Customer Reviews

Libyrinth

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pearl North is the pseudonym of another author, but this is apparently her first young adult novel. Thought I'd make that distinction since on Amazon it claims its from a debut author, technically true, but not really.

For a book nut like myself Libyrinth was a really fun read--the book has dozens of quotes from all sorts of famous literary works (The Diary of Anne Frank, Tale of Two Cities, Life of Pi) and technical manuals (Glenn's Complete Bicycle Manual). For the most part the quotes correspond almost perfectly with the current situation in fact, making me look at the quotes I could recognize easily with a different perspective. More than that though, North gives each book a distinct personality. Theselaides for instance is a bully and Anne Frank has a softer, gentler voice. Some are loud, some are high pitched, and some have a dark feeling to them.

I suppose its every book-lover's dream to live in a cavernous dwelling with so many books and shelves that one could literally become lost forever. The Libyrinth as a place sounded so perfectly suited to me that like Haly I found myself utterly hating the Eradicants (Singers) on principle alone. I can't begin to fathom a mentality that believes to liberate a book you have to burn it, but on the other hand I can't believe that as a people they wouldn't want to share their knowledge.

Haly was undoubtably my favorite character, but I grew to find Nod a really funny character. A revealation closer to the end made me want to go 'ew ew ew', but it made sense within the characterization of Nod and his attitude. I found myself tense and irritated by her friend Clauda, who seemed to be more interested in bungling around then forming a plan for much of the book. Impulsive is probably how best to describe Clauda until a major setback forces her to think long and hard. Selene by comparison ran hot and cold with me, depending on how she was acting in a situation. She was kind of contradictory--on the one hand not wishing to be Queen and on the other disliking her mother for not spending more time with her and extreme in her judgements.

The book begins with Haly, Clauda and Selene together before they venture out and then branches off to follow either Haly's adventures with the Eridicants or a combination of Selene and Clauda's adventures in Selene's homeland. The stories then separate farther as Clauda and Selene separate, but finally converge at the climax. The big Redemption the Eradicants believe in.

Its hard to put down, I won't lie. I read it during my Otakon trip and repeatedly found myself wanting to carry it with me even though it wasn't feasible with my plans. I wanted to snatch moments whenever I could to find out what mysteries Clauda uncovers or debates of religion Haly engages in. The end is satisfying and appropriate--in the beginning I wouldn't have thought it possible, but after everything Haly learns and experiences (as well as everyone else) I felt it was the only viable option left to save their civilization.

I like Pearl North's writing and the originality she brings to the story is what sold the book to me. I also like that the three protagonist girls are divided into straight, gay, and single. What I don't like is the banality of the story itself. I bought this on Kindle and tried the sampler first, it's impressive but from there on the story just gets awkward and less interesting, it becomes a story-told-before. Pearl North has a steady voice, her writing is simple and flows well, but she writes like she's not a people-person. The characters are flat. I never fell in love with them, I never felt any real sympathy/empathy/emotion towards any of them, she could have killed them all. The romance was lame and of course it was for the straight girl (originality out the door). And then the ending lacked grace and the injected violence was awkward. This story had potential, I was hoping for a book with a female protagonist and an adventure that hadn't been written before. It had all the premises of one, but it disappointed. I'd give two stars for the story but it gets three for original ideas, heroines and easy reading.

The premise: Haly is a clerk in the Libyrinth, a library so big and so vast that people get lost and are never heard from again. Haly's got a particular talent in that she can hear the voices of books, literally. When she's close, the book in question tells its story to her and only her. This makes her role to protect the books even more personal when the Eradicants make their yearly pilgrimage to the Libyrinth to burn volumes of books. When Haly learns of a plot that will allow the Eradicants to burn every volume left in the Libyrinth, she'll do anything to stop it. But what happens next opens Haly's eyes to a world she's never known or understood, despite growing up with the voices of books guiding her her entire life. Not only does she learn who the Eradicants really are and what they really believe in, but she learns what her true purpose in life is. That purpose could unite the world if she plays her cards right, or destroy it if she lets others make her decisions for her.

My Rating: Must Have: what starts out as a deceptively and almost irritatingly simple book about the dangers of censorship blossoms into something much more complex and engaging once you hit the POV switch. The pace is fast through-out, but I found myself more invested as Pearl North allowed her characters to learn more about the world and the cultures that populated it, and how all of those cultures influenced the Libyrinth itself. Truly North does a fantastic job crafting not one, but two likable and relatable heroines in Haly and Clauda, both of whom have a more important story than merely falling in love with a boy (though one of them does, indeed, fall in love with a boy, that's not the POINT of her particular story). North also does a marvelous job creating not one, not two, but three separate and distinct cultures that have their own values and faiths that come across as believable and real and not one dimensional (though one of the cultures seems one dimensional from the start--bear with the book, you'll be glad you did). But one of the best things Pearl North does with this book is incorporate passages of books into the text, to the point said passages become a kind of commentary on what's happening or what's about to happen. Particularly impressive is North's use of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, and how it plays into the climax of the story, which is also very well done. I'll be more than happy to pick up the second book in this trilogy, though this book is tied up so well that I'm left wondering just what exactly a second book would be about! Whatever it is, I look forward to it. North has impressed me with her YA debut, and I think she'll impress you as well.

This is a wonderful book in so many ways. First of all, the characters of Haly and Selene and Clauda live and breathe on the page, and their adventures are breathlessly exciting. Second, North has managed to make the issue of literacy and knowledge a real-world challenge, with real advantages, and she has explored its opposite--blind faith--in a way that is both fascinating and illuminating. There are few black-and-white characters here, or causes; the novel compels with its dramatization of cultural misunderstandings and misconceptions, but it never, never preaches.

