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timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
Quite a lot happens in this book. Why did I feel so dull anyway?
I suspect it has a bad case of trilogy-stretched-to-five-itis, where what could have been a ripping yarn gets padded and starts to plod.
I have to adjust and remind myself that it's a YA, and that the EMOTION dial is never below 9.
And if Jess had stopped mooning and overprotecting the precious porcelain Morgan, this would have been a novella. Morgan, hmm, classic witch name ...
As with most YA, the bad guys are Assad-Stalin-Amin bad. OK, but I prefer more nuance. Jess's dad was better.
The plot across all three books is here revealed to have been well worked out, and we are reminded repeatedly that it has aspects of a chess game. Heck, Jess's dad -- if he's one of the kings - even castles!
There's some good character and relationship development. Unfortunately it too has that feeling of the sort of thing an author does when the characters are going to be around for two more books and maybe a bunch after that. Hint: Morganville Vampires is up to 15 plus extras ...
Got a tad tired of Thomas. He shares a name too: with Tom Swift, another character who can make a rocket engine in nine minutes out of an acorn and a spoon. Our Tom makes a printing press from scrap wood and a few bits of metal, hand-carving and molding everything in what appears to be about eight hours. Then he makes a laser pistol out of mirrors and the motor from a clockwork bird, grrr. This is not YA, it's GYA (Gullible Young Adults). And just as I'm most annoyed he fires the thing and we get a clearly visible red beam. No, no, no, that's not how lasers work, especially red ones. We do some other stuff for a while, then Tom Swift is back, building a full roller-fed automated printing press that works flawlessly the first time. Then he gets some jewels (ooh! ruby laser!!) and makes a Japanese-B-movie ray gun using the power units from pistols to produce the KILOWATTS of power needed for heavy-duty cutting. Please, author, just say it's magic and we'll move on.
#4? Well, if I see it I'll probably read it, but I won't search for it.
I suspect it has a bad case of trilogy-stretched-to-five-itis, where what could have been a ripping yarn gets padded and starts to plod.
I have to adjust and remind myself that it's a YA, and that the EMOTION dial is never below 9.
And if Jess had stopped mooning and overprotecting the precious porcelain Morgan, this would have been a novella. Morgan, hmm, classic witch name ...
As with most YA, the bad guys are Assad-Stalin-Amin bad. OK, but I prefer more nuance. Jess's dad was better.
The plot across all three books is here revealed to have been well worked out, and we are reminded repeatedly that it has aspects of a chess game. Heck, Jess's dad -- if he's one of the kings - even castles!
There's some good character and relationship development. Unfortunately it too has that feeling of the sort of thing an author does when the characters are going to be around for two more books and maybe a bunch after that. Hint: Morganville Vampires is up to 15 plus extras ...
Got a tad tired of Thomas. He shares a name too: with Tom Swift, another character who can make a rocket engine in nine minutes out of an acorn and a spoon. Our Tom makes a printing press from scrap wood and a few bits of metal, hand-carving and molding everything in what appears to be about eight hours. Then he makes a laser pistol out of mirrors and the motor from a clockwork bird, grrr. This is not YA, it's GYA (Gullible Young Adults). And just as I'm most annoyed he fires the thing and we get a clearly visible red beam. No, no, no, that's not how lasers work, especially red ones. We do some other stuff for a while, then Tom Swift is back, building a full roller-fed automated printing press that works flawlessly the first time. Then he gets some jewels (ooh! ruby laser!!) and makes a Japanese-B-movie ray gun using the power units from pistols to produce the KILOWATTS of power needed for heavy-duty cutting. Please, author, just say it's magic and we'll move on.
#4? Well, if I see it I'll probably read it, but I won't search for it.
tracilynn33's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kathydavie's review against another edition
5.0
Third in The Great Library alternate history science fiction series for young adults and revolving around Jess Brightwell and his band of fellow “traitors”.
My Take
Yet another exciting, adventurous, and horrifying story in this series about the incredible value of books, and a lesson in the effects of tyranny. It’s also about the pomposity of deciding who is allowed to read what. To decide who is an equal and who is not. Much like we are still doing today.
