Paper and Fire (Great Library, #2)

by Rachel Caine

In Ink and Bone, Jess Brightwell learned that the shining light of the Great Library of Alexandria was an illusion ... one that hides great darkness. Now, barred from his goal of becoming a Scholar, he's determined to make his career as a High Garda soldier a success. But news that a friend may be imprisoned and suffering brings Jess back with his old companions, and to a common cause: rescue.

Failure means death. Success means that their uneasy truce with the Archivist becomes open war.

But they have a secret that may shake the very foundations of the Library ... if they dare to use it.

Paper and Fire takes us on a breathless journey from battlefields to ancient tombs, from Alexandria to Rome, and to the edge of a world that must change to survive.

• ISBN10: 0749017325
• ISBN13: 9780749017323
• Publish Date: 5 July 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Allison & Busby
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

3,5 stars

"Anything is possible. The impossible just takes longer."

It's sad to say that I didn't love Paper and Fire as much as Ink and Bone.

The world-building of The Great Library series and the concepts that the series revolves around might be unique, but Paper and Fire reads like a typical YA Dystopian novel. Basically, an oppressive and controlling regime has to be overthrown by a revolution and a group of rebellious teenagers. Don't get me wrong. I love Dystopian novels, but I was expecting something similar to Ink and Bone.

The first three quarters of Paper and Fire consists of planning, scouting and repetitive action scenes. However, the last quarter of Paper and Fire is intense. A lot goes down and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Most of the characters remain stagnant in terms of character growth and development. Jess is smart, cunning and forgettable. Glain is a soldier that I would want on my side. I love her blunt personality. Dario is a jerk, but at the same time I totally understand him. Khalila is freaking amazing. Thomas is so damn optimistic, even after going through so much. Morgan is Jess's love interest, the resident Obscurist and... well, that's it. The scenes with the Obscurist Magnus, Keria Morning, did an awesome job in showing what she's all about. She's a strong, tough, cold and calculating, but she shows vulnerability and has a heart.

I like most of the romance in Paper and Fire, with the exception of Jess and Morgan. They have no chemistry and the romance between them is so bland. Thank goodness there's very little romance in Paper and Fire because Morgan + Jess = WHY?! There is one romance that I am living for and that is the relationship between Wolfe and Santi. They way they love each other, protect each other and will go to the ends of the earth for each other... I will go down with the Wolfe and Santi ship.

I still enjoyed reading Paper and Fire. It's interesting. It held my attention and I care for the characters and am hoping that they succeed.

"Books spoke mind to mind, soul to soul across the abyss of time and distance."

[ladygrey]

A vivid world with an interesting enough cast of characters. I don’t know WHY I’m still reading it since the final two books don’t even have covers yet. I’ll finish the third and instead of everything being tied up neatly I’ll have to wait who knows how long. I’ll probably forget all about it and not finish the series. But you know what I’m going to do? I’m still going to read the next one.

Because I like Morgan. And I like Jess. I like his harsh, devious tendencies and the way they help him survive. I like the way so much happens and there’s just enough action and just enough emotion to be entertaining throughout. I like that the story never drags and keeps turning in unexpected ways. They’re fun reads and I probably wouldn’t complain about there being FIVE of them if I could read them all straight away.

[inlibrisveritas]

Spoiler Warning for book one! This review may have spoilers for the first book, Ink and Bone, if you are interested in starting the series I recommend checking out my review of that book instead. 

At the end of Ink and Bone, we find Jess and his friends more awake to the harsh reality of the Great Library. Jess has been a sheep amongst wolves since day one, but now things have gotten worse but he finds himself with unexpected allies.

Ink and Bone focus on the group training to become Librarians, but Paper and Fire we see them in the roles assigned to them and thrown into a situation where they are trying desperately to find a way to save one of their close friends. It's a high stakes story where it definitely seems like a cat and mouse game played by the Library and Jess. It's incredible to see a world where books play such a large part in the power balance, but it's chilling to see how far people are willing to go to maintain the heavier side of that balance. It can be nightmare fuel for those of us who love books and basically worship the idea of being able to share all knowledge with each other. I do love the unlying theme of hope however when it comes to the Library and the fact that this doesn't seem to be the typical 'destroy the government and start over' kind of story. Many of the characters still see the good of the Library and hope to change it from the inside outward, and while we don't see much of that story angle other than the desire for it I do really hope we get to see some of that in later books.

