"The Mortal Word" by Genevieve Cogman weaves a gripping tale of intrigue and espionage in a world where the fate of realms hangs in the balance. When a dragon is slain during a delicate peace conference, librarian-spy Irene must navigate a web of political tensions to uncover the truth. Set against the backdrop of 1890s Paris, the novel brims with mystery and suspense as Irene races to prevent chaos from engulfing the realms. Cogman masterfully crafts a narrative filled with twists and turns, keeping readers on the edge of their seats until the final revelation. "The Mortal Word" is a thrilling addition to the series.

A great blend for fans of Doctor Who and Sherlock Holmes. Follow Irene and Vale as they attempt to solve a murder in 1890s Paris during a summit of dragons and Fae!

I love the idea of a series that centers around a library that is the neutral party between multiple worlds that have dragons, Fae, and humans living in them. The Fae thrive in chaos, so they tend to habitable worlds that can create their own stories and control them to shape that reality. Dragons thrive by order and tend to dwell in worlds that are oriented that way. Humans function best in worlds that are balanced nicely between the two.

Irene, our librarian in a residence that is the showcase of this series, has now moved to a librarian in place. Kai, who is a dragon and her apprentice, has left his position at the library. In this 5th novel, we have entered into a time of peaceful negotiation, and of course, they are a murder that needs to be solved. This one is by far the most enjoyable as it gets to the heart of what the library does and the importance of librarians staying neutral. The adventure that unfolds in this series is unique and enjoyable.

While I have enjoyed every other book in this series immensely, this one was a bit of a trial to get through. The plot is rather slow moving, the cogs in place for it are relatively stagnant, and the setting, while interesting, is mostly unchanging. This story is very driven by characters which is not necessarily a bad thing, just a fact, while I would say the other books in the story are more plot driven.
If you enjoy Cogman's Invisible Library series this book is certainly worth a read but I would say that it is the weakest installment so far.

My least favorite in the series, as it's focused almost exclusively on the mystery and politics. The main cast are separated for most of the book. Not bad, but not ideal for a character reader.

"Peace" is the word as the dragons and the Fae are negotiating for a peaceful accord between the two nations. But the talks are being challenged when a key diplomat in the process is killed, stabbed in the back. To investigate, both sides agree to bring in Irene Winters - a bit of a rogue Librarian and spy.

The Library - the organization that Irene works for - is a secretive library organization in which Librarians travel between different realities stealing special books in order to make sure that the most important works are preserved.

Now Irene has to work with both factions to find out who the murderer is, and why he or she wanted to damage the peace talks. Helping Irene is Peregrine Vale, a talented detective whom Irene trusts, and Kai, a dragon prince who trained to be a Librarian and who now may be romantically involved with Irene.

There are plenty of suspects in and among the group of negotiators, but Irene is not one to rush to judgment. She needs to move quickly, though, because someone doesn't want her to get too close to discovering who has done this.

This series has taken the reader on many adventures and if we've come to learn anything it's that we don't really know what we're about to get into. Although we still have dragons and Fae and a lot of animosity, this book was less robust action and more about solving a mystery.

The story moved along swiftly and the book was finished before I knew it, though I never felt that this was a 'page turner' for me. I also never really felt that the peace talks were in danger. While the whole point of Irene being there was so that the talks could continue, I never got the impression that they wouldn't.

Irene really is no longer a trainee or new-comer to the work of the Library (I believe she even references this at one point), and a big part of the fun in the early books was that she was finding her way. I see this book as the first big step in her maturing and seeing things in a different way.

I feel like I should like this series more than I do. The concept is great and the world(s) is well defined, and the characters are unique and brilliant. But I just don't manage to connect with these people. I enjoy the books fine, but I definitely don't get the same overwhelming glee as many other readers. This book in particular was one of the weaker ones for me, in terms of bonding with the characters.

I'll look forward to the next book or two, and hope that I can really connect with the characters.

Looking for a good book? <em>The Mortal Word</em> by Genevieve Cogman is the fifth book in The Invisible Library series, focusing more on other inhabitants of this world (dragons and fae) than on the Library. The mystery is well done, though the outcome was never in doubt.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

So, I made a mistake and didn't realize that this wasn't the first in the series. BUT! I still highly enjoyed it anyway! Obviously I missed out on quite a bit by not having the backstory, but it was still lovely. I'm absolutely going to dive back in at the beginning of this series, at which point I'll probably update this review.

Review of The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman
Reviewed by Sam Lubell

The Mortal Word is the fifth book in The Invisible Library series about universe-hopping, book stealing librarians who act on alternate worlds as spies, diplomat, and whatever else they need to be keep worlds in
balance between chaos and order in the face of dragons, the fae, and steampunk technology by acquiring and keeping books from the alternate worlds. Librarians can use a form of magic, the Language which forces inanimate objects to obey the speaker and has some smaller effects on living beings.

The main characters throughout the series are Irene Winters, a junior librarian (although one with an increasing amount of experience), Kai Strongrock, a Dragon noble who was Irene’s apprentice at the library, and the great detective Peregrine Vale. In The Mortal Word, Irene and Vale are asked to investigate a mysterious death in the middle of peace negotiations between the Fae and the Dragons. Naturally, everyone is keeping secrets and trying to blame the other side. Even the Library itself is not above suspicion as there is some evidence that a very rare book is involved.

After a summary of the previous book in the form of a letter from Kai to his father, the dragon king, the book opens with an action scene in which Irene has to escape a locked torture chamber on a charge of witchcraft in 16th century Germany in order to steal a rare book for the Library and freeing all the other prisoners on the specious rationalization that they would be a big distraction. Returning to her home base, a steam-powered Victorian England analog, Irene is with Kai and Vale when another librarian hires Vale to investigate the murder of the second negotiator on the dragon side before the peace talks turn into a war.

When Irene reports to her superiors, already on site in pre-Revolutionary Paris, they tell her they may need a cover up and that some Librarians, including her parents, are being held hostage by both sides. She learns that the murder may have political implications in the Dragon court, that one of the Senior Librarians wants the Library to exert more control over the worlds in the Multiverse, and that the notorious Blood Countess may be involved. Irene must confront assassins, impostor policemen, anarchists, kidnappers, old enemies, and mind-controlling Fae. The Fae have the power to cause real life to fall into archetypes from fairy tales so everything becomes more dramatic than necessary.

The whole series is a lot of fun. Irene is an engaging heroine, very competent in both magic and unraveling complex situations. Her relationships with Kai and Vale are not the cliché romantic triangle as the three act as a team without the growing romance between Irene and Kai getting in the way.

The Mortal Word works as a mystery as well as a fantasy novel. It probably will not stand alone to those new to the series. Although the author does an excellent job providing information from previous books to remind the reader, since this is the fifth book in the series, there’s just too much past history with the characters. Readers should start with the first book, The Invisible Library. Highly recommended.

Irene finds herself in the thick of it again, this time at a peace negotiation in an alternate Paris between the dragons and the fae. The Library acts as neutral party, but Irene suspects the Library isn't as neutral as they lead everyone to believe. Irene, along with Kai and Vale, attempt to discover who is trying to sabotage the peace negotiations through the brutal murder of diplomat.
Great series and highly recommend.

Another great installment of the Invisible Library, the series that we can describe as doctor who + books + dragons + fae + order & chaos + fantasy + steampunk.

If anything above rings a bell, pick the first book in the series and just start reading!!!

P.S: This time, we go to Paris!!!!

A fun installment of the Invisible Library series, aptly described by others as Doctor Who but with Librarian spies, dragons, and fae instead of aliens and spaceships!

This time around we get a HUGE cast of characters. The dragons (who represent Order in this multiverse) and the fae (representing Chaos) try to meet in the middle, with Librarians as the neutral party witnessing peace treaty negotiations. The chosen ground is a Victorian-era Paris (once again not the Victorian London of several previous books; but Cogman sure does love the Victorian era). Of course, something goes wrong, and everyone's favorite intrepid Librarian Irene ends up heading a mismatched investigative team -- a member of the dragon delegation has been killed, and depending on whodunit, the peace treaty could go down the tubes.

There's more humor than The Lost Plot, the installment directly preceding this one, and that's a good thing. The Murder Mystery plot here, in all its messy, people-running-around-nonstop glory, also takes primacy, which is great because in TLP, the plot get a little lost (HA HA). The investigation and the politics of it all got a little convoluted and even just a touch tedious at times, but it was all so much FUN too! The Grand Guignol, the Blood Countess, the cats, the cake! Getting to meet Mu Dan (a new dragon character) and getting to know Silver (a fae libertine) in a new context that made him far more sympathetic, if still entirely untrustworthy.

