The God of Lost Wordsby A.J. Hackwith
Rating: ★★★
isbn: 9781984806413
Series: Hell's Library #3
Publication Date: November 2, 2021
Pages: 353
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Ace
Claire, rakish Hero, angel Rami, and muse-turned-librarian Brevity have accomplished the impossible by discovering the true nature of unwritten books. But now that the secret is out, in its quest for power Hell will be coming for every wing of the Library.
To protect the Unwritten Wing and stave off the insidious reach of Malphas, one of Hell’s most bloodthirsty generals, Claire and her friends will have to decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice to keep their vulnerable corner of the afterlife. Succeeding would mean rewriting the nature of the Library, but losing would mean obliteration. Their only chance at survival lies in outwitting Hell and writing a new chapter for the Library. Luckily, Claire and her friends know how the right story, told well, can start a revolution.
Pfft. When I read the first book of this trilogy, I had high hopes, even though I had a problem connecting with the main character. There was so much to love in the first book. The second book was blah; I still didn’t connect with the main character, and worse still the rest of the characters went flat for me as well, and I’d intended to stop after 2. And then I found out it was planned as a trilogy, so there was only one more book and the completist in me reared her stubborn head.
I should have smacked her and told her to shut it. Everything went wobbly for me in this one and by the midway point, I found myself irritated by little things that in a book I was enjoying I’d have glossed over. Nothing about the story development surprised me or delighted me. 2/3s of the way in, the author’s efforts at inclusivity, while admirable, often left me stumbling over the text and the pronouns.
Also admirable was the author’s obvious passion for stories and her desire to share with the reader the necessity of stories to the human experience, but she got way too mushy about it for my tastes – and I had to laugh, because in the Acknowledgments she admits that she wrote this book during the lockdowns, leading her to be mushier than usual and apologising not at all the us cynics.
Towards the end, she skirts with breaking the fourth wall, which I generally don’t mind, but it seemed like she was espousing a brand of atheism almost directly to the reader, which I do mind. I like her alternate philosophy as a construct for a story, but draw the line there.
I still stand by the beauty of the story’s premise; I just couldn’t connect fully with the characters and despite my willingness, failed to be drawn in by this particular story. But the completist in my is happy to know how it ends, and rests easy.