Book Review: The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman

This is such a marvelous series! I have been in love with Irene’s library since the first book, and am continually impressed with Cogman’s ability to keep introducing new elements and new mysteries in a way that keeps the stories fresh and original while simultaneously maintaining the main story line about the integrity and role of the library…

This time the focus is more on the worlds surrounding the library than the library/books themselves. While I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it as much originally, I found it to be every bit as engaging as the others once I moved into the meat of the story. There is SO MUCH going on in every one of these books, and the cast of characters continues to evolve (and grow) without ever pulling focus away from the underlying plot/mystery of each title.

The main characters (Irene, Kai, Vale) are consistently well-presented and their complexity grows with each book. There are a handful of supporting characters (the other librarians, a few of the senior dragons/fae) who pop up with great frequency in varying degrees of import, and they also continue to be fleshed out in a way that is engaging and helps the overall story arc develop. In this installment we also get quite a few new dragons/fae and that was fun – I love the contrast between the trope-following fae (what an original and fascinating way to play with their characters!) and the order-following dragons, and the tension between chaos and control plays out beautifully both in the character interactions and the larger political presentations.

I am definitely going to have to reread the earlier books before a new title though. Not because I am having difficulty following things – don’t misunderstand. Cogman does a fantastic job at providing just enough backstory reminders to keep you current, particularly in her letters to/from the library at the start of each book. But I have a sneaking feeling I’m missing nuance that would enrich the series as a whole, precisely because there is so much going on both interpersonally and interworldly in each book…

Thanks to the Penguin First to Read program for my ARC.