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songwind's review against another edition
2.0
This was a fun book with some interesting world building, but also quite a few flaws.
The world is very interesting. It doesn't really map to a particular historical time in our world. Some things about it are very modern, some feel more Victorian, and others downright Medieval.
The main character is an interesting choice - a bookish, not-especially-good magician who works in a magical library. A magical accident leaves her no more powerful, but crammed full of forbidden knowledge. Sort of like a person with asthma who somehow mastered martial arts. She can do some really fantastic things, but not for long and not too much at once.
However, though the personalities of many of the characters are quite good, the decisions get pretty bizarre, resulting in weird plot holes and "idiot plots" that would never work if various people weren't stupid.
All in all, though, it was a fun, easy listen, and I imagine I'll check out the rest of the series later.
The world is very interesting. It doesn't really map to a particular historical time in our world. Some things about it are very modern, some feel more Victorian, and others downright Medieval.
The main character is an interesting choice - a bookish, not-especially-good magician who works in a magical library. A magical accident leaves her no more powerful, but crammed full of forbidden knowledge. Sort of like a person with asthma who somehow mastered martial arts. She can do some really fantastic things, but not for long and not too much at once.
However, though the personalities of many of the characters are quite good, the decisions get pretty bizarre, resulting in weird plot holes and "idiot plots" that would never work if various people weren't stupid.
All in all, though, it was a fun, easy listen, and I imagine I'll check out the rest of the series later.
michael_gallipo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
perculiarpenny's review
3.0
This review is also posted on my blog So Many eBooks, So Little Time
I picked up Bookworm by Christopher Nuttall for two reasons. The first was that it was, as the title suggests, about books and the second was that it involved magic.It is also largely set around a huge library filled with these books on magic, my interest was piqued.
Elaine No-Kin was brought up in an orphanage in the Golden City, never knowing her parents or where she came from. Although her magic is limited she attends and graduates from the Peerless School and then takes a job at the Great Library. The Great Library holds the largest collection of books on magic there is, including those books which are banned as they contain information on the dark magic which nearly destroyed them in the necromantic war many years ago.
While sorting through a box of books left to the Great Library by a recently deceased duke Elaine accidentally sets off a magical trap which almost kills her. When she finally comes round she realises that she now has the the knowledge from every book in the library stored inside her own head, including the banned books kept locked in the Black Vault.
I am very conflicted on this book, so lets start with the good points. If there is one thing I love it’s imagination put into books about magic. This book definitely has that. The magic system is well thought out and it works well, throughout the book we see hints of magics capabilities and its limits. We are shown the different and complex ways it can be used, and its shortcomings. The main character is very relatable, and the other characters are really brought to life and hold their own. The plot moves at a good pace and definitely kept me interested, the world it itself is fascinating and beautifully described.
With all the praise I have given, why then am I conflicted and whats stopping me from giving this book a five star rating? This book is listed in more than one place as being Young Adult fiction, so why then is it filled with so much sex? It adds nothing to the story and certainly makes it inappropriate for the young adult category. Elaine and her roommate have a fairly detailed conversation about oral sex after Elaine’s first date, she later walks in on a man receiving oral sex, after being kidnapped she is tortured, mostly psychically but there is also some sexual abuse from her captors. This is all rounded off with a graphic sex scene between Elaine and Bee, her new boyfriend. I have no issue with erotica, but if I want to read that then I will buy it. I don’t expect to find in when reading a young adult book.
Although the book is part of a series, the plot comes together nicely at the end. It makes it clear that there is a next one but wraps most things up satisfyingly. If it had not been for a repeated sexual content this book would have had five stars. However it just felt out of place and inappropriate, therefore I have given it 3 stars.
I picked up Bookworm by Christopher Nuttall for two reasons. The first was that it was, as the title suggests, about books and the second was that it involved magic.It is also largely set around a huge library filled with these books on magic, my interest was piqued.
Elaine No-Kin was brought up in an orphanage in the Golden City, never knowing her parents or where she came from. Although her magic is limited she attends and graduates from the Peerless School and then takes a job at the Great Library. The Great Library holds the largest collection of books on magic there is, including those books which are banned as they contain information on the dark magic which nearly destroyed them in the necromantic war many years ago.
While sorting through a box of books left to the Great Library by a recently deceased duke Elaine accidentally sets off a magical trap which almost kills her. When she finally comes round she realises that she now has the the knowledge from every book in the library stored inside her own head, including the banned books kept locked in the Black Vault.
I am very conflicted on this book, so lets start with the good points. If there is one thing I love it’s imagination put into books about magic. This book definitely has that. The magic system is well thought out and it works well, throughout the book we see hints of magics capabilities and its limits. We are shown the different and complex ways it can be used, and its shortcomings. The main character is very relatable, and the other characters are really brought to life and hold their own. The plot moves at a good pace and definitely kept me interested, the world it itself is fascinating and beautifully described.
