Monday, November 25, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman




The Mortal Word is the 5th book in Genevieve Cogman's Invisible Library series.  As I've said in my reviews of the first four books in this series, the fourth of which I just recently reviewed HERE, the series has quickly become one of my favorite reads over the past few years.  Or to try and explain that in terms that are less vague and childish (an earlier draft of that last sentence literally called it "my most favorite fun read"), for every previous book in this series, I've started and finished that book within 24 hours - which yes, is quick even for me.  Each book is a fun fast paced ride that I've found impossible to basically put down once I've started.

This book, book 5 - The Mortal Word - is no different, despite being the longest in the series (although it's not THAT long).  Once again we have a fun adventure, with our heroine going up against Fae, Dragons, and other potential villains in a strange new world, that never lets up in pace from beginning to end.  And unlike the last book, we get basically a full return from practically our entire cast, with the book promising to some extent a new status quo by the ending - an ending that also clears up certain plot points from the last book.


-----------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------------
Since Irene managed to survive getting involved with a dragon succession dispute, she's been trying to simply handle her own library affairs with her usual level of competence....and in her downtime, she's been trying to enjoy her new relationship with Kai.  But good things can't last forever, and those good things are ended by the arrival of news from the Library:  Irene and Vale are summoned to an alternate Paris to investigate a murder.  And not just any murder - but the murder of a dragon noble who was helping to negotiate a possible peace treaty between the Dragons and the Fae, with the Library acting as a neutral mediator to the negotiations.  The situation is dire, as some clues left at the scene potentially implicate the Library itself in the murder....and Irene's parents are currently hostages to the dragons involved in the negotiations, making the situation even more personal for her.

And so Irene and Vale - with Kai acting surreptitiously as backup - head off to this alternate world to investigate, alongside a representative investigator from both the Dragon and Fae camps.  But the situation is even more fraught than Irene could've imagined, with a powerful Fae interloper possibly being present behind the scenes as well, with aims at blood and stopping the treaty, even if she may not have been responsible for the murder.  And as Irene and Vale investigate, they find that members of all three camps - the Fae, the Dragons, and Irene's superiors at the Library - may all have their own hidden agendas....agendas that if discovered, could lead to utter disaster for everything Irene cares about.....
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As usual for this series, this review may be short, because I'm running out of new things to say.  Basically, where the last book (The Lost Plot) only featured Irene and Kai among our recurring characters, this book features practically everyone (except prior major antagonist Alberich) - Vale returns in a major way after a one book absence, and even Irene's superiors at the library and the Fae Lord Silver returns to try and make things more messy.  And since all of these characters are great, these returns are well appreciated - to go along with the few new additions we have here.

Those new additions are pretty excellent by the way - we have an independent Dragon investigator, who you can't help but like and I hope returns after this book, and we have three major Fae, a Princess who embodies all that is good in a narrative, the Cardinal who embodies the majorest of schemers and game players, and the Countess of Blood who well....you can figure it out.  I've always kind of loved the idea of the Fae being tied to a narrative, and this book uses this trope for all that its worth and then some.

It also features a mystery plot that actually works, which I appreciate quite a bit considering that more than a few genre mystery novels I've read recently fail to actually succeed in the area of mystery - there's enough clues through the story to make the actual reveal work pretty well, and the plot takes a nice route in getting there.  And again Cogman manages to make more and more clever uses of the Language Irene can use to get in and out of situations, so the plot never becomes predictable in any way.

So yeah, this is a lot of fun, with great returning characters, a fun mystery, and lots of fun action-y scenes and twists to go along with it all.  Still recommend this series highly for one just looking for fun.
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