Devon Book Club discussion

I found this for those of you who like fantasy and horror adn that made me think that perhaps I ought to start a genres section - though that may not be a good idea as it may pigeon - hole books too much. But I wasnt sure where else to post fantsay and horror and didn't think it merited a section all to itself - you may disagree!

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015...

Just beginning to read The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman which so far shows promise. Well written - something that is not necessarily a "given" in the fantasy genre - and offering interesting possibilities in terms of plot which is not quite so crass as the blurb would imply. I shall report back later.

John wrote: "Just beginning to read The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman which so far shows promise. Well written - something that is not necessarily a "given" in the fantasy genre - and o..."

I don't normally read a lot of fantasy but that sounds like fun actually. I'll be interested to know how you get on with it.

Not fantasy exactly (not sure what Genre it fits into) but I love the work of Jasper Fforde, which also involves an imaginary literary world - which often involves genre disputes

I think we'll have to put Fforde in the fantasy genre as it involves time travel and the characters popping up as characters in classic books. It seems to me that when one genre can hold the work of Tolkien, Pullman, Gaiman and subjects as diverse as ghosts, werewolves, vampires, sci-fi, magic, dragons, super-heroes, talking animals and paranormal romance(!) then that genre definition has become meaningless. In fact, there could be an argument that all fiction is fantasy as it's depicting something that hasn't actually happened.

Can report that The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman lived up to its early promise. Cogman openly admits to being influenced by Tolkien and Conan Doyle, but there are resonances of the worlds in Philip Pulman's His Dark Materials Trilogy: The Golden Compass / The Subtle Knife / The Amber Spyglass as well as glimpses of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief and Carol Goodman's Fairwick trilogy beginning with "The Incubus."

The story moves quickly but is no mere pot boiler, containing mystery as well as fantasy elements. I would recommend it as an easy but intellectually stimulating introduction to fantasy.

John wrote: "Can report that The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman lived up to its early promise. Cogman openly admits to being influenced by Tolkien and Conan Doyle, but there are resonanc..."

Sounds good JOhn. Thanks for the recommendation

Librarian spies! definitely have to read that one.

Ley wrote: "Librarian spies! definitely have to read that one."

What's not to like?