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Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris #1)

by Jim C. Hines (Goodreads Author)

3.88 of 5 stars 3.88 · rating details · 2,107 ratings · 556 reviews

Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have...more

Hardcover, 308 pages

Published August 7th 2012 by DAW

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Oct 31, 2012 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: arachnophiliacs

Recommended to Carol by: book o'month

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampires, paranormal-romance

I'm enchanted by the idea behind Libriomancer--really, what book lover wouldn't be? Mass reading/belief in a book enables specially trained book-loving readers, known as 'libromancers,' to bring parts of the book into life. Widely-read readers will be further amused by multitudes of book references, creating a little nudge-wink action.

Short summary: Isaac is in the library cataloging books when he is attacked by angry Sanguinarius Meyerii (aka 'sparklers'). They're looking for information behi...more

26 likes · like · see review

Feb 07, 2013 Joel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, audiobooks, urban-fantasy

In our crazy, ranking-obsessed world, it is sometimes hard to remember that those three stars up there are not absolute, but a loose representation or summation of many different factors, and that three stars here and three stars there does not necessarily mean that all of those factors line up. I have given books I enjoyed a lot more than this one the same ranking, and books I liked a lot less a better one. Because context matters.

And in this case, that context included, perhaps, the worst prof...more

20 likes · like · see review

Feb 21, 2013 Moira Russell rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, on-the-kindle

I really, really wanted to like this....but....

Unfortunately the "cross between Dresden and Thursday Next" is accurate, and I....don't like either of those series. I actually had a similar reaction to reading the Next books: I thought there would be a lot more literary in-jokes, and instead it was sort of focused on geeky cleverness.

5 likes · like · see review

Aug 09, 2012 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction-fantasy, fantasy, books-about-books, format-nook, paranormal, urban-fantasy, favorites-for-profile, 5-star

Squee!!!...Wow! Awesome! What a Ride!

Right after I put this book down, that was all my brain could function to come up with for a review. This book was that good. I'll try to do a more useful review below.

It's a unique take on worldbuilding. Never at risk of interrupting the flow of the story or what the characters are going through; but, a wonderfully rich, developed piece of worldbuilding. Once reader accepts the basic premise, everything works. Even if you have not read the books mentioned....more

6 likes · like · see review

Mar 24, 2013 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Interesting book...I know I say that a lot. The thing is that here we have an excellent idea, a bit of mediocre execution some iffy characters and a decent version of a familiar plot (view spoiler).

I kind of liked much of this book. I think the magic system would fire anyone who's been a lif...more

6 likes · like · see review

Feb 17, 2013 Kathryn marked it as wishlist

Shelves: first-in-a-serie, pnr-urban-fantasy, male-pov

Could this be a better, adult version of Inkheart?
"fingers crossed!"

4 likes · like · see review

Dec 05, 2012 Brandon Zarzyczny rated it 5 of 5 stars

I went into this book not expecting too much, when I read the blurb it just sounded really goofy, but since my library had it and I'd read some good reviews I decided to try. It turns out I was pleasantly surprised, as I actually really enjoyed the book. It's definitely very pulpy, but Libromancer is really a love-letter to Science Fiction and Fantasy books, or just books in general. The world in this book is of the normal Urban Fantasy style, it's our world, but with a magical world going on be...more I went into this book not expecting too much, when I read the blurb it just sounded really goofy, but since my library had it and I'd read some good reviews I decided to try. It turns out I was pleasantly surprised, as I actually really enjoyed the book. It's definitely very pulpy, but Libromancer is really a love-letter to Science Fiction and Fantasy books, or just books in general. The world in this book is of the normal Urban Fantasy style, it's our world, but with a magical world going on behind the scenes. The big difference with this book, is the incredibly unique magic system.

