Sword and Pen: The action-packed conclusion (Great Library, #5)

by Rachel Caine

Jess Brightwell and his friends have achieved the impossible: masterminded an uprising against the Great Library, and toppled its corrupt regime. But while the battle is won, the war is far from over.
A new Archivist must be crowned, one capable of weathering the political storm. With the Library reeling from the coup, foreign nations are circling, eager to plunder the world's knowledge. And the old Archivist, their despotic enemy, has fled into hiding and plots from the shadows. Threats could come from anywhere, at any time. Any of Jess's friends could be wounded or killed in an instant, and the future of the Library itself hangs in the balance.

• ISBN10: 0749024623
• ISBN13: 9780749024628
• Publish Date: 3 September 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Allison & Busby
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Language: English

Reviews

[HekArtemis]

A good conclusion to the series. It followed a fairly predictable line to the end though, with fairly predictable outcomes all around - including the easily guessed deus ex machina regarding a certain character.

I wasn't particularly impressed with that deus ex machina - in case you're wondering I am referring to Thomas coincidentally finding the cure to the poison for Jess. I saw it coming a mile away and was disappointed as I had hoped that this book might do the unthinkable and just let the MC die in the end. Would have been pretty shocking. But no, she went the easy route instead.

When we got to part where Wolfe is summoned by his father though I suddenly no longer minded that deus ex machina because here was something even more ridiculous and annoying. Morgan is inside of her magic ring and still alive but forever now, and she is super powerful inside the ring and... what. the. hell. No really, what the hell? How stupid! That whole scene almost turned me off the whole book, it was just that stupid. I am just going to pretend it didn't happen.

[ladygrey]

This book took me forever to finish. Or, really, forever to start. I got about a chapter in and put it down... and it took DAYS to pick it back up. Because I was bored. Bored with the story and bored with the characters and I wanted to find out how it all ended, but I didn’t really want to read the book.

And then I started again and got through it in about a day. For such big books, they’re all pretty quick reads. And lots of plot things happen and some character things happen. Caine is good a making things happen but this whole series felt a little like too much happened—like it should have been 3 or 4 books instead of 5. But plot things kept happening which drew the story out. And yet also those plot things didn’t feel like they had any resonance to the story—they were just things happening which got boring.

By the end, this wasn’t a bad book. But it wasn’t particularly engaging to me. I haven’t really connected to the plot in the past 2 or 3 books because I was bored by the plot. And the characters which I enjoyed the first 2 or 3 books, I don’t know, felt perfunctory. They weren’t as dynamic, maybe because Jess wasn’t as dynamic as the plot pushed him in different directions. I did like that all the characters came together at the end. It wasn’t much and it wasn’t for very long but it was nice.

It didn’t help that I never fell in love with this world she created. It had interesting ideas (sort of) and a few touch-points that maybe I would have liked but weren’t really developed. And I didn’t really find the parts that were developed all that interesting.

So my reading, like the story, became perfunctory and now I’ve completed the series. I can move on to the next one.

[Beth C.]

I have followed these characters through since the beginning - and that *includes* The Great Library. It is - it *has* - a character all its own, one that colors what everyone around it does. It's not sentient, but it is a presence - and that makes it fully a character in these stories. So I came to this, the ending of one of my favorite series' EVER, with some trepidation. What was going to happen to all of these that I have spent so much time with? And worse, this means goodbye - no more anxious and excited waiting for a new story, no more crazy developments...

Rachel Caine *nailed* it. It picks up pretty much right after then ending of book 4, and it doesn't stop moving. And once I hit around Chapter 14, all bets were off. I spent a fair amount of time sobbing - to the point that even one of the cats came to check on me. And she's pretty aloof fluff, so...yeah. Now, I'm a happy crier AND a sad crier, so that's really not going to tell you much - because I *detest* spoilers. Suffice to say that Caine has crafted a series that honors books, libraries, friendship, family, and knowledge. All these things are keys to unlock and open doors for all, and that is exemplified in this series.

