The Librarians and the Lost Lamp (#1) by Greg Cox

10 May 2023 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy, The Librarians Tags: , , , ,

Published: 11 October 2016 (print)/8 November 2016 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Tor Books/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 286/8 hrs and 36 mins
Narrator: Therese Plummer
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Urban Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

For thousands of years, the Librarians have secretly protected the world The Librarians from dangerous magical relics and knowledge, including everything from Pandora’s Box to King Arthur’s sword.

Ten years ago, Flynn Carson was the only living Librarian. When the ancient criminal organization known as the Forty steals the oldest known copy of The Arabian Nights by Scheherazade, Flynn is called in to investigate. Fearing that the Forty is after Aladdin’s fabled Lamp, Flynn must race to find it before the Lamp’s powerful and malevolent djinn is unleashed upon the world.

Today, a new team of inexperienced Librarians, along with Eve Baird, their tough-as-nails Guardian, is investigating an uncanny mystery in Las Vegas when the quest for the Lamp begins anew . . . and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

This is the first one of the series and I liked that despite being written about the new trio of librarians we have more of original librarian Flynn’s adventures as well which is missing from the others. There is no true way to read these books, I read them out of order, but there are occasional brief mentions to past adventures that have no real impact on the story.

This one however, is different. The story flips between 2016 and 2006 as we see the original hunt for the lamp and the “present day” resurfacing. Cox has one a great job in slowly building the mystery backed against the action of Flynn’s hunt, bringing them together at the right time for maximum enjoyment and satisfaction.

As this is the first book it’s interesting to see how the characters are presented versus later books when more of the television show has expanded their story arcs. There is still a sense of who they are but it’s not nearly as obvious as later when their voices and personalities really come across on the page. It may also have something to do with the dual storyline, less time for them to be in the action, but having said that I loved seeing Flynn have centre stage for a while.

The story itself was fascinating. I loved getting into the depths of old manuscripts, ancient texts, reality becoming the basis of myths. This one is more treasure hunting than the others where nursery rhymes and legends come to life, and Cox does a wonderful job making it as exciting and vivid as if you were watching it play out on screen.

There is a wonderful ease in reading this series. The characters are true to their TV and movie counterparts, the story is witty, fun, fast and light. There is a cheesiness too that’s charming in its own way and doesn’t take away from being a really enjoyable story. I wish they’d kept releasing these books because I could keep reading about these characters for a long time but for now three will have to do.

You can purchase The Librarians and the Lost Lamp via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Wordery | Angus and Robinson

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

The Librarians and the Pot of Gold (#3) by Greg Cox

02 May 2023 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook Tags: , , , ,

Published: 30 October 2018 (print)/30 October 2018 (audio) Goodreads badge
Publisher: Tor Books/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 336/8 hrs and 57 mins
Narrator: Therese Plummer
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Urban Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★ – 4 Stars

For millennia, the Librarians have secretly protected the world by keeping watch over dangerous magical relics. Cataloging and safeguarding everything from Excalibur to Pandora’s Box, they stand between humanity and those who would use the relics for evil.

There is truth to every story…

Hundreds of years ago, the fate of the world rested upon the shoulders of a clever priest and a clever librarian. On the day the pair drove the remnants of the Serpent Brotherhood from Ireland’s shore—that is, until the grave of an ancient sorceress is dug up and her remains removed.

Now, Baird and her team of plucky Librarians find themselves on a collision course with their long-time foes as they race to find a leprechaun’s lost gold to prevent the Brotherhood’s dark design from coming to fruition.

The point of The Librarians is to bring history into play with myths and legends, showing you how there was a truth to old stories. Cox builds on this incredibly well through the novels because while written simply, it’s easy to see the story play out in front of you. Things take time, people don’t make connections right away, there’s still a lot of realism involved.

Cox makes sure enough information is included that if you don’t know anything about the movies, the television show, or the other books you still understand the situation regarding the Library and everything it includes. I loved that Cox captures the voice of the characters so well, if you do know the television show it’s easy to hear each character speak and nothing they do it out of their presented character. This only adds to the great feel of the book because it’s like an extra episode of the show.