The powers at the Great Library are greedy and vicious in their desire to keep their stranglehold on the world. When you read of events and the decisions that lead to them, you’ll be shocked.
And I suppose you could consider Caine using simple third-person subjective point-of-view from Jess’ perspective as a type of power, as we learn only what Jess experiences, hears, thinks, etc.
Caine includes a number of subplots that vary in depth, one for each core character, in fact. The heaviest and deepest is what Jess must face with his scheming family and his father’s plans.
It’s a fascinating world with books as king. All power revolves around who has access to them. Imagine if Gutenberg hadn’t invented the printing press. Remember all the Church leaders furious that Gutenberg printed a Bible that anyone could read and interpret its words as they chose? It was a chipping away of the Catholic Church's power base. After all, the freedom to interpret the Bible in your own way is what gave rise to Luther's arguments and led to the divisions amongst the Christians.
And now…the game of betrayals is afoot in this fabulous sequel of intense censorship.
The Story
At war with Alexandria are the Welsh who have taken London, the Burners who object to the Library’s control, and the “traitorous” rebels: Jess, Morgan, Khalila, Glain, Thomas, and Dario along with Scholar Wolfe and Captain Santi.
All sides want to use them, for the power, the glory, the stopping.
Meanwhile, our exiles believe in the Great Library’s true purpose, but who will prevail?
The Characters
Jess Brightwell is, was, a new Scholar until he broke with the Library. His family are known book smugglers based in London with tentacles everywhere. Callum Brightwell is Jess’ ruthless father. Celia is his distant mother. (Witness their willingness to abandon Liam, Jess’ brother, when he was caught.) Brendan “Scraps” is the twin brother who wavers. Grainger is Callum’s secretary. “Cousin” Anit is family only in the name of smuggling. Red Ibrahim, her father, is one of the most powerful smugglers in the world.
Part of the exiled band of new Scholars includes Morgan Hault who is an Iron Tower-trained Obscurist; the Muslim Khalila Seif is a researcher who works in astronomy and mathematics; Glain Wathen is more along the line of a Welsh warrior; Thomas Schreiber is an inventor whose treatment by the Great Library set their rebellion in motion (an invention for which Scholar Gutenberg died); and, the snooty Dario Santiago is related to royalty in Spain. Rafa is Khalila’s trusting cousin. Frauke is the name Thomas gives his second automaton.
Christopher Wolfe had been recognized as a great Scholar until he presumed too far. Wolfe’s mother had been the Obscurist. Wolfe’s life partner, Captain Niccolo Santi, is/had been highly respected among and with the High Garda.
The Great Library is…
…at Alexandria and was intended as a preserve of mankind’s knowledge. Over the centuries, its leaders became more and more corrupt, wanting to retain all the power for themselves. The Archivist Magister is its head. (Callimachus was the first and warned of what the Library could/did become.) The Artifex Magnus appears to be second-in-command to the Archivist. The disgusting Gregory is the new Obscurist Magnus. Eskander vowed to make himself useless to the Library years ago.
The Library’s abuse of power is starting to gain attention, especially with the death of High Garda Captain Wellington. Zara Cole becomes acting captain. The Blue Dogs were the squad Jess and Glain had belonged to in Alexandria, along with Tom “Troll” Rolleson, Wu Xiang, Phoena, and one other.
The Burners would…
…rather burn books if they can’t be free and owned by anyone who wants them. Willinger Beck is the leader of the Burner city of Philadelphia and thereby of all Burners. Counselors Lindsay and Valin are part of the Council. Indira is his guard captain. Diwell is one of the guards. Dr. Askuwheteau had been trained as a Medica, and he has a personal library of many, many paper books. Benjamin Franklin had been a Scholar who left to join the Burners.
Blanks are essentially iPads. Everyone has a Blank to which books can be downloaded. It’s the easiest way to control who may access any book. Stormcrow is the common man’s name for Scholars. The Medica are the medical branch of the Library. Obscurists have great power, quintessence, and are generally confined to the Iron Tower lest they go mad and where they are bred. The Black Archives are where inventions and knowledge too powerful were hidden. The Treaty of Pergamum was signed by a number of countries and held the Great Library apart and above the laws of kingdoms — think Vatican. Translation is like Star Trek’s transporter; it beams you to other Translation Chambers all over the world. Serapeum are daughter libraries and are Library territory with their own laws and their own High Garda.
Gilles de Rais gets pulled in as an example; he was a companion-at-arms with Joan of Arc. Patel, Cormac, and Argent are more book smugglers.
The Cover and Title
The cover is red, black, and white, an explosive mixture for the Great Library has exploded, flames lightening the shadowed insides. Viewing through a hole in the wall, we look into that red inside and up at the black night sky, filled with stars. At the top of the cover, it’s a pale gray impression of burned paper / stone wall, ragged around the edges, and a background for an info blurb and the author’s name in black. Below it, framed by the edges of the hole in the wall is the title in that same pale gray, great flourishes around the initial caps. Below, on the rubble strewn black floor is the series information in the same gray.
The title is the meeting of two enemy factions, the Ash and Quill, the Burner and the Scholar.
My Take
Yet another exciting, adventurous, and horrifying story in this series about the incredible value of books, and a lesson in the effects of tyranny. It’s also about the pomposity of deciding who is allowed to read what. To decide who is an equal and who is not. Much like we are still doing today.
The powers at the Great Library are greedy and vicious in their desire to keep their stranglehold on the world. When you read of events and the decisions that lead to them, you’ll be shocked.
And I suppose you could consider Caine using simple third-person subjective point-of-view from Jess’ perspective as a type of power, as we learn only what Jess experiences, hears, thinks, etc.
Caine includes a number of subplots that vary in depth, one for each core character, in fact. The heaviest and deepest is what Jess must face with his scheming family and his father’s plans.
It’s a fascinating world with books as king. All power revolves around who has access to them. Imagine if Gutenberg hadn’t invented the printing press. Remember all the Church leaders furious that Gutenberg printed a Bible that anyone could read and interpret its words as they chose? It was a chipping away of the Catholic Church's power base. After all, the freedom to interpret the Bible in your own way is what gave rise to Luther's arguments and led to the divisions amongst the Christians.
And now…the game of betrayals is afoot in this fabulous sequel of intense censorship.
The Story
At war with Alexandria are the Welsh who have taken London, the Burners who object to the Library’s control, and the “traitorous” rebels: Jess, Morgan, Khalila, Glain, Thomas, and Dario along with Scholar Wolfe and Captain Santi.
All sides want to use them, for the power, the glory, the stopping.
Meanwhile, our exiles believe in the Great Library’s true purpose, but who will prevail?
The Characters
Jess Brightwell is, was, a new Scholar until he broke with the Library. His family are known book smugglers based in London with tentacles everywhere. Callum Brightwell is Jess’ ruthless father. Celia is his distant mother. (Witness their willingness to abandon Liam, Jess’ brother, when he was caught.) Brendan “Scraps” is the twin brother who wavers. Grainger is Callum’s secretary. “Cousin” Anit is family only in the name of smuggling. Red Ibrahim, her father, is one of the most powerful smugglers in the world.
Part of the exiled band of new Scholars includes Morgan Hault who is an Iron Tower-trained Obscurist; the Muslim Khalila Seif is a researcher who works in astronomy and mathematics; Glain Wathen is more along the line of a Welsh warrior; Thomas Schreiber is an inventor whose treatment by the Great Library set their rebellion in motion (an invention for which Scholar Gutenberg died); and, the snooty Dario Santiago is related to royalty in Spain. Rafa is Khalila’s trusting cousin. Frauke is the name Thomas gives his second automaton.
Christopher Wolfe had been recognized as a great Scholar until he presumed too far. Wolfe’s mother had been the Obscurist. Wolfe’s life partner, Captain Niccolo Santi, is/had been highly respected among and with the High Garda.
The Great Library is…
…at Alexandria and was intended as a preserve of mankind’s knowledge. Over the centuries, its leaders became more and more corrupt, wanting to retain all the power for themselves. The Archivist Magister is its head. (Callimachus was the first and warned of what the Library could/did become.) The Artifex Magnus appears to be second-in-command to the Archivist. The disgusting Gregory is the new Obscurist Magnus. Eskander vowed to make himself useless to the Library years ago.
The Library’s abuse of power is starting to gain attention, especially with the death of High Garda Captain Wellington. Zara Cole becomes acting captain. The Blue Dogs were the squad Jess and Glain had belonged to in Alexandria, along with Tom “Troll” Rolleson, Wu Xiang, Phoena, and one other.
The Burners would…
…rather burn books if they can’t be free and owned by anyone who wants them. Willinger Beck is the leader of the Burner city of Philadelphia and thereby of all Burners. Counselors Lindsay and Valin are part of the Council. Indira is his guard captain. Diwell is one of the guards. Dr. Askuwheteau had been trained as a Medica, and he has a personal library of many, many paper books. Benjamin Franklin had been a Scholar who left to join the Burners.
Blanks are essentially iPads. Everyone has a Blank to which books can be downloaded. It’s the easiest way to control who may access any book. Stormcrow is the common man’s name for Scholars. The Medica are the medical branch of the Library. Obscurists have great power, quintessence, and are generally confined to the Iron Tower lest they go mad and where they are bred. The Black Archives are where inventions and knowledge too powerful were hidden. The Treaty of Pergamum was signed by a number of countries and held the Great Library apart and above the laws of kingdoms — think Vatican. Translation is like Star Trek’s transporter; it beams you to other Translation Chambers all over the world. Serapeum are daughter libraries and are Library territory with their own laws and their own High Garda.
Gilles de Rais gets pulled in as an example; he was a companion-at-arms with Joan of Arc. Patel, Cormac, and Argent are more book smugglers.
The Cover and Title
The cover is red, black, and white, an explosive mixture for the Great Library has exploded, flames lightening the shadowed insides. Viewing through a hole in the wall, we look into that red inside and up at the black night sky, filled with stars. At the top of the cover, it’s a pale gray impression of burned paper / stone wall, ragged around the edges, and a background for an info blurb and the author’s name in black. Below it, framed by the edges of the hole in the wall is the title in that same pale gray, great flourishes around the initial caps. Below, on the rubble strewn black floor is the series information in the same gray.
The title is the meeting of two enemy factions, the Ash and Quill, the Burner and the Scholar.
baldwinme40's review against another edition
4.0
in my pride i forgot the horror of starting unfinished series. this is the WORST.
this segment was good as the last two, glad to see characters experiencing PTSD realistically after horrific events. wolfe and santi being Dads is excellent. unfortunately Jess, the protagonist, is my least favorite character of the Main 6 and i wish the narrator were someone less.... teenage boy-angry. he has matured but Khalila is still 9000x cooler than him. also, character interactions are getting a bit repetitive and predictable, tho looks like the group dynamic has shifted permanently at the end?? guess i'll find out in a year or two ugh whatever
this segment was good as the last two, glad to see characters experiencing PTSD realistically after horrific events. wolfe and santi being Dads is excellent. unfortunately Jess, the protagonist, is my least favorite character of the Main 6 and i wish the narrator were someone less.... teenage boy-angry. he has matured but Khalila is still 9000x cooler than him. also, character interactions are getting a bit repetitive and predictable, tho looks like the group dynamic has shifted permanently at the end?? guess i'll find out in a year or two ugh whatever
freadomlibrary's review
2.0
Can’t believe I’m saying this but... DNF’d @ 38%. I’ve been reading this book since June, it’s been 7 months of trying to push through but I just can’t.
jrathburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
alapinski's review against another edition
5.0
I was hoping this would be the last book because I just need to know what happens in the end!
danileighta's review against another edition
5.0
I'm flying through this series. The books are getting more clever and exciting as they go on. The imperfect heroes are so relatable, as well as that burning desire to change the world for the better.
Great for readers of the Divergent and Hunger Games series, and anyone who loves the library... so that should be everyone, right?!
Great for readers of the Divergent and Hunger Games series, and anyone who loves the library... so that should be everyone, right?!
aranafyre's review against another edition
4.0
The writing is still strong but this book is not as good as the first two. It is definitely suffering from middle of a series itis. Still love the characters and world. The writing still sucks me in and I don't want to stop reading. I can't wait for the next book.
kamattis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75