There’s a style of writing—I’m not sure what it’s called—where an author keeps revealing new, and necessary information on nearly every page. The effect on me, as a reader, is almost as if the book is backwards; too much wasn’t revealed up front and that kept me from understanding the story as it unfolded. I confess that the fault is mine. I’ve always appreciated a narrative that begins with much of what you need to know and then reveals unexpected things along the way. This unwieldy preamble is to say that I had trouble getting into the otherwise delightful fantasy The Library of the Unwritten. A. J. Hackwith is a solid writer, but since this is fantasy there’s some introduction to the unfamiliar world that readers like yours truly needs. At least a bit more than is on offer here at first.
This is a fun book with a fun premise. Books in Hell’s library are unwritten and restless. If not watched, their characters come to life and the book goes missing. The idea of the unfinished also applies to paintings and other creative endeavors. At first I thought this was going to be like Jasper Fforde’s Tuesday Next novels (several of which are discussed on this blog; you’ll have to use the search function) but the character from a book quickly gets swallowed up in a larger story involving demons with backstories slowly revealed, as well as a librarian and a muse, also with baggage that we only see once the train has left the station. About halfway through, the story really starts to move and becomes quite enjoyable. I guess I need more orientation than some readers.
The novel unfolds into a potential battle between Heaven and Hell, but those aren’t the only realms in play. There’s Earth, of course, as well as Valhalla, and some nameless realms where the gods have died out. And it focuses on a library. It’s this final aspect, I suspect, that leads many people to categorize this novel as an example of Dark Academia. Indeed, that’s where I discovered the book, on a display table with that label. Although written with a light hand, and often somewhat funny, there is a deeper meaning here, a narrative about the importance of books that faces the reality that some would rather destroy them than read them. I’m sure there are some religious folk that would see this book as promoting satanism and darkness, but instead it emphasizes loyalty and goodness. I’ll be pondering it a while.