Libriomancer

By Jim C. Hines
Hardcover
Pages: 400 pages
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: 08/07/12
ISBN: 0756407397

It’s interesting to be reviewing a professional author who is also the prohibitive favorite to take home the Best Fan Writer Hugo Award next month. It seems counter intuitive, although it shouldn’t be given the outstanding blog Jim C. Hines maintains. It’s so good, in fact, that I wouldn’t be surprised if many of his blog’s readers have never read his fiction, a category that I certainly fell into before reading Libriomancer.

Hines’ protagonist, and in grand urban fantasy style, first person narrator, Isaac Vainio has the ability to “reach” into books and pull out whatever he touches. Excalibur? Sure. Neutron bomb? Knock yourself out. Get your hand bit by a vampire? Well, there might be some complications.

There were no wands, no fancy spells, no ancient incantations. No hand-waving or runes. Nothing but the words on the page, the collective belief of the readers, and the Libriomancer‘s love of the story.

It all began five hundred years ago when Johannes Gutenberg (yes, that Gutenberg) started a project to control magic. He founded a secret organization known as Die Zwelf Portenaere who “took an oath to preserve the secrecy of magic, protect the world from magical threats, and work to expand our knowledge of magic’s power and potential.” Read More »