Happy Friday, my dear obscurists, and hey, I want to stop for a moment to let you know that to me, you’re magical… you’ll get it once you’ve read this review. Speaking of which, today’s review is of “Ink and Bone” by Rachel Caine, an alternate history/fantasy, heavy on the fantasy.
***The Non-Spoiler part of this review***
What I love about this book:
I like the alternate history elements in this book, alternate history as a subgenre has been growing on me in the last few years. It’s fun to see how the world might be altered if certain events in the past were different. As the reader, you can be transported to familiar locales that are also radically different, allowing you to rediscover them in a new way.
The main character, Jess, is one of those characters who comes from a family who are, by this world’s laws—criminals. Jess, however, early on in this story, gets the chance to join the Great Library and go legit. It’s a character angle I’ve always liked, the rogue who wants to go legit but still has one foot in his family’s business, which is illegally selling books.
Once I got deep enough into the plot and met the ensemble cast of characters, I grew to love them for their individual virtues and vices—even the curmudgeon Scholar. Caine infuses each of her supporting characters with many facets like her protagonist, which gives them a three-dimensional feel.
What I don’t love about this book:
So—this book wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. Sometimes, that’s a good thing, but I was hooked in by the high concept of: what would the world be like if the Great Library of Alexandria never declined but instead grew to supreme political power in the world? Love that—I’ve recently become engrossed with the topic of the Great Library and the city of Alexandria in general.
The synopsis I read mentioned alchemy, but I honestly didn’t overthink it when I bought the book. After all, alchemy was a thing in history. It was mainly for charlatans and cranks pulling dubious pseudoscience to impress those who didn’t know better—but sometimes even respected founding fathers of modern science like Sir Isaac Newton dabbled in it and convinced themselves of its efficacy. What I thought this book was about was primarily an alternate history. What it really is, is mostly a fantasy story where magic is real, and the Great Library controls it. Alchemy is code for magic is totally real. Had the Great Library not been burned by Julius Ceasar—probably an accident despite popular belief—and didn’t eventually pitter out after another two hundred years or so, the world would be undeniably different. While I’m not sure what would have happened, magic being discovered as real wouldn’t be my guess.
This preview is an Amazon Affiliate link;
as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
***The Spoiler part of this review***
***Ye be warned to turn back now***
The quick and dirty synopsis:
The prologue begins with the main character, Jess, as a young boy, participating in his family’s “business,” which is illegally running books for clients. This is illegal because, in this version of Earth, the Great Library of Alexandria never declined but thrived and became the world’s most powerful political force, a bit like the Vatican at some points in history, and they have a monopoly on all printed works. So book-running is illegal and often dangerous, and Jess’s family achieves it by literally running books en masse through London’s streets, past the authorities, and to their clients. Jess’s father has no compunction with using his young son to run books with all the other kids he employs—even though the same thing got Jess’s older brother killed. Jess manages to deliver a priceless book to a fabulously rich resident of London, who turns out to be a deviant I hope is unique to this world. He’s what they call an “ink-licker,” which means he eats one of a kind books.