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Magic Ex Libris series

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1. Libriomancer (2012) ~ Magic Ex Libris

Magic Ex Libris series by Jim C. Hines.

Genres and Sub-Genres[]

Fantasy / Urban Fantasy

Brief Series Description or Overview (book cover blurb)[]

Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped.

With the help of a motorcycle-riding dryad who packs a pair of oak cudgels, Isaac finds himself hunting the unknown dark power that has been manipulating humans and vampires alike. And his search will uncover dangerous secrets about Libriomancy, Gutenberg, and the history of magic. ~ Goodreads | Libriomancer

Books in Series[]

  1. Libriomancer (2012) ~ Magic Ex Libris
  2. Codex Born (Aug 6, 2013) ~ Magic Ex Libris
  3. Unbound (Jan 6, 2015)
  4. Revisionary (Feb 2, 2016)

~ Excerpts: 

Shorts, Anthologies and Guides[]

  • 0.5. Goblin Tales (2011) ~ Collection of short stories

Other Works by Author on Site[]

A Girl's Guide to Guns and Monsters (2010) "Heart of Ash" — no series

World Building[]

Setting[]

Michigan Upper Peninsula

LOCATIONS:

  • Detroit
  • Afghanistan
  • Michigan
  • Msu
  • East Lansing
  • Dearborn
  • Georgia
  • Copper River

Supernatural Elements[]

Libriomancer, sorcerers, vampires (Sanguinarius Meyerii), werewolves, dryad, fire-spider, automatons, wendigo, Devourers...

  • Libriomancers: Those gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects; track down and punish supes who harm humans;
  • Porters: secret organization of libromancers started by Gutenberg in the late 1400s
  • Devourers: insane, magic-eating spirits of long-dead sorcerers who want to get back into this world
  • Automatons: mechanized creatures created by Gutenberg from human essence and movable type to act as his protectors
  • Mananaggal: creature from the Philippines—At night, separates at the waist, sprouts wings and feeds on blood, though not exactly a vampire

The World[]

✤ The stars of this inventive world are libriomancers—sorcerers who pull their magic directly from books. If, for example, they need a sword, they can can reach into a book about King Arthur and pull out Excalibur. If they want to sneak into a building, they can pull an invisibility cloak from a Harry Potter book. If they need to be temporarily immune to another's magic, they can grab some Moly, an herb used in Homer's Odyssey that prevents spells from working. If they require an energy shield, they can get one from Frank Herbert's Dune. In other words, a libriomancer is never helpless if he or she can touch familiar books. ~ More: Fang-tastic Fiction: Jim C. Hines: MAGIC EX LIBRIS SERIES

✤ Basically, in this world full magical ability is very rare, but lesser magical ability is slightly less rare, and Gutenberg (the inventor of the printing press and a fledgling sorcerer) learned that belief magnifies their power. This power comes about when multiple people read the same book, and the readers' collective beliefs in the book allow a Libromancer to reach into the world of the book and pull anything that can fit, out into the real world. This ability does not come without cost, as it requires energy to manifest the items, and if the ability or book is overused, the characters from the book can possess the Libromancer and the fabric of reality can be threatened. ~ Goodreads Reader

✤ Libriomancers track down and punish supernaturals—mostly vampires and shapeshifters—who harm humans. In this world, supernaturals are unknown to the general public. The series mythology surrounding the origins of supernaturals is quite inventive. Most vampires and werewolves in this world are created when unsuspecting humans reach into books and either get scraped by a vampire's fang or bitten by a werewolf. After becoming infected, each new supernatural's characteristics depend entirely on the mythology of the infecting book, resulting in many different types of vampires and shifters. For example, the vampire groups include the Sanguinarius Meyerii, who were infected by Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series, and the Stokerus vampires, who date back to Bram Stoker's Dracula. Since each supernatural group has the exact characteristics delineated by the author, we can understand why the Meyerii vamps are nicknamed Sparklers. ~ More: Fang-tastic Fiction: Jim C. Hines: MAGIC EX LIBRIS SERIES

Protagonist[]

✤ Isaac is a young and powerful libriomancer who was recently removed from his field position with the Porters when he lost his focus and became overwhelmed by magic when he dipped into H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds for power and weaponry during a showdown with some major villains and almost lost himself in a magical overload. As the series opens, Isaac is working a day job at the Copper River Public Library in the Michigan Upper Peninsula. In his off-hours, he is a cataloger for the Porters. That job, he explains, requires him to "flag potentially dangerous books so that they can be locked to prevent someone from using their magic for nefarious purposes or from accidentally causing huge magical problems." (Libriomancer, p. 79). ~ More: Fang-tastic Fiction: Jim C. Hines: MAGIC EX LIBRIS SERIES

