Book Review: The Archive of the Forgotten
Ah, we have once again arrived at a book series where I read book one, The Library of the Unwritten, during the Great Hiatus, and have now arrived to review book two. All anyone really had to do to sell me on this series was put the words “library” and “in hell” in the same sentence, and, coincidentally, “Hell’s Library” is the name of the series sooooo…here we go.
Despite saving the Library in the previous novel, Claire has been removed from her post and sent to the Arcane Wing, while Brevity has taken up leadership in the Unwritten Wing. When a strange, destructive ink appears in the Arcane Wing, Claire begins an investigation into what’s happening. Following the clues will test her worth as a librarian, while Brevity must make some difficult choices about where her loyalties lie.
Man, but it’s good to get the crew back together. I love Claire, Brevity, Hero, and Rami; they’re each so well-defined as characters, and they cover for each other’s flaws in any number of different ways. Rami is primarily serving as Claire’s assistant here, while Hero is more of Brevity’s.
And if you thought the emotional arcs were good in the previous book, just wait. Claire is utterly reeling from being kicked out of the Unwritten Wing as unworthy, and it’s causing her to close herself off from her friends and make some pretty dark decisions. She teetered on the edge of some things that could be called villainous here as she works through some of her trauma.
Meanwhile, Brevity is sorting through her own feelings of inadequacy. She doesn’t feel prepared or ready to take up leadership of the Unwritten Wing, and it shows in her actions — particularly in her deep need to trust her fellow muse Probity, and her willingness to listen to Probity’s advice even when she knows she shouldn’t.
This is not to say that the gentlemen don’t have good arcs. In fact, I’m particularly fond of their buddy adventure shenanigans in support of their friends, and oh my, you can cut the thick romantic tension with a knife.
Pacing wise, the book is, if anything, even better paced than its predecessor. Like many sequels, it benefits from not having to do as much heavy lifting on initial worldbuilding, since we’re all familiar with the basics now. Unlike some sequels, it doesn’t suffer under middle book syndrome at all; the plot is tight, well-confined to this book, and in no way feels like an extended setup for the next novel. Instead, it’s a tight and interesting investigation that takes us to a variety of fascinating locales as we tease out the mystery and the characters’ inner arcs.
There’s also a ton of new worldbuilding here to enjoy. We get more of a window into the muses through Probity’s arrival to support Brevity, and Rami and Hero’s adventures take us through several additional afterlives not previously covered. There’s also a lot more discussion of what really makes a book, what stories are, and there’s a deep and meaningful revelation at the end. On top of which, the climax takes place in a new and terrifying wing of the library - the Dust Wing, a sort of graveyard for books.
This is one of those series that seems to get overlooked; I never see it get the publicity or hype of a lot of other SFF works, and it rarely shows up in “best of” style lists. But you really shouldn’t be sleeping on this one — and there’s plenty of time to get up before the conclusion, The God of Lost Words, arrives later this year.
Grade: 4.25/5 stars
Memorable Quote:
“They burn them first, the stories. Humans always come for the stories first. It’s their warm-up, before they start burning other humans. It’s their first form of control, to burn the libraries, to burn the books, to burn the archives of a culture. Humans are the stories they tell. If you want to destroy your enemy, destroy their stories. Even if the people survive, it will be as if they never existed at all.”
