The Masked City

by Genevieve Cogman

  LEGENDS OF THE LIBRARY

  In the Library one hears plenty of stories about ‘the monster that lives in the basement’ or ‘the Librarian who tried to find the oldest book in the Library and was never seen again’ or ‘the time someone tried climbing out of one of the windows - that lead to nowhere’. Typical urban legends - well, Library legends. Then there are the more classical ones. The sort that have a Librarian lost in the deepest part of the Library. She might come into a room containing a circle of ornate chairs, with sleeping knights in armour seated upon them, where a mysterious voice says to her, ‘Has the time come yet?’ And she says, ‘No, go back to sleep,’ and then runs away, and she can never find the room again. This is a typical folktale of the Sleeping King and his Warriors type - whether about Arthur, or Barbarossa or whatever.

  But there are other stories.

  They say that a Librarian once saw someone’s cat squeezing through a corner between two shelves. (Some of the older Librarians have pets. Some of the pets can be a little strange.) So he pulled out some books to check behind them, and found a crack in the wall. And since it was a brick wall, and he was a curious man, he levered out more of the bricks in an attempt to find out what was behind the wall. He found a vast echoing darkness, the air dry and unmoving, so pitch-black that even shining a torch into the void illuminated nothing. Being a halfway sensible man (a fully sensible man wouldn’t have removed those bricks in the first place), he didn’t try lowering himself down into it on a rope or anything like that, and he put the bricks back in place. But before doing that, he wrote a note on a piece of paper, suggesting that if there was anyone out there, he’d like to talk, and he threw the note into the darkness before sealing up the crack.

  When he returned to his rooms, he sat down with the book he’d been reading earlier that day and tried to relax. But when he turned to the correct page, his bookmark had been replaced with something else - with the note which he’d thrown into the darkness. The paper was now brittle with age and dust, and written on the bottom in the Language was, ‘Not yet, I think.’

  AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

  Genevieve Cogman has written some wonderfully entertaining fiction, set within incredible new worlds. We wanted to find out a bit more about Genevieve’s writing, her characters and the origins of these worlds. Genevieve was kind enough to indulge our bookish curiosity - and please find our interview below.

  If you could choose one thing from Irene’s world and bring it to ours, what would it be and why?

  My first thought would be, the entire Library, but that’s probably a bit excessive! So I’ll settle for a login to the Library email system so that I can start accessing their most tempting files.

  How do your plots come together? Do ideas strike you while you travel to work, or in the supermarket? Or do ideas actually emerge as you sit at the keyboard?

  I think it was Agatha Christie who once said that the best time for planning a book is when you’re doing the dishes. I find that ideas can come at any time - but rarely arrive at a convenient moment, such as when I’m actually sitting in front of the computer and ready to use them. This is why I often have a number of scribbled notes to hand by the time I get to the computer. I sometimes jot down particularly brilliant lines (!) that I don’t want to forget (or at least lines that seem brilliant at the time - they don’t always look as good a few hours later). I do even have ideas when I’m working at the day job. However, fortunately for my characters, I have yet to inflict on them any of the diseases or injuries I read about while at that job.

  George R. R. Martin talked about writers being either architects or gardeners - in terms of either planning ahead or rather letting the plot grow. Would you class yourself as one or the other and if so why is that?

  I’d class myself as a gardener, but the sort who lays out the flower beds before starting. I have an idea of what’s going to happen, and a rough draft of the plot. I’ll also have marked out stages such as ‘in this bit, Irene does X and acquires bit of information Y’. But at that point I haven’t necessarily worked out the full details of how she comes by that knowledge. And I may have other bursts of inspiration which develop in the process of writing, or characters who are supposed to be one-offs but end up making multiple appearances during the course of the novel. And then again, there are the parts of the plot which go something like this: ‘at this point Irene stages a brilliant escape attempt but I haven’t yet worked out how she does it - research this bit more’. This can result in the whole metaphorical garden having to be re-dug. Still, it’s all worth it if it makes for a better story …

  When a Librarian uses ‘the Language’ it has all kinds of magical effects on the world. Do you have a favourite use of this language in either The Invisible Library or The Masked City? And if so, what makes it special?

  I think my favourite use of the Language is in The Invisible Library, when Irene commands the stuffed animals in the museum to animate and attack the werewolves. It’s baroque and dramatic and probably expends more energy than some other things she might have tried, but it was just such fun to write.

  Librarians have the mark of the library tattooed on their backs. What does this look like exactly?

