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seshat59 's review for:
Ink and Bone
by Rachel Caine
At first glance, Caine has created my utopia in The Great Library’s universe. The world is run by the Great Library, founded and headquartered in Hellenistic Alexandria, and so much of this world — as propagandized and known by our protagonist, Jess — seems admirable: the Library preserves knowledge at all costs and are based on Hellenistic principles. They treasure books and have invented an alchemical means of preserving and transcribing original books to be distributed to the public via Codex, aka a kindle/nook/reading tablet. Real, tangible books or scrolls with pages are illegal and can only handled by Library personnel. This culture celebrates intellectual achievement, and becoming a Scholar is a highly respectable position. Almost everything about this world has been specifically designed to woo me. It sounds like perfection, but there’s, naturally, something insidious in all these apparent ideals. Having had authoritarian power and world domination for centuries, this world that so celebrates and disseminates information has, of course, become corrupted and, by controlling information, attempts to control thoughts, loyalties, and actions.
Another strength of this book is how well it shows versus tells. Don’t understand the Egyptian background? Figure it out with context clues! Don’t understand the how the Library works? You’ll figure it out. Jess is the son of a smuggling family: they smuggle actual books for a very lucrative profit, and while he acknowledges early on the dangers of the Library and how it harshly punishes those who violate the law, he still secretly accepts their propaganda. His father forces him to take the test to apply to become a postulant to join the Library’s ranks. And what follows is the typical school trope: he’s accepted, journeys to Alexandria, meets friends and frenemies, and competes brutally to earn one of the six available positions. And throughout his experiences, he learns more about what the Library is actually like and we learn simultaneously more about this world Caine has created.
The Library has stifled, on many occasions, the invention of the printing press in their need for control (and so reminds me of the Catholic Church controlling education and faith prior to Gutenberg).
Despite following some well worn tropes, Caine’s approach is fresh and entertaining. It combines (and celebrates) scholarly study and action (my favorite combinations). From Alexandria to civil war, we’re shown what happens to those who violate the Library’s neutrality, led to question what really matters most — life or knowledge (and man, my scholarly and humane instincts completely war within me on this issue), come to debate the importance free will or “knowledge,” and more.
I’ve barely mentioned the characters: both primary and secondary. Everyone is laden with secrets, and people are not what they seem going in. Jess’s preconceived notions are challenged left and right.
I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book. (I’m very happy I read an Original copy of this book, and not a Codex version — because is there truly a substitute for the feel and smell of a book?)
4.5 stars
Another strength of this book is how well it shows versus tells. Don’t understand the Egyptian background? Figure it out with context clues! Don’t understand the how the Library works? You’ll figure it out. Jess is the son of a smuggling family: they smuggle actual books for a very lucrative profit, and while he acknowledges early on the dangers of the Library and how it harshly punishes those who violate the law, he still secretly accepts their propaganda. His father forces him to take the test to apply to become a postulant to join the Library’s ranks. And what follows is the typical school trope: he’s accepted, journeys to Alexandria, meets friends and frenemies, and competes brutally to earn one of the six available positions. And throughout his experiences, he learns more about what the Library is actually like and we learn simultaneously more about this world Caine has created.
The Library has stifled, on many occasions, the invention of the printing press in their need for control (and so reminds me of the Catholic Church controlling education and faith prior to Gutenberg).
Despite following some well worn tropes, Caine’s approach is fresh and entertaining. It combines (and celebrates) scholarly study and action (my favorite combinations). From Alexandria to civil war, we’re shown what happens to those who violate the Library’s neutrality, led to question what really matters most — life or knowledge (and man, my scholarly and humane instincts completely war within me on this issue), come to debate the importance free will or “knowledge,” and more.
I’ve barely mentioned the characters: both primary and secondary. Everyone is laden with secrets, and people are not what they seem going in. Jess’s preconceived notions are challenged left and right.
I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book. (I’m very happy I read an Original copy of this book, and not a Codex version — because is there truly a substitute for the feel and smell of a book?)
4.5 stars