The Lost Books: The Scroll of Kings audiobook

I really liked this. It's got verve and style and even swagger (maybe a little surprising for a book about books!) - I enjoyed the tone a lot - and while the plot might be a little convoluted and unclear, everything does become clear in the end. This is exactly the sort of series opener I love: it's a stand-alone, but a followup could address the open-ended issues.I need to get back to reading more MG. I miss the way it can evoke books previously written while being different enough to stand out; familiarity, in this case, does not breed contempt.

This was delightful. The plot is a little predictable, perhaps, but everything about it - characters (especially Kenneret!) setting, and in fact the way the plot is resolved- is really charming. I'm looking forward to reading the next (I'm assuming it's a series).

I loved this--magical books/library plus snarky young protagonist plus a young queen whose an interesting person in her own right, and a very dangerous Danger--not just to the protagonist, or to the kingdom, but to the books! This sort of book is the reason why I say I love middle grade fantasy!

When Alex finds the librarian he works for dead, he at first thinks that he just died in his sleep. But then the book the librarian was reading tries to kill Alex and he quickly revises his opinion. Upon being kicked out of that library (just because of some little comments made to the lady of the manor about not really needing to keep every relative's notes to self) he reads the letter that was in his master's possession upon his death. It turns out to be from the Queen whose librarian also just died asking Librarian Farnsworth to come to the castle and take over there. Alex smells something fishy. Two dead librarians in one week? Alex, masquerading as Farnsworth arrives at the castle to find a library in an awful state. The books are clearly worked up over something, and Alex needs to figure out what is going on before someone else is killed.I have heard both that this is and isn't part of a series. I really hope it is part of a series because I still have a whole lot of questions after this book. The question of where the Lost Books came from and why is left mostly up in the air, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The immediate danger is reconciled, but that's pretty much it. Alex is a librarian unlike most. He is more of a book wrangler (think zoo keeper of books) in charge of a wild, disorganized labyrinth of creatures, half of which are out to get him if he gives them half a chance. The book on beasts that tries to gnaw on Harry Potter would be perfectly at home in Alex's library. Oh, and he's pretty much a private investigator trying to solve a string of murders. There's also some political intrigue going on in the kingdom Alex lives in. The Queen is new to the throne and only 16. Her Uncle, the regent, says he has handed over the kingdom but it is pretty clear to everyone but the Queen that he is still holding a whole lot of strings. The prince of the kingdom at first appears to be a lazy fool, but he has hidden depths. And all of them are in some way tangled up in the library while Alex would just rather be dealing with one crisis at a time. I like the concept of a librarian's pages that Prineas dreamed up. They are animated book pages that help Alex out by retrieving objects and such. I could use a couple of those. Overall, this was a fun concept with a fantasy world and mystery that kept the pages turning. If this is all there is to the story I'll be sadly disappointed as it feels like there are several loose ends that need tying up. Hand this to readers who like interesting magic systems and fantasy mysteries.Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. The murders mentioned aren't bloody. There are some vicious attacks by books in a variety of potentially deadly methods. There are also 2 sword fights between humans. Some blood is drawn and people get injured but no one is fatally wounded and the injury descriptions are kept to a minimum.

Read this as a bedtime story and we all liked it and stayed up late the last night to finish. I thought I loved that one of the characters was illiterate, and that that was going to be helpful to a child who isn't a strong reader, but Alex continued to call that character "stupid" after he found out he couldn't read. And no one called him on it. Which is maybe what kids would do. But it didn't, contrary to my hope, help the kiddo who struggles to read feel any better about himself, so I was disappointed at the lost opportunity -- so seldom that characters with any kind of disability appear in a fantasy book at all, so I was sad that it didn't disrupt that. But maybe fiction isn't polemic.

4.5👑📜Omg. This book made me realize how much I missed fantasy books and the fact that it is a book about books makes it so much better. IT WAS SOOO GOODDD

