Ink and Bone Series: The Great Library #1 Published by Penguin Publishing Group on April 5, 2016
Genres: Fiction / Alternative History, Young Adult Fiction / Books & Libraries, Young Adult Fiction / Dystopian, Young Adult Fiction / Fantasy / General
Pages: 384
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Goodreads
In this exhilarating series, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.…
Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.
Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.
When his friend inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn....
Why I Read This Book:
I am working on cleaning out my backlist on netgalley and realized that i had the final book for this series unread. The reason is at the time of publication the author had recently passed and i love this series alot so could not bring myself to read the final book for two reasons one it was saying goodbye to an amazing series and two the realization that we would get no more from this amazing author. I also realized that while i rated it a 5 on goodreads i never wrote a review probably cause i was to excited to read the next one lol. So i am correcting this by rereading the ones i read and reading the final book this year and writing reviews for each book. If you never read this author work you won’t be disappointed if you do.
Review:
Ink and Bone is the first book in The Great Library series about a young boy named Jess who lives in a world where owning original copies of books is illegal. As a result his family smuggle originals to those who are willing to defy the laws and pay a lot of money. Unfortunately Jess learns the hard way that some of these people don’t value books like he does. One of these sorts is an ink-licker who actually eat the books, the others are burners who believe the library should be destroyed and then there the library itself with a whole slew of twisted political issues going on. When we first meet Jess he flying through the streets of London with one of these smuggled books and we get our first glimpse of this version of London and the creepy automate lions that guard the sister libraries. The world Rachel Caine has created that involves the Famous Alexandria Library and some others ones as well is so interesting and intriguing for those who love books about books. It been a few years since i read this series and it was like coming home with a whole new look at the world of the Great Library.
About Rachel Caine
Rachel Caine is the NYT, USA Today, and #1 WSJ bestselling author of more than 50 books in several categories and genres, including adult thriller and adult urban fantasy/SF as well as books for young adults ages twelve to eighteen.
Rachel Caine lost her fight with a rare and aggressive cancer, soft tissue sarcoma, in November of 2020. With over 56 books in print and millions of copies sold, she was a frequent guest at conventions in the United States and around the world. Her popular book series include the young adult Morganville Vampires novels, the Great Library series, and the #1 bestselling Stillhouse Lake novels in adult thrillers.
