I have read every book in this series and although I was a little disappointed in the last book, this book I enjoyed immensely. I loved the new characters and was very happy to see the return of some old favorites (Vale). I felt the plot moved smoothly, but not too fast. This story continues to intrigue me and I look forward to reading more.

Genevieve Cogman carries on with her Invisible Library series with The Mortal Word. The fae, the dragons and the Library are about to sign a peace treaty; Irene the Librarian, a dragon and a fae are assigned to find out who murdered a very important dragon and who wants to torpedo the peace. Kai, a dragon prince and friend of Irene, and Detective Vale are helping the investigation. Everyone is suspect and the fae and dragons are powerful and dangerous. Irene must navigate dangerous political factions in all the parties to find the guilty party. Exciting fantasy involving Librarians with a capital L. Read the other books in this series as well for a truly amazing series experience.

This last book in the series wasn't my most favorite, but I adore the series as a whole. I'm very excited about the next book because I think this one was designed to set up the actions and activities of the characters for the next part of the storyline. In this book, Irene and Kai get deeply involved in dragon politics and I love the Asian roots of the dragon characters and their sense of honor and propriety. I'm a fan of Irene with Kai, so I loved their interactions. I just felt like the book was a little slow and drawn out in places and I got a couple of the dragons confused with one another and had to keep reminding myself who was who.. Nevertheless, I'm an avid follower and looking forward to seeing what happens next.

An excellent installment in a favourite series of mine! The Mortal Word continues the story of Irene and Kai who have once against been caught up in events beyond their control. This book was particularly strong compared to books 2-4 in my opinion, and has me excited about where we're doing next.

I wasn't as much of a fan of this book as I am of the previous books in the series. It had too much political intrigue for my tastes. However, I loved how the author handled the evolving relationship between Irene and Kai

I literally devoured this book. I could not get enough of it! The writing was superb, the characters were amazingly complex. I read this book until way past my bedtime. I also read it while making the kids Mac n' Cheese (sorry, kids) and while applying my make up (sorry, eyebrows.) I could not get enough. Rarely does a novel affect me in that way. What a wonderful way to end my year and ring in the new. I need everything this author has ever written!

Thank you NetGalley for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review. Librarians and time travel are two of my favorite subjects, Add in a mystery and I am hooked. Loved this book. I have not read the others in the series, but I certainly plan on reading them now.

The first time I read an Invisible Library novel I enjoyed the first book, but bounced off the second. It took me a while to come back to the series, but when book #5, The Mortal Word was given to me to review, I was able to dive into book 2 again and absolutely binged books 2-5. The first book had a serious issue with clunky world-building as info-dumps, and the rest of the books still suffer from the same issues, but to a lesser degree.

This series is supposedly about Irene, but her world’s unpleasant Sherlock Holmes stand-in Vale takes altogether too much page time and is too often the key or the focus of a story. It is so, in The Mortal Word as well. Vale and Irene are invited to help solve a high-profile murder that could derail a fragile peace-treaty negotiation between the Fae and Dragons.

Vale causes as many headaches as the murder itself does with his refusal to follow any kind of social expectation despite being literally in a different world than his own. He fails to respect any kind of authority and insults both the Dragons and the Fae, making Irene run around smoothing things over for him so nobody takes TOO MUCH insult and the peace talks don’t derail over his behavior. It’s a lot of traditional women’s emotional labor, smoothing things over for irritable men that refuse to play by the rules. I find Vale exasperating.

The ultimate resolution of the story felt a little predictable and unoriginal. Anyone familiar with Holmsian or Agatha Christie Who-dunnit mysteries that have been popular for a long while would have worked out the killer fairly early on.

All that being said, I didn’t want to put the book down. There’s something about Cogman’s writing and immersive world that makes me want to speed through the books as fast as I can because I want to know what happens next.

Irene is a fun character, and I just wish she’d stop letting Vale boss her around. I am so curious about her parents and her past! I want to know more!

I really loved getting to learn a lot more about Dragon society and relationships in The Mortal Word as well. Up to now, the Dragons had been quite secretive and even Kai remained quite tight-lipped about many aspects of their society. I live for the details about the Dragons and the Fae societies and hierarchies.