Strong, Independent, Engaging, Confident HeroesIt seems to me that Sarah Prineas has a settled formula, but it's such a good formula and she mixes it up so well that I'm happy to dive in to any series she starts.Here's the formula. Young man with a secret, unknown, powerful destiny, alone in the world waiting for his path to open before him. Young woman in a position to assume great power and responsibility, endeavoring to grow into her potential. Some magical thing that brings the two together, forces them to become allies and then friends, and brings them great danger and adventure. That is a pretty good summary of Prineas' "Magic Thief" series, which is one of the best middle grade series around, and it's a pretty good summary of this book and the series it appears to be launching.This time around our hero Alex has some sort of destiny as a "Librarian", which in his vaguely medieval world feels a lot like "lion tamer". Alex has abandoned his place as the heir to a great and noble family of warriors and chieftains in order to follow his fate. Alex is clever, shrewd, irascible, and a bit of a con man, since he feels he's a Librarian, but he isn't officially a Librarian, and so has to wheedle and fast talk his way into a castle library.Our heroine, Kenneret, has just reached her majority and become Queen of Alex's land. It's her castle library Alex takes over. Kennie is a queen who is still treated as a little girl, and she needs to grow into her role and take charge of her life and her land.The two meet cute, since Kennie knows Alex is a con man of sorts, and way too young to be a Librarian, and Alex knows Kennie is sort of improvising her way as queen, and way too young yet to be an effective queen. Meanwhile, the books are being infected by a series of powerful and evil "Lost Books" which are hidden in the castle library. Similar books have killed many Librarians across the land and they have Alex in their sights. Alex is resolved to get the library under control. Here's the great other angle. There is a lot of monologuing about the power of books, and the power of reading, and the unique specialness of books, and so on, but none of it has that creepy, precious, fetish feel that you can find in many "hooray for books" books for middle graders. The books here are very much, figuratively and literally, alive, but it turns out they make much better characters than they do objects of worship. Prineas sells all of this with very accomplished world building. Almost all of the action takes place in the castle library, and the creepy, lively, dusty, dark, labyrinthine, and wildly atmospheric library is beautifully rendered. There are loads of clever and imaginative details that add depth and interest to the library, and that add humor and suspense and color as necessary.Alex and Kennie are smart, funny, and acerbic debaters and their exchanges are bright, crisp and clever. (Sometimes this feels like middle grade Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn stuff.) Secondary characters, (the evil adults who seek the books, other Librarians, soldiers from Alex's family, Kennie's not-as-dim-as-he-seems brother), and even briefly passing characters, are stamped with individual style and personality that makes the book much richer than just an adventure about some evil magical macguffin. There are lots of subtle lessons and messages in here, about being steadfast, and loyal, and competent, and trusty, and brave, and determined, and those characteristics actually drive a lot of the action and account for the characters' successes and failures, but those messages are woven seamlessly into the action and fun and never intrude. So, this struck me as an absolute top drawer new addition to the middle grade action/adventure shelf. The main story arc concludes in this one book, but there are numerous open questions that beg for more than one sequel, so this also looks like it could be a series with some staying power. A very nice find.(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Reader thoughts: I just loved this book. Alex has a lot of secrets, is clever, and works hard to earn his skills and to help others. He doesn't take shortcuts, and, while he does get rude, he really does care to protect the books and the kingdom (er, queendom?). He'll even work all night to get to the bottom of the mystery of the royal library. His one failing is that he jumps into things without really knowing what he is doing or how the magic of the libraries works.Books with magic! Page creatures that fly around and help librarians! A young queen learning to lead! A secret magical order! Bad magical creatures that infect books to be deadly!What's not to like?Oh, and the way Alex treats the queen's younger brother was just perfect. (view spoiler)[ Charley couldn't read, but Alex didn't look down on him. Instead, he taught him sword fighting and used him to find dangerous books because his lack of reading ability was an asset when reading the wrong book could kill you. (hide spoiler)]I do think quite a bit of the mystery around the magical librarian society was more obscure than necessary. Alex had to jump to a lot of conclusion about how it all worked, and this made the story feel a bit shaky. Hopefully the sequel will clarify some things.Writer thoughts: There was a character who couldn't read, and it would have been easy for Prineas to make this unreader seem unintelligent (even by accident). Prineas actually took care to make sure that the unreader was shown to be clever (figuring out a couple riddles!), liked by the other characters, and skilled in other ways. I thought this was handled well.

