Book Log 06/2015 - Genevieve Cogman: The Invisible Library

As an ex librarian I have a fondness for anything library-oriented so I wanted to like this a lot - and I did. Genevieve Cogman's debut novel is a delight.

Irene is a junior librarian - an agent of the Invisible Library which exists between dimensions, but has access to all the alternate earths in the multiverse. It's purpose is to collect and preserve all the alternate versions of important books that have been published in the various dimensions and the librarians are, essentially, book thieves (or sometimes book-buyers). Getting hold of the book seems more important that the morality of their methodology.

Sent to a steampunky alternate London to collect an important copy of Grimm's Fairyt Tales she's given the bare minimum of information and saddled with a trainee, the elegant and handsome Kai who is eager (maybe over-eager) to have a field assignment since he's been cooped up in the library for the last five years, learning the ropes.

Irene is bonded to the library which gives her certain powers, including being able to speak the language of the library which enables her to commence (mostly) inanimate objects, such as locks to unlock. Kai is not yet bonded but seems to have a skill-set of his own, which is a puzzle to Irene at first.

Irene is wrong-footed even before crossing over into the alternate London by Bradamant, once her mentor and now a rival. Bradamant wants the gig of finding the Grimm, but Irene suspects her motives and her authority and manages to cross over and leave her behind. In the alternate she's given, yet again, a bare minimum of information. This steampunk alternate is inhabited not only by humans, but by fae, werewolves and vampires. It's been infected with chaos, and chaos magic and the library's own powers don't mix. The book's owner, a vampire, has been murdered and the book is missing. Irene goes to investigate and quickly meets Silver, a fae who wants the book, and Vale, the Great Detective - that alternate's analogue of Sherlock Holmes.

Irene and Kai battle mechanical crocodiles, werewolves, silverfish, Bradamant (again) and, most terrifying of all, a renegade librarian who is known for returning the vital organs of those librarians whose paths have crossed his - mostly in separate, neatly wrapped packages. Zeppelins and mechanical hansom cabs are involved as well as a very proper policeman called Singh and an elderly blackmailer. The action takes place across London, including, of course, the British Library and the British Museum

It's well-paced, inventive and a very satisfying read, with Irene and Kai both being engaging and well-drawn protagonists with their own strengths, weaknesses and backstories. Yes there's a hint of attraction between them, but this is anything but a corset romance. I hope this book isn't the last in this universe. I'd love to read more.

Movie of the Week: Jupiter Ascending

This is a film that poses one huge question: how will Sean Bean die?

I read a couple of bad reviews of this which almost put me off going, but that would have been a pity because although it's fluff, it's entertaining fluff with gorgeous visuals and a sequenmce of events (maybe i won't call it as plot) that fairly zip along. The bad review complained of the plot being hackneyed - poor earth girl, Jupiter Jones, is actually alien royalty: hijinks ensue - but it works on an entertainment level, which is exactly what I was after on a chilly Wednesday afternoon. Yes, Jupiter has to be rescued a few times, but to be fair she's not set up as a kick-ass heroine. She's an illegal immigrant in Chicago who cleans toilets for a living. And when it comes down to it she does manage to rescue herself a couple of times.

There's a lot of explody chase sequences and not too much soul searching even though it's mostly about Jupiter trying to stop her inherited family from harvesting Earth's humans for less than great reasons.

Eddie Redmayne is the scenery-chewing pantomime villain, only slightly worse than his two screen siblings. Mila Kunis does well enough as Jupiter. Channing Tatum is the hero/space cop/love interest, which is a pity because, well, Channing Tatum. Sorry, but personality-wise and everything else-wise he doesn't do it for me, but Sean Bean just about rescues it as Tatum's one time seargeant in the military. He still has a Sheffield accent of course, and I'm reminded of the Dr Who episode in which we were reminded that: 'Every planet has a north!'

So this is a Wachowski sibling movie, so Jupiter's life changes, but ultimately she has a choice of whether to buy into that or to go her own way.

And the big question? Does Sean Bean die? Sorry, you'll have to go and see it for yourself.