effects on him of what had happened. Of course, this is an entirely subjective opinion on my part, and not enough to truly hurt how I would rate this book.
When all’s said and done though, I can hardly wait to start in on [b: Unbound|17672182|Unbound|Cara McKenna|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1373975839s/17672182.jpg|24671250]! And so will the buddy read with Naomi continue!
Favorite quotes:
We had always assumed that e-readers would be useless for libriomancy, that the variety of reading devices and the impermanence of the files would prevent anyone from tapping into that collective belief. – page 4 – Not going to lie, that “impermanence of the files” is part of my view of digital book files, too – hence the reinforcement of my preference for physical books over digital copies.
“Rules were never a priority [with him]. Once you start playing God, nothing else matters. You’re incapable of walking away from an idea, no matter how bad an idea it might be.” – page 74
“The instinct to survive is so strong. Stronger than love. Stronger than fear. Threaten a man’s life, and you push him to truly live.” – page 111
Those were all good and valid reasons [why I picked this particular gun], but the truth was, I picked this one because I got to shoot evil with lightning bolts. – page 126
She had become the embodiment of everything I had learned to fear these past months. Of everything Gutenberg had feared since the founding of the Porters.
But she was also a refugee from a magical war that had been erased from our history. She hadn’t asked for any of this. She hadn’t known what she would bring back. – page 216
“[…] He’s not the same man he was. How much have you changed in your lifetime, Isaac? Your beliefs, your values, your knowledge, they all evolve with time and experience.” – page 224
Was it the total of all our experiences that defined us, or was it the key moments and choices that truly mattered? – page 230
[Lena said,] “The doors are locked, everything’s powered down for the night. This place should feel empty, but it doesn’t. That’s what you found here, isn’t it?” She spun on one foot like a ballerina. “Libraries kept you from being alone.”
“I wasn’t—”
“Don’t.” I could hear her smiling. “Books were your friends growing up. Your companions, your teachers.”
“I had friends.” I tried not to sound too defensive.
“How many of those friends understood you as well as the books did?” she teased. “Every book opened your mind, showed you the infinite paths that lay before you. Each one connected you to another soul.”
“When did you get so poetic?”
“Tell me I’m wrong.” She stepped closer. “I dare you.”
“You’re not wrong.” I breathed in the familiar smells of the library. Paper and ink, cloth-bound books and binding glue, magazines and old newspapers. – page 238-239
“You didn’t kill that woman, Lena. He made the choice to pull the trigger, not you. Don’t you dare take that responsibility away from him.” -- page 251
[…] that damage would flow through other copies of the book, and only time would heal it. – page 258 – Ah, okay! I was wondering how/if books could become useable again after being charred. I mean, considering how many times Isaac has used the Odyssey to pull out Moly…
The more we narrow the definition of beauty, the more beauty we shut out of our lives. -- page 282
New comments and questions poured forth, one atop the next.
“That’s a hell of a magical kluge.”
“Can you change the body you create? Make it younger or thinner?”
“Or better looking? Especially for Bobby over there.”
“Bite me. What about cloning? If you had access to the mind, how many copies could you make?”
“Have you examined the body at the genetic level? Are they affected at all by their dryadic birth?”
“Do they have belly buttons?”
Lena turned to me and mouthed the word “libriomancers” while rolling her eyes. I gave her a sympathetic smile. – page 302-303
Sassing Gutenberg wasn’t a wise life choice. – page 359
“[T]he mistakes of the past do not excuse the mistakes of the present. Nor do they protect us from the consequences of those mistakes.” – page 361