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The Invisible Library

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The Invisible Library

Written by: Genevieve Cogman
Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
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One spy. One dangerous book. One deadly mission. Discover the first book in this gripping fantasy mystery series – The Invisible Library is the astounding debut from bestselling author Genevieve Cogman.

Perfect for fans of Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair or Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London.

'I absolutely loved this' – N.K. Jemisin, author of The Fifth Season

Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, whose staff are sent to different realities to harvest dangerous and mystical fiction.

Irene has been posted to an alternative steampunk London along with her enigmatic new assistant, Kai. Their mission: to retrieve a dangerous edition of Grimms' Fairy Tales. But it has already been stolen.

In London's underground, the laws of nature have been bent – supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic stalk the land. The city is home to vampires, werewolves – factions that are all prepared to fight to the death for this book.

Irene must face a web of deadly danger, deception and secret societies. Her new assistant is hiding secrets of his own. Yet failure is not an option – the nature of reality itself is at stake . . .

Continue the journey with the adventurous second title in the Invisible Library series, The Masked City.

Praise for the series:

'I absolutely loved this' – N. K. Jemisin, author of The Fifth Season

'Irene is a great heroine: fiery, resourceful and no one's fool' – The Guardian

'Cogman keeps upping the ante on this delightful series!' – Charles Stross, author of the Merchant Princes series

 Action & Adventure Alternate History Dragons & Mythical Creatures Fantasy Fiction Historical Science Fiction Magic Paranormal Adventure Emotionally Gripping England

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The Masked City cover art
The Masked City Written by: Genevieve Cogman
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What the critics say

I absolutely loved this ... flavored with truly unique mythology and a dash of the eldritch. Such clever, creepy, elaborate worldbuilding and snarky, sexy-smart characters (N.K. Jemisin, author of the Broken Earth series, including The Fifth Season)
A dazzling bibliophilic debut (Charles Stross, author of the Laundry Files, including The Atrocity Archives)
It's a breath of fresh air ... with a companionable heroine in Irene, and a satisfyingly complex plot, The Invisible Library - the first of a series - is a book in which to wallow
Written in a similar vein to Deborah Harkness's All Souls trilogy ... Contemporary meets fairy-take in this novel
Cogman writes with a vivacity and wittiness that breathes new life into the genre . . . Reminiscent of the works of Diana Wynne Jones and Neil Gaiman, Cogman's novel is a true treat to read
Surrender to the sheer volume of fun that appears on every page...thoroughly entertaining
Fantasy doesn't get much better ... If you're looking for a swift, clever and witty read, look no further
This witty and spirited adventure sets up a potential gold mine of lore for the writer to plunder in future sequels ... a fun and original page-turner
Highly entertaining ... It reminded me a lot of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series
The Invisible Library is everything I could ever want out of a book . . . a stunning work of art that has me absolutely begging for more
Hits the spot straight from the opening page ... one of the most pleasurable debuts of the year
An adventure story to delight the heart . . . The characters of Irene, her companion and those they encounter are vividly drawn, and the story moves along at breakneck speed to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion
A book that was a sheer joy to spend time with ... solid prose alongside great pace
Cogman's dialogue is clever and funny, and her characters delightfully flawed. With this book she has crafted an exciting, fast-paced introduction to a world you will yearn to revisit ... Books such as The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games series are paving the way for stories like this
A mix of Doctor Who, Fringe and The Librarians . . . Genevieve Cogman has crafted a well-paced, smart and fun novel that will certainly be a quick read for most people
The Invisible Library is currently at the top of my list of favourite books read this year . . . so much fun
Cogman's debut is a tremendously fun, rip-roaring adventure with protagonists that are easy to love and a setting that couldn't have suited my tastes better ... I can't wait for the second instalment
I've seen it compared to Doctor Who, I'm sure it'll be compared to Harry Potter, and it'll probably get compared to every Anglophile novel full of vim and fun that's ever been written. These comparisons will all be well-earned
All stars
Most Relevant
I had already read the Invisible Library and decided to revisit it through this audiobook: I am so glad that I did! The performer did not overact the voices, but brought depth and feeling to the characters and moments of suspense. I laughed out loud several times and really appreciated her delivery. Can't wait to listen to the rest of the series!

Original story enhanced by excellent performance!

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I’ve read this series of books before but thought to try the audiobook. I’m quite glad I did even though I don’t usually prefer audiobooks. The narration is EXCELLENT! It’s the perfect compliment to the story and brings the characters to life.

Captivating!

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I should never have picked this up.
I did not enjoy it. At all. It was a grating slog. I'm not a fan of fantasy, I will admit, but I'm open to giving any genre a chance if the concept sounds interesting. And it did sound interesting. But good grief, the world building was a hot mess. There was so much going on, but it wasn't cohesive in any way, and, worst of all, it wasn't actually interesting. It was all vague and half-formed and unclear and... boring. Ok, so we have a secret library with magical librarians who are also basically trained like MI5, who go around different parallell universes collecting books. To preserve literature. Which is such an unsatisfying mission statement. Why? Why is it important? What do they do with the knowledge they collect? Nothing, apparently. And then there are dragons and fairies and werewolves and vampires. And did I mention that librarians can live to be over 500, depending on which universe they spend the most time in? Like the villain. Who is just... a villain. The librarians are terrified of him because he betrayed the library and killed some people. But why? Who knows? Who cares? And our leads read like something straight out of Wattpad. You've got a gorgeous dragon in human form, a shockingly boring bisexual "not like other girls" protagonist with no character traits besides being a bit "snarky" (of course), a Sherlock Holmes stand-in, and a gorgeous, amoral, leather clad librarian who clashes with the protagonist but is there also URST? We've got the obligatory sharing a motel room scene, with awkward sexual banter between the protagonist and the dragon. Actually, you know what? This reads like fan fiction written by a precocious 15 year old who is in her school's IB program.
I mean, good for the author for having an idea and seeing it through, that's more than I could do, but... I still kind of hated it.

not good

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The title interest me and listening to the sample but starting the story after few minutes… I lost interest

I couldn’t fallow the story it was so boring and uninteresting

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