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92nd out of 345 books
—
593 voters
Worldsoul (Worldsoul #1)
by
Liz Williams
What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world? Worldsoul, a great city that forms a nexus point between Earth and the many dimensions known as the Liminality, is a place where old stories gather, where forgotten legends come to fade and die - or to flourish and rise again. Until recently, Worldsoul has been governed by the Skein, but they have gone miss...more
Paperback, 312 pages
Published
June 13th 2012
by Prime Books
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As when I read Liz Williams's first Detective Chen book, I found myself distracted and unattached to the characters in Worldsoul. Williams's strong prose is still in evidence, as is her ability to mash up genre tropes into a concoction that feels fresh. The trouble is, the characters in this outing change little over the course of the story and act more as foils to a weird world rather than living inhabitants of it. The shake-up events that pepper the story also felt random.
Some of Williams's ea...more
Some of Williams's ea...more
Oct 15, 2012
Margaret
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
urban fantasy fans who like strong female characters
Worldsoul features strong women characters who meet a series of adventures with wit and courage. They live in a society where stories and words have a real existence. Librarian Mercy steps up to defend the books under her care when a destructive magical monster attacks. Alchemist Shadow searches for a cure when she is invaded by a strange creature. Using magic power, craftiness, and fighting ability, the two women battle demons and sorcerers. The fun for the reader is to watch how the heroines o...more
An extravagant mess of a setting; the Library of Alexandria is stolen by the Powers and set up in the middle of a world-spanning city outside of time... or something. Story-pathways open into everywhere. It's Pratchett's "L-Space" taken three-quarters seriously, with cod-Miltonian angels and demons butting heads with djinn as Loki stirs up trouble. At one point the White Witch shows up, or a close calque of her, zipping along with a bag of kings' heads in the back of her chariot. I loved that. I...more
The city of Worldsoul is on a nexus point between different dimensions, a place where old stories gather and legends come to die—or to rise again. And Mercy Fane has one of the most dangerous jobs in her world. She’s a Librarian, guardian of one the largest accumulation of human knowledge and myth. But despite the Librarians’ best efforts, stories are breaking out of ancient texts and escaping into the city.
The range of the stories and cultures that intersect in Worldsoul was delightful in its a...more
The range of the stories and cultures that intersect in Worldsoul was delightful in its a...more
I remember reading a book by Liz Williams before, though I'm not sure of the title. I think it was The Poison Master. As I recall, I was a little disappointed that, with such wonderful materials to work with (Dr Dee!), she had crafted a less-than-amazing book.
She's improved since then, clearly. I enjoyed Worldsoul, especially the second half (the first half I found a little slow-moving). The setting, a magical city more-or-less powered by story, is wonderful, and she doesn't waste too much time...more
She's improved since then, clearly. I enjoyed Worldsoul, especially the second half (the first half I found a little slow-moving). The setting, a magical city more-or-less powered by story, is wonderful, and she doesn't waste too much time...more
An agreeably imagined and cast tale, set in a city/land/plane that is a composite of all the stories ever told and featuring a Librarian ("the most dangerous job in the world," as the blurb has it), an Alchemist and various demons and monsters--all of whom are wrapped up in a tangle of competing plots to take the place over in the extended absence of the two mysterious entities called the Skein who have governed it. There are some recognizable gods and figures from myth, but in general the autho...more
What reader of fantasy can resist a book about kick-butt librarians with swords, and a mysteriously veiled young alchemist possessed by an ifrit. Of spirits, gods, angels, demons, djinn, and other myths and stories--stories that live on the "storyways" created by myriad human storytellers over the years, and safeguarded and maintained by the librarians in an other-dimensional city known as Worldsoul. Liz Williams is a wonderful writer and I thoroughly enjoyed her new book, "Worldsoul." The adven...more
Ok after reading about 15% of book I am officially giving up.
Trying to understand what is going on in this book is either giving me a headache or makes me fall asleep (if I am tired). The chapters iterate between three characters. I still can not make any connection between them or understand more than half of the things that are going on or that they are talking about.
Based on description the main character Mercy should be some kick-ass librarian heroine. And since being librarian has been my...more
Trying to understand what is going on in this book is either giving me a headache or makes me fall asleep (if I am tired). The chapters iterate between three characters. I still can not make any connection between them or understand more than half of the things that are going on or that they are talking about.
Based on description the main character Mercy should be some kick-ass librarian heroine. And since being librarian has been my...more
WORLDSOUL, thank goodness, has short chapters. Thank goodness because I was trying to read it around a toddler's demands, and was almost able to read a chapter at a time due to the chapter lengths.
