Quick Review: Libriomancer, Jim C. Hines (minor spoilers)

[jeriendhal]

Summary: Isaac Vainio loves books. So do most librarians, but then most librarians don't have a pyromanic spider for a pet, or can reach into an Ann Crispin Star Trek novel to grab a disruptor to defend himself when three "Sparkle" vampires burst into his library to kill and interrogate him (in that order). Fortunately he's saved by Lena, a motorcycling combat-monster dryad, created from a cheap John Norman knockoff series, who lets him know that the vampires created by not-so-careful "Libromancers" like Isaac have been attacked by the immortal Johannes Gutenberg's unstoppable Automatons.

Oh, and Gutenberg, leader of the Libromancers, has gone missing, possibly has gone mad, and all hell is breaking loose.


Review: As you might guess from that summary, jimhines's novel doesn't take itself entirely seriously. There's action and angst aplenty, as Isaac deals with his mixed feelings about the Libromancers (who are generally good, but not all that Good) and with his growing relationship with Lena, who can break him with her little finger (or more likely her handy bokken) but who needs him because as a fictional character designed to be a teenage boy's wet dream, she'll instinctively mold herself to serve whomever she's attracted too, and her current love is missing.

But mostly though this book is about a guy who grew up with the usual sci-fi and fantasy reader's joy of books, and the wish he could use what were in them to really help people, and then finds out he can.

Strongly recommended.

Comments

[drhoz.livejournal.com]

Hmm - there's a MLP fanfic series - actually, multiple series, all variations on the theme - called The Conversion Bureau. Central to most of the stories in the Ponification Potion. I know a number of people who be overjoyed with Libriomancy