Basically, in this world full magical ability is very rare, but lesser magical ability is slightly less rare, and Gutenberg (the inventor of the printing press and a fledgling sorcerer) learned that belief magnifies their power. This power comes about when multiple people read the same book, and the readers' collective beliefs in the book allow a Libromancer to reach into the world of the book and pull anything that can fit, out into the real world. This ability does not come without cost, as it requires energy to manifest the items, and if the ability or book is overused, the characters from the book can possess the Libromancer and the fabric of reality can be threatened. This concept is really unique, and it's incredibly thought provoking, especially for Fantasy aficionados. While reading this book, I couldn't help but think about the books I'd read previously, and what items would have been of use if this magic actually existed. It just really brings you into the world, and I really enjoyed it. The other bonus that this magic system brings to the book, is that the story is filled with inside comments and cameos from real books big and small (along with a few fake ones), and it just brings the Urban Fantasy World of Libriomancer even more to life.

The characters in this book are also very strong, especially the two main characters, which is important as the cast is very small. There's a really unique interplay between Issac and his Wood Nymph companion (I forget her name, it might have been Lena) that was very endearing, though a bit odd at times. The story is relatively basic, but it's a great introduction to the world and what I'm sure will be an excellent series. To sum up the story, Issac was kicked out of the field and given a desk job as a Librarian and secret cataloger of new useful or dangerous books after his superiors became worried about his mental stability. His now boring life is shattered when a group of Sparklers bust into his library. This part of the story was really entertaining, as there's a whole taxonomy of vampires in this world, where even people that are untrained sometimes sink their hand into the world of the book, graze the fangs of a vampire, and then they themselves become a vampire, with all of the powers and vulnerabilities of the breed described in the book. So the Sparklers, are of course of Twilight fame, and there's a lot of funny stuff surrounding the vampire plotlines. Issac's problems then continue as his friends and colleagues are either being killed or disappearing (including the still living Gutenberg), and with the help of a living wood sword wielding Nymph go out to solve the mystery.

I really only have a few problems with the book, one is that it's relatively short (300 pages in hardback with relatively large type) and the ebook has been overpriced. This also coincides with the curious fact that not once in the book does the author/character mention the emergence of electronic books. Everything else is mentioned, even the existence of self-published books (which is a big part of the main plotline). So I would be really interested to see how the Libromancers powers work with a Kindle. Whether it wouldn't work at all, or what. However, the author could possibly be something interesting planned with ebooks in the sequels.

So overall, I would probably give this book four and a half stars, but I guess I'll round it up to five as I just really loved the concept of the magic system, and it's great as a quick fun read. I'd recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading, but especially science fiction and fantasy fans. This is definitely a pulpy book that can't be taken too seriously, but I found it to be really enjoyable.(less)

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Feb 14, 2013 N E White rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Libriomancer’s premise is somewhat unique to me. I’m sure it has been done before, but I haven’t read anything like this. The idea is a type of magic that enables a gifted reader to physically reach into a book and pull out desired objects. This is libriomancy and it was discovered by Johannes Gutenberg himself (who, in real life, invented the first movable type printing press). Not only did he invent modern printing that changed the world, but in Libriomaner, he also invented a new kind of magi...more Libriomancer’s premise is somewhat unique to me. I’m sure it has been done before, but I haven’t read anything like this. The idea is a type of magic that enables a gifted reader to physically reach into a book and pull out desired objects. This is libriomancy and it was discovered by Johannes Gutenberg himself (who, in real life, invented the first movable type printing press). Not only did he invent modern printing that changed the world, but in Libriomaner, he also invented a new kind of magic that allowed the very words we all read to literally become real. Of course, once that magic has been released into the world, Gutenberg had to invent a whole organization of ‘porters’ to keep things in under order.

The story begins with Isaac Vainio, a discharged field porter who bent the rules one too many times, while he is cataloguing books into the porters special database that keeps track of weapons, fantastical species, and other objects that might one day make their way into our world. Just as he is about to end his day, his pet fire-spider starts to smoke. A sure sign that danger is nearby. He only has moments to clear the library before he’s attacked by a group of sparkly vampires: Sanguinarius meyerii (yup, from the Twilight series of books).