Characters[]

  • Porters: Victor Harrison, Deb DeGeorge, Rupert Loyola, Ray Walker, Nicola Pallas, Whitney Spotts, Antonia Warwick, Jane Oshogay, Maryelizabeth
  • Characters: (some) James Moriarty, Frodo, Harry Potter, Hitler, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Gollum, John Rule, Ray Walker, 
  • Vampires: Kyle Forrester, Alice Granach, Ted Boyer, Sarah, Rook, Nicholas, Myron Worster, Moon,
  • Authors: Terry Pratchett, H. G. Wells, Asimov, Plato, 
  • Werewolves: Hunter, Helen DeYoung, Laci, 

~ More Characters:

Characters What About
Isaac Vainio Libriomancer sorcerer who pulls his magic from books to defeat evil monsters
Smudge Magical fire spider sidekick
Lena Greenwood dryad; girlfriend; magical powers with wood; born from an acorn and needs an oak tree of her own to maintain her strength
Dr. Nidhi Shah Porter, psychiatrist; female third part of their love triangle: Isaac, Lena; Isaac's first counselor, now friend; Lena's friend
Johannes Gutenberg Print inventer invented printing press & Libriomancy; leader of Porters
Jeneta Aboderin young libriomancer Isaac's apprentice practice libriomancy with e-books; uses poetry to effect her magic
Deb DeGeorge Libriomancer turned vampire former Libriomancer; close friend of Isaac
Ponce de Leon Porter Finder of the Foutain of Youth; banished to Spain
Ray Walker Porter taught Isaac
Alice Granach Vampire Leader Detroit nest
Ted Boyer: vampire helps Isaac
Chesa: mananaggal At night she separates, sprouts wings, feeds on blood;
Johann Fust Competitor to Gutenberg
Fawn Shamel Co-owner of a bookstore
Kyle Forrester Vampire runs a day care center
Charles Hubert Soldier
Mike Hubert Brother of Charles Hubert
Margaret Hubert Mother of Charles Hubert
Nicola Pallas Porter Bard; supporter of the Porters
Jakob Hoffman Character in a novel V-Day
Victor Harrison porter deeply interested in technology and magical implications; Isaac & Rook (vampire) determine how he died;
Hunter werewolf
Antonia Warwick Porter helps Isaac protect Copper River from Deifilia
H. G. Wells author science fiction
Guan Feng guardian of a book book infused with the presence of a magician who was persecuted by Gutenberg
Alex young man works at the Copper River library
Sarah vampire
Doctor Karim Isaac's therapist
Mister Sanchez: Head of the family currently living in Victor HArrison's house
Bi Sheng Chinese peasant invented moveable type 500 years before Gutenberg
Helen DeYoung werewolf Jeff's wife/mate
August Harrison Victor Harrison's father abusive, violent; one of the antagonists
Rook vampire assigned to help Isaac
Nicholas vampire can talk to the dead
Karen Beauchamp young teenager reading in the library when the story unfolds, she is reading the Color Purple
Frank Dearing farmer; wife: Marion first person Lena met and was her first lover;
Deifilia dryad brought to life by August Harrison to fight Lena & Isaac
Katherine Pfeifferin Someone known to Gutenberg
Pete Malki One of Isaac's neighbors
Christopher Hill
Jim C

Jim C. Hines

Jim C

Jim C. Hines

About the Author[]

Jim C. Hines

Bio: Jim C. Hines' latest book is CODEX BORN, the second in his modern-day fantasy series about a magic-wielding librarian, a dryad, a secret society founded by Johannes Gutenberg, a flaming spider, and an enchanted convertible. He's also the author of the PRINCESS series of fairy tale retellings as well as the humorous GOBLIN QUEST trilogy. His short fiction has appeared in more than 40 magazines and anthologies, including Realms of Fantasy, Turn the Other Chick, and Sword & Sorceress XXI. He's also an active blogger, and won the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer. Jim lives in Michigan with his wife and two children. He's currently hard at work on UNBOUND, the third book in the MAGIC EX LIBRIS series. ~ Goodreads

Cover Artist[]

Artist: Gene Mollica

Publishing Information[]

Book Cover Blurbs[]