And the book quotes! It was a brilliant choice to list them in the back of the novel, but avid readers will have a blast picking out the ones that aren't attributed in the text. This is a book for lovers of books. I hope every young adult librarian will stock their library with plenty of copies.

The plot definitely kept me turning the pages, and I think this book would make a good movie. But what I liked most about this book was the detailed new world her characters live in, with its mythologies and different histories. I'd recommend this book to anyone.

In the future world of LIBYRINTH technology hides behind magic and wars are fought over books. Haly is a Librarian - dedicated to preserving the knowledge passed down from the Ancients. When she's taken prisoner Haly must use her secret abilities to communicate with the written word to not only escape but to heal two warring peoples. An engrossing, riveting story evolves, highly recommended for any young adult collection.

Every year the Eradicants, who believe the written word is evil, come to the Libyrinth to get a segment of books to burn in a bonfire. The Libyrarians believe the Ancients left the Libyrinth so that people can read land earn in order to keep civilization vibrant. Unfortunately, the Libyrinth only has two countries to guard the books and they have orders to sell books for food needed in the winter. They have nothing else of value to pay for sustenance.

The Libyrarian Selene, the clerk Haly who has the unique skill of hearing the books talk to her, and Claudia the servant leave to go to Ilysies in hope of getting help. Selene takes with her The Book of Nights containing the knowledge of the Ancients. The Eradicants want the tome to fulfill a prophecy and now have Haly, who can her the books talk, under their control. Their plan is to destroy all other knowledge except their Song which is their way of transmitting information. However, neither side appreciates Haly's strength and special skill as she becomes to understand the enemy is not evil and her side is inflexible and heading towards annihilation. Haly hopes to get the word out to both sides of the conflict to just listen to one another.

Peal North's world appears to be a former earth colony in which the Ancients were probably the aristocracy and the rest of the Eradicants slaves to them. Revolt led to the current rivalry over controlling knowledge. With nods to Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and Orwell's 1984, high school science fiction readers will appreciate Ms. North's strong tale that shows miscommunication and misunderstanding the other side often leads to conflict; in this case a devastating civil war seems imminent unless the heroic Haly can pull off an Ancient miracle.

Harriet Klausner

"When a word is spoken, it is born, when it is written, it dies. Sacred fire of life, free the shackled dead. The meaning of the murdered word, by Yammon may it be."

I picked this book up several weeks ago and devoured it immediately. A world built around books; is there anything better? Wouldn't that be a dream come true for many of us book-loving divas?

Pearl North's `Libyrinth' is an extraordinary fantasy that will easily pull at the heart of any book lover. I was captivated by the Libyrarians, their love for books, as well as the knowledge they possess. At the same time, I was angered by the Eradicants' ignorance and their willingness to destroy what they wouldn't let their eyes fall upon.

Haly, a quite clerk to the Libyrarian, Selene, has a gift. She can hear the books; their stories beat like drums only for her. She hasn't spoken of her gift in ages but soon she will be forced to let her gift shine. Will her gift save the books she loves so much or will the Eradicants burn the ancient library to the ground?

Anyone who loves reading will fall in love with `Libyrinth' and this unique way of looking at books.

The Libyrinth is a library in a post-apocalyptic society, full of books from old Earth, but unfortunately it no longer has an "egg" to power it, so the shelves do not move, the original lights and heat don't work, and it's very difficult to find anything. Small red creatures called imps take care of things as best they can, but there's only so much they can do without power. Outside the Libyrinth, life is mostly subsistence-based, and a non-literate culture called the Eradicants/Singers is slowly taking over everything. A little farther away, Ilysies opposes the Singers and awaits an advantage against them. Ilysies is a matriarchal culture and reminded me of ancient Greece.

There are two heroines, one special and one not. Haly is a Libyrarian's clerk, training to be a Libyrarian herself. She was found in the stacks after her parents got lost there and died. She can hear the books - she can read them, but they also talk to her, in different voices, sometimes relevant to her thoughts. (Yes, we eventually get an explanation for this ability.) Clauda is a servant and Haly's best friend; Clauda's skills are intelligence and the effective collection of gossip. The main plot is that Haly among the Singers and Clauda in Ilysies, acting separately, have to protect the Libyrinth from the Singers. There were a lot of bated breath moments for me. I actually feared for the characters at more than one point.

The cool thing about this book is that there's no clear "good" and "bad." The Eradicants have reasons for what they do, and they are not at all monolithic, not even in their upper echelons. The Libyrarians think they are enlightened but are also constrained by fear. And Ilysies with its ruthlessly practical queen is a wild card that turns out to be very important as well. In addition, actions have real consequences that lead to plot complications. There are few easy decisions for the characters.

Many books are quoted within the novel, but the most frequent and important one is The Diary of Anne Frank, which makes for some interesting counterpoint to the novel's main themes.

Definitely an interesting read.

All readers will love this book, beyond the YA designation. I enjoyed seeing titles deftly woven into the novel's plot, and the nods to Mary Stewart, Ray Bradbury and other authors, as well as the dichotomy of book-learning and book-burning. Haly and her friends' dilemmas kept me turning pages. It's not easy to present a world so different as believable, with important cultural, political and religious aspects, but Pearl North does an admirable job. The characters act and think true to their ages, and their perspectives are also spot-on. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.