Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: and their race to save the world's most precious manuscripts- Joshua Hammmer
Simon & Schuster
Release Date: April 19, 2016

Rating:
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis:  In the 1980s, a young adventurer and collector for a government library, Abdel Kader Haidara, journeyed across the Sahara Desert and along the Niger River, tracking down and salvaging tens of thousands of ancient Islamic and secular manuscripts that were crumbling in the trunks of desert shepherds. His goal: to preserve this crucial part of the world’s patrimony in a gorgeous library. But then Al Qaeda showed up at the door.

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu tells the incredible story of how Haidara, a mild-mannered archivist and historian from the legendary city of Timbuktu, became one of the world's greatest and most brazen smugglers by saving texts from sure destruction.  With bravery and patience, he organized a dangerous operation to sneak all 377,000 volumes out of the city to the safety of southern Mali. This real-life thriller is a reminder that ordinary citizens often do the most to protect the beauty and imagination of their culture.  It is also the story of a man who, through extreme circumstances discovered his higher calling and was changed forever by it.

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The diverse and beautiful history of Western Africa- Timbuktu in particular- and its influential role in science, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and music is little known to the Western world. But the role of Timbuktu both past and present is celebrated here in Joshua Hammer's outstanding The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu.  This is the story of Abdel Kader Haidara, who becomes obsessed with the manuscript legacy of Mali and Timbuktu in particular.  From the 1980s on he worked to convince local families who had, for generations, guarded treasured, fragile manuscripts that it is time for the manuscripts to be protected in modern ways. 45 libraries were built in Timbuktu to house and conserve over 377,000 manuscripts written on goat, sheep, even fish skin.  Some are loose pages while others are bound and decorated with gold and illustrated in vividly colored geometric designs. From the twelfth century onwards, these manuscripts contain generations of writings on Sufism, music, law, astronomy, and history.  Haidara works with professionals from across the globe to perfect conservation methods for these texts and almost single handedly helps revitalize the cultural and scholarly importance of Timbuktu.

But then in 2012 came Al Qaeda: Abdelhamid Abou Zeid, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, Iyad Ag Ghali and their jihadi extremists. Timbuktu is taken and becomes a center for their push to control all of Mali and develop a modern day caliphate.  Everyone knows what Al Qaeda does to art, manuscripts, and the beauty of past ages that does not line up with their view of the world.  It was only a matter of time, Haidara knew, before the treasured texts were destroyed.

And so begins the story of how Haidara, his co-workers, and everyday citizens of Mali worked to smuggle over 377,000 texts out of the libraries they had built in Timbuktu and to the safety of Bamako in Southern Mali.  Perhaps one of the most dangerous and large-scale modern day smuggling operations used cars, donkey carts, boats, and anything else they could find to rescue this incredible cultural treasure.  Part history, part modern journalism, this book is a brilliant, true-life adventure story celebrating the bravery of ordinary citizens who believe passionately in doing the right thing- and that protecting beauty and history is worth overcoming all odds.  It is a triumph of good over evil,  while reminding us that these dangers are still very much present.

Hammer's familiarity with the region through multiple trips helps him bring to life Timbuktu's colorful story.  This brilliantly written, fast-paced page turner lives up to its name and will keep readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish, leaving them both thrilled and inspired by this group of devoted librarians, who are truly bad-ass in the best sense fo the word.      

Lost Plot

The Lost Plot (Invisible Library #4)- Genevieve Cogman
Ace/ Penguin Group
Release Date: January 9, 2018

Warning: Possible Spoilers Ahead

Rating:
📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: In a 1920s-esque New York, Prohibition is in force; fedoras, flapper dresses, and tommy guns are in fashion: and intrigue is afoot. Intrepid Librarians Irene and Kai find themselves caught in the middle of a dragon political contest. It seems a young Librarian has become tangled in this conflict, and if they can’t extricate him, there could be serious repercussions for the mysterious Library. And, as the balance of power across mighty factions hangs in the balance, this could even trigger war.

Irene and Kai are locked in a race against time (and dragons) to procure a rare book. They’ll face gangsters, blackmail, and the Library’s own Internal Affairs department. And if it doesn’t end well, it could have dire consequences on Irene’s job. And, incidentally, on her life...

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After the excitement and near-death experiences involved in taking out rogue Librarian Alberich in The Burning Page, Librarian Irene is hoping for a few quiet days reading a good book.  Unfortunately, Irene has a talent for innocently involving herself in major plots- and this time dragons are involved.  The Library's neutrality is being threatened in a power contest between two dragons and Irene and Kai need to contain the damage before the Library, other Librarians, and an entire world are destroyed.

In an interesting change of pace, in Lost Plot Genevieve Cogman leaves her traditional steampunk Victorian-era London for a 1920s New York.  With mobsters, Prohibition, guns and fedoras, it's a world we'd call pretty 'normal'.  Cogman doesn't give us overly detailed descriptions of this world, which works well for maintaining the fast pace of the book but is a shame since it means her fantastic world-building skills aren't particularly used here.  Maybe Irene can go back in a later book so we can enjoy more detailed descriptions of the time period.  Although by the end of Lost Plot, that New York was a little shaken up and might not welcome Irene back.

