Changes

‘Libriomancer’ is a fantastic example of the fun fantasy that has seen the likes of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden novels sell so well. The core idea is that certain people can pull objects out of books, be it weapons, clothing or potions – as long as they fit the dimensions of the pages. For those readers who like their fantasy and sci -fi a little kooky, this is a great idea and the implications are almost endless. Which books would you delve into and for what? Hines only manages to scratch the surface of possibility in this, book one of a series. However, he still manages to cite ‘The Lord of the Rings’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’, James Bond and many others.

Perhaps some of the best -realised ideas are the ones that are based on more modern text. This is a novel that sees our hero Isaac go up against vampires. Most books have one type of vampire in them, but this is a novel about vampires that have escaped from many different novels. Therefore, there are hundreds of subtle differences; from your traditional Stoker guise to more modern and tougher Meyer based foe. Hines has great fun taking well-meaning swipes at the modern vampire lore.

There is a fondness of books that permeates throughout ‘Libriomancer’; it is essentially a pulp love letter about the joys of reading. Anyone who reads a lot will get great pleasure from the enthusiasm that Hines brings to the book via his hero. An added bonus is for any readers who also love action -adventure. There is a mixture of the works of Jim Butcher and Jasper Fforde, with ideas found in books such as ‘Inkheart’. However, because Hines is able to bring so much pace and fun to the book, it is something unique to him that is produced at the end.

There are flaws with the book that will particularly grind with people not used to reading fantasy or science fiction of this type. Hines creates a world that has some strange magical rules, but then proceeds to break most of them within a couple of hundred pages. How can a group of all -powerful autobots be destroyed in one go, when they have managed to survive quite well for five centuries? It is as if Hines becomes too enthralled in his own action that he forgets to stick to the rules.