I'd like you to give a welcome to our latest author blogger, Genevieve Cogman, whose second novel, The Masked City, came out in the UK at the beginning of December (if you're American, you have to wait until next year to experience the joy of her work for the first time with her debut novel, The Invisible Library when it comes out next April).
There's generally a lot of best-of lists circulating at this time of year, especially in the fantasy genre. I'm a bit disappointed that "The Masked City" came out too late to feature on any of them, because I rate it as one of the two best British fantasies of the year (along with Zen Cho's "Sorcerer to the Crown"). It's a sequel to The Invisible Library, and it's slyly witty observations and dry humour mesh beautifully with a fast-paced caper plot, an abducted damsel in distress (except the damsel in question is both male and a dragon), and the sort of metatextual games you'd expect of a series about a librarian who works for an extradimensional library and whose job it is to collect (or steal) works of fiction that only exist in parallel universes. Seriously, if you like fantasy (but not boring, cliched fantasy) you are going to want to jump on these books, either right now if you're in the EU, or next April when the first of them comes out in North America.
Genevieve got started on Tolkien and Sherlock Holmes at an early age has never looked back. On a more prosaic note, she has an MSc in Statistics with Medical Applications, and has used this in an assortment of jobs: clinical coder, data analyst and classifications specialist. She has previously worked as a freelance role-playing game writer. Her hobbies include patchwork, beading, knitting and gaming, and she lives in the north of England. And this week she has something to say on my blog ...
Welcome
Soubns interesting Please tell us more ....
A typo in the first entry - that's bad, even for me ....
I second the recommendation.
Had read the Invisible Library earlier this year; The Masked City is on my e-reader but slightly buried behind schedule...
("Unread" tagged books now list 46, down from 51 last month)
I loved the Invisible Library, and I met Genevieve a long time ago, in the land of role-playing game conventions...
Well, your appearance as a guest certainly answers the question of "so - do I buy The Invisible Library?"...
I seem to find myself buying the back catalogue of just about every new guest blogger :)
I'll happily 4th the recommendation, having literally finished "The Invisible Library" earlier today.
Sold. (Although Charlie's rec does no harm either :)
I've been hoping that this would become available in the US. Have heard good things about the first book. Looks like I'll have a b-day present to myself in April.
Or not. Just looked at B&N which says it's available in June.
Wordery has it and ships anywhere for free. And they're not Amzn.
Having read both The Invisible Library and The Masked City, I can heartily second the recommendation.
Agreed. I'm a sucker for infinite libraries.
Halfway through the Invisible Library. Masked City hasn't made it to the barbarian wilds of Canada yet.
I'll make a swift addition to the recommendations List.
I read "The Invisible Library" some time ago after attention on Charlies Blog way back when ..sorry this has been a rough sort of year for me and I just can't remember where and when the recommendation originally appeared.
Anyway whilst it does sound in blurb like the sub catagory of " Books about Books " about fantasy ..you get to be nearly 67 and you get used to the variation on people who love BOOKS and so forth but I read "The Invisible Library" and it repaid me as a fresh and interesting view on an age old theme. So much so that not only did I order the latest of the series in its dead Tree Form but also I've ordered the first in the series in that form to supplement the e book form in which I read " The Invisible Library " ..so that's my XXmas reading taken care of after
" The Hanging Tree (Peter Grant #6) by Ben Aaronovitch " was advanced from its pre NewtonMass Pub date to June next Year.
I'd say that Genevieve Cogman is, on the basis of One Book, plus no 2 not yet read, is at about Ben Aaronovitchs level of capability when he started his Rivers of London series.
Looks promising ..but I have been known to be wrong.
This is some sort of bureaucratic oversight, I'm sure, but Amazon US will sell you both the audio books now, or happily take your pre-order for the physical objects for next year.
I read Sorcerer to the Crown yesterday (The Invisible Library isn't in Canada yet).
I strongly second Charlie's endorsement. It was lots of fun.