Book Review: The Great Library of Tomorrow

Helia has served as the Sage of Hope for the Great Library of Tomorrow for centuries. She is one of the chosen few who embody and protect the values of humanity across the numerous realms of Paperworld, which are connected within the Library itself via magical Portals controlled by the Book of Wisdom.

Even her hope is tested when she and her partner Xavier, the Sage of Truth, are attacked while visiting the famous Rose Garden in the realm of Silvyra. Wounded and in shock amidst a storm of fire, they are confronted by a deadly figure known to them as the Ash Man. With the Garden destroyed and its dragon protector missing, Xavier sacrifices his life so that Helia can return home to warn the other Sages.

But there she finds the Book of Wisdom—always a guide to the Sages—eerily silent. With the Ash Man gaining strength, Helia soon finds herself in a race against time, searching for clues to the origins of their foe—and any possible way to defeat him.

The Great Library of Tomorrow, the debut novel of Rosalia Aguliar Solace, will be published on November 12, 2024. Blackstone Publishing provided an early galley for review.

The general premise of this fantasy tale certainly intrigued me. The concept of a central library out of time which can connect to the worlds is ripe for potential. Despite all that, though, this novel started out a bit rough for me. There were things in the author's writing style that were not working for me.

For example, two characters would be having a simple conversation, and between the first one's question and the second one's answer we would get a ton of character background information inserted. As a reader, I like to get those details organically as the story dictates I should be given them. Otherwise, it can come across as information dumping - something published writers should be avoiding. A half dozen chapters in, the author introduces an outsider character Arturo to the Great Library, acting as a surrogate for the uninformed reader and thus asking questions to allow for other characters to explain the world-buidling details. This method works better.

In fact, it is Arturo and his interactions with Sage Robin that I found the most engaging. His curiosity and her personality worked well. As for many of the other characters, I found them much less interesting and thus would lower my focus on the overall story.