The Mortal Word is on shelves now!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I wondered where time-traveling librarian Irene Winters would land next after enjoying her Jazz Age New York adventures in The Lost Plot, the fourth entry in Genevieve Cogman's rousing The Invisible Library series. The answer is 1890s Paris, where the chaos-causing Fae and the order-imposing Dragons -- both of whom can assume human form -- are holding a peace conference with representatives of the Library as mediators. When an important Dragon is stabbed to death in The Mortal Word (Berkley, digital galley), the Library calls on Irene and Vale the detective to investigate, along with Irene's former assistant Kai, son of a Dragon king, and Silver, the seductive Fae lord. The Fae and the Dragons not only suspect each other, they also suspect the Library of treachery -- and they may be right. Then again, there are anarchists hiding out in the sewers and possessed cats patrolling the streets. Action-packed and atmospheric, with a little romance to boot, this may be my favorite entry so far.

from On a Clear Day I Can Read Forever

Irene is up to her neck in plots. Seems that several different faction want this peace conference to fail while others want to control the process. I loved seeing Vale, Silver, Ky and Irene all work to make sure everything goes correctly and peace is at least a possibility. This is a very complex plot that takes so many twists and turns you could get whiplash reading or listening to it. An unexpected consequence comes when Irene get a new position. A great set up for further aduties that Irene has as a librarian of the Invisible Library.

Susan Duerden does a great job as the voices in The Mortal Word.

Release Date: 27 Nov 2018
Author: Genevieve Cogman
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Genre: Sci-fi && Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
One sentence review: The newest instalment in Cogman's clever, adventure fantasy series is as action-packed and exciting as the rest of the series.

Summary: Our favourite librarian and her companions are called into a new Paris to solve a high-profile murder. If left unsolved, the death could have detrimental effects on several worlds, if not all of them.

Review: Cogman manages to keep the storyline fresh and exciting while welcoming you back into the comfort of the comradery and world that you've come to know through the first four books. While many of the books are steep with mystery and questions, this novel is undeniably a murder mystery twisted into political intrigue. I felt like Cogman wrote Irene a story she'd love to experience - a Sherlock mystery fit for a clever and unconventional librarian. I think I enjoyed it more knowing Irene was living out a childhood dream of solving a case. 

If you haven't dug into this series yet, you should. It is a lighthearted read that makes reading as fun as when you first discovered books, new worlds, and reading. The book ends in a way that suggests future books are to come and I await them impatiently.

I preordered this book, forgot, and received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I want to thank Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Mortal Word. 

Happy reading!

THE MORTAL WORD, the fifth installment in the Invisible Library series, is as delightful as the rest of the series. Mixing fantasy with historical locales with a murder mystery continues to be a successful combination of elements to showcase Cogman's character development and wit.

As I've mentioned before, Irene is one of my favorite fantasy characters, for a number of reasons. However, I've come to realize that a lot of how I feel is based on how other characters treat Irene. Other than in situations where it is historically accurate (the detective in 1890s Paris giving her a side glance every so often, for example), the characters in the books do not treat her as if she is "less" because she is a woman. Sure, she runs into prejudices based on other reasons, but gender does not play into her ability to do her job and what actions she decides to take. Plus, that I can recall, there's not the threat of rape as a result for some scenario. Death and/or dismemberment, maybe, but not rape. And honestly, in our media today, having a woman character that is not scared of rape is refreshing.

Anyway, enough about Irene. Kai, Vale and the rest make me so happy. The gang's all back together here, and it is everything I would have liked. The way that Irene gets the investigative team together and coordinates between dragons, fae, humans and librarians is masterful (here I am going on about Irene again #sorrynotsorry). Though a bit madcap at times, that's to be expected when it's been established that the fae play into archetypes and storylines, and some of what they do can't help but be cliche. I also love how though fae represent chaos and dragons order, neither is wholly bad, nor wholly good. It's clear that there needs to be a balance between the two for the humans to flourish.

THE MORTAL WORD is adventurous, escapist fun, with a dash of politics, a dab of literary references, a bit of romance, and exceptional wit. While slightly less suspenseful than THE LOST PLOT, as Irene comes more into her own and becomes more confident in her abilities, it still offers the twists and turns as the reader puts the pieces together with her and the rest of the characters. Also, since THE MORTAL WORD deals less with specific fae or dragon politics, I find it was very accessible in terms of not requiring me to remember various alliances or allegiances held and therefore might be a good entrance point for a new reader of the series. Though some context might be lost related to relationships, I think somebody picking up this installment of the Invisible Library series would be fine. Definitely recommend for new readers, and also readers who already know the joys of the series.