Good book. I enjoyed it, and the last 50 pages or so (which I stayed up too late to read) really had me turning the pages. Given that I enjoyed it all chopped up, as it were, I bet it would've been considerably superior if I could've read it at one go, or at least in slightly longer bursts.
I am quite...more
Good book. I enjoyed it, and the last 50 pages or so (which I stayed up too late to read) really had me turning the pages. Given that I enjoyed it all chopped up, as it were, I bet it would've been considerably superior if I could've read it at one go, or at least in slightly longer bursts.
I am quite...more
Here's what I love best about Liz Williams: she is always more subtle and complicated than you think she's going to be. When I start one of her books, I think 'oh, this is what kind of book this is'. But I'm almost always wrong. Her world-building is complicated and revealed slowly, so if you're the kind of reader who is put off by a dreamlike ambiguity, then Williams will probably frustrate you. If you're willing to trust that her puzzle will fit together in the end, then relax and enjoy. She's...more
It is an interesting story and I will definetly read the next book, however at times I felt that the author could have taken more time to explain some or the ideas and rules of this world a bit better. I don't think it is necessarily a good idea to assume that your audience knows what you are talking about as this is a new world to them and their understanding of something may not be what is meant by the author. It took some dedication to stick with this book until the end, but it was well wort...more
I enjoyed the book, though I can see some of the other reviewer's criticisms as being valid. The world itself was rather interesting, but wasn't fleshed out as much as I would have liked. We are given some glimpses of things that hopefully will be explored in future stories. I felt the same way about the characters of Mercy and Shadow, enjoyable, but left me wanting a bit more development. The book does switch between character points of view most ever chapter, and there were a couple of point w...more
Sep 23, 2012
Katharine Kimbriel
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Lovers of strange, fantastic world building and quirky characters who ring true
Shelves:
fantasy
Here’s a quirky little fantasy containing some of my favorite elements, including myths, alchemists, and librarians who have the most dangerous job in the world – managing the Library located in Worldsoul. And what is Worldsoul, you ask? Why, it’s an immense city that forms a nexus point between that backwater known as Earth and the dimensions known as the Liminality.
What kind of place is Worldsoul? A strange and wondrous place, where architecture rises like a thousand cultures, magics blend and...more
What kind of place is Worldsoul? A strange and wondrous place, where architecture rises like a thousand cultures, magics blend and...more
Worldsoul took a little while to get used to. There are several POVs to keep track of, and this book takes the "in media res" idea awfully far. I put this down a few times because there is so much the author isn't telling us about the world. It's a beautiful world, what we can find out about it, but there is so much hinted at that isn't ever explained. I have a feeling that this book will benefit from being read as a series, where dangling plot points or tantalizing bits of prose will turn out t...more
This book suffered from a great idea, poor excution. I was so excited about this book, but it fell short of my expectations. It started slow, and I had a really hard time getting into the story. About 2/3 of the way through, I still couldn't understand what the overall plot was about, and where the story was moving to.
The characters felt very one dimensional. I didn't feel much of anything for anyone. Mercy and Shadow seemed somewhat interchangable, and I could't find any reason to care about ei...more
The characters felt very one dimensional. I didn't feel much of anything for anyone. Mercy and Shadow seemed somewhat interchangable, and I could't find any reason to care about ei...more
After quite high expectations, I have to say that Worldsoul turned to be a little mixed for me as the novel aligned closer to the UF subgenre than to the SF that remains by far the most interesting of the author's oeuvre to date. It is true that the novel is not quite the usual UF junk as it takes place in a "higher dimension" from Earth, but Earth's cultures, myths, supernatural beings of lore, books and tales are crucial for all that happens.
Worldsoul has great inventiveness and the writing st...more
Worldsoul has great inventiveness and the writing st...more
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Never have I been more frustrated by a book than this one. I know that info-dumping is not cool however I need context especially since this is the first novel in a series. I didn't get that context. I got NO information whatsoever about the world - there is no worldbuilding whatsoever - no, that's wrong. There is a world, it seems like a fascinating world but I have no idea where it is - is it a different planet as I suspected? And if so, how was it populated by humans? Are they still humans? W...more
Egalley thanks to Prime Books
Unfortunately me and Worldsoul got separated due to irreconcilable differences twenty or so chapters in the story.
You see, I like to have the lay of the land as soon as the story begins, a little bit of world-building, a bit of history for the main characters, some sort of inkling as to what direction the story would take.
I had absolutely no idea what was happening in Worldsoul through most of the book. There are few major characters driving completely separate plot...more
Unfortunately me and Worldsoul got separated due to irreconcilable differences twenty or so chapters in the story.
You see, I like to have the lay of the land as soon as the story begins, a little bit of world-building, a bit of history for the main characters, some sort of inkling as to what direction the story would take.
