Ex-Libris

London is a city of coal cinders and rat droppings -- at the first level this is a gritty, detailed evocation of everyday urban life in the 1660s by a remarkably young author. At a second it's a pleasingly intelligent bibliothriller, exploring not only the period's book trade but also the value and power of the private libraries of royals and the nobility both as prizes to plunder and as ideological weapons to deploy in the wars of religion. This was an era when there were not yet so many books that a highly educated person could not at least aspire to read more or less universally. On still another plane Ex-Libris looks at the emergence of the first tender shoots of modern science from the compost of alchemy, astrology and even more mystical influences. Cartography and navigation of the seas figure prominently. Finally, the book delves the ongoing idelogical struggle between spiritual and secular ways of seeking knowledge, as the Catholic Church labors to suppress the ideas of Copernicus, Galileo and others. A thoughful reader may well ponder whether we have progressed very far since the seventeenth century.

I picked up Ex-Libris because I loved the cover art - and was soon engrossed in its contents, rabidly turning page after page, all the way through the epilogue.Ex-Libris is the story of mild-mannered bookseller and self-described homebody, Isaac Inchbold, set in 1670 London. His quiet, predictable life is disrupted by a intriguing letter from a widow, who retains his services to locate a missing, and purportedly valuable, manuscript that is missing from her fathers' library. As Inchbold begins to research the provenance of the manuscript, he is drawn into a network of intrigue and international espionage that encompasses nearly all of Renaissance Europe, ancient Greece, Egypt and more.Rather than reveal any more of the plot, it's worth noting King's writing craft: his settings come alive with plenty of well-researched detail that only the most dyed-in-the-wool stickler would take issue with; his narrative and description beg a comparison to Dickens in many ways, with his unwilling protagonist being dragged along through events by an assortment of people who only seek to use him; and lastly, a plot that has as many twists, turns, and blind alleys as the street map of London itself.While King's use of language may require a little effort, Ex-Libris is worth every minute. This is not only a well-researched historical thriller, it's a really compelling story with a great twist ending. If you like Eco's Name of the Rose, or even Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, you'll like what's between the covers of Ross King's Ex Libris.

I initially fell in love with the cover art of Ross King's Ex Libris, but soon was totally engrossed in the content of its pages instead.The story involves a mid-1600's London bookseller name Isaac Inchbold who is by self description, a softening bookworm who craves the comfort and regularity of his carefully organized life. His departure from his humdrum existence is precipitated by a simple letter, soliciting his help in finding a lost manuscript - but the details of the letters are suspicious, and the tone of the letter is hushed and desperate.After meeting an aristocrat's widow, Inchbold is led on an ever-descending spiral of thievery and intrigue surrounding the lost manuscript, which disrupts and then threaten's Inchbold's very life.I don't want to give away any more: the plot twists keep you rabidly turning pages all the way until the epilogue. Ross King's use of language is suberb, and really requires attention from the reader; his method of description and narrative beg a comparison to Dickens in many ways, while there is enough contemporary "action" sequences to keep you reading late into the night.I highly recommend this book for avid readers and history enthusiasts - there is abundant detail that shows the care and craft that Ross King has put into putting his own unique stamp on this book.

In 1660, Lady Marchamont petitions London bookseller Isaac Inchbold proprietor of Nonsuch Books to visit her in Dorsetshire. Since Isaac never leaves London and is such a creature of habit, anyone who knows him is stunned when he decides to travel to the countryside. Yet the strange note sends an intrigued Isaac journeying to Pontifex Hall.Lady Marchamont hires Isaac to restore her library to its former glory before looters ransacked it during the civil war. In particular, she wants the bookworm to locate an antiquated heretical tome, "The Labyrinth of the World" identified by her murdered father in his EX-LIBRIS. Intrigued not only by the immense fee, Isaac begins a quest that places his life in danger.EX-LIBRIS is a superb historical thriller that grips the readers with its in depth look at seventeenth century Europe. Even more interesting is the clever historiographical look by the 1660 Isaac back to the Civil War. The story line is fast-paced as Isaac tells his tale in the first person so that the audience completely understands him as a likable chap whose simple existence turns frustrating with troubles. More novels like this one will lead to Ross King ruling the genre.Harriet Klausner