Dystopian libraries, a world with alchemy, and a book smuggler turned library student. This suspenseful and adventurous book has interesting characters and sets nigh-impossible challenges for the protagonists. First in a (finished!) series of five.

Ink and Bone captured my attention immediately. I love the world building of this story, a bit of real life, mixed with fantasy. The Library being a holy thing where cherished books were kept safe and those who worked for the Library made sure of it.

The story follows a teen named Jess, whose family is on the wrong side of the law. Jess loves books and original copy's are something that needs to be kept safe from those who would destroy them. He is forced to work for his family and encounters a man who alters his views on society drastically.

Jess has a twin brother who is nothing like him and an older brother who was killed years ago. His mother and father are not the most loving and caring people, so books, especially original copies, were something he could cherish and love.

The story is filled with adventure and friendship, unlikely allies and death. I gave this a 4 out of 5 because even though it was enjoyable, it did not WOW me. It is a great read and if you love adventure this is definitely a good book for you!

@OPL,

Can we get a hard copy version of this series? Thanks!

Really enjoyed this book. Not dystopian per se, but people that like that genre will enjoy this. Has a touch of fantasy and even steampunk. Love the premise. After a war decimated a large portion of the world's literature the Great Library forms to keep the remaining books safe. Some people feel that the Library has over-stepped its' boundaries and isn't so much keeping the knowledge safe, but hoarding it or even changing it.

Well developed characters, plot and plenty of action!

AMAZING!!! Loved this book!! READ!! Jess isn't from a lawabiding family and he knows it!! But he wants something more for his life and The Great Library just might be able to provide that. But the Library isn't perfect and when Jess's friend commits an accidental act of treason and his girlfriend disobeys the Library Jess must question everything the Library stands for. 13+

WARNING! This is not a stand-alone story; the author leaves you hanging at the end of this and every other book in the series so far. I've just finished the 4th book in the series ("Ink and Bone", "Paper and Fire", "Ash and Quill", and "Smoke and Iron") and there is obviously a book 5 coming. Don't get started unless you are an avid reader. ;-)

Well written with good action that keeps you reading. Well developed character descriptions. Different story concept. Looking forward to reading the next volume.

This alternate history starts out a bit like Oliver Twist, morphs into an older Philosopher's Stone minus magic, then matures into a conspiracy story. This is the book I hoped Cogman's parallel world, historical romance series The Librarians would be. Caine does a good job of blurring the lines between technology and magic without making it about that. In actual fact, the core of this book is about a data cloud monopoly and the single instance problem of de-duplication.

I was sold on this book before I knew it. It was hard for me to put down for even a minute! Extremely fast-paced, this book has a lot of action and suspense set in a fantasy world where the Great Library of Alexandria had never been destroyed. A world where the library has quite a bit of power. Unfortunately, like with most things that have power, there is also corruption. And where there is corruption, there are those that fight it. A definite recommendation for any teen or adult who has a love of books.

Loved it! Couldn't put it down. Jess comes from a family of book smugglers in a world where books are controlled by the Great Library. He applies to become a librarian in this steampunk world and finds friends and conspiracies.