Today I am so excited to tell you about this fun and fascinating book called, Bookburners!
I'll admit at almost 800 pages, it may look a little intimidating, but the more you learn about it and the concept behind it, the size of the book makes sense. And you'll soon be flying through those pages...at least I did...because it's such an intriguing story. Kind of like Supernatural meets Criminal Minds...or at least, that's how it felt to me.
Anyway, here is a little about the book...
From Amazon:
The critically acclaimed urban fantasy about a secret team of agents that hunts down dangerous books containing deadly magic—previously released serially online by Serial Box, now available in print for the first time!
Magic is real, and hungry. It’s trapped in ancient texts and artifacts, and only a few who discover it survive to fight back. Detective Sal Brooks is a survivor. She joins a Vatican-backed black-ops anti-magic squad—Team Three of the Societas Librorum Occultorum—and together they stand between humanity and the magical apocalypse. Some call them the Bookburners. They don’t like the label.
Supernatural meets The Da Vinci Code in a fast-paced, kickass character driven novel chock-full of magic, mystery, and mayhem, written collaboratively by a team of some of the best writers working in fantasy.
To buy
--Max Gladstone:
MAX GLADSTONE has been thrown from a horse in Mongolia, drank almond milk with monks on Wudang Shan, and wrecked a bicycle in Angkor Wat. Max is also the author of the Craft Sequence of books about undead gods and skeletal law wizards—Full Fathom Five, Three Parts Dead, Two Serpents Rise, and Last First Snow. Max fools everyone by actually writing novels in the coffee shops of Davis Square in Somerville, MA. His dreams are much nicer than you’d expect. He tweets as @maxgladstone. Bookburners, which he wrote with Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, and Brian Francis Slattery, is available from Saga Press in January.
--Margaret Dunlap:
Before joining the Bookburners, MARGARET DUNLAP wrote for ABC Family’s cult-hit The Middleman in addition to working on SyFy’s Eureka. Most recently, she was a writer and co-executive producer of the Emmy-winning transmedia series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and co-created its sequel Welcome to Sanditon. Her short fiction has previously appeared in Shimmer Magazine. Margaret lives in Los Angeles where she taunts the rest of the team with local weather reports and waits for the earthquake that will finally turn Burbank into oceanfront property. She tweets as @spyscribe. Bookburners, which she wrote with Max Gladstone, Mur Lafferty, and Brian Francis Slattery, is available from Saga Press in January.
--Mur Lafferty:
MUR LAFFERTY is the author of The Shambling Guides series from Orbit, including the Netfix-optioned The Shambling Guide to New York City and Ghost Train to New Orleans. She has been a podcaster for over 10 years, running award-winning shows such as I Should Be Writing and novellas published via podcast. She has written for RPGs, video games, and short animation. She lives in Durham, NC where she attends Durham Bulls baseball games and regularly pets two dogs. Her family regrets her Dragon Age addiction and wishes for her to get help. She tweets as @mightymur. Bookburners, which she wrote with Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, and Brian Francis Slattery, is available from Saga Press in January.
--Brian Francis Slattery:
BRIAN FRANCIS SLATTERY is the author of Spaceman Blues, Liberation, Lost Everything, and The Family Hightower. Lost Everything won the Philip K. Dick Award in 2012. He’s the arts and culture editor for the New Haven Independent, an editor for the New Haven Review, and a freelance editor for a few not-so-secret public policy think tanks. He also plays music constantly with a few different groups in a bunch of different genres. He has settled with his family just outside of New Haven and admits that elevation above sea level was one of the factors he took into account. For one week out of every year, he enjoys living completely without electricity. Bookburners, which he wrote with Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, and Mur Lafferty, is available from Saga Press in January.
Title: Bookburners
Created by: Max Gladstone
Written by: Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, & Brian Francis Lafferty
Format: Print Book
Source: Irish Banana Blog Tour/Publisher
Hmm...where to start with this review...
Well, I guess first I should tell you that
Bookburners was originally published as individual stories, or rather episodes as they are called, on
SerialBox, a website that allows users to subscribe to different book series and just like with TV, you get a new and different episode each week that is part of the series. Now the episodes of
Bookburners have been published all together for the first time in a print book.
And when I say it's like a TV series, I mean exactly that. Each entry in
Bookburners, or episode as they are called in the book, follows the same core group of characters as they hunt for books possessed by demons. Every episode features a new and interesting case as well as adding to the overall story arc of the series...just like a TV Show. And that's exactly how it felt, like I was watching a TV Show rather than reading a book. So the size of the book may look a bit intimidating at first with 16 episodes and almost 800 pages, but reading
Bookburners felt like binge-watching a season of a favorite TV show. And just like my TV binges, I enjoyed every minute I spent reading this urban fantasy and couldn't wait to see what happened next.
Created by Max Gladstone and with entries from Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, Brian Francis Slattery, as well as Gladstone,
Bookburners takes readers on a thrilling and fun ride as a group of demon hunters who secretly work for the Catholic Church hunt down books that contain demons. Once a book is opened, the demon has the ability to take possession of a body and wreak havoc. It's the Bookburners' (a name given to them by their enemies) job to track down the book and destroy it before it can cause too much harm...but that can be very tricky and sometimes deadly.
The series gets off to a fascinating, action-packed start with the very first episode introducing readers to Sal, a police detective who had been living a pretty normal life until her brother Perry gets her caught up in this whole demon hunter business. I can't say a lot without spoiling things, but Sal's love for Perry leads her to start working with Team 3 from the Vatican hunting down demons and the books.
The Team consists of several characters from different walks of life with distinct personalities, traits, and strengths including Sal and other intriguing characters. Each has his or her own motivations for working on the team and with each episode we learn more about each of them and these motivations as well as getting to see the Team in action as they interact with demons and each other. We also get to meet several other characters along the way and learn more about the various demons...and there a lot of different demons to be faced by our motley team of unlikely heroes. I don't want to say too
much because it could spoil it for new readers.
It was all quite enjoyable to read and I flew through the almost 800 pages with ease as I eagerly looked forward to what new challenge Sal and the Team would face with each episode and wondered about the main plot that each author managed to weave into each episode (Like I said, I really don't want to spoil things so I won't elaborate).
However, I have to admit that at first, I was worried that the series might feel a bit disjointed with different authors with different styles writing about the same characters and storyline, but that was soon forgotten as each author managed to not only bring these characters to life, but also write a pretty cohesive story. From the first fast-paced entry from Gladstone to the very last (also by Gladstone) each episode offers a unique perspective on the story and characters while still continuing the overall story arc of Sal, her brother, and The Bookburners. I could easily tell which author wrote each episode by their distinct voice, but it never affected the continuity of the overall story for me, which I was happy to see.
And just like with episodes of a TV show, some episodes in
Bookburners, are stronger than others, however, overall they manage to provide a fun and thrilling adventure filled with twists and turns as each author adds to the story and its characters. I was very pleased with
Bookburners and its unique style of storytelling and I have to say that if it was an actual TV show, I'd definitely be watching. For now, I am content to just read about Sal and the others. The ending promises for more adventures with our crew...and I am happy to say that Season 2 is already on Serial Box!
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
