Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

May 22, 2018 Steven rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2018, ya, historical-fiction, fantasy

Well that was a really cool book. I love the concept. :)

Now, let's see if my suspicions are correct and Rachel Caine has tried to pull one over on me.

*picks up book two* ...more

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Nov 13, 2017 Chaitra rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, book-about-books, young-adult, adventure, first-of-a-series

I'm waffling between rating Ink and Bone 3 and 4 stars, and in the end I rounded it down. I really liked the concept. The library of Alexandria that didn't burn, but didn't also enlighten. Knowledge is power in this world, and those who own it own the world. I found this a bold stance, because, I've actually never read a book in which a library is ominous. Welcoming, a sanctuary, even home, but never looming over the general citizenry like the eye of Sauron. The only thing that does come close i I'm waffling between rating Ink and Bone 3 and 4 stars, and in the end I rounded it down. I really liked the concept. The library of Alexandria that didn't burn, but didn't also enlighten. Knowledge is power in this world, and those who own it own the world. I found this a bold stance, because, I've actually never read a book in which a library is ominous. Welcoming, a sanctuary, even home, but never looming over the general citizenry like the eye of Sauron. The only thing that does come close is the Unseen University's library and even then it's the entire university doing the looming. There should really be more books that deal with the hoarding of knowledge by learned people.

But it still doesn't go so far, because while this library hoards, it doesn't go so far as to deny knowledge.* It hoards physical books, and (re)distribution of paper books by any means is punishable by law. There are, however, ebooks. It's called codex in the book, but that's what it is. It's unfortunate that this means of distribution involves human slavery in this world, since computers and internet seems not to have been invented. That's despicable (the slavery I mean). But instead of reiterating the idea of the printing press, why wouldn't someone come up with a mirror network that is independent of the obscurists (the slaves) I can't understand. Because really, I'm fine with ebooks. They help by not damaging my face too much when I'm reading in bed and nod off because the book is boring. I'm not hung up on paper and ink if the ideas are good enough. And if the ideas are bad, it's a criminal waste of trees.

So, I was already not fully on board with this suppression of printing physical books being evil thing, and there were the characters and the plot. The narrator is Jess, who started out as interesting. His family are book smugglers and he's one of their runners. However, he got boring as soon as his love interest entered from stage right. It is one of his lines in the book that she's made him careless, and it's pretty much true to the point that I wanted to throw a book at him (this is one place where I would prefer to have a big physical book in hand, couldn't throw my phone where I was reading this on). He makes errors in judgment that's not in keeping with his trust nothing and no one character, and while it's made somewhat believable by attributing to this girl, it's also very lazy.

The others are fine, but the only one among the hopefuls who stood out was Dario, and that too because he gave me such a Draco Malfoy vibe that it was hard to not notice him. The other character to stand out was Snape/Wolfe who is not much of a teacher. He almost seems to loathe them. But, both Draco and Snape are good enough, if gray. This seems like a Harry Potter fanfiction where D and S have principles, and if Jess was actually Harry I'd be okay with that. Especially since there doesn't seem to be a Weasley in sight. But Jess is not, so it's annoying. I'm going to see where this is going in the next couple of books, since it's an okay concept and hopefully our characters have left Hogwarts behind.

*Unless of course, I nodded off when this point was being elaborated and missed something. My rating still stands because if I nodded off mid book, it can't have been that interesting. ...more

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