The Last Hour Between Worlds

The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso, 432 pages

Detective Kembral Thorne has left the house on her own for the first time since giving birth, heading to a fancy year-turning party that she's not even sure she belongs at. Her main goal is to relax and have fun, though she's not sure her boss will let her do that, once she learns he's in attendance. Especially when people start dying and time keeps turning backward a few hours while the party drops through increasingly chaotic alternate worlds.

That is a horrible description of a truly imaginative and fun fantasy novel. Caruso's descriptions of the very VERY strange alternate worlds are so creative and fully fleshed-out, providing a well-realized setting for an action-packed fantasy novel with a no-nonsense main character. This was astoundingly fun, and I can't wait to read more of Kembral's tales.

Time's Agent

Time's Agent by Brenda Peynado, 207 pages

The discovery of pocket worlds means big things for researchers, including archaeologist Raquel and her botanist wife. But hopping between these worlds can cause big problems, especially when the timestream of some worlds runs much faster or slower than the world we're used to. Such is the case when Raquel accidentally misses 40 years of our world after a super short trip to a pocket universe. She returns to find that everything has changed, from the people she thought she knew, to the technology, to the new-to-her uses for pocket worlds.

This is a fascinating short book that examines capitalism's innate exploitative nature of anything new, as well as the ramifications of humans not protecting those things that need it. It's a bit heavy-handed at times, but overall worth reading.

The Untold Story

The Untold Story by Genevieve Cogman, 384 pages

After years of tracking rogue Librarian Alberich, Irene has finally trapped him in a world from which he can't escape. Now she's able to focus on sorting out a peace treaty between the chaotic Fae and the strictly ordered Dragons — or that's what she thinks when she's ordered by the Senior Librarians to kill Alberich. But now he's offering to sign a truce, which certainly means that something strange is afoot. But can she believe him? Or is she better off just killing him and going back to her treaty work?

This is the eighth book in the Invisible Library series, and while Cogman says that it isn't really the end of the story for Irene and her allies, it's a fitting place to set down the story. This series started strong, wavered a bit in the middle (as much as it pains me to say it, the heist book was NOT necessary), and if this is the end, I'd happily say that it's a satisfying and strong ending. I can't wait to see what Cogman writes outside of this series!

The Dark Archive

The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman, 338 pages

After an almost completely skippable sixth book in this series (which pains me, as that was the heist book and I generally love heists), Cogman has returned to form with The Dark Archive. And a bit part of that probably has to do with Irene working in her base world, with her regular allies (dragon prince Kai, detective extraordinaire Peregrine Vale) and the ally-ish Fae (Lord Silver, Sterrington). In this installment, Irene and the aforementioned allies have all been subject to a series of assassination attempts, likely due to the recent truce between the Fae and dragons, though none of them are sure who's behind the attempts. The return of some past foes — as well as Irene's new Fae apprentice, Catherine — serve to keep things fresh and interesting. Loved this one, and can't wait to read what's next for Irene!

The Invisible Library

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman  341 pp.

Kara K is the expert on this book and the series it opened having blogged about it here and here. Patrick also gave his take on it here. I am obviously late to the party on this one. Irene is a librarian for a mysterious library that connects with alternate worlds to collect and preserve books that bind the worlds together. Too soon after returning from a mission, Irene is handed another one and given a trainee assistant named Kai, who has secrets of his own he is trying to preserve. The "alternate" they land in is a steampunk version of Victorian London complete with fairies, dragons, vampires, and a Sherlock-style detective. Their goal is to retrieve an original manuscript of Grimm's Fairytales while avoiding a defector librarian. This one took a little time to get into but was worth it in the end. I'm undecided about diving into the rest of the series because do I really need one more series to keep up with?

The Invisible Library

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, 341 pages

Irene is a Librarian for the Invisible Library, a huge collection of books that tie together and stabilize alternate worlds. Fresh off a harrowing mission, Irene is given a new apprentice, Kai, and tossed back into the field to retrieve a specific copy of a collection of fairy tales. Upon entering the new alternate world — a steampunky Victorian-era London, complete with annoyingly elaborate dresses and a Sherlockian detective — Irene realizes that this simple mission is a lot more dangerous than it seems, as is Kai. Soon she's solving the murder of a vampire and fending off fae, werewolves, and rogue Librarians.

I've read this book before, and it holds up on a second reading. This is such a fun adventure, in a world so fully realized and fun, with fantastic characters. Ah, I love this book (and the series it kicks off). I can't wait to hear what the Orcs & Aliens have to say about it in April!

The Mortal Word

The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman, 433 pages

In the fifth book of her Invisible Library series, Cogman sends Librarian (read: spy) Irene Winters and her Sherlock-esque friend Peregrine Vale into a world stuck in 1890s Paris. The chaotic Fae and orderly dragons are there to negotiate a peace treaty — with the help of the neutral Library, of course — when the right-hand man of one of the dragon leaders is murdered. Irene and Vale must determine who's responsible without derailing the peace talks, a task made infinitely more difficult in the presence of an irritable weather-changing dragon and several powerful Fae, one of whom is legendary for her creative methods of killing anyone who looks at her sideways. All in all, it's another fun chapter in Irene's story, and I will keep reading these until the cows come home.

Every Heart a Doorway

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, 173 pages.

After reluctantly returning home after a stint in the underworld, Nancy finds herself shipped off to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, a boarding school for children trying to readjust to life on the everyday earth after having traveled to any one of  a number of fantasy realms. Nancy wants to return to the underworld and her beloved lord of the dead, but finds her quest interrupted by the murders of several of her fellow students. Initially suspected by her classmates, Nancy joins forces with some new-found friends and attempts to stop the carnage. Interesting and fun to read.