✤ BOOK ONE BLURB—Libriomancer (2012): Isaac Vainio is a Libriomancer, a member of the secret organization founded five centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg. Libriomancers are gifted with the ability to magically reach into books and draw forth objects. When Isaac is attacked by vampires that leaked from the pages of books into our world, he barely manages to escape. To his horror he discovers that vampires have been attacking other magic-users as well, and Gutenberg has been kidnapped. With the help of a motorcycle-riding dryad who packs a pair of oak cudgels, Isaac finds himself hunting the unknown dark power that has been manipulating humans and vampires alike. And his search will uncover dangerous secrets about Libriomancy, Gutenberg, and the history of magic. ~ Goodreads | Libriomancer

✤ BOOK TWO BLURB—Codex Born (2013): Isaac Vainio’s life was almost perfect. He should have known it couldn’t last. Living and working as a part-time librarian in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Isaac had finally earned the magical research position he dreamed of with Die Zwelf Portenære, better known as the Porters. He was seeing a smart, fun, gorgeous dryad named Lena Greenwood. He had been cleared by Johannes Gutenberg to do libriomancy once again, to reach into books and create whatever he chose from their pages. Best of all, it had been more than two months since anything tried to kill him. And then Isaac, Lena, and Porter psychiatrist Nidhi Shah are called to the small mining town of Tamarack, Michigan, where a pair of septuagenarian werewolves have discovered the brutally murdered body of a wending. What begins as a simple monster-slaying leads to deeper mysteries and the discovery of an organization thought to have been wiped out more than five centuries ago by Gutenberg himself. Their magic rips through Isaac’s with ease, and their next target is Lena Greenwood. They know Lena’s history, her strengths and her weaknesses. Born decades ago from the pages of a pulp fantasy novel, she was created to be the ultimate fantasy woman, shaped by the needs and desires of her companions. Her powers are unique, and Gutenberg’s enemies mean to use her to destroy everything he and the Porters have built. But their plan could unleash a far darker power, an army of entropy and chaos, bent on devouring all it touches. The Upper Peninsula is about to become ground zero in a magical war like nothing the world has seen in more than five hundred years. But the more Isaac learns about Gutenberg and the Porters, the more he questions whether he’s fighting for the right cause. One way or another, Isaac must find a way to stop a power he doesn’t fully understand. And even if he succeeds, the outcome will forever change him, the Porters, and the whole world. ~ Goodreads | Codex Born (Magic Ex Libris, #2)

✤ BOOK THREE BLURB—Unbound (Jan 6, 2015) : For five hundred years, the Porters have concealed the existence of magic from the world. Now, old enemies have revealed the Porters’ secrets, and an even greater threat lurks in the shadows. The would-be queen Meridiana, banished for a thousand years, has returned in the body of a girl named Jeneta Aboderin. She seeks an artifact created by Pope Sylvester II, a bronze prison that would grant her the power to command an army of the dead. Michigan librarian Isaac Vainio is powerless to stop her, having been stripped of his power and his place among the Porters by Johannes Gutenberg himself. But Isaac is determined to regain his magic and to rescue his former student Jeneta.

With no magic of his own, Isaac’s must delve into the darker side of black-market magic, where he will confront beings better left undisturbed, including the sorcerer Juan Ponce de Leon. With his loyal fire-spider Smudge, dryad warrior Lena Greenwood, and psychiatrist Nidhi Shah, Isaac races to unravel a mystery more than a thousand years old as competing magical powers battle to shape the future of the world. He will be hunted by enemies and former allies alike, and it will take all his knowledge and resourcefulness to survive as magical war threatens to spread across the globe. Isaac’s choices will determine the fate of his friends, the Porters, the students of Bi Sheng, and the world. Only one thing is certain: even if he finds a way to restore his magic, he can’t save them all. ~ Goodreads | Unbound #3

First Sentence[]

Quotes: []

Goodreads | Jim C. Hines Quotes (Author of Libriomancer)

Awards[]

  • Won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2012.

Read Alikes (similar elements)[]

See Category links at bottom of page

Trivia[]

  • FIRST SENTENCE, book one: ✧ Some people would say it's a bad idea to bring a fire-spider into a public library. ✧

Lists:

See Also[]

Category links at bottom of page

External References[]

Books:

Summaries: 

Excerpts: 

Libris-verse, Characters, etc:

References: 

Reviews: 

Interviews: 

Articles:

Author:

Community and Fan Sites:

Gallery of Book Covers[]

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