Magical Libraries

by Mark Lawrence
|
7 books
Huge, magical libraries often appear in works of fantasy. Authors have a thing about libraries … what a surprise! If you share that affection, then you might enjoy the books below. It’s far from an exhaustive list – drawing only what I’ve read. But here is a disparate group of novels where libraries of many sorts play an important role!
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Strange the Dreamer

Laini Taylor, 2017
Here, the library is the place where the eponymous Strange begins to discover who he is and what is truly important to him. The writing of books and their dissemination forge the links that begin this excellent tale.

The Library at Mount Char

Scott Hawkins, 2022
Unsurprisingly, the library is foundational in this novel. The librarians in this story are the strangest folk you’ll ever read about. This is a wild, chaotic, and amazing ride.

The Name of the Wind

Patrick Rothfuss, 2009
The library in this remarkable, lyrical debut is major focus of the story. It’s the repository of magical wisdom that could help our protagonist unlock the powers he’ll need given the nature of his enemies. The four-plate stone door in this library could well be one of the “doors of stone” that give the long-awaited concluding volume of the trilogy its title.

The Magicians

A Novel
Lev Grossman, 2010
In this sophisticated mashup of Harry-Potter-with-university-students and Narnia, Grossman presents us with two libraries. First the small but entertaining library at the Brakebills college, where stray books flap around the rafters. Secondly, the all-encompassing Library of the Neitherlands where, in addition to all knowledge, there is a book for every person where their life is being recorded as it happens.

The Book That Wouldn't Burn

Mark Lawrence, 2023
Well, this one’s mine. A vast, possibly infinite, library is front and centre and the trilogy orbits both the physical place and various themes concerned with the keeping and distribution of knowledge. There’s lots of fantasy goodness too!

A Discovery of Witches

A Novel
Deborah Harkness, 2011
Whilst the library isn’t central throughout, it’s the place where everything starts. Our hero is an academic, doing her research at the Bodleian Library in Oxford and a fair bit of the story unfolds there. If you don’t know what a palimpsest is now – you will do after reading this book!

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Susanna Clarke, 2010
In this wonderfully imagined work of fantasy, Mr. Norrell’s library at Hurtfew Abbey is a labyrinthian and atmospheric structure that encapsulates the tension between the two main protagonists, focusing the narrative on issues of access to information and onto the different approaches of both men to the structure of magic and to who should be allowed to practice it.