Despite being able to literally pull a sci-fi gun out of a book, he’s rusty and no match for the vampires. He’s rescued by a beautiful, sexy dryad who just happens to show up. She’s the badass in this book and she summarily dispatches the vampires with wooden bokkens (cool use of those practice swords!).

From then on, the action pretty much does not let up. Isaac and Lena, the sexy dryad, go from one porter house to another only to realize that someone is threatening the very foundations of the organization and may have killed Gutenberg as well (he’s more or less immortal). To save Lena’s lover, they end up in a vampire’s nest, but only get more entangled in what could be an earth-shattering mess. Soon they are hunting down not only vampires, but a wronged porter that is more powerful that the two of them put together.

A bit before mid-way through the book, there is a brief, dull moment when the romance in the story takes center stage, but overall this is a face paced, fun read.

Written in the first person narrative, Mr. Hines writing is smart and spare. This is Mr. Hines 8th novel and it shows. The prose is smooth and overall the pacing is just right for this genre. He explains enough for the reader to understand what is happening at just the right moment and in just the right amount.

So, why don’t I like it? That's right, I don't. Even though I am giving it four stars and am recommending you read it.

Two main reasons (plus another, but you have to go to my blog to hear that rant): the romance and the villain. Explaining in detail about either will probably spoil a lot of the story for you, so I won’t. But I will say this: just because you set up an inescapable sexist situation, it doesn’t make it right. And, not all self-published writers are bad!

Okay, I may have spoiled it for you. Sorry. Please, go read it and make up your own mind. :)(less)

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Jul 29, 2012 Marci rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-goodreads-challenge, first-reads

Taking place in Michigan, Libriomancer posits a new form of magic that appeals to bibliophiles everywhere. Founded by Guttenburg himself, the porters possess the ability to magically reach into books and retrieve items created in the story by the author. What happens when vampires go rogue and begin attacking the porters? Isaac Vainio, librarian to the porters, must find out who is behind the attacks and why they are happening to prevent a war between the porters and the vampires. He enlists the...more

11 likes · like · see review

Aug 10, 2012 Steven rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: writers, fantasy fans, genre fans

Shelves: books-on-books, fantasy, booksbyfriends

Abook for those who love books from any angle!

Highly recommended to fantasy fans and those who just love a fun yarn (with more teeth behind the ideas than you expect).

This book is so much fun that I don't want to say much in this review to spoil the ride for anyone. Let's just say that by page 80 or so, I was hooked.

Also, the idea of a dryad in the passenger seat (and a vampire in the trunk) of a magicked-up sports car with the title character conjured up Kurt Russell's monologues from Big Trou...more

8 likes · like · see review

Aug 09, 2012 All Things Urban Fantasy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: august-2012-hotp, reviewed-by-abigail

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

All kids long for special powers like the ability to fly, become invisible, or read minds. And while I dabbled with dreams of soaring into the sky, it’s the ability so lovingly described in Jim C. Hines’ LIBRIOMANCER that stayed foremost in my mind even into adulthood. Libriomancy is the unbelievably cool ability to reach into books and pull out objects. Hines treats this idea of libriomancy with as much realism as possible. For example, it would make s...more Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

All kids long for special powers like the ability to fly, become invisible, or read minds. And while I dabbled with dreams of soaring into the sky, it’s the ability so lovingly described in Jim C. Hines’ LIBRIOMANCER that stayed foremost in my mind even into adulthood. Libriomancy is the unbelievably cool ability to reach into books and pull out objects. Hines treats this idea of libriomancy with as much realism as possible. For example, it would make sense that dedicated libriomancers would study books religiously looking for new and wonderful objects. Speculative fiction titles would be of special interest for magical and high tech items. Longtime lovers of SF&F will get a kick out of seeing Lucy’s magical cordial from THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, and Paul’s shield belt from DUNE.