As usual, I wish to see more of the actual Library. I think there's only one scene set there, when Irene goes to request information and back-up. A pity. And only the opening scene, as in previous books, show Irene on a more typical Librarian "book heist in a random other historical period" sort of mission, before everything falls back to the Dragon and Fae stuff. I want more Library and more book heists! Though I'm unlikely to get them, what with the final outcome of Irene and co's investigation. At least in the next book it seems there will be more of Kai (dragon prince / former library apprentice) and Vale (a Holmesian detective with whom Irene has become friends). And I'm others will return for cameos.

I absolutely love this series, and I strongly recommend not skipping forward to this one, and starting with the first book in the series, The Invisible Library.

Despite that, this was a great addition to this series, and showcases how clever, and imaginative Cogman truly is as a writer, because she has created a world that does not limit her potential for new settings. Anything and everything goes in The Invisible Library universe.

Is there anything cooler than time-traveling, dimension-jumping, librarian spies? Plus, dragons and fae! And the fate of worlds lies in the balance. Yes, that is worlds plural. The next installment of Genevieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series, The Mortal Word, checks all the boxes and is releasing on November 27th.

The Mortal Word continues the adventures of Irene Winters, a dedicated Librarian, and her friends. The Invisible Library is a wonderful magical place in between a myriad of different worlds, each living under different levels of order or chaos. In this series, Dragons are beings of order and Fae are beings of chaos. And the Library and the Librarians try to maintain a balance of order as best they can by stealing books! Have I intrigued your interest yet? If you’re a fan of varying adventures of Doctor Who, you’re probably going to enjoy The Invisible Library series.

The upcoming installment faces that balance or order and chaos head-on. A murder threatens to create even more upheaval throughout the entire universe. Irene Winters, along with her friend Vale a renowned detective in his own home world (akin to a Sherlock Holmes but with less sociopathy).

The Motral Word begins with adventure and does not let up. The pace is quick and the prose entertaining. You are constantly drawn into the murder-mystery but faced with larger conspiracies entwined with “normal” problems of anarchists in a metropolitan area. With every book in the series, Genevieve Cogman continues to build the world and allow you to learn more about Irene. Irene is a brilliant, beautiful, intelligent woman who plunges into an adventure, sometimes unwisely.

“My life is painfully full of learning experiences where I’ve had to be an expert at short notice.”

But she is aware and learning how and when to allow her friends to help or lead the way. The continued growth of Irene, her no-longer apprentice, dragon prince-ling Kai, and Detective Vale make The Mortal Word another entertaining sage in the Invisible Library. One that you need to read to find out whether order or chaos reigns.

The latest in the series, The Mortal Word releases on November 27, 2018 from Ace Trade Paperback.

The Mortal Word (Invisible Library, #5) by Genevieve Cogman
Ace, 2018
Fantasy; 433 pgs
Source: I received an eARC copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I am a big fan of Genevieve Cogman’s Invisible Library series, and eagerly dived into The Mortal Word. It is the fifth book in the series, and I highly recommend the series be read in order. Our feisty librarian, Irene, is pulled into the middle of the tenuous peace talks between the fae and the dragons when one of the dragon’s contingent is murdered. She and Vale are asked to be part of a joint team investigating the death. They, along with the dragon and fae representatives, have their work cut out for them. Uncovering the truth while balancing a very delicate political situation proves quite the challenge. Everyone is blaming everyone else, including the Library, whose own political agenda may not be as neutral as everyone is lead to believe.

I can always expect to be entertained as well kept up late into the night when reading one of Cogman’s novels, and The Mortal Word was no different. Irene continues to be one of my favorite series characters. Her resourcefulness and quick thinking on her feet are qualities I admire and wish I possessed. Although, I suppose I am glad I do not find myself in the same or similar predicaments! She has a strong sense of wanting to do the right thing while still keeping in mind the bigger picture.

It was good to visit with other familiar and favorite characters, such as Kai and Vale. Vale is called upon to lead the murder investigation, his skills as a private investigator being renowned across dimensions. I love that he stuck to his guns in conducting the investigation his way, rather than give in to the unsubtle suggestions of others. Too, it was interesting to see Kai more among the other dragons, although I would not have minded more of that. There was, of course, our old frenemy Silver who I can never quite decide if I like or not. Readers are introduced to a new dragon in this installment of the series----and I quite liked her. She works independently of any of the royal houses, which means her loyalties are her own. I hope to see more of her in future books.