Fifteen-year-old Alex has run away from home to become a librarian. He has spent his life learning to use a sword but his real desire it to care for books. In his world, books are locked up in libraries and protected by Librarians who are all getting old. He manages to talk himself into an apprenticeship with a librarian but the librarian isn't willing to share very many secrets and dies before Alex can learn much. When Alex opens the book he finds on the librarian's chest, he is attacked by vines that come creeping out of VINES: PLANTS OF WONDER and barely manages to get the book closed.This isn't his first magical encounter with a book. When he was young, he read all the books in his father's library twice and then discovered one that was particularly heavy hidden behind some other books. When he opened that one, some letters crept out and turned into an advice-giving tattoo around his wrist.Alex finally manages to find a position as a librarian in the Royal Library by impersonating the librarian he was apprenticed to. But the young queen Kennerett gives him only a month to whip her neglected library into shape. Kennerett is having problems of her own. Her uncle and former Regent Lord Patchedren is subtly sabotaging her confidence as she tries to learn to be a good queen. Also, her young brother Charley has been expelled from school again and she has to figure out what to do with him. So, since Alex has been begging for an assistant, she gives him Charley who has no interest in being a librarian.Alex learns that 60 years earlier something happened that changed libraries. Some Lost Books were written with magical paper, magical ink, and magical pens and when they were finished the books killed the writers and drew their spirits into the books. The librarians managed to fight to contain the books in their libraries but now the books are waking up and making all the books dangerous. They seem to have a special grudge against Alex. Alex needs to find the Lost Books in the Royal Library and put them back to sleep. This was an exciting middle grade story filled with action. It was also a story about doing what you need to do to follow your dreams. Best of all, it was a story about the power of books, words, and libraries.

Also called the Scroll of Kings. Loved this book-the plot, the twists, the characters, the magic......will definitely read the others in the series. Equally suited for boys or girls. Has some violence. AR-5.2, 9pts.

Author Sarah Prineas, best known for her award-winning The Magic Thief series, has launched a new one, The Lost Books, a must-read for fantasy lovers of any age. A wannabe-librarian named Alex bluffs his way into a tryout as the royal librarian of the kingdom of Aethel, but, even before his arrival, Alex has begun to realize that something is very wrong with the books in the libraries. Readers will thoroughly enjoy Alex, Aethel’s Queen Kenneret and her brother Charlie (Prince Charleren to the commoners), who is more perceptive than he first appears. Prineas weaves a wonderful mystery set in a world where books are kept locked up and away from the public. One of the mysteries solved is how this has come to pass, but the big one is who is turning library books into literal killers. Alex resembles Connwaer of The Magic Thief a bit, as Queen Kenneret resembles The Magic Thief’s Lady Rowan; however, the characters are different enough not to diminish the enjoyment of Prineas’ newest gem of a novel. In addition, the underestimated Prince Charlie is one of my favorite Prineas characters of all time. I’m thrilled to know that there will be more books to come, and, like Alex, I will have to work on my patience in order to endure the long wait for book No. 2. Lastly, I was fortunate enough to listen to the Audible edition of The Scroll of Kings, and narrator Graham Halstead made my car trip home to Louisville from Myrtle Beach pure pleasure.

Middle graders will love the mix of magic, good vs evil, trappings of royalty and frequent swordplay of this one. Librarians and teachers will appreciate those characteristics as well as the allusions to book burnings and censorship. With its modest length, this new Sarah Prineas work will appeal to those readers capable of longer novels such as Harry Potter or Girl Who Drank the Moon while not intimidated those with shorter attention spans. Other positives include a strong female main character, excellent characterization of the three protagonists Alex, Kenney and Charlie, as well as some great foreshadowing. I will definitely be adding this one to my first library order for school year ‘18-‘19. Added note: No profanity or sexual innuendo, slight blood-letting during several encounters, but nothing that would set off alarms with a conservative audience. Thanks for the dARC, Edelweiss!

My name is Alex, and I am the royal librarian. At least until the queen figures out I've been lying about my identity. I never received any proper training, but everybody assumes I know what I’m doing. The queen’s given me two weeks to organize a cavernous library that's been neglected for years, but she doesn't even know the dangers found here. The books are frightened of something hidden on the shelves, volumes with strange covers that have already killed three other librarians. I've barely survived books that conjured up strangling vines, devastating earthquakes, and raging storms. Why are all the books targeting me and trying to end my life? There are so many secrets to uncover! The Lost Books, the queen’s uncle, and the Red Codex.I randomly found this book on my library's shelf of new releases, and I'm glad I did. The story oozed with imagination, as paper was used to create different characters. The characters weren't made from paper, the sheets of paper were Alex's flying assistants. Evil books mesmerized readers into deadly situations, and the cause of this dangerous change was unclear. The young queen found the library hard to understand, and she found Alex annoying. However, she admired Alex's honesty, loyalty, and determination. The author included many subplots that were easy to follow; authors sometimes make their books confusing by describing too many problems. Alex had issues with his father, the queen was unaware of her uncle's plans, the prince felt useless, and Alex wanted to save all of the books, even the ones trying to kill him! The conflicts overlapped, and the author neatly blended them together. The thing I liked best about the book was the fact Alex was always the underdog. The queen gave him two weeks to perform an impossible task for which he was totally unprepared. He was forced to act alone, and the Red Codex was a constant mystery in his mind. Some readers may not like this book, but I highly recommend you give it a try.