The same magic that enables libriomancers to create objects from books has more than a few pesky sideeffects. Reaching into a book with, say, vampires can be dangerous. While reaching for a weapon, the libriomancer is partially made real inside the book which can lead to biting. So not only do vampires run wild in LIBRIOMANCER, but there are different kinds depending on which book they came from. Hines details a number of them including Meyerii aka Sparklers from the Twilight series and a specific Southern variety courtesy of Charlaine Harris.

As much fun as this world was, and as many geektastic Dr. Who references that were packed in, that only really carried my enjoyment for about a hundred pages. After that, the story and characters were on the underwhelming side, specifically the attempted romance. Issac was fun in a beta Harry Dresden way–though not nearly as cool, but Lena was not. She’s a uber alpha dryad that shoulders her way in to rescue Issac early on and unfortunately never leaves. She’s got all the annoying characteristics of typical alpha males, but we’re supposed to be okay with it because she’s a female. Issac gets jerked around by her big time *SPOILER* (view spoiler)

Ultimately, I was left not liking this book. The world and magical ideas were so fantastic, but the story wasn’t anything special and the characters weren’t likable (in Lena’s case) or were too much of a doormat (in Issac’s case) to save it. This will be my first and last read in the Magic Ex Libris series which should see a sequel in 2013.

Sexual Content:
F/F/M Kissing(less)

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May 05, 2013 Robert Aldrich rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had a bit of a slow warm to this book. But as I read, the more it grew on me. The last hundred pages or so, I was deeply hooked in and really enjoyed the conclusion.

I enjoyed the magic system and the use of historical figures--it will be very interesting to see how they come into play in the following novels to this series.

This was also a great break from my normal reading. I like that the character struggled so much and had to go through so many trials before again the level of ability he did...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads-book

I won this book on a Goodreads Firstreads Giveaway!

I hate when you post a well-thought out review and it doesn't save and you have to start from scratch.

I just finished this book and I really enjoyed it. I loved the new concepts of magic coming from books. I loved the interaction between Isaac and Lena. The story was well thought out and it flowed well, the dialogue was great, and the character development was good. There was some mild language, but not enough for me to quit reading the book. I...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 05, 2013 Beth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Beth by: Durham County Public Libraries

Shelves: brain-candy

I am really enjoying this book. It's nothing less than the fantasy of every bibliophile out there--to be able to reach into a favorite book and retrieve something really cool that would make your life a lot simpler. The story is engaging and I found myself staying up past my bedtime to read more.

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 13, 2012 Lisa Bain rated it 4 of 5 stars

I liked it. Kind of a cross between Harry Dresden and Thursday Next.

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Apr 18, 2013 Bondama rated it 1 of 5 stars

This book is a prime example of the multitude of just plain bad writing in the emerging field of YA fantasy.

The idea for the plot is ingenious -- problem is, it's been used many, many times,(and much better.) In "Libriomancer" a person with the right talent can reach into any book and pull from it any of the objects within the book. This only works if many people have read the book, because, in this alternate reality, belief by enough people make the ideas and objects real.

This is what I meant...more

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Apr 04, 2013 Corrina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Read my full review at wadingthroughbooks.wordpress.com!

I do enjoy Jim C. Hines’ work–I love his Princess series about what happens to Cinderella after the wedding–and I was excited that his new series was about magic and a librarian. I think everyone at one time has wished that they could reach into their favourite book and bring it to life. I still want to go flying with Falcor the luck-dragon… As usual, Hines crafts a strong adventure plot with fascinating, funny, imperfect characters. I espe...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars

The thing that makes Libriomancer really sing is the magic system. In this book, magicians (or Libriomancers) can reach into books and pull out items described therein. It's a really clever device and Jim C. Hines uses it extremely well, coming up with lots clever ways this magic can be used and creating a downright adorable urban fantasy world.*

