The Astral Library
A Novel
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3.9 • 167 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes a gorgeously written fantastical adventure which poses the question: Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures.
Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives...inside their favorite books.
The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This warm, imaginative fantasy feels tailor-made for anyone who’s ever escaped into reading. At the end of any long, lonely, sometimes soul-crushing day, twentysomething Alix retreats into the gorgeously ornate Boston Public Library, where her beloved books are always waiting. There she discovers the secret entrance to a mystical realm where she can literally enter the worlds of classic novels. But as she’s learning the dos and don’ts of this strange, captivating sanctuary and the prickly Librarian who runs it, a dark figure emerges who seems to want it destroyed. Historical fiction star Kate Quinn has tremendous fun with her first venture into fantasy, as she sends Alix and the Librarian through enchantingly familiar literary landscapes. But what really anchor the story are Alix’s resilience, resourcefulness, and hunger to find a world where she truly belongs. The Astral Library is a bighearted adventure that balances wonder and playful humor with gripping suspense and real emotional weight.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historical fiction author Quinn (The Alice Network) turns her hand to magical realism in this charming tale about the joy of reading and the necessity of public libraries. Alix Watson, 26, struggles to make ends meet in Boston, with only to her name and a revolving door of low-paying jobs. Finding refuge at the Boston Public Library, she stumbles across a magic portal to a place where the library's patrons live inside a book of their choosing. There are rules: the book must be in the public domain, Alix cannot become a named character in the narrative, and the course of the story cannot be changed. Alix chooses Around the World in Eighty Days, but before she enters the book, the library comes under attack from a mysterious force. She and the librarian set out to rescue patrons trapped in other books and rehouse them in paintings, where they cannot be so easily found. The plot becomes a bit unwieldy, but underdog Alix keeps the reader invested with her boisterousness and determination. Bookworms will be enchanted.
Customer Reviews
On the fence
As this author’s first attempt at syfi, this book is ok. I like the message and overall plot, although it was a very difficult read. I’m not sure if this author will do well in this genre, like Rebecca Y.
I also escape into books. So much so, hours later I’d look up and would need a moment to acclimate myself to my real surroundings. That’s what it was like reading Briars Club or the Alice Network. My world falls away and I’m inside the book. Unfortunately that was not my experience with this one.
Overall this author has potential in this genre. Maybe?
MORE, MORE!!!
It’s been a long time since I LOVED loved a book - this one’s on that list! It was great fun!
What if you met all of your favorite characters?
Absolutely awe-some. Part fantasy, part modern day warning, completely intriguing. Alix- with an i- is a plucky heroine with a foul mouth and a classical education. I found myself revisiting favorite books and characters I have loved. Fun, thoughtful, adventurous, and funny- the best of so many books. I stayed up far too late reading.