Mathematicians in love

Mathematicians in love / Rudy Rucker, 364 pgs.

Bela and Paul are finishing their Phd work in mathematics.  They are good friends but then become rivals for the affection of Alma, a lovely girl who is looking for an upwardly mobile mate.  Their rivalry becomes more interesting when their graduate work turns up a theory to predict the future.  Soon aliens are in contact and the three visit an alternative universe where they are allowed to pick a version of the Earth to return to.  Crazy times are ahead as Bela and Paul weigh in on a fixed election, become professors and rock stars as well as famous video bloggers.  I certainly didn't understand much of the math theory but the rest was entertaining.

The Invisible Library

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, 341 pages.

I read this book during vacation on the recommendation of Kara, who wrote a review of it here, and I quite enjoyed it.
It starts out slow as the author world-builds in that sort of "well you know how it is with dragons" way, where she is letting you know that there will be dragons, magic, steampunk, and fairies sprinkled throughout the "alternates" we'll encounter, without letting you know exactly what the rules are. It seems a little coy and contrived at first, and maybe gives the story a slower pace at the beginning, but the convoluted story does sort itself out and the author's well-drawn characters deliver a very good story.
Irene, a newish librarian, is sent out into one of the many alternate worlds to find a unique copy of
Grimm's Fairytales. Being given this task at this time strikes Irene as a little strange since she has just returned from a mission and is due some downtime. Stranger still, she is assigned a student with some secrets and this is increasingly looking like a dangerous mission. When the many complications, from decapitated vampires, fairy ambassadors, private detectives, to renegade librarians arise, Irene has to be both resourceful and lucky to see the mission to its end. Sticking with the book through the unwieldy beginning is worth it.

The Masked City

The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman, 372 pages

In her followup to May's The Invisible Library, Cogman takes spy Librarian extraordinaire Irene Winters out of her steampunk London world and into an alternate Venice, a city ruled by the fae and in a perpetual state of Carnivale. So why would Irene, who is desperate to avoid the chaotic worlds, in this hotbed of fae? Well, she has to rescue her apprentice Kai, a dragon who has been kidnapped and is being auctioned off to the highest fae bidder. As odd as the story may sound, it's an excellent second book in this series, full of the action and humor of the first book. I'm looking forward to December's The Burning Page (and loving the rapid succession in which these books are being released!).

Every Heart a Doorway

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire, 173 pages

Nancy is a new resident at a boarding school, where all of the students once crossed over into an alternate world and have returned to parents who aren't so pleased with the kid who came back. (Kinda like Narnia or Wonderland, but not quite; McGuire offers an amusing and eviscerating description of Narnia that makes the reader quite clear that none of those in the boarding school have ever gone to Narnia.) Nancy, who visited the Halls of the Dead, is still learning her way around when students begin dying in horrendous ways, and finds herself one of the prime suspects in their murders.

It's a short book, and it gives me much pleasure to describe it as Gaimanesque, in that it's spooky, unsettling, magical, and strangely real. This is the first book I've read by the Hugo-nominated McGuire, and I'll definitely be reading more by her. This was fantastic.

The Magicians

The Magicians by Lev Grossman, 402 pages

Since he was a small child, Quentin has been obsessed with the Narnia-esque world of Fillory, brought to life through a series of kids' books. When he's a senior in high school, he learns that magic is real and that Fillory may not be as fictitious as he once thought. He's soon admitted to Brakebills, a mysterious and highly competitive magical university, where he learns to hone his magical abilities, particularly while dealing with the massive hangovers he gets from hanging out with his close-knit group of carousing friends.

Since a large chunk of this book involves a regular person suddenly gaining entry into a previously unknown magical world, there are plenty of comparisons between The Magicians and Harry Potter. But make no mistake: the sex, drugs, alcohol, and gritty danger of The Magicians make it a poor comparison. Both the Magicians trilogy (of which this is Book 1) and the Harry Potter series have their place in the world of fantasy novels, and both are fantastic, (and yes, both involve magical schools) but that's about all they have in common. I can't wait to see what's next in this thoroughly engrossing series.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami, 925 pages.

Aomame, a fitness center instructor with a secret side-job / "mission in life," finds herself transported from Japan in 1984 to a slightly off kilter almost Japan; one wherein only she notices the changes. She calls this time and place 1Q84. Aomame is comfortable with the fact that she has never fit in with those around her. Tengo, a writer and "cram school" math teacher, knew Aomame twenty years ago, when they were both ten-year-olds. They shared a brief, strong connection all those years ago that neither has ever forgotten. When the world subtly shifts because of a book written by a seventeen-year-old girl, a book that Tengo secretly revises, both main characters become targeted by a strange religious cult that seeks to undo what Tengo and Aomame have done in the altered world. Convoluted, complex, and sometimes creepy, this is a great book and well worth the time needed to get through all 925pages.
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Reckless by Cornelia Funke

Reckless by Cornelia Funke, 394 pages.

Jacob Reckless discovers the special mirror in his father's study several years after the older man has disappeared. Jacob knows at once that the world he can see through the mirror is the one into which his father has gone.
Jacob spends more and more time on the other side of the mirror, looking for his father, and exploring this strange place of fairies, witches, and stone men. Magical oAfter Jacob's mother dies and his younger brother discovers this land, Jacob must decide between the two worlds, and use all the skills that he has mastered to save what he holds dear. A grim and scary tale, very well-told.
I listened to about half of this on CD, and read the rest. Elliot Hill does a great job on the narration. This is the first of the "Mirrorworld" books. Fearless, the second volume, came out last year. I look forward to reading it.

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