To me, Jim C. Hines is best known for his blog and his writing about feminism and other diversity issues in Science Fiction and Fantasy.**
Not surprising...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Maurinejt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Libriomancers are book sorcerers: they have the ability to reach into books and retrieve objects, and perform other feats of bookishness. Which is completely cool. And the sections of this novel that had our down-at-heels libriomancer/librarian work his magic were fantastic--especially if you've read the books involved. I just wish it had been a little better written, though it wasn't bad by any means...it just reminded me of early Jim Butcher before he had really figured out his world and the s...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Sean Randall rated it 4 of 5 stars

"“Normal?” she repeated. “Yesterday you fed me cake from Wonderland so we could ride your spider into a magical basement and fight a vampire...”"

Wow. Badass! This is a really cool book. It was May 2010 when I read the only other Hines title I've come across, which was the first in his Jig the Goblin series. I heard about Libriomancer what must have been a couple months back but had sort of shelved Hines in the "tryes-to-be-too-funny" department of my mental bookshelf. From the synopsis, I'd expe...more "“Normal?” she repeated. “Yesterday you fed me cake from Wonderland so we could ride your spider into a magical basement and fight a vampire...”"

Wow. Badass! This is a really cool book. It was May 2010 when I read the only other Hines title I've come across, which was the first in his Jig the Goblin series. I heard about Libriomancer what must have been a couple months back but had sort of shelved Hines in the "tryes-to-be-too-funny" department of my mental bookshelf. From the synopsis, I'd expected Libriomancer to be on the intelligence level of something by Blake Charlton and so had sort of put off reading it in case I was disappointed. Thanks to Michael, per usual, I cracked it open... and didn't look back.

“You should not have pissed off the fire-spider!”

This book worked so well that I was pretty well hooked from the outset. I did feel a little as if things were going a shade over my head at the beginning, but looking at the length of the novel in retrospect things were paced and explained quite well. You often find, in novels with a magical component, a foil, depicted in such a way that the magic system is at least partially explained, and this usually through dialog. This was the case here, but there was the great added twist of Lena being a magical construct herself, which far-and-away surpasses the typical "I'm a helpless mundane along for the magical ride so explain things to me" concept more normally employed.

I'm not normally a fan of vampires, but they work here, and of course the literary angle, the entire ethos of the novel is done most superbly indeed. I grew up on heinlein, Wells and Doyle, and literally seeing parts of those works come to life on the page is an experience most wondrous. For any fantasy fan, for any reader, for any connoisseur of science fiction or fan of kickass weapons ( “Best. Sword. Ever!”), read this.

If I have one complaint it's the ending, which I wont go into detail on because it might spoil things a little, and which is why this book isn't quite a five. But it probably aught to be, for all that. It certainly kept me reading late into the night and kept me singing the next morning. Good books do that to me...(less)

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Feb 17, 2013 Jacey rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy

Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, and has the ability to magically reach into books and acquire objects. His speciality is SF. He's currently working as a small-town librarian and part time cataloguer for the secret magical society, the Porters, for which he used to be a field agent until he broke some serious rules. Unfortunately when you reach into books, they sometimes reach back. Forbidden to use magic, all he has left of his former life is a magical and somewhat neurotic fire-spider called Sm...more Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, and has the ability to magically reach into books and acquire objects. His speciality is SF. He's currently working as a small-town librarian and part time cataloguer for the secret magical society, the Porters, for which he used to be a field agent until he broke some serious rules. Unfortunately when you reach into books, they sometimes reach back. Forbidden to use magic, all he has left of his former life is a magical and somewhat neurotic fire-spider called Smudge who has a tendency to burst into flames at the first sign of danger.

When Isaac is attacked by a bunch of vampires he's saved by Lena, a tough, sexy, magically created dryad who brings bad news with her, her lover, Vainio's former shrink, has been taken by vampires and Lena needs Isaac's help in a rather strange way.