  It’s a rectangle of black script across the back, about a foot across, below the shoulder-blades. It’s low enough that Irene can get away with a moderately off-the-shoulder dress! There’s also a cartouche around it, providing a bookish framing device. Anyone looking at it who wasn’t a Librarian would see Irene’s name (or whichever Librarian’s name it was) in their own native language. It can’t be covered with makeup or dye, so Librarians tend to be careful in their choice of clothing. There are rumours that the cartouche around the Librarian’s name is actually microscopically compressed script which goes into great detail about the Library. But you know how rumours are …

  I love Irene’s dry wit and calm ability to rise to any (most!) occasions. Was she inspired by any other characters in fiction, or did she emerge fully-formed?

  I would like to think that she’s mostly original, but probably I’ve unconsciously borrowed bits here and there. She definitely owes a debt to Lois McMaster Bujold’s heroines. I also see her as having a certain resemblance to John Steed, from the classic TV series The Avengers, in terms of her polite manners and unscrupulous nature. (Kai gets to be Emma Peel.)

  Where does Irene’s name come from? Is there a story behind that?

  Irene is a lifelong admirer of Sherlock Holmes, and of the Conan Doyle stories in general, and named herself after the notorious adventuress Irene Adler (to Sherlock Holmes, always the woman) in a fit of enthusiastic obsession. These days she’s much more embarrassed about it.

  What other authors have influenced you, in terms of writing these ‘library’ books?

  Quite a few that I can think of straight away, and probably even more that I can’t think of offhand but that if you pointed them out to me then I’d go, ‘Of course, I should have thought of so and so.’ The first names that come to mind are Ursula Le Guin, Terry Pratchett, Diane Duane, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Barbara Hambly, John Dickson Carr, Umberto Eco, Roger Zelazny, Michael Moorcock and Louise Cooper … Plus I owe a debt to classic television such as Doctor Who and The Avengers - and to kung-fu and wuxia movies.

  How long does a librarian have to serve in the field as a librarian spy before they can lord it over the juniors as a senior librarian, posted to the library itself?

  Usually Librarians work in the field until they’re too old or too severely injured to be able to handle the physical side of the job competently. This generally means working till they’re in their sixties or seventies. Some even stay in the field for longer, if they really take to the world where they’re living and working. But such Librarians tend to be ‘Librarians-in-Residence’ who’ve put great time and effort into their cover identities. Some of them even choose to die a comfortable natural death in a world that they’ve grown to love. Others make their eventual retreat into the Lib
rary. Then they can finally settle down to read all the books they’ve collected, study the languages they’ve wanted to learn, write critical comparisons of books from different worlds, argue with their colleagues … oh, and mentor the juniors, too.

  What goes into the education of a good librarian spy?

  Languages are very important. A Librarian who speaks (and reads and writes) multiple languages is very useful to the Library, as they can be sent on a much wider range of missions than a monolingual spy. General physical health, martial arts skills and great marksmanship are all useful - as is the ability to run fast when needed. A good Librarian is expected to be able to be diplomatic where necessary, and to be able to blend in under most social circumstances. Some Librarians like to train their proteges in spycraft and wetwork (assassinations, etc.), plus strategy and tactics. Others encourage their juniors to learn skills like lock-picking, burglary, fast-talking and the art of the con. The oldest Librarians, the ones who never leave the Library, teach less immediately useful skills such as art theory and literary criticism. They are also always ready to discuss their favourite works of literature and talk about how much tougher it was in their time.

  The perfect Librarian is calm, cool, collected, intelligent, multilingual, a crack shot, a martial artist, an Olympic-level runner (at both the sprint and marathon), a good swimmer, an expert thief and a genius con artist. They can steal a dozen books from a top-security strongbox in the morning, discuss literature all afternoon, have dinner with the cream of society in the evening, and then stay up until midnight dancing, before stealing some more interesting tomes at 3 a.m. That’s what a perfect Librarian would do. In practice, most Librarians would rather spend their time reading a good book.

  Other than books (I know, what else is there but books?!) what might be a sought-after delicacy for the discerning librarian?

  Some sort of stimulant, for those long nights with an enjoyable read, whether it’s tea, coffee, chocolate, cognac or absinthe … Irene prefers coffee, with brandy for those moments when one really needs a slug of brandy. She hasn’t yet developed an educated taste for coffee, but she does prefer the good stuff to the cheap stuff. Bradamant likes cocktails, but would rather have