Mixing some beautiful prose with a sprinkle of banter, The Library of the Unwritten sees the fierce and formidable librarian from Hell on a mission to retrieve a book, whilst being pursued by Angels. Along for the ride are a blue-haired muse, a couple of demons (one with amnesia), and a walking, talking character straight out of the pages of his own book.
“There were two parts to any unwritten book. Its words—the twisting, changing text on the page—and its story. Most of the time, the two parts were united in the books filling the Unwritten Wing’s stacks, but now and then a book woke up. Felt it had a purpose beyond words on a page. Then the story made itself into one of its characters and went walking.”
It is an interesting concept to explore. Claire is Hell’s Librarian in charge of the Unwritten Wing where all unfinished and abandoned stories go to be preserved, but sometimes a character can escape and want to live, or even look for its author, and it’s Claire’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen. On one such day it does, and whilst on a trip to recover this runaway “Hero”, Claire and her group find themselves caught up in a hunt to track down a book said to be written by the man in charge: Lucifer, which could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
Readers will love how A.J. Hackwith presents books in The Library of The Unwritten. As a book lover, I liked reading how books, words, and stories are presented with respect for how powerful they can be.
“Unwritten books yearn, and unwritten books change. Yet we expect them to remain timeless. I would say that’s an accurate description of Hell.”
As someone who does not follow a particular religion, and being quite familiar with some mythology, I enjoyed seeing the characters take trips to different realms of the underworld, such as Valhalla from Norse mythology, and the labyrinth from the Greek Minotaur myth. There is also a nod to some Egyptian mythology. Heaven and Angels are not presented as winged and wearing halos in the paradise of the “pearly gates”, maybe this might upset the more sensitive religious reader, but I think it’s creative and refreshing that the author thinks outside the box and gives us an alternative viewpoint of Heaven and Hell.
“Forgiven doesn’t mean no regret. We always regret the wrongs we’ve done. It just means you’re not punishing yourself.”
The characters are morally grey throughout most of this book, which I believe adds more depth. It gives you more to think about when not everyone is black and white, or good or bad. By the end, there does end up becoming more of a distinction of who the protagonists and antagonists are, but you can’t look at any of them and say they are all good—it is Hell after all. They are doing things for their own reasons and make their own choices.
Although the book is written in the third person, there are chapters with different points of view, so the reader gets to explore the characters. Well crafted characters help flesh out a story and can keep you interested for more. In this case, the planned sequel: The Archive of the Forgotten. The sequel, which is currently scheduled to release late 2020, hints at the characters becoming involved in a new development rather than continuing on with the same plot as the first book. This is good for readers who like stories to come to a fitting end and not be left hanging, but The Library of the Unwritten does leave the door open should you want to return.
Fantasy fans will like this, I feel it’s similar to some of Neil Gaiman’s style too. I think any writers should also give this book a read, as it might make you think about all those stories you may have left unfinished and inspire you to return to them!
The Library of the Unwritten is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
Content Warning: Mention of suicide.
Will you be picking up The Library of The Unwritten? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Join the library and raise hell in the first book of a stunning new fantasy series, where books unfinished by their authors reside within the Unwritten Wing of the devil’s own library, and restless characters will emerge from out of their pages…
Every book left unfinished by its author is filed away in the Unwritten Wing, a neutral space in Hell presided over by Claire, its head librarian. Along with repairing and organizing books, her job consists of keeping an eye on restless stories whose characters risk materialising and escaping the library.
When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto. But what should have been a simple retrieval goes horrifyingly wrong, in a chase that threatens to reshape the boundaries between Heaven, Hell… and Earth.
sounds interesting – will check into it!