Why am I so Meh about this series?

There are a lot of things that I like about this series.

-Irene, Vale and Kia are all pretty likable characters who have a decent number of flaws to make them interesting

- The various worlds with different levels of order and chaos we travel to are also interesting.

- I idea of the library and it’s ambiguous involvement in each book’s crisis. I still have no idea if it is a mostly good or bad place.

- Each individual book plot. They are all different and episodic in nature.

But…I want to feel more attached to the characters at book five and it just isn’t happening for me.

I think part of the issue is that it does feel episodic in nature and so this could be any three people each new book. I don’t feel like I have emotions for the characters carrying over from the prior books. Then there is the feeling that we don’t every really dig any deeper into the characters beyond the surface layer. For example, we find out something about Irene’s parents in book two that I’m dying for her to have a conversation with them about. But now it is book 5 and even though they are physically close to Irene there is still no contact with them in this book. I feel like there are multiple things like this just thrown in and then never resolved.

The premise is a good one. Irene is the Library’s investigator to a secret delegation trying to work out a peace treaty between Dragon’s and the Fae when one of the Dragon’s is killed. Vale is also tapped to be in the mix because of his great detective skills and Kai finds a way to be close by as well. I love that the team is all back together for this. There is a murder to be solved and a peace conference to save. Even Silver gets to make an appearance at the Fae representation in the investigations.

The thing I liked the most in this book was probably the Fae Princess and how her architype worked. I enjoy how the Fae interact in the world like the Fairy Tales they are pulled out of. The Dragon culture is interesting but it isn’t nearly as playful and fun as any of the Fae characters that we have seen.

At least the who will win Irene for the time being is answered in this book and I appreciate that even if I would have liked a smidge more depth to that as well.

Overall I enjoy the series and it is an easy read but I’m just looking for a little more connection to the characters.

I was so excited when I got approved for the ARC of this book, especially because I was rejected same time last year for The Lost Plot and it felt like an affirmation that I'm now a capable blogger 😉😉😉 And I'm so glad to have read this book because it has all the wonderful elements that I have loved in the series with an extra dose of politics that I really enjoyed.

Irene is such a strong female character that I'm surprised she is not talked about more in the book community. She fights with the tools she knows best - words, language, knowledge, manipulation and the resilience to seem unaffected even during the most desperate of situations. In this installment, she is called on to use her quick wit even more because she has to deal with the intricacies of politics between the Dragons and the Fae and even a small misstep can have grave consequences for the fate of humankind. She juggles being deferential towards the dragon royalty, trying not to get caught up in the stories of the fae, dealing with the possibility of betrayal from Librarians - all while trying to be an impartial investigator and find the true culprit (even when no seems to want her to do that). She has to fight off the Blood Countess, possessed cats, poisonous apples, gas filled cakes and so much more to ensure that the peace treaty is signed and the Library remains neutral. 

I was doubly excited in this book because Vale travels alongwith Irene to investigate the murder and I really wanted to see him again in his element but in an environment he doesn't know well. We get to see glimpses of his genius, his ability to conduct his investigation with conviction and never swaying in front of the dragons or fae. He also comes to the right conclusions as Irene even if by different methods. However, what disappointed me was the it's still Irene who takes the lead and after a point, Vale becomes a sidekick who shows up on page when the story needs it. I would have loved to see more of them working together.

The plot is even more action packed in this book because there are always assassination attempts or kidnappings happening and Irene has to think on her feet and get out of all these tricky situations. Her immense talents are on full display and it was truly a delight to read. We also get to know so much more about the court politics of the dragons and how much the dragons and fae can't stand each other. Every page in the story felt so significant because I was very invested in the outcome of the peace conference and was wondering how Irene's findings would impact it. The end battle was very intense and on a scale not seen in this series before. The ending really expands the scope of this universe and I can't wait to see what Irene and Kai will do in their new roles.

If you love books and mysteries and adventures featuring a strong female character, I recommend you leave everything else aside and pick up this series. Every book in the series expands the scope of this universe and it has been a wonderful journey. And I'm very happy to know that there might be a couple more upcoming in this series.

Poor Irene. Every place she turns in this book, she has to deal with politics. During a peace conference between dragons and fae, a dragon assistant is killed. Irene has to make dragons, fae, and her own people happy while she investigates the murder. This book did give us a chance to see the higher powered fae and they're really interesting. The Blood Countess is the thing of nightmares.

YMMV time. I'm tired of the Sherlock archetype, which Vale is. When I read the premise, I was worried that not only would there be an increase in Vale but the return of a love triangle that they hinted a couple of books ago. Thankfully, my fears were unfounded. Vale is in it enough and Irene is firmly trying to have a relationship with Kai.

So another quick, smart book in this series.

The only thing I'm left wondering is why haven't we met Irene's parents? It's so weird that for all of these book they've never been introduced.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the review copy of this excellent book.

Things are relatively quiet, and, after the events of the last book, the dragon prince Kai is no longer Irene’s apprentice Librarian. Just as she is contemplating furtherinv a romantic relationship with Kai, the safety and stability of the various alternate worlds are once again threatened. This time, the dragons and fae have begun negotiating a potential peace treaty when one of the dragon diplomats is murdered. Vale, Irene’s friend and a renowned detective à la Holmes, is asked to investigate and Irene is also assigned by her superiors to the investigative team to represent the Librarians, who are mediating the negotiations. Along with Kai, Lord Silver (a fae rake from Vale’s timeline), and Mu Dan (a dragon investigator), they must find who killed the dragon diplomat while negotiating an unfamiliar Paris, anarchists led by a Fae version of Countess Bathory, and (worst of all) politics.
Fans of this series will be gratified by the romantic relationship between Kai and Irene, but new readers should be able to follow along relatively easily as the Mortal Word does not really much on past novels’ for its plot, and references to past events seem to be adequately explained in context when necessary. One thing I always enjoy about this series is the way it combines the style of detective fiction and fantasy with small details of actual history. For instance, I learned that one of the places mentioned in the story was a real Parisian theatre known for its absurdly gory stories that lasted from the turn of the 20th century until the early 1960s. I also really enjoy the appearances of the fey because they create a way for Cogman to comment on and utilize common storytropes since they are the embodiment of these archetypes in her world.
Overall, this was a satisfying installment that seems to set up important context for the next few books, presumably with more dragon vs fae shenanigans since Alberich is (supposedly) dead and gave us an additional tiny sliver of knowledge about Kai.

I ABSOLUTELY ♥ this series!

I will try not to include too many spoilers about the first 4 books, but it is kind of unavoidable.

SPOILER ALERT: I will try to keep them to a minimum though

This book picks up where book # 4, The Lost Plot, left off, with Kai no longer in service to the Library.

I'm sad that Kai wasn't in this book more! He is one of my favorite characters! I love him and Irene as a team! It sucks that they aren't working as one anymore!

I am glad he was in it, though, and of course, I am still in ♥ with Irene! She is a total badass!

This book, like the last, is set in the same world as the first 3 books, but since the original conflict with Alberich was resolved (we hope), this book follows a new main plot line. Irene and Vale are asked to go to 1890s Paris and solve a dragon murder.

While this book was a bit different than the rest of the series, I found it just as enjoyable. The author introduced some very interesting new characters that I really liked. Up until this book, I wasn't a fan of the fae, but I started to like a couple of them in this book.

If you liked the rest of the series, you will certainly like this book. It is mostly set at one time, in one city, unlike some of the other books in this series, but the author still continues to world build and share much more about the dragons, fae, and Librarians that we haven't learned yet. Also, the character development continues, but the new characters are my favorite part of this book.

I just read that Genevieve Cogman has been contracted for up to 8 books, so she plans to write at least 8 Invisible Library books! It makes me so happy that I do not have to say goodbye to Irene, her friends, and her world yet. However, a release date has not been announced for book #6, so I may have to wait a while to see what happens next.

Until then, I will be waiting not so patiently to see what happens next!

I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The Mortal Word returns to the world of the Invisible Library, diving into a mysterious murder that causes the fate of the universe to hang in the balance. Cogman’s smart writing presents a quickly paced detective story that’s both fun and intriguing as the clues come together. I’m new to the series and I had no trouble keeping up with the plot or the influences from the previous books. The fantasy elements are fascinating and the general details of Cogman’s world-building makes me want to read the entire series.

Full review will be published at: https://reviewsandrobots.com/2018/12/03/the-mortal-word-a-mystery-in-history/

In this version of the multiverse the Library serves to provide the balance between the fae worlds of chaos and the dragon worlds of order. Humans don’t do well at either extreme, and it’s the Library’s function to guard and preserve the middle ground where human beings thrive.

Just because the Library serves as a point of balance does not mean that the lives of any of the Librarians that serve it are remotely balanced in any way. It could be said that the Librarians are like that metaphorical duck, “calm on the surface but always paddling like the dickens underneath.”

Librarian Irene Winters’ life feels more like the old adage about jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire – except that for Irene, it’s frying pans and fires all the way down.

When I first started this series, all the way back with The Invisible Library, it felt a lot like the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, because both stories are all about the power of words, especially the power of words in books.

But now that we’re five books in, that resemblance has faded. As much as I loved The Eyre Affair, the first Thursday Next book, the series as a whole felt like a one-trick-pony, or a story that was only “funny once” and not “funny always”. It seemed as if the story was more interested in being incessantly clever than in telling a story – or that there wasn’t nearly enough worldbuilding underneath the gimmick to sustain a series.

What makes The Invisible Library different – and better as a series – is that there is plenty of worldbuilding below the madcap adventure. And you really, really need to start with the first book for the world to make sense – because the scaffolding of that worldbuilding becomes more solid with each story.

And they are absolutely oodles of fun – every single one. That there will be at least THREE MORE after this one is excellent news.

Because while this book does have a story that wraps up within the volume, as does every entry in the series so far, it is equally clear that the author is not done with either the world of the Library or the life and adventures of this particular Librarian.

And neither are the readers.

Escape Rating A: This is a complex story in a complicated world. I can’t imagine it making much sense without having read the previous volumes first. And possibly recently. Certainly this is a series that rewards readers who have knowledge of how our heroine got into the fix she’s currently in, and how much her previous fixes – and the fixes for those fixes – have contributed (or conspired) to put her in the awkward, uncomfortable and dangerous place she now finds herself.

I also have the distinct impression that one of these days Irene is going to stop being expendable to the Library and become a power within it, but that day is not yet. And first she has to survive her expendability. That’s never an easy task, as Irene has a tendency to be the fool that rushes in where the angels quaver to tread.

One of the things that I have found fascinating about this series is its treatment of good vs. evil, because there really isn’t one. Individuals commit terrible acts in the service of their particular perspective on the eternal argument, but the eternal argument in this world is between order and chaos, and explicitly not between good and evil.

The plot in The Mortal Word is essentially that of a murder mystery with political overtones. The dragons and the fae are meeting on a neutral world in order to forge a peace treaty. Or at least a non-aggression pact. The Library will take whatever it can get, and it is the Library that is brokering this attempt at detente.

In the middle of the negotiations, someone is murdered. As much high tension as is in the air, it’s not actually surprising that someone ends up dead. However, the victim was the most trusted lieutenant of the dragon monarch who represents that side of this equation. While said monarch wants to blame his arch-enemies the fae for the murder, he also claims that the victim implicated the Library in a possible plot to sabotage the negotiations.

Events are at a standstill until the perpetrator is discovered, and that’s when Irene is brought in. Yes, because she’s expendable. She’s always aware that she will take the blame if anything goes wrong – or if the solution is not satisfactory to all the parties involved. Which is far from the same thing.

She is both shadowed and assisted by agents from both of the courts, and there is treachery at every turn, as well as an entire city full of red herrings – some of them still bloody.

But Irene’s adventures, as she doggedly – and very, very dangerously – follows the clues to their unpopular but necessary conclusion, are always worth following. Every twisty step of the way.

I can’t wait for her next adventure!

Genevieve Cogman writes great young female heroes. I liked the characters and the urgency of the story, and I felt Cogman built up her writing style a lot in this book. I think I'd recommend to teens who like love, romance, self-sufficiency, and great writing.