#KnowledgeIsAll

[sa090]

I can’t remember the last time I read a series of five books that stayed consistently amazing after the third book.

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After the fourth book ended, I had no idea how Rachel Caine could possibly move on to a fifth book and still match that level of thrill, but it turns out I didn’t need to worry, she didn’t just match it, in my not so humble opinion, she easily exceeded it. In fact, I think that out of the five books she wrote for this series, Sword and Pen is my favourite one. The battle that took place in Smoke and Iron was not an easy one, many died and although I thought the pace might mellow down in this one a bit, I loved the fact that Rachel Caine kicked it up a notch instead. The thing I loved the most in this book, however, would be that every single remaining character from those we started out with had a role to play.

It wasn’t just some offhanded thing either, the roles were both felt and important. Jess and company were needed in different locations and doing different jobs that it felt so much longer than it actually was. From the workings in the library itself with Khalila, to Thomas and his inventions, Glain and Santi in the Grada, Morgan in the tower and Wolfe and the others all over the place. I’m truly in awe to how everything worked in small separate goals, before they merged into the big one at the very end. I have previously only see one author do that with a big cast and that was in the manga Pandora Hearts, but now I have thankfully found another. A small and very selfish wish though, I really need more Glain in my life :)

I really enjoy how Rachel Caine writes her characters, they feel like real people. I know that reading the previous will get me puzzling looks, but I don’t get to see that in many books. For example when female characters go through horrific experiences and still act like love sick idiots, I can easily detach myself from them because this is not how it works, even in fiction, realism in feelings and experiences is a must. With the Great Library series I thankfully don’t have to sigh or roll my eyes in annoyance, the characters are broken, they have chips in their armor and that doesn’t lessen them whatsoever. In fact, it only makes them grow in my eyes because despite all of their fears or pain, they just keep going.

I have a hard time accepting romance in YA, most of it just sucks or it take me as if I lack affection and will latch on to any drop of it. Ha ha, not this reader. In this series, the relationships are not progressing through the speed of light, they are diverse, they are with some form of basis and the partners are 100% respectful to each other. More importantly, they are not there to dampen the mood or to show one part of that relationship as an incompetent sap who is clueless without their significant other. Au contraire, if something doesn’t work with one side, they will make it known and I absolutely loved that. Can’t go in details, but there was an instance her that made me go “hell yeah, you got it right”.

The ending or the wrap up if you will, has got to be one of the most satisfying endings I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading through. Everyone got their deserving place and the Great Library will seemingly only get greater under its new leadership who by the way, was my only hope to ever ascend that throne.

I will definitely miss this series, I don’t know what else could replace it as my book-ish series since the Invisible Library is not working all that well for me, which I believe is mainly due to the world building bits. Rachel Caine raises the bar a little too high for that one, but we’ll see about that :)

Final rating: 5/5

[kimbacaffeinate]

Don’t you love when you become invested in the characters and story? When you cry over loss, worry about outcomes and curse villains names? If you do than the Great Library series is for you.

In this world the written word and knowledge are controlled for the greater good. Books are illegal and and smugglers profit. It’s the story of a small group of Librarians who overcoming the controlling faction to better the world. They believe knowledge and books should be shared. Along the way there will be great friendship, loves, losses, adversity, growth, and more. It’s all quite brilliant really.

We’ve regained control of the library in Sword and Pen, but the old Archivist is still plotting and world leaders are vying for their share of the pie. It was intense with betrayals, kickass moments, heroes, losses and discoveries. I laughed, wept like a baby, worried half the story about certain beloved characters and was in awe of how Caine spun this final chapter. I closed the book satisfied with the knowledge that I will revisit this series again.

For fans of the series turn off your phone, grab snacks, call in sick, and enjoy! Those of you who like to binge once a series is complete, I say to you, go forth and devour. Then come tell me what you think! This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

It is finished and I am in tears.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.