Jess continues to be a fantastic lead to follow, and I enjoy seeing his wit and charm as he navigates something almost impossibly large. In the first book we see him struggle against growing too close with anyone in the group of postulates, but in this one we see those relationships form up even tighter and that he grows to consider them family. His relationship with Morgan, especially after the end of Ink and Bone, is an interesting one as he feels (and is) responsible for her current predicament and their struggles to find a place of trust. I love that their relationship isn't perfect and has small little fractures that they have to figure out if they are willing to fix or shatter completely. We also get to see him form a friendship with Glain, who in the previous book seemed to isolate herself away from Jess and now they are forced to work closely together. She is a badass, pure and simple. She's loyal and willing to face any danger to protect her friends and charges. I love that while she has a very strict sense of duty, she isn't unwilling to open her eyes to the horrors of the Library.

If you are considering the audios for the series I whole-heartedly encourage you to check them out. Julian Eiffier is the narrator and he does such an excellent job of presenting the story. I think I much prefer the audio experience than simply reading it, so I will most likely grab book three as an audio as well.

This turned out to be an excellent continuation of the series, and I can't wait to dive into the third installment. It has such a wonderful mix of historical and fantasy elements that it doesn't feel too heavy on either, while still feeling fresh and unique. It's definitely a series to check out if you already haven't.

[wyvernfriend]

complicates things, Lots of things that happened in the last book come to fruition in this and things just keep getting complicated. The Library has complex politics and the backstabbing is powerful. Our heros are finding more about what they can do in this world and how they can fight the system. This is a very interesting concept and world and I'm very curious as to what's going to happen next.

[sa090]

I'm glad that the third book is out and in my possession because I really really have no intention of waiting till I have it, even if this book was weaker than the first, the story is incredibly interesting for me to want to stop.

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So unlike the first book we don't have a big plot to follow but more on the notion of us living through their lives and current stations now that they effectively joined the library before we get to explore the darkness in the library at a much much closer range than before. Does that make the book boring? It depends on the definition of boring. Basically the book doesn't do much to actually progress the plot for the majority of it, like I already stated our protagonists just got stationed in their library positions and working their way through it before they start discovering things and planning accordingly. It definitely made the book feel slow paced compared to Ink and Bone, I personally wasn't in any hurry to finish it because of the mood it set, BUT I don't think of this experience the same way as the way I thought or felt when reading Clash of Kings.

I mentioned it in my thoughts of book one and I'll mention it again; Rachel Caine has perfect control over the pace of her book. The slowness of the book makes a lot of sense when I take the position of the characters at the current time, either following the events of the first book, the happenings in the majority of this one or their discovery of things that led to others. It would be way too convenient if they managed to discover everything they needed in the first 5 chapters and we moved to high speed action right after that, other than convenience, it would kill the implied danger of the library if children who just got assigned to their positions managed to sneak past everything and discover all they did in such a tiny amount of time.

Speaking of danger, the greyness of the characters and entities in the book is back in full throttle here. The book kind of leans a little too much in one direction for some while leaving the other for a very long time but in the very last few chapters we get instances that clearly shows that no, these entities are definitely not that clear cut and I absolutely love that about the series. Things are way more interesting when you're not sure exactly who's going to be stabbing who in the back, as ominous as that may sound lol.

The things I didn't really like that much in the book were the wasted opportunities to take things a little further in terms of world building. In Ink and Bone we got introduced to this amazing world with many unfamiliar terms that got explained in a small way over time but it left out a lot of things unanswered or rather unexplained that it feels like a bummer. In the downtime we had for the majority of the book, it would've been a great addition to it if this world was made clearer for me than it currently is, it could be because it kills it in a way for later? Not sure but I definitely hoped for more in that regard. For instance so I can make my point a little clearer: the "Archivist Magister" is the highest and most dangerous person in the library, I finished book 2 and that person still hasn't made an appearance.... Yep.

Another would be that one of the romances in the series feels like it's there just for the sake of being there, there is a fierce kind of love in it but there is no real basis for this thing or more accurately the level that's portrayed here. It could be a sense of loyalty and regret more than anything that manifested into something else but it still doesn't make that much sense to me so I'm not sure. The bonus thing to this book though is that the romance is on the side in this book, there are instances of it for sure but it's still there for me to know that it's still around.