Cogman has created such an interesting and complex world, the Library having a foot in several different dimensions, it’s role to help maintain the balance between chaos and order. The fae and dragons have long been at odds and many do not believe peace is possible. And there are those within the Library who wish for the Library to have more power, especially in these ever changing times. One can’t help but feel for the humans who seem to be in the middle of all of it, even if not always present.

The Mortal Word is high in action and the mystery itself is quite intricate in this one, taking the reader through the streets of Paris and into the middle of fae, dragon, and Library politics. Suspenseful and entertaining as ever, this latest book has me wanting more. No surprise there!

I enjoyed it, even if there are better Invisible Library books. I will read the next one. There was a lot of buildup for the peace conference, so to watch it get derailed like this was pretty interesting. Definitely a fan.

The Mortal Word is the 5th entry in the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman. Released 27th Nov 2018 by Berkley/Penguin on their Ace imprint, it's 448 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

This book combines everything I love about crossworlds fantasy, timeslip, and murder mystery with superb world building, well written dialogue, and suspense. The heroine, Irene, is a Librarian, imbued with limited power to bend reality in the alternate worlds to which she travels on assignment.

The book series has an overarching long term story arc, and though the books are all self-contained adventures, they wouldn't fare well as standalones. I heartily recommend seeking out the books in order. This is a superlative 'binge reading' series and to be honest, despite having a couple hundred books in my TBR pile, I took the time to read all 5 books in order again before starting a review.

One thing which emerged after re-reading them in order at once as opposed to reading the series piecemeal over a period of years is that Ms. Cogman has a near surgical control over the story arc. I don't have a clue what her plotting and story arc work looks like in her creative process, but there are foreshadowings from the first book on about things that eventually develop in later books. I hadn't really appreciated that when I was reading them one-per-year as they were released. I love and admire the control and expertise which this undoubtedly requires. On the other hand, the stories aren't rigid or tick-tock precise. There's a lot of suspense (and humor).

They're very well written with an ensemble cast of characters. The books are full of wit and humor and bookish in-jokes. Wonderful intelligent entertainment.

Five stars for The Mortal Word, and five stars for the series. More, please!

The Invisible Library series is an absolutely delight to read, they’re some of my go-to books when I need something that will make me smile. The Mortal Word was the latest installment and, while it wasn’t my favorite in the series, was still such a fun read!

The Mortal Word was a pretty quick read. However, since this is a murder mystery, there are a ton of details that you'll need to keep track of. It did sometimes get a bit confusing trying to keep the different fat, dragon, and librarian factions straight but Cogman did a great job of always providing enough context clues so that I could remember how an individual fit in with the larger plot. I wasn't a huge fan of how much Irene and Kai were separated in this book though. Their relationship and banter is one of my favorite things about this series. But there were some great new characters introduced! I'm hoping that they'll make more appearances in future installments.

This quirky series is full of adventure, dragons, fae, a mysterious detective, alternate worlds, and many wonderful libraries. So if you’re looking for a light-hearted fantasy book, definitely consider checking this series out!

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This is the first book in this series I've read, and while there were things hinted at from the previous books that I knew I wouldn't quite get unless I read them, things were explained well enough that I could follow what was happening. I definitely want to read the rest of the series now!
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, but it does take its time getting going. The pace didn't really pick up until about a third of the way in; this isn't necessarily bad, there was a lot of set-up going on, but it could've moved a little quicker. Once the story started moving, it was quite fun- the characters were well fleshed-out, and I enjoyed the Fae, that they were essentially archetypes, and had to play out their stories. The Dragons were interesting, too- much more Eastern than Western, a nice change from the usual dragon in stories. The mystery played out nicely, with an obvious red herring (even the characters knew), and little clues like bread crumbs for us to follow. The magic system of the Librarians, the Language, is intriguing. The ending wrapped up well, giving us a clear path to more adventures without a maddening cliffhanger.

When a dragon is murdered at a conference that the Library is mediating, time-travelling librarian spy Irene must go to 1890's Paris to investigate. When she arrives, the murder is not quite what it seems.
In this historical fantasy whodunit, Irene has to figure out if the murderer is a librarian, another dragon, or possibly a fairy? What a wild ride! This was my first book in the series, and I liked that I was able to follow along. I definitely will go back to the first books. I think I found a new favorite series.

I'm always here for a fun romp involving librarians, gender, period costume, dragons, faeries, and a murder mystery, written in a clear and appealing voice.