The Invisible Library (#565) by Genevieve Cogman is a little Naomi Novick, a little Charlaine Harris, a bit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and a sprinkling of others, which stirred together make for a very satisfying read.
The Invisible Library exists outside of all the possible alternate worlds, where its job is to protect the books vital to each world by acquiring them and holding them safely. Of course, they need a staff of Librarians to take on the task of book recovery. That's where we meet Irene, a Junior Librarian. She's just returned from a difficult assignment on an alternate world, and is looking forward to some downtime in the library to work on her own projects, but mostly to revel in reading in her favorite place in the Universe. Alas, it's not to be. Her mentor has an another urgent assignment for her; not only that, but she's being saddled with a novice on his first field trip - impossibly handsome Kai.
Nothing is as simple as promised on this assignment, as Irene and Kai soon discover. The Resident Librarian in this alternate has given them surprisingly little information to go on, and they soon find themselves neck deep in trouble in a steampunk Victorian London, fighting off all manner of supernatural and mechanical creatures. And then, there's something odd about Kai himself...
This is a great caper novel, filled with all sorts of interesting characters. It was so much fun to read, I hated to see the book end, but Reader, rejoice! The next volume of this promising new series is due out in September. Can't wait!
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