But this attack is just the tip of a very nasty iceberg. There have been other attacks on Porters. Isaac's own former friend and mentor has been killed and Gutenberg (yes, that one) the founder of the Porters and the only controller of unstoppable automatons, is missing. Isaac and Lena have to trace the dark power behind the vampire attacks before there's an all-out, bloody war between the vamps and the Porters which will expose the magical world once and for all, and not in a good way.

This is fast paced, extremely readable and Isaac is a complex character, sympathetic despite his failings. The magic system is neat. Anything that's been written about can be brought into reality (one of the vamp species is instantly recognisable because they sparkle!), though generally Libriomancers are limited by the physical size of the page of the book, so Isaac can grab a laser pistol from a space opera or a syringe of truth serum (from Barrayar as it turns out), but he can't draw through a tank. But there are limits and it's not as if each book is an unlimited cornucopia. There's always a price to pay and fir Isaac, who has transgressed before, that price is his sanity, presuming the bad guys don't kill him first.

Maybe this was not the book to read immediately following the first Alex Verus novel and shortly after reading the first Iron Druid novel. Comparisons are inevitable - and also with Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels - but despite the urban-fantasy, lone wizard-on-the-edge trope, each stands up in its own right and I'd be happy to read on in every series.(less)

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Feb 06, 2013 Jeremy Preacher rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: witches-vampires-and-werewolves

This is a very silly book in the best possible way. The magic system - being able to literally reach into books and pull out useful things, like guns or magic potions - is absurdly powerful, but it's counterbalanced well by the physical and psychological costs. The plot is basically an exercise in worldbuilding, in that stuff happens and then we learn what aspect of the magic system allowed that stuff to happen. That isn't a criticism - it works well and keeps things moving, and sets up the sequ...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Kari Lynn Mackey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

What if you could reach into your favorite novel and pull out a magic sword, or a laser gun, or a spider? Isaac, the protagonist in Libriomancer, can do all that and more through the magic of believing in the power of books. But can he stop magical chaos from breaking through into everyday reality? Or will vampires, self-serving sorcerers, and character-possessed libriomancers prevail?

Readers of Piers Anthony's Xanth novels or Terry Brooks' "Magic Kingdom of Landover" series will enjoy the light...more

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Jan 14, 2013 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

I really wanted to LOVE this book. The idea of using books as weapons is genius. I loved the characters, and thought they were well-developed. But. BUT! I just didn't love it when I wanted to.

At times I felt there was just SO MUCH info dumping, which made it hard to keep track of what was actually going on. The mention of other authors and their works didn't always work for the story- I felt like Hines was trying to be too cutesy. Plots points were never fully explained; I know this is billed a...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: signal

The author starts with the rather silly idea that you can use magic to manifest objects from books.
Then he has to apply all sorts of patches -- oh, you can't actually raise the dead because that's banned, and you can't cause an apocalypse because all the books with really dangerous stuff are sealed, and you can't pull something out of a book and keep it because it's hard on the fabric of reality (except sometimes they do anyway), and you can't heal or help people because that's too noticeable, a...more

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Oct 25, 2012 Shaylan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

3.5/5 stars

I'm torn on this book. I came into it wanting to love it. Just, absolutely love it. One of my favorite authors gave it 5 stars, the premise was awesome, the blurbs and reviews all seemed to be heading in a great direction. And, it was good. Not the best, but good. Even very good. But I finished it moments ago, and I feel like I wanted to like it more than I actually liked it. I feel like I'm letting myself down by not liking it. (By the way, I feel the same way about the Song of Ice a...more 3.5/5 stars

I'm torn on this book. I came into it wanting to love it. Just, absolutely love it. One of my favorite authors gave it 5 stars, the premise was awesome, the blurbs and reviews all seemed to be heading in a great direction. And, it was good. Not the best, but good. Even very good. But I finished it moments ago, and I feel like I wanted to like it more than I actually liked it. I feel like I'm letting myself down by not liking it. (By the way, I feel the same way about the Song of Ice and Fire books)

The premise is intoxicating. Magically being able to reach into a book to pull things from it, any book. Anything small enough to fit through that book. That means I could potentially pull Kvothe's shaed out of the Kingkiller books. That would be titties. I love the idea, because so often books do become real to me. Curse of a sci-fi/fantasy lover I guess. Of course, there are rules and restrictions and everything, but good premise! Good ideas.

