Marsha's Reviews > The Masked City

Irene returns in this nail-biting sequel to The Invisible Library. This time it’s not a book she has to retrieve.

Irene isn’t sent on a mission here. She goes without Library authorization or reliable backup to retrieve a kidnapped dragon. The stakes are high—nothing less than the fate of her chosen world as Librarian-in-Residence is riding on her shoulders.

Irene is no shrinking virgin; she’s had her share of lovers. She has admired Kai’s muscular sleek form and casually toyed with the idea of bedding him. He’s also made the offer to her, on more than one occasion.

However, the novels have so far eschewed romance. For one thing, Kai is her subordinate not someone she’s admired from afar. She’s not the type to go dallying with someone working for her as a junior underling. She’s also claimed that he’s not her type. Bluntly put, she prefers bad boys, the brooding, dangerous type of loner you find in far too many YA novels. As I’ve stated, the books have steered clear of romance, especially that kind, and I’m heartily glad for it.

What Kai and Irene share, however, is better than a typical good girl/bad boy much-trodden trope. Theirs is a relationship built on trust, shared danger and mutual admiration. He’s proven himself more than capable of holding his own in a fight, lending aid when needed or giving advice. For her part, she feels responsible for him and that is what initially fuels her to go seeking help. After meeting Kai’s formidable uncle, however, the stakes get considerably higher.

The plot becomes fraught with knuckle-whitening terror as Irene must battle against an ever-amassing bunch of foes, old and new, who would cow her with their magical power and influence. The scenes in which she turns the tables on armed assailants, negotiates with storm-summoning dragons or brokers perilous deals with eldritch creatures are electrifying to read. (You think “This would make a terrific film” and wonder what Guillermo del Toro would make of a Horse that takes the form of a speeding train.)

While the first novel turned on the acquisition of a strange Grimm book of märchen, this one makes active use of the storytelling form. According to the rules of chaos worlds, the elves in them draw power by forcing humans to submit to the power of stories. The Fae assume the roles of villains, rogues, heroes, mages, bards, etc., and the humans around them are bent to take their place as background characters in whatever plotlines the Fae concoct.

In one stunning scene, Irene uses this rule to weave a tale that binds her to a grave magical contract, a last-ditch effort to save herself and the imprisoned Kai. It’s rousing stuff and makes you fall for Irene all over again.

Our redoubtable heroine has proven herself the match for magical steeds, cunning elven lords, Venetian assassins and world-destroying dragons. She’s the kind of strong female protagonist that is as old as story and new as modern fantasy fiction. If you’ve read the first novel and haven’t read this one, run out and get your hands on a copy. This is storytelling at its absolute best.