Irene is a spy for the mysterious Library, which accumulates stories from alternative realities. With her new assistant Kai she sets off to alternative London, to retrieve a book, which should have been an easy task but suddenly bodies turn up, secret societies, unpredictable magic and best of all: the book had been nicked by someone else!

I waited so long to find the first volume of this book series, but I really turned up to be slightly disappointed while reading the story. I love when a book focuses on the praise of literature, involves mystery, missions and the specks of magic to make it gripping. However, from the start it took me about a 100 pages till I found footing in the storyline, world and overall understanding of what was going on. Especially, because so little was explained about the magical creatures, magic systems etc. The one thing I knew most about was the concept of the Library, which I found a good point the main character started to doubt it's mission and standing in history. Which brings me to the characters in this book: a over correct spy, a dutiful assistant with secrets, a flirtatious book thief and a Sherlock Holmes like inspector. All characters had a good base to start from, but their lack of depth and background made it hard to relate to them. Sometimes I didn't even like how they talked, because it felt unnatural of how people would interact with each other. But that is just how I felt reading some of the dialog scenes. It can be a good time for fantasy and steam punk lovers, however be aware that the action part is covered with slight dust as some books stored away inside the vast Library.

I didn't find any similarities between the story and Doctor Who in this book, but it was still a rather good read. I needed some time to get into the story, but about halfway through it did capture me and I'm going to buy the second book in the series right away. It's a good fantasy novel that I'd recommend anyone who likes the genre.

If there existed a list of elements that I simply LOVE in a book, then this one would have checked all the boxes! After a passionate recommendation from a friend, I was looking forward to reading it! The story is about Irene, who is a Librarian of the Invisible Library. This means that she has to fulfill missions in different realities that mostly include retrieving certain books. For her newest mission she has to visit an alternate world that is very unstable. The chaotic force in it has created vampires and fae - and on top of the dangers, Irene has to look after her newly appointed student who hides a secret. Of course, things go wrong: The book they have to bring back to the Library has been stolen before they got there and Irene is struggling to finish her assignment. It was a fantastical adventure that barely left time over to breathe. There was action and a mountain of secrets, fights - I really enjoyed it! The powers of the Librarians are really cool, their relationship to magic, dragons (!) and heists - I loved the mixture of it all! I really liked the protagonist, too. Especially her maturity when it came to not being distracted by emotions, which happens all too often in young adult books. Irene kept consequential and it was such a good change! The only small criticism I have is that the book felt like it never took a break. The events that happened on its 300 pages could have easily stretched to a 500 pages-book, but were so concise that it felt a little exhausting reading it. I didn't really mind it too much, though, because I was very entertained on every single page. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series!

Bücher über Bücher scheinen keine einfache Thematik für Autoren zu sein. Auch dieses Buch konnte mich leider nicht begeistern, wobei ich die Grundidee toll fand. Die Umsetzung war aber zum einen zu viel des Guten. Werwölfe, Vampire, Fae, mechanische Wesen in Steampunk Art, Magie, Drachen in Menschengestalt und dann „die Sprache“. Eine Art Magie die mithilfe gesprochener Sätze ausgeübt wird. Das konnte ich einfach nicht wirklich greifen und entzieht sich meiner Logik. Einiges war widersprüchlich und sehr oft ging es leider nicht richtig vorwärts und es wurde zu viel von den handelnden Personen diskutiert. Das Ende hat mir immerhin gefallen, aber ich bin mir nicht sicher ob ich die Reihe weiterlesen werden. Im Grunde kann man es auch beim ersten Band belassen. Knappe 3 Sterne

Imagine you could devote your life to hunting down and saving rare books to preserve them forever. Furthermore imagine you did not just search for them in one world, or one time... Imagine you could be a Librarian. The first thing I noted about the setup was the new approach to the topic of magic. Perhaps the author's experience in roleplay game writing played a part here: The system of the two "magics" seems not only thought out and regulated, but also well-balanced. On the one hand, there is the more classical magic, aligned with chaos, and on the other hand, there is the Language, aligned with order, rationality - and the Library. But - as should be the casein any good story - there are more parties than just one to each of those magical sides. What I also enjoyed is the amount of strong and sensible female characters in this book. The main character, Irene, is a comparatively young Librarian and decidedly not the perfect heroine. But she does have a string will, a good brain, and enough sense not to become the panting and sighing love interest of some male character or other. The arch enemy is a man, sadly, as are the other minor villains - but, well, you can't always get what you want... The world of the story is populated by many well-known and beloved creatures of fantasy fiction, but mostly with a little twist, sometimes of a rather humourous nature. There are Fae, vampires, werewolves and - there be dragons. Neither the reader, nor Irene should take anything at face value - not the good, not the bad, not the ugly. What I found a little irritating at first was the use of brackets to add comments or background information. But I soon became too enthralled and the brackets got fewer as the story progressed. Now and again I could guess a plot twist just a bit too soon. But this might be due to the amount of fantasy literature I've consumed in the past already. I would recommend the book to fans of the "Rivers of London"-series, the "Seiten der Welt"-triolgy, as well as to anyone who enjoys a bit of mechanical apparati causing mayhem and some good zeppelin chases.

