14 December 2015
I have a few free copies of The Masked City audiobook, and this is your chance to get one.
Reply to this post, and in your comment, tell me about a library (real or imaginary) that Irene should visit. (Why? Why not? Besides, it makes things more interesting for other people reading the post.)
At midnight (UK time) on Sunday 20th December I’ll do some random drawing, and five of the commenters will win an audio code for the audiobook. Of course, if there are only five or less people replying to this post, then I won’t need to do much random drawing. Que sera, sera.
Obvious answer is obvious: The Library of Unseen University, of course. A meeting between Irene and The Librarian would be rather epic. But if Irene wanted or needed some heavy duty magical texts, it would be the place to go.
And just how does the Pratchett idea of L-Space interact with the Invisible Library, anyway? Such Questions!
Back up answer: The Castle Amber Library, of course. So she can get herself a Trump Deck. 🙂
The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Where better to find a particularly obscure text? It’s the kind of place I can imagine alternates colliding without anyone being aware that’s what was happening. Like a tiny chink in reality that happens to have leaked through into 1920s Barcelona.
Congratulations, you’ve won one of the 5 audiobook copies of The Masked City. Please email me at librarian@grcogman.com and I’ll send you the audiobook code.
The Sunnydale High School library from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I’d like to see Irene battle a Hellmouth.
Congratulations, you’ve won one of the 5 audiobook copies of The Masked City. Please email me at librarian@grcogman.com and I’ll send you the audiobook code.
I’ve got three…
The Vatican Library – I can only imagine what they have tucked away in there. Just a hint of conspiracy theory and we’ve got a bestseller
New York Public Library – Not sure if the Ghostbusters cleared out all the ghosts last they visited way back in the 80s
The Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination – fascinating collection…not open to the public
Congratulations, you’ve won one of the 5 audiobook copies of The Masked City. Please email me at librarian@grcogman.com and I’ll send you the audiobook code.
The Library of the Clayr, from Garth Nix’s Abhorsen books. See, they’re this huge extended family who specialise in seeing the future and they live up on a glacier. Sort of as a side project, they keep a library. It’s been around awhile, and has accumulated a lot of dangerous books and items, so they train all their new Librarians in sword-fighting and magery and give them reinforced waistcoats with Help! whistles in the collar so they can use them even if their hands are temporarily out-of-commission, and there are all sorts of rooms with weird and wonderful gardens and hidden things and books on how to learn shapeshifting, and seeing as it’s run by people with second sight, sometimes that hallway you sort of accidentally stumble into was set up exactly like that a thousand years ago so you, right now, could acquire the items and skills you’ll need to go Questing in a few years.
Irene could go there and have a nice restful holiday!
The Library of Alexandria. Plenty of mystery and unknown texts thought lost forever.
If you’re a Doctor Who fan, I think the Library of St. John the Beheaded would be an ideal destination, as far as the availability of lost and rare knowledge. Of course, you couldn’t do much better than a planet-sized library (from the modern series episode “Silence in the Library.”
Just what I was thinking as well!
Greetings from a fellow Whovian 😀
Library of Trantor, from Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. Now seems obvious that in addition, to being a gifted mathematician, Hari Seldane was also a Librarian.
The library featured in the story ‘In Libres’ by Elizabeth Bear.
The library at Hogwarts, I think Irene would get a kick out of the restricted section!
Congratulations, you’ve won one of the 5 audiobook copies of The Masked City. Please email me at librarian@grcogman.com and I’ll send you the audiobook code.
Maybe the library (sort of) of an author? So there will be tension because what will the author do? Right, write a book about mysterious people and agents and a secret… Well, might be interesting.
I would say either the Beasts library (because there are all existing books in it) or the library of Isaac Vainio of Jim C. Hines’ Libriomancer series.
Another interesting library would be Elronds or Gondors/Minas Tiriths library in The Lord of the Rings.
Hey :),
I’m from Germany and I just read the german version of the invisible library. In a few days a blogpost on wwww.zeilenliebe.wordpress will be up. I really loved your book, it’s special!
I’d like to go Irene to library similar to Hogwarts library. With books speaking and doing macigal things.
I’d love to win a bit of the masked city. Unfortunately it will last til august to read the german version “Die maskierte Stadt”.
Greetings from Flensburg!
Jane
My library of choice is probably my favourite library in the world. The Law Library at Newcastle university, where I worked and studied throughout my degree. Comfortable, well stocked with both excellent texts and stressed law students, it was basically my home for 3 years. The best part was of course the amazing staff who went above and beyond for every single student.
I’m currently listening to The Invisible Library audiobook and LOVING it. Thank you for such a great world 😀
I’d suggest two: a fictional and a real library:
Thr fictional would be the “Library of Unwritten Stories” from “Drachenwüste” by Akram El-Bahay. Not only because it features a librarian with a tea por under his hat, but also because it contains all the stories never written – which became poignantly clear when El-Bahay read this scene from his novel one day after Terry Pratchett had died and I suddenly realized that all the Terry Pratchett novels we’ll never get to read are in that library – please, Irene, get some of them for the general good!
The real one would be the Wetzlar Library of the Fantastic (Phantastische Bibliothek Wetzlar – see pictures in the link to this post), which is the biggest collection of speculative literature in Europe. I`m deeply conviced that this alternate`s Librarian in Ressidence is one of its staff and the entrance to the Secret Library is hidden behind the bathroom door labeled “Aliens” (yes, there actually is such a door) and I`m a staff member there and I urgently need to talk to Irene…
Congratulations, you’ve won one of the 5 audiobook copies of The Masked City. Please email me at librarian@grcogman.com and I’ll send you the audiobook code.