The execution was... well, it was off for me. The female protagonist has no option but to be tied to someone, to basically be their sex slave, because of her nature. The male protagonist has the obvious moral conflict, but his justification of his choice (and of the choices of those before) wasn't a bit surprising. She's a magical being, so yeah, that gives me some pause, and there are a few other strong-ish female characters, but I wasn't thrilled.

There were modern-day horribly written vampire book references aplenty. I'm torn on pop-culture references in books. In some ways, it was necessary. You cannot write a book about the magic from books coming to life without acknowledging the fact that some people are ridiculously obsessed with horrible vampire romance novels (and hey, I read the Southern Vampire series. It's awful, but almost like a soap opera you keep watching despite hating yourself a bit more each time you find yourself sucked in. Plus none of those books took longer than a day to read, so it wasn't THAT big of a waste. Shut up, I'm convincing myself here. Point being, the books referenced are well-read, if not well-written). But, back to the pop-culture references. Lots of Doctor Who and Firefly allusions. And hey, I am a HUUUUUUUUUGE fan of both. HUGE. And the first time they were mentioned I was like, "YES!" The next time I was slightly less excited, and each additional mention kept chipping away at me, and I finally realized it was because this is a book about magic that comes from books, not television shows. And yes, geekery can be expressed in ever so many mediums, but I wasn't quite thrilled about it. I didn't not want to read another Who mention, but I didn't want to, you know?

The book is fast-paced. I like that. Definitely not a heavy hitter, which is fine by me. I like things I can read while knitting. The characters could use some more fleshing out, but being as this is the first book in a series, I'm sure they will get there. The magnitude of what Isaac was doing needs to be built on. I kept being told it was a big deal, but I didn't quite get that it was a big deal. Does that make any sense? Probably not. It's the difference between being told a character is angry, and reading that anger in their words, posture, expression.

Anyhow, I will likely change my rating of this at some point, but for now I'm going to say it was a solid 3.5 stars. I should know by now not to start unfinished series, but this one won't eat at me until I finish it, thankfully.

OH! Wanted to add. I now am pretty much okay with the idea of hanging out with a fire spider. Way to go, Hines.(less)

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Oct 19, 2012 Hannah Cobb rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fantasy

Isaac Vainio is a public librarian. He's also a Libriomancer--a person with the magical ability to reach inside books and pull out any object smaller than the physical shape of the book. Like a lightsaber from any Star Wars book. Or the healing cordial from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lately Isaac's biggest challenge at work has been teaching elderly library users how to send an email, but all that changes when the lbirary is attacked by vampires. This is only the beginning: someone i...more

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Oct 17, 2012 Cathy (Ms. Sweeney) rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was a lot of fun to read. I loved that the main character is a librarian who is a major fan of Doctor Who and Firefly, among other science fiction (lots of sci-fi namedropping in this book), and the driving conceit of the book, which is that there are a few people who are libromancers; who have the ability to reach into books and create objects from their pages (for example, pulling a disruptor out the pages of an old Star Trek novel).

This is a fast paced book with a couple of really n...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Erica rated it 1 of 5 stars

Unfortunately, what had started out as a book I was excited to read, ended in disappointment. The opening totally caught me, and the location being my home state, really appealed to me. I was loving the little tributes to current popular literature, such as a particular type of vampire being called Meyerii, or sparklers since they sparkled. Smudge was a riot.

Perhaps a darker theme of the book is free will, or lack of free will. Smudge and Lena are both characters pulled from books, not just an...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Macy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It’s not often that a book makes me laugh out loud, but there’s something about Jim Hines’ Libriomancer that got me from the beginning.