This time there’s truth in the term luck of the Irish and I really loved this story about honour and doing what’s right. As well as having a trip through famous landmarks to uncover “real history” and secrets that have been hidden for centuries.

I loved the mix of missions, how one often plays into another. Even when they don’t it is a great example of how a Librarian’s job is never done and there’s always something else that needs rectifying.

There are great moments of surprise as well as rewards for picking up on clues and hints before big reveals and I liked that through the whole thing it felt real. As real as it could when magic and leprechauns are involved.

You can purchase The Librarians and the Pot of Gold via the following

Booktopia | Book Depository

 Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase (#2) by Greg Cox

20 Oct 2022 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Fantasy, Mystery, The Librarians Tags: , , , ,

Published: 25th April 2017 Goodreads badge
Publisher: Tor Books
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Genre: Mystery Fantasy
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

Stories have power.

In 1719, Elizabeth Goose published a collection of rhyming spells as a children’s book, creating a spellbook of terrifying power. The Librarian of that age managed to dispose of all copies of the book except one, which remained in the possession of Elizabeth Goose and her family, temporarily averting any potential disaster.

Now, strange things are happening around the world. A tree-trimmer in Florida is blown off his elevated perch by a freak gust of wind, a woman in rural Pennsylvania is attacked by mutant rodents without any eyes, and a college professor in England finds herself trapped inside a prize pumpkin at a local farmer’s market. Baird and her team of Librarians suspect that the magic of Mother Goose is again loose in the world, and with Flynn AWOL–again–it is up to Cassandra, Ezekiel, and Stone to track down the missing spellbook before the true power of the rhymes can be unleashed.

I adored the movies and television series The Librarians so finding out there were further adventures in book form was a pure delight and they did not disappoint. They were written while the show was airing with the understanding we know who these characters already are, but they are also whole new adventures for them to go on and mysteries to unravel.

Delving into the realm of nursery rhymes and other literature as if it were real or based on fact has always been a fun topic, I loved seeing it in Jasper Fforde and I loved it here. Of course the history of nursery rhymes is filled with half-truths and unknowns which makes it perfect for the Librarians universe.

All the characters are here – Jenkins, Baird, and the three new librarian recruits and Cox has depicted them as they appear in the show. Their mannerisms, voice, thoughts and style all correspond with the people we’ve been introduced to and even if this is your first introduction to them, there are enough scatterings of information and backstory that you can pieces together who these people are. This is book two officially but can easily be read out of order, as I did while I tracked down book one. There are references to past cases but whether they are in the previous book, in the show, or that happened off screen is unknown but it helps to add to their experience, backstory and their mission.

For a book with some good action scenes, all of which are well written and quite vivid, it is also a slow story of research and piecing together many clues with side quests that prove distracting in a good way. You definitely sense their frustrations of trying to fix one problem when other smaller problems keep popping up to hinder their progress. The Librarians was always about action and drama and chaos and Cox brings this to the page very well. The distribution of research and investigation, coming together into one bigger plot is great and it lets you play along and try and solve the mystery as well, working out what things mean and what piece of information is important.

What I love about these kinds of books is its connection to reality; they try to link it to real people, provide reasons and history about the various artefacts while also keeping the magical element of the Library. Every story, myth or riddle is based on a truth is a good way to look at the Librarians universe and logic so to have rooms filled with tridents and treasure chests, things manifested from rhymes, stories and legends is wonderfully clever and I love it.

The climax and resolution is incredibly clever because it plays on what you know, if you know the Librarians history, but it also allows the possibility of multiple other events and outcomes and trying to work out which one Cox will choose is a fun game on its own. I’m so glad this book lived up to my expectations and gave the perfect balance of mystery, adventure, as well as humour and being delightfully cheesy at times as well. A great addition to the Librarians collection.

You can purchase The Librarians and the Mother Goose Chase via the following

QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository

Dymocks | Angus and Robinson

 Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible