Plot or Premise

The year is 2098 and the world government has decided to close the last library and destroy all the remaining books.

What I Liked

The basic premise of everything having gone digital, the creation of world governments, and a plague that wiped out most of humanity fifty years before was intriguing. Equally, the idea of the “last library” on Earth being a large structure in Portland was kind of quirky, with two others having been closed in Australia and Europe. And the last librarian wanting to save the books was wrapped in a larger mystery about the content of the digital book copies being changed. Very 1984ish or Brave New World.

What I Didn’t Like

The main character is not very strong, and it is hard to root for him as the “last librarian”. But the book tells you it repeatedly so you don’t forget. There is also no explanation of why it is the Portland library that remains, as opposed to the Library of Congress or something similar, but that’s quibbling. It’s large, but hardly the Library of Alexandria. The story also can hardly go 3 or 4 pages without throwing in a literary quote, all from books already written now (i.e., nothing quoted from the next 50 years, although writing continues) and mostly in the 1900s and American. But it was an “okay” book, with enough mystery to keep me going to the end, probably a 3 rating overall (good). But the ending has a major PoV problem that is typical of beginner writers, and provides no closure to the story. Sure, it’s part of a planned trilogy, but the story can’t even stand on its own as a one-third portion. The whole component they were dealing with basically shifts to being almost a non-story. If it wasn’t on my tablet, I would have thrown it across the room. The only “upside” was that it was a Prime Reading selection so it was free. I will not be continuing for two more books.

The Bottom Line

Okay premise, ridiculous ending, poor writing