The good:

Jim Hines succeeds in creating a magical world with logical rules – definitely not the easiest of tasks. Libriomancy’s powers and limitations make sense! Pulling out Aladdin’s lamp is a bad idea? There’s an explanation why. Can’t pull a Delorean out of a book? There’s an explanation for that too. I love it!

I liked the main cast. Our main protagonist is...more It’s not often that a book makes me laugh out loud, but there’s something about Jim Hines’ Libriomancer that got me from the beginning.

The good:

Jim Hines succeeds in creating a magical world with logical rules – definitely not the easiest of tasks. Libriomancy’s powers and limitations make sense! Pulling out Aladdin’s lamp is a bad idea? There’s an explanation why. Can’t pull a Delorean out of a book? There’s an explanation for that too. I love it!

I liked the main cast. Our main protagonist is Isaac Vainio, a libriomancer who failed his field test and is now stuck working as a librarian in Michigan, cataloging potentially dangerous books. Every libriomancer has a specialty and Isaac Vainio gets extra love from me for being a science fiction and fantasy geek through and through. Case in point: he defeats a vampire using a glowing sword that makes a humming sound that he pulled out of a book with hot desert air. Even more bonus points: he’s a Firefly and Doctor Who fanboy! We also Leena, a dryad with badass skills with fighting sticks, and Smudge the fire spider.

It’s funny! The story is told from Isaac’s point of view and I found his voice funny. The vampires who attack Isaac in the library are Sanguinus Meyerii AKA sparklers, brought to life by – you guessed it! – Stephenie Meyer. These vamps have none of the original vampire weaknesses – sunlight, garlic, or stakes to the heart – because that’s how they were written. Vampires are now, in the words of Isaac, “angsty, sexy superheroes”.

The action is fast-paced. There’s always something happening – from gatecrashing the vampire’s hideout, to saving Johannes Gutenberg, to donning a mechanical suit and fighting other robots on the moon.

I liked how Isaac questions whether entering a relationship with Lena is morally permissible, considering that she’s hardwired to be a subservient sex slave.

Isaac learning more about the Porters and their shady history is another highlight for me. He questions their authority and ultimately learns to decide things for himself.

The bad (this was tough to write):

Lots and lots of expository dialogue between Isaac and Lena. I’m willing to forgive this for the first book in the series.

I have mixed feelings about Lena and how the male/female/female relationship with Isaac and Dr. Shah came about. It would be okay if Issac and Dr. Shah were attracted to each other and expressed an interest in being part of a three-way relationship, but this threesome is all about Lena and what Lena wants. Someone is going to get hurt eventually and it won’t be pretty.

All in all, Libriomancer is a great book and a great start to the Magic ex Libris series. I’m looking forward to seeing Isaac whip more paperbacks out of his long brown trench coat. And yes, the healing book should definitely be in the front pocket.(less)

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topics	posts	views	last activity
Free but brief short -- how Isaac met Smudge	6	41	May 20, 2013 06:08pm
SciFi and Fantasy...: Libriomancer-December 2012	5	60	Jan 17, 2013 03:01pm
The Sword and Laser: holy crap, this sounds awesome!	10	200	Aug 19, 2012 12:13pm

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About Jim C. Hines

Jim C. Hines' latest book is LIBRIOMANCER, a modern-day fantasy about a magic-wielding librarian, a dryad, a secret society founded by Johannes Gutenberg, a flaming spider, and an enchanted convertible. He's also the author of the PRINCESS series of fairy tale retellings as well as the humorous GOBLIN QUEST trilogy. His short fiction has appeared in more than 40 magazines and anthologies, includin...more

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Quotes from Libriomancer

“...bookstores, libraries... they're the closest thing I have to a church.” — 25 people liked it

“Any factual errors that remain are entirely the fault of Bob, who snuck into the offices at DAW to try to sabotage my book. I hate that guy.” — 12 people liked it

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Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris #1)

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