Book 662: The Masked City (The Invisible Library #2) – Genevieve Cogman

Well that was an unexpected month hiatus. Sometimes I forget just how busy December is at my workplace and this was my first December fully in the job knowing what all I would be doing so I didn’t get to read as much or even post responses to books!

This is the second book in Cogman’s The Invisible Library series and it was pretty good. I didn’t think it was as good as the first, but it was a fun quick read. Instead of focusing so much on the workings of the Library (even though the first one didn’t really that much other than to say how mysterious they were), this book tells us a lot more about the Fae and gives us a glimpse at the Dragons.

The book opens with the kidnapping of Kai and takes off from there. We learn more about the high chaos worlds where the Fae are caricatures living in their own stories and humans are somewhere less than pawns (basically props) there to fill out the back story and provide background. When Cogman wrote “Most people don’t want a brave new world. They want the story that they know.” (Loc. 2,824), I really got what she was trying to say. I even had questions about a certain detective that strongly resembles another incredibly famous literary detective…

“Here’s to being a secret agent of an interdimensional Library!” (Loc. 701)

The pacing of this book was a little off and that’s probably the biggest bone I had to pick with it. A lot of the action seems to happen in a few short pages and then it’s pages and pages of running around and/or away. There were always interesting things happening when Irene was running away, but it was always sort of eh what’s next for me.

“I’m not saying that all mad scientists read Jane Austen, but a surprising number of the ones that I’ve met do.” (Loc. 4,527) specifically referring to “Lady Catherine’s Denial by Jane Austen” (Loc. 4,523)

We met a few more minor characters that I’m assuming will pop up again in future novels whether it’s Zayana or Madam Gauntes and when they’ll show up is TBD, but they’re definitely being set up as pawns/potential allies/lesser baddies to Alberich’s supreme anti-Library-ness.

Recommendation: Worth continuing the series. I enjoyed it and although I didn’t find it quite as engaging as the first book The Invisible Library, I read it quickly and I am already looking forward to the next book in the series. I hope there is more about the Dragons as this one had so much about the Fae.

Opening Line: “The purpose of the Library is to preserve humanity from either absolute reality or absolute unreality.”

Closing Line: “She dropped another curtsey to Ao Shun and followed Coppelia out of the room—back towards the Library.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from The Masked City
“It was a pity about the poison in her wine-glass, Irene reflected.” (Loc. 192)

“There were always problems in dealing with the Fae. Despite their human appearance, they were soul-destroying entities from beyond space and time who introduced chaos into alternate worlds. One method they used was to subvert people’s usual lives and narratives, drawing them into endless patterns of stories. This weakened reality and the natural order of things, until the native population didn’t know what was truth and what was fiction. At that point, the world would drown in a sea of chaos. And, more practically, they constantly tried to play hero or villain of their personal narrative, insisted that you had to be a character in that story, and refused to deal with you in any other way.” (Loc. 514

“Irene hated trusting to luck. It was no substitute for good planning and careful preparation.” (Loc. 1,851)

“There were other roles for them to take, roles that were probably quite not so immediately destructive to those around them. (Though she’d hate to make a mistake in any class run by Aunt Isra. It looked as if it would be painful.) But she’d been unconsciously assuming that they’d all play out their games in the same way that Silver did his, always casting themselves as the main protagonist.”  (Loc. 1,944)

“But the great amongst us can walk in any sphere and will appear in the dress and style appropriate to their nature. They can speak and they will be understood in any language. They are unchanging, because they have utterly become themselves and will never be otherwise.” (Loc. 1,972)

“Theoretically, since this was a high-chaos alternate, she could wander into the crowd and meet exactly the person she needed to meet in order to rescue Kai and save the day. Stories formed easily here, and she would be just one more protagonist with a story to tell.” (Loc. 2,121)

“This is a place built to store books, by people who wanted to preserve books, and used by people who want to read those books. I am not alone.” (Loc. 2,724)

“People want stories. You should know that more than anybody. They want their lives to have meaning. They want to be part of something greater than themselves.” (Loc. 2,821)

“And Irene hadn’t broken the letter of any ordinances—she hoped. She’d just jumped up and down on the spirit of them, then taken them down a dark alley and made some pointed suggestions at knifepoint.” (Loc. 2,979)

“The idea of a hot bath hung in the future like the promise of Christmas or a new book in a favourite series. She could imagine brandy too. But first they needed safety.” (Loc. 4,339)