Libriomancer by James C. Hines (2012, 346 pages) – When my children recommend books, I usually give them a try. They are much better at knowing what I like than I am. (They don’t always like what I recommend, but their tastes are just going to have to improve in that area.)
This book, recommended by my youngest, is definitely right up my alley. I love little homages and Easter egg references, and this book is full of delightful ones. The poor hero, able to magically pull items from books if they are the size of a book, finds himself the unlikely target of a group of vampires trying to wage war against his organization, the Porters. The vampires, of course, are named for the writer who created them – Stokers, Rices, Harrises, etc. – and must comply with the characteristics of their authors. For example, the Meyers ones sparkle and are not affected by daylight.
Our hero, Isaac, was never very good at field work when battling the forces of evil, so the Porters made him a librarian cataloging items that might be useful to field agents (such as light sabers, Bujold’s fast penta, Alice in Wonderland’s shrinking serum, etc.). The field agents must carry the book containing items they need and read the page before they can extract the item. It’s a clever premise and reminds me of Follke’s literary adventures.
Joining Isaac in his wild and accidental adventures to stop the war are a zaftig dryad named Lena and a fire spider named Smudge. The dryad is a character from those lustful Gor pulps (she came through as an acorn), and Smudge is an early warning system who sits on Isaac’s shoulder and tends to burn things to the ground when he’s excited or Isaac is threatened. He likes Jelly Bellies and M&Ms.
Who is behind the upcoming war? An errant Porter? Johannes Gutenberg (yes, the sorcerer who printed the bible and discovered libromancy)? Ponce De Leon (yes, the conquistador who drank from the “mud puddle of youth” and is banished)? The super-vampire that is destroying Proctor agents and their libraries?
A reluctant hero, amazing helpmates, hundreds of references to Star Trek, Star Wars, the Wee Mac Fleegles, Dune and the other Wizard of Oz books (yes, there are 14) make for some exciting reading as our young hero tries to stay alive. Don’t let the pretty boy with a sword on the cover fool you. Isaac is not that kind of hero.
Very fast paced, clever, and suspenseful. Great suggestion, CJ.