Suffice to say the slowness of the book wasn't my main issue with it, on the contrary, rather it was the wasted opportunities since I still feel like I barely scratched the surface in this series in that regard after reading these two books and two novellas so I'm hoping that I'm in for a treat when I begin to read Ash and Quill.

Final rating: 3.5/5

[Beth C.]

Truly glad I started this series when the third book was coming out :) I hesitated, but have really enjoyed the books.

[tweetybugshouse]

I received this ARC as part of Miss Print’s ARC Adoption Program. I in love with this series the idea is so fresh and addicting to know what gonna happen next. I am wrapped up in this word of Jess the book smuggler now working for the Great Library and Morgan who he loves with all his soul. I am fighting along side him as he trying to fight for what he really believes the library stood for but finds out along the way that belief is false.

Their one major part of this story where i was crying tears

"The first shelf of books was fully on fire with licks of greenish-white flame. The second above it smoked, and Jess could see paper blackening and curling at the edges.

Book after book.

Level after level."

All that information gone in greenish evil fire. I love this book and ready for the next one this is a very unique series and Rachel Caine does a great job of drawing you in with all the twists and turns and players you thought were dead maybe not being so dead. Great book i highly recommend the first one which is Ink and Bone.

[kimbacaffeinate]

When I reviewed Ink and Bone, you may remember I noted that the novel reminded me of Harry Potter and particularly its characters. In my mind, I pictured some of the characters in this trilogy as beloved characters from the Potter series. That trend continues as Caine continued to develop this motley crew. These similarities whether purposeful or not only enhanced my overall reading experience.

Intense, filled with death, danger, and horrifying images for any book lover, I quickly became immersed within this fascinating and dark world. Caine continued to flesh out the world painting a vivid 3D images. The tower and the automatons have me hoping these are turned into major motion pictures. Her world-building skills are incredible, original and fully developed.

The characters and their friendships pull the reader as Caine endears them to us. Jess Brightwell now a member of the High Garda begins searching for one of his dearest friends. Jess is a fantastic hero and his cause just. Jess is an inner scholar turned soldier who moves like a ninja and is incredibly clever. His loyalty to friends, family and his passion for the written word make him someone to champion.

His squad leader, Glain along with Morgan who lives in the Iron Tower, scholar’s Khalila and Dario as well as Commanding Officer Santi and Scholar Wolfe, join Jess in his quest. In doing so they put themselves in great peril. Caine developed Glain further giving the reader insight into this fierce and competitive young woman. Each member contributed and made sacrifices as they moved forward with their quest. We see them suffer through pain, growth, loss and betrayal. Caine drew us into their circle as she exposed the horrors of the library and what occurs within.

Once again, I enjoyed the dynamics of this band of allies from their interaction to the breakdown in relationships. For those looking for romance this series has several but do not look for swoony moments, as these relationships are just threads. While they further connect the reader to this group, they are mere mentions allowing the intense, action packed plot to take center stage.

Paper and Fire made me weep, clench my fists in anger, and gape in amazement. It was an engaging ride from beginning to end. Caine managed to avoid the dreaded second book syndrome and its heart-pounding ending has me counting down the days until the last next release.

Copy provided by publisher. This review was originally posted on Caffeinated Book Reviewer

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

Goodness where do I even start. More stuff is revealed about the nastiness that is The Great Library. Love grows. Deception is around nearly every corner. There’s heart pounding action. And heartbreaking crimes against people and books.

I’m still marveling over Caine’s ability to convey, in this series, how important books are to individuals. I believe the emotion she writes related to books is as strong has the human relationships. I connect with Jess because of his love for books. The emotional connection he has with books just pours off the page.

On the flipside of that, Caine walks a delicate balance of the importance, control and power the knowledge that books carry in society. As our cast of characters journey from Alexandria to Rome to London and in the final pages a surprising location that I won’t reveal, the motives of the Burners are revealed. And the question is asked, what is more important—a life or a book?

I truly excited to see where Caine takes this story next. Jess and the gang have been tossed into the fire at the end of book 2. After working through the depths the Library will go to cover up, hide and misuse knowledge, I almost certain that the team is in for a big discoveries about the Burners going into book 3. It sucks that those discoveries and adventures are more than likely another year away!


This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews