Angie
Written on Sep 29, 2019
Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.
In 48 AD, a fire set by the troops of Julius Caesar destroyed much of the Great Library of Alexandria. It was the first of several disasters that resulted in the destruction of the accumulated knowledge of the ancient world. But what if the fire had been stopped? What would the Library have become?
Fast forward: the Great Library is now a separate country, protected by its own standing army. It has grown into a vast power, with unquestioned and unrivalled supremacy. Jess Brightwell, seventeen and very smart, with a gift for mechanical engineering, has been sent into the Great Library as a spy for his criminal family. Magical spells and riots abound in this epic new YA series.
#InkandBone
- ISBN10 0749017228
- ISBN13 9780749017224
- Publish Date 7 July 2015
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Allison & Busby
- Format Paperback
- Pages 488
- Language English
Reviews
Amber (The Literary Phoenix)
Written on Jan 21, 2019
The idea behind this series is that not only did the Great Library of Alexandria survive, but it's now the force that governs the world. This is a world where information and the distribution of knowledge is highly policed and the written word is all but illegal, unless it is the words that the Library gives you. When we meet Jess Brightwell, he's a runner for his family's illegal book selling business. His father recognizes that Jess loves books more than he loves family and money, and so he gets his son a spot to serve the Library - if he can get in. Of course, from the inside, he can slid his father a few rare volumes to sell. Right?
It's so much more complicated than that. The treachery of the Library runs deep, and there is war. There's a lot that Jess doesn't know about the Library, but he's about to learn it. And what better place to learn than Alexandria?
I thought some characters were better developed than others. I agree with other reviewers who said that character development seemed to stagnate midway through the novel - I really would have liked to see more of an emotional tie between the characters at the very least, but any changes felt uneven and superficial. They were at best unbelievable, and altogether unimpressive. Also it should be noted that this is a very shabby book, so don't get too attached to anyone? They may well die.
I also felt that the plot was a bit scattered. There were some scenes that were so strong and really pulled me into the world, but the pacing jumped all around the story switched directions quickly. The changes upped the tension and adventure, but I found it a bit frustrating because just as I was beginning to settle in, we'd be off to something new and I missed what had been left behind. This is a personal preference, I think.
What I LOVED was the world building. I was so intrigued by the dystopian world that it was easy for me to put aside the shallow nature of some of the characters and the zigzagging of the plot. I wanted to drink in every small detail offered. At the end of the day, it was the world itself that drew me in, and because of it, I forgive the other nitpicks.
Overall - definitely needs more overall love in the community. I loved it, I'd recommend it, and I will probably read it again someday.
ammaarah
Written on Nov 21, 2018
"You have ink in your blood boy, and no help for it. Books will never be just a business to you." (Callum Brightwell)
Ink and Bone is set in an alternate future where the Great Library of Alexandria still exists and the world, its technology and its politics, are different. Books are freely available, but the Library controls what people are allowed to read and what knowledge they should have. Owning original and private book are a crime.
The main character, Jess Brightwell, comes from a family of book smugglers and is sent to the Library to compete for a position as a Scholar so that he can ultimately aid the family business. Jess is intelligent, practical, bold and streetsmart.
The secondary characters could be more developed, but I grew to care for them. The characters are also diverse. Thomas is friendly, naive and optimistic. Glain is blunt and loyal. Dario's unexplained hatred towards Jess and the situations that result from it are humourous. Morgan is an enigma and I couldn't really get a grip on her personality. The stand-out character is definitely Khalila, a hijabi and a practicing Muslim, who is smart and independent. My favourite character is Wolfe, the most complex character in Ink and Bone. He's a brutal and mean teacher with a no-nonsense attitude, but he genuinely cares for his students.
The world in Ink and Bone sets it apart from other books. There are interesting themes related to books and knowledge and the pros and cons that come with guarding knowledge and having power over it are explored. The magic system is also quite interesting and is rooted in science, alchemy and technology.
I also enjoyed the plot progression. The characters and their views towards the the Library and each other changes with the events that occur. The Library starts off as this amazing, larger-than-life institution, but slowly it's dark secrets come to light. I'm extremely excited to see where things go in Paper and Fire.
I'm not a fan of the main romance in Ink and Bone between Jess and Morgan. Their relationship is unnecessary and feels forced. There is, however, a relationship in Ink and Bone that I ship with my heart and soul. Santi and Wolfe.
I didn't really expect much when I started reading Ink and Bone, but somewhere along the line, it became extremely interesting and I got swept up in the world, the characters, the secrets, the mysteries, and the plot twists.
"All it will take is a spark, and everything's on fire." (Jess Brightwell)
ladygrey
Written on Jun 23, 2018
In the end, the secondary characters still weren’t that well developed. But there was a certain comfort in them because everyone else died!
They idea of the great library, though was interesting and the world well formed. Not enough to keep me reading but enough for me to appreciate.
In the end, I think it was the plot that kept me reading because it so smoothly rolled from one thing to the next. It was unexpected. It was interesting. And then around page 200 and something some of the characters caught up and were more interesting.
I had no intention of continuing in the series, but in the end, even though I don’t LOVE it, and I don’t really want to get drawn into five books, it was all well constructed and satisfying enough that I’d like to read the next one.
Remember, losing one pint of blood’s an accident. Losing two is careless.”
***
It was a nice dream, and he let himself have it for the length of the kiss that followed, fierce and sweet and promising things that he knew would never be.
Kisses could lie as well as words.
Annie Jackson
Written on Jun 23, 2018
"Remember, losing one pint of blood’s an accident. Losing two is careless.”
It was a nice dream, and he let himself have it for the length of the kiss that followed, fierce and sweet and promising things that he knew would never be.
Kisses could lie as well as words.
inlibrisveritas
Written on Jun 2, 2018
Jess Brightwell has spent his early life running books for the illegal book smuggling ring and avoiding the official libraries at all cost despite loving books in a way that is a detriment to his current life. So when he is set to go to Alexandria to try and become a librarian, he thinks he may have finally escaped the harsh reality of smuggling, burners, and ink lickers but things are far from what they seem in Alexandria. This book has such ominous tones to it! The first chapter shows right away the terrifying power of the Library and how that power can be indifferent to those around them. Knowledge comes first, and those that disrupt that knowledge or seek to spread it out of the Library’s control are enemy number one. It’s odd to think of the library as a place that can have negative impacts on the world, or as a place only interested in preserving & squirreling away knowledge, but that’s exactly how the Great Library is. It’s ruthless in its quest for all the knowledge the world has to offer, making book ownership illegal and knowledge highly controlled. Despite all of this I have to admit the Library has some incredibly cool aspects to it. I love that it has automatons and that they have their own alchemy based magic, bringing a bit more spice to an already rich world. The plot is one of a deliberate and slow-burn pace, which works in the story’s favor as it gives Caine plenty of time to develop the world around Jess.
Jess is such a great main character as well. He is a book lover at heart and a bit of jack of all trades, master of none type of character, but he’s incredibly clever. I do think that the side characters shine a little brighter than Jess though. Thomas is probably my favorite though, with his gentle giant kind of personality. I loved the odd way the Library chooses its librarians, and how it gives each character time to shine in an unexpected way. From being able to recite events of the past, to finding hidden caches of books and avoiding extremely dangerous traps.
I’m so happy I finally got around to checking this one out! I can’t wait to see how things develop after the ending of this one with Jess and the others, especially since things really ramped up towards the end in a few unexpected ways.
wyvernfriend
Written on Nov 15, 2017
I enjoyed it, I'm looking forward to the sequels and to see where Rachel Caine goes with this.
bestmessever
Written on Jul 27, 2017
Cocktails and Books
Written on Jul 15, 2017
Story building is amazing, but it did make for a slow start. However towards the 50% mark things pick up and it was hard to put this down.
sa090
Written on Jul 6, 2017
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I didn't expect to get attached to a series this quickly after reading Wayward Children, considering the amount of series I started this year, I thought hopefully it'll be fun but not necessarily a potential favourite but I'm 100% glad I'm wrong. I read this book in the expanse of two days, not that it was insanely long but even with my very busy work schedule I couldn't stop reading it at all. The biggest thing I absolutely loved about the series is the greyness of its major players, yes, if you're reading the synopsis and JUST going by what it tells you then it's very easy to decide or at least think of who is an apparent villain vs an apparent hero but here's the beautiful thing about this; it's not so clear cut. I had a similar experience when watching "Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra" where I'll think that I figured out the characters/organizations and end up receiving more info that makes it extremely hard to pin just one trait to anyone.
This grey area is just so lovely to see, makes things way way more interesting when it's on both sides of the conflict than just a generic good vs evil notion (not that it's bad, read my fair share of those but grey spices it up a little) and Rachel Caine does a wonderful job in showing just that. The way she handled the events can make one side look totally heroic and then in another event it'll show the same side in this ugly state that it can get really confusing to morally define then. Of course, some sides tend to stick to one area more than the other but there is greyness all around in the book and I personally can't wait to see more of that in the characters themselves or the organizations.
Speaking of characters, it's difficult to hate anyone in this book who's not built up to be hated. Some were annoying for sure but total hate like you can't even stand reading their lines based on their personality? No, I thankfully didn't experience that yet. The characters are just so interesting to read about whether to discover their histories or their abilities and talents or just getting to know them better, they almost always made it worthwhile. The best thing about them though is the multinational aspect that was implemented by Rachel Caine, the Library of Alexandria is obviously in Egypt, since Jess isn't Egyptian he's going to be traveling to reach it and in the process we get to see other characters who come from different nationalities with different background, languages and culture just as you'd expect from a wildly open institute in the world. Which made me really happy to see her establish that in her book instead of a single nationality.
A small nitpick when it comes to them though is that it was very easy to tell who's staying and who's not. The Library runs on a certain selective system in Jess's "training" but even with the stakes being high and all of that, it wasn't difficult in the slightest to see how the final outcome will be like. This is only a small issue because she is creative in this selection and regardless of me seeing what I expected to see, she added enough excitement to still make me enjoy the whole thing.
The book is nonstop events, so many things are happening that it's a little hard to believe that a book that's barely 350 pages (I read on iBooks and mess with the settings a lot) managed to deliver way more of that than a book that had over 800 pages. The one thing I really appreciated about this though is that the world building does not suffer from this, she did leave a few things in the dark and raised a ton of questions for me but when it was needed, she'll spend enough time showing me the world and explaining it without making it feel too heavy or too scarce to matter. The reason I think it works so well for her is because she's got a perfect control over the pacing of the book, there are times when it's fast, it's bloody and it's exciting and there are times when it's a cool down period, when the characters are trying to make sense of the world or they're in a new place.
I'm so satisfied with this book, really. One more thing I want to mention that I absolutely loved about it is the "Ephemera" she has between each chapter that tells about an instances in a whole other place in a letter correspondence that shows how the other side act that is just fun and informative to read before continuing with the story. The third book in the series comes out on July 11th so suffice to say I'm going to head straight to the sequel and hope it's just as entertaining at this one.
Final rating: 5/5