With all the praise I have given, why then am I conflicted and whats stopping me from giving this book a five star rating? This book is listed in more than one place as being Young Adult fiction, so why then is it filled with so much sex? It adds nothing to the story and certainly makes it inappropriate for the young adult category. Elaine and her roommate have a fairly detailed conversation about oral sex after Elaine’s first date, she later walks in on a man receiving oral sex, after being kidnapped she is tortured, mostly psychically but there is also some sexual abuse from her captors. This is all rounded off with a graphic sex scene between Elaine and Bee, her new boyfriend. I have no issue with erotica, but if I want to read that then I will buy it. I don’t expect to find in when reading a young adult book.
Although the book is part of a series, the plot comes together nicely at the end. It makes it clear that there is a next one but wraps most things up satisfyingly. If it had not been for a repeated sexual content this book would have had five stars. However it just felt out of place and inappropriate, therefore I have given it 3 stars.
pjonsson's review
4.0
his is the third book from Christopher Nuttall that I have read and I have enjoyed them all. Unlike the first two books from Mr. Nuttal that I have read this one is a pure fantasy book without any science fiction component. The book is well written in the same general way as the previous books.
The book follows Elaine who, as the book blurb states, is a magician with limited talent. Elaine’s world is one where magic is abundant and he who has or controls magic is he who rules. The world is very much governed by tradition and old aristocratic rules. The world-building is adequately detailed and provides a nice backdrop for the story.
It was very enjoyable to read this book. After Elaine’s little incident at the start of the book she goes on an adventure to discover the truth about the event and discovers a carefully planned plot to free an ancient enemy and literally take over the world. She also discovers a lot about herself and her friends. Sometimes the book felt like a mixture of Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter (although with a more adult view). Although somewhat naive at times I quite liked Elaine and I definitely liked Inquisitor Dread.
I was a bit disappointed that, although Elaine did save the day (should not be much of a surprise, there is a second book after all), she did not develop as much as I hoped in terms of her powers. The book also had a fair amount of rather explicit sexual content which I felt was not really adding much. I do not really mind and I am certainly not against sexual content out of some hypocritical principle but it really did not add much of interest to the book.
These are minor flaws though and in general this is a very good book which I much enjoyed reading. I will definitely pick up Bookworm II as well.
The book follows Elaine who, as the book blurb states, is a magician with limited talent. Elaine’s world is one where magic is abundant and he who has or controls magic is he who rules. The world is very much governed by tradition and old aristocratic rules. The world-building is adequately detailed and provides a nice backdrop for the story.
It was very enjoyable to read this book. After Elaine’s little incident at the start of the book she goes on an adventure to discover the truth about the event and discovers a carefully planned plot to free an ancient enemy and literally take over the world. She also discovers a lot about herself and her friends. Sometimes the book felt like a mixture of Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter (although with a more adult view). Although somewhat naive at times I quite liked Elaine and I definitely liked Inquisitor Dread.
I was a bit disappointed that, although Elaine did save the day (should not be much of a surprise, there is a second book after all), she did not develop as much as I hoped in terms of her powers. The book also had a fair amount of rather explicit sexual content which I felt was not really adding much. I do not really mind and I am certainly not against sexual content out of some hypocritical principle but it really did not add much of interest to the book.
These are minor flaws though and in general this is a very good book which I much enjoyed reading. I will definitely pick up Bookworm II as well.
itabar's review
I had high hopes for this book. Libraries and magic! What's not to love?
Well, first of all, I didn't care for the narrator. She sounded fake, which may have slightly influenced how I felt about the book.
There were a couple of info-dump spots and all I could think was WHO CARES about ancient history?? Get on with the freaking story. There was a visit to a museum with the boyfriend which was solely to cram in some history and world-building which were not relevant to the plot!!
The sex scenes were unnecesarily long and descriptive. I've read romances with long, very detailed sex scenes, so I'm not a prude. I just felt they didn't add to the story or character arc. They felt very out of place in a fantasy that wasn't specifically SFR.
The heroine is an idiot.
Well, first of all, I didn't care for the narrator. She sounded fake, which may have slightly influenced how I felt about the book.
There were a couple of info-dump spots and all I could think was WHO CARES about ancient history?? Get on with the freaking story. There was a visit to a museum with the boyfriend which was solely to cram in some history and world-building which were not relevant to the plot!!
The sex scenes were unnecesarily long and descriptive. I've read romances with long, very detailed sex scenes, so I'm not a prude. I just felt they didn't add to the story or character arc. They felt very out of place in a fantasy that wasn't specifically SFR.
The heroine is an idiot.
krisrid's review
4.0
This was more a 3.5 star read for me as there were a few small things that I didn't love, but it got the fourth star for a combination of really clever detailed world-building, and a magical library with the librarian as our protagonist which I thought was cool and I loved it.
Elaine is every ordinary, unimportant "nobody" character we've ever met - in books or in life. She is nearly invisible in her job at the great library, in her society because she's an orphan of unknown parentage and in power, because she has virtually none . . . not so fast!
The blurb tells you that Elaine absorbs all the forbidden knowledge in her world by opening a book so that's not a spoiler. The adventure she is forced to embark on after opening that book, however is a wonderful, exciting, suspenseful and dangerous one. The reader gets to go along on that adventure and it is very entertaining.
I really got into the world the author has created here and I really enjoyed learning about it as Elaine's journey progressed.
I also liked the supporting cast of characters around Elaine, who helped - and sometimes hindered - her progress toward her objective. They all felt like fully realized people with their own stories, not just foils to do things for or to Elaine.
The pacing in this was great, nice ebbs and flows to move the story along but give the reader brief moments of respite to just get to know Elaine and see her doing normal things before ramping up the suspense.
Where I didn't love this was the one sex scene the book included. I'm going to put my distaste for the way that scene was written down to a combination of a male author's perceptions and vision being a different "flavour" than a female, and the fact that I've read a lot of traditional romance and probably have skewed visions of what romance looks like. Regardless, I found that scene: a) unnecessary and distracting from the rest of the story, and b) written in a way that made the sex feel harsh and aggressive. That is a personal reaction, and since it was the only scene in the book it was a minor gripe.
The other thing that bugged me - and that has absolutely nothing to do with the writing or the story - was a format thing. I listened to this as an audio book, and while the narrator did a great job at making the characters sound unique and bringing them to life, her accent kept switching from British to Australian and I found it extremely distracting. I suspect that the narrator is actually Australian and just accidentally fell out of the British from time to time without noticing it but because I am sensitive to accents I noticed every time we went from British to Australian and it took me out of the story as my brain grumped about it. The producer of this recording should have been more diligent while working with the narrator. Again, this is a minor complaint and nothing to do with the story. Unless you are listening to this as an audio book it won't apply.
Overall, I really enjoyed this, and would definitely read future books in this series, although I probably wouldn't do an audio version in future. I would recommend this to fantasy/sci-fi fans who think a magical library and a librarian as a protagonist sound cool - they are.
Elaine is every ordinary, unimportant "nobody" character we've ever met - in books or in life. She is nearly invisible in her job at the great library, in her society because she's an orphan of unknown parentage and in power, because she has virtually none . . . not so fast!
The blurb tells you that Elaine absorbs all the forbidden knowledge in her world by opening a book so that's not a spoiler. The adventure she is forced to embark on after opening that book, however is a wonderful, exciting, suspenseful and dangerous one. The reader gets to go along on that adventure and it is very entertaining.
I really got into the world the author has created here and I really enjoyed learning about it as Elaine's journey progressed.
I also liked the supporting cast of characters around Elaine, who helped - and sometimes hindered - her progress toward her objective. They all felt like fully realized people with their own stories, not just foils to do things for or to Elaine.
The pacing in this was great, nice ebbs and flows to move the story along but give the reader brief moments of respite to just get to know Elaine and see her doing normal things before ramping up the suspense.
Where I didn't love this was the one sex scene the book included. I'm going to put my distaste for the way that scene was written down to a combination of a male author's perceptions and vision being a different "flavour" than a female, and the fact that I've read a lot of traditional romance and probably have skewed visions of what romance looks like. Regardless, I found that scene: a) unnecessary and distracting from the rest of the story, and b) written in a way that made the sex feel harsh and aggressive. That is a personal reaction, and since it was the only scene in the book it was a minor gripe.
The other thing that bugged me - and that has absolutely nothing to do with the writing or the story - was a format thing. I listened to this as an audio book, and while the narrator did a great job at making the characters sound unique and bringing them to life, her accent kept switching from British to Australian and I found it extremely distracting. I suspect that the narrator is actually Australian and just accidentally fell out of the British from time to time without noticing it but because I am sensitive to accents I noticed every time we went from British to Australian and it took me out of the story as my brain grumped about it. The producer of this recording should have been more diligent while working with the narrator. Again, this is a minor complaint and nothing to do with the story. Unless you are listening to this as an audio book it won't apply.
Overall, I really enjoyed this, and would definitely read future books in this series, although I probably wouldn't do an audio version in future. I would recommend this to fantasy/sci-fi fans who think a magical library and a librarian as a protagonist sound cool - they are.
txbookmama's review
2.0
2.5 stars. Unnecessarily trashy (didn't advance the story at all), even for someone who didn't go to the Peerless School. [If I had a nickel for every time I rolled my eyes about the Peerless School, I could afford to buy a better book.]
chewdigestbooks's review
4.0
Pretty graphic sexually, I wouldn't hand this to the younger of Young Adults.
kaivalry's review
2.0
Unimaginative main character, depressingly male understanding of romance, and a magic system that is completely unexplained. The concept holds merit, but is lacking in follow through.
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