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A review by catpingu
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Ultimate magic library cult. The library vibes are somewhat similar to [book:The Starless Sea|43575115] while the cohort is dark academia like [book:The Atlas Six|50520939]. But in an overall comparison, the unveiling of the dark side of standardized book protection is disturbingly similar to [book:Babel|57945316]. I think the cover art of this book is slightly misleading because, well, I'm not even sure what it's supposed to represent. Libraries sound boring but this one's a super cult so come on, be interested.
The Great Library in Alexandria spawned off daughter libraries all over the world, with a dedicated system of librarians, scholars, and others faithfully preserving printed original copies of books to digitize them into the Codex for universal sharing. Owning a printed book outside of the Library's control is a crime, so naturally, book collectors and the black markets are on very familiar terms. Jess Brightwell is the son of a book smuggler, sent by his father to the Library's program to make use of his cleverness and potentially help as a new connection behind enemy lines. Competing against others for a chance to work for the library, Jess thought he'd already experienced the dark side of the institution. The Library has more enemies than book smugglers, and he's about to learn about how its members deal with the offenders.
Not sure if this qualiifies as dark academia, but it certainly involves a lot of Great Library history. Following Jess and uncovering the lies and truth of the institution is definitely a lot like The Atlas Six, where we have a nice mix of naive sheltered students and jaded street-wise students competing for these prestigious positions. Like Babel, we see the downsides to standardization of book copies and systems, persisting even in war zones, because somehow the preservation of ink on paper matters just that much when they have magic.There's also a plot where like concerns about the United States' National Security Agency, the Library is secretly spying on everyone or persons of interest via their personal journals, in which everyone is required to record everything.
I'm not doing a good job of reviewing this, arguably because the actions that happen I shouldn't go into detail with, and because everything else...well, nothing else too too much happens. Just follow the character and undermine this cult. And also personally I want to get a better handle on his family; I think there's something fishy about their motivations. And I hope he's able to save his girlfriendMorgan from being an Obscurist broodmare in the Iron Tower because they're running out of alchemists. I hope Morgan learned the truth about why Jess betrayed her. I hope they can make up .
The Great Library in Alexandria spawned off daughter libraries all over the world, with a dedicated system of librarians, scholars, and others faithfully preserving printed original copies of books to digitize them into the Codex for universal sharing. Owning a printed book outside of the Library's control is a crime, so naturally, book collectors and the black markets are on very familiar terms. Jess Brightwell is the son of a book smuggler, sent by his father to the Library's program to make use of his cleverness and potentially help as a new connection behind enemy lines. Competing against others for a chance to work for the library, Jess thought he'd already experienced the dark side of the institution. The Library has more enemies than book smugglers, and he's about to learn about how its members deal with the offenders.
Not sure if this qualiifies as dark academia, but it certainly involves a lot of Great Library history. Following Jess and uncovering the lies and truth of the institution is definitely a lot like The Atlas Six, where we have a nice mix of naive sheltered students and jaded street-wise students competing for these prestigious positions. Like Babel, we see the downsides to standardization of book copies and systems, persisting even in war zones, because somehow the preservation of ink on paper matters just that much when they have magic.
I'm not doing a good job of reviewing this, arguably because the actions that happen I shouldn't go into detail with, and because everything else...well, nothing else too too much happens. Just follow the character and undermine this cult. And also personally I want to get a better handle on his family; I think there's something fishy about their motivations. And I hope he's able to save his girlfriend