Irene arbeitet seit sie denken kann, für die Bibliothek und beschafft aus allen Welten und Zeiten seltene Bücher. Dabei beherrscht sie die Magie der Worte. Gerade ist sie von einem schwierigen Auftrag zurückgekehrt, da muss sie auch schon wieder los in einem viktorianischen London ein verlorenes Manuskript der Gebrüder Grimm beschaffen. Zu allem Übel, bekommt sie nun auch noch einen Lehrling zur Seite gestellt. Doch schon bald erweist sich Kai als größere Hilfe denn als Last. Das Manuskript wurde gestohlen und sein Besitzer ermordet, bevor die beiden diese alternative Zeit erreichen. Nun gilt es den Mörder und Bücherdieb zu finden. Zur Seite steht den beiden dabei der gewitzte Detektiv Lord Vale, der seinerseits ein eigenes Interesse hat, den Schuldigen zu finden. Alle Spuren führen zu einem der größten Verräter der Bibliothek, dem es gelungen ist, unsterblich zu werden. Bisher hielt Irene ihn für einen Mythos, doch dieser ist für ihren Geschmack dann doch sehr real. Eine interessante Geschichte, die sich Frau Cogman da hat einfallen lassen. Jeder Bibliophile wird dieses Buch habe wollen. Denn wer träumt nicht für diesen Verein zu arbeiten und fremde Welten zu bereisen, um seltene Manuskripte zu retten. Die Charaktere sind liebevoll ausgearbeitet und machen es dem Leser leicht Sympathie zu empfinden. Insbesondere Kai und Lord Vale hatten es mir angetan. Hatte letzterer doch etwas von Sherlock Holmes. Die Autorin spart nicht an fantasievollen Details, wie ferngesteuerte Alligatoren und abgezogene Bibliothekarshäute. Es macht Spaß in diese fremde Welt einzutauchen, wenn man sich einmal hineingefuchst hat, denn an einigen Stellen hat das Buch doch seine Längen. Und hin und wieder wäre noch ein bisschen mehr Background schön gewesen, um tiefer in das Mysterium der allwissenden Bibliothek einzutauchen. Da dies aber als Mehrteiler geplant ist, werde ich vielleicht noch mehr über die liebgewonnenen Detektive in den nächsten Bänden erfahren. Ich für meinen Teil habe schon eine Bewerbung geschrieben und ich würde jederzeit und sofort für diese unsichtbare Bibliothek verschollene Bücher retten. Fremde Welten erforschen und mit Hilfe der Sprachmagie Abenteuer erleben. Trotz einiger Längen, ein Werk an überbordender Phantasie und auf alle Fälle empfehlenswert, auch für deutsche Leser, da die Übersetzung im Dezember 2015 unter dem Titel „Die unsichtbare Bibliothek“ herauskommt.

In December all I wanted was a fun read. Some kind of adventure story that would be captivating enough to allow me to escape into it for that little free time that I had. I decided that [b:Rivers of London|9317452|Rivers of London (Peter Grant, #1)|Ben Aaronovitch|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1401385034s/9317452.jpg|13552476] sounded quite like that kind of book. But, sadly, it wasn’t. The Invisible Library, however, is exactly that kind of book. A female librarian-spy, an alternate Victorian London, a bit of Steampunk, some dragons, faeries, and vampires, and a whole lot of fun! That’s what this book is. I do have one point of criticism though. A bit more work on the character-front would have made this novel absolutely perfect. I really had trouble picturing Irene, the protagonist. I don’t know if I missed the introductory description or if there really wasn’t any. But I’m completely unsure of Irene’s age and looks. If you cannot see the characters before your mind’s eye it becomes pretty hard to feel for them. I do like Irene and Kai but I feel like I had to make an effort turning them into people; like I had to colour in the outlines the author provided me with. I can only hope that I won’t have forgotten about them before the next book in the series is published. I also hope that Cogman will have learned from her debut novel and will get better at this kind of writing. Because the worlds she creates are fun and fascinating and I do want to know what happens next! Yes, I need answers! Don’t leave me hanging, dear Genevieve! And please give us more Irene and more alternate worlds when the series continues. Thank you!