I enjoyed watching Irene work through this new set of problems and seeing her character grow even more.  She's gaining a Harry Dresden-like talent for balancing between the rules of different magic users while still getting to what she wants in the end.  And I like seeing her continue to grow from a "books only" focus- by the end of Plot she can put into words what she's felt instinctively for awhile: if you're willing to risk everything for a book, shouldn't you be willing to do the same for a person?

While Cogman will probably never be able to top her alligators in The Invisible Library, dragon trained dire wolves get a role here and a nice scene towards the climactic battle at the end.  Plot delves into the world of dragons and dragon politics the way Masked City did for the Fae.  While we are probably never meant to know too much as mere humans, Irene is becoming an expert among Librarians- something that I can readily see getting her further into politics than she'd like in future books.

The necessity to keep the Library and dragons separate naturally means Irene worries about her relationship with Kai.  Are they just as compromised in their neutrality as the Librarian Evariste is accused of being?  Irene doesn't have much time to worry about this until the very end of the book, but it looks like something that will get much more attention in future books.  Kai doesn't get too much 'page time' in Plot (and the scenes he gets solo drag down the overall pace a bit), but you see the relationship between the two changing from student-teacher to something more like equals as Kai grows into his place among dragons.  I do hope that future books won't try to create a romantic relationship between the two because I haven't felt a single spark of convincing chemistry between Irene and Kai in the whole series.  Trying it now would feel very contrived to me and I think having them as only friends/colleagues would make them both stronger.

While each book in the series is pretty stand alone and new readers don't need to have read the rest of the series to enjoy Lost Plot, they will get more out of some of the background, characters, and conflicts if they do.  The Lost Plot lives up to the high standards Genevieve Cogman set for herself in The Invisible Library.  Fast-paced and full of twists and turns, it is a fun continuation of the adventures of Irene and the Library.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Burning Page

Burning Page (The Invisible Library #3)- Genevieve Cogman
Roc
Release Date: January 10, 2017

Rating (out of 5):
📚📚📚📚📚

Synopsis: Due to her involvement in an unfortunate set of mishaps between the dragons and the Fae, Librarian spy Irene is stuck on probation, doing what should be simple fetch-and-retrieve projects for the mysterious Library. But trouble has a tendency to find both Irene and her apprentice, Kai—a dragon prince—and, before they know it, they are entangled in more danger than they can handle...
 
Irene’s longtime nemesis, Alberich, has once again been making waves across multiple worlds, and, this time, his goals are much larger than obtaining a single book or wreaking vengeance upon a single Librarian. He aims to destroy the entire Library—and make sure Irene goes down with it.
 
With so much at stake, Irene will need every tool at her disposal to stay alive. But even as she draws her allies close around her, the greatest danger might be lurking from somewhere close—someone she never expected to betray her...

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The Burning Page is the exciting third book in The Invisible Library series.  It manages to pick up where The Masked City left off while still allowing new-comers to enjoy without feeling like they need to read the series in order (although I highly recommend it because they are all great books). 

In Burning Page, Librarian Irene and her dragon apprentice Kai have been dealing with business as usual: jumping to different worlds, stealing important books, and bringing them safely to the Library while trying to avoid people who want to kill them.  After one gate between worlds catches fire when Irene tries to open it, they get concerned- are they not being told detail that would make the jobs more deadly or is there a problem with the Library?  Turns out the problem is with the Library.  The traitorous former Librarian Alberich (who Irene first met in The Invisible Library) wants to destroy the Library and everyone with it- including a rather personal grudge against Irene.  She'll need all her allies- both human, dragon, and Fae- to help save the Library before it can be destroyed!

While I found The Masked City  a little darker and slower than The Invisible Library, The Burning Page has the same feel as Library: fast-paced, fun, dangerous and light all at the same time.  Irene's wit and I'll-panic-later approach to danger are a joy to read and I have enjoyed watching Irene grow as both a Librarian and a person- and as she has discovered the difference between the two.  She may think she's only happy among books, but in Page Irene discovers she's become devoted to people even above books.  Friendships have become more important and betrayals more personal.  She's willing to do whatever she can to help her friend Vale after he's chaos-contaminated, but still leave the final decision up to him instead of assuming she knows best.  She's willing to look at all sides of the problem and her potential allies, while Kai still refuses to see the possible good in any Fae (although considering what he's been through in Masked City it's hard to blame him).  Irene is that perfect heroine who is both relatable and who we wish we were, strong but entirely human and fallible, and able to keep her snark about her while in the most death-defying of situations. 

Cogman's world-building continues to gain layers even after you thought she'd given you everything. Her descriptions and details make the characters and the places spring to life for the reader.  I couldn't read the final battle between Irene and Alberich fast enough to find out what would happen next, and I know when I re-read the book (and the series) I'll continue to discover nuances and angles I had missed before. There are plenty more worlds to discover and questions to answer so I hope the series continues, but if it remains a trilogy there is a satisfying ending that won't leave you hanging.

Readers who enjoy Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next and Deborah Harkness' All Souls' books will be thrilled to discover a new brilliant author in Genevieve Cogman and her worlds of the Invisible Library.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.