I had absolutely no idea what was happening in Worldsoul through most of the book. There are few major characters driving completely separate plot...more
Jun 01, 2012
Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who love mythology mixed in with original fantasy
"What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?" I think that tagline sold a lot of people on this book, or at least convinced them that it was something that they might be interested in. I know it hooked me. Which is why I was delighted to receive a review copy from Prime Books via Netgalley.
So how well does it live up to that tagline? Moments of subtle wry humor, the mythological mashup of the setting (a universe where tales have tangible power), women bonding because of sh...more
So how well does it live up to that tagline? Moments of subtle wry humor, the mythological mashup of the setting (a universe where tales have tangible power), women bonding because of sh...more
Mercy Fane is a librarian in the Liminality. The kind of librarian that chooses a favorite weapon before wandering the stacks, these books have a tendency to misbehave. Things have been going downhill since the Skein disappeared. They were the almost-gods who made things run smoothly and ever since they left, things have been, well...less than smooth. When a very old creature escapes, or is released, from a very old text, Mercy vows to find it. Along the way, she is joined by a djinn-infested Al...more
I won an Advanced Reader's copy through a Goodreads contest, so I wanted to get my feedback up since it comes out next month.
The book started heavy in the world jargon, and I was a little confused. It lasted only about a chapter or so though, so it was easily overcome. Once I got used to the language, the story got a chance to grab me.
I enjoyed the story overall. There were places that I would have liked more information, but I think maybe it will flesh out when the trilogy is complete.
I like t...more
The book started heavy in the world jargon, and I was a little confused. It lasted only about a chapter or so though, so it was easily overcome. Once I got used to the language, the story got a chance to grab me.
I enjoyed the story overall. There were places that I would have liked more information, but I think maybe it will flesh out when the trilogy is complete.
I like t...more
This was so disappointing. Words do not hold their definitions from one moment to the next. Shadow(a person) has a protective veil that she controls as part of her body. Then we're told that she is "human." But in the end, the ifrit who has become shattered in her body dies to be released? None of that makes sense. This book is just words strung together forming sentences but no actual meaning. Yuck.
Action packed, but a bit hard to follow at first. The characters were well-written and her worldbuilding is quite interesting. What soured me a bit on this book was, strangely enough, the plot itself. It was epic and all that, but still, it just didn't feel...solid. There were too many interesting side stories that just got glossed over. I think this book would have been much better at about twice the length.
I picked this up solely for the tagline that read, "What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?" As a librarian myself, I couldn't resist, though I fully expected to be laughing throughout (and not because it was supposed to be funny). However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I actually liked this. There was some slightly trite writing, but overall this wasn't bad.
This is a highly engaging fantasy that plays nicely with theories of narrative to create the fantasy milieu. It sets the characters up nicely for what could be a very interesting series.
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Apr 20, 2012
Erin
marked it as to-read
The first sentence of the summary is "What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?" I would read this book just to read something that has an action hero librarian main character.
Librarians-as-superheroes sounds awesome, but unfortunately I'm giving up at chapter nine. I have practically no idea what's going on in this book, and worse yet, I don't care. This is one of those fantasy books that throws you into the world, introducing characters and concepts with zero explanation--which normally I'd be willing to put more effort into, but there is a LOT of confusing stuff going on here, and, oh, we also have, like, four different stories going on simultaneously, with no appa...more
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Feb 04, 2012
Jenn
marked it as to-read
The tag line to this book is "What if being a Librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?"
I want to read this so bad now I can hardly stand it!
I want to read this so bad now I can hardly stand it!
Jun 28, 2012
Elena
marked it as to-read
"What if being a librarian was the most dangerous job in the world?" With that tagline, clearly I need to read this yesterday.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville-Madiso...: Staff Picks -- Worldsoul | 1 | 2 | Oct 17, 2012 07:40pm | |
| South African Boo...: Worldsoul (No Spoilers) | 6 | 10 | Sep 23, 2012 11:09pm | |
| South African Boo...: Worldsoul (Spoilers) | 1 | 7 | Aug 22, 2012 08:31am | |
| Mythic Fiction: Worldsoul by Liz Williams | 2 | 13 | Jun 03, 2012 03:58am |
Liz Williams is a British science fiction writer. Her first novel, The Ghost Sister was published in 2001. Both this novel and her next, Empire of Bones (2002) were nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.[1] She is also the author of the Inspector Chen series.
She is the daughter of a stage musician and a Gothic novelist. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge. She has had short st...more
More about Liz Williams...
She is the daughter of a stage musician and a Gothic novelist. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Science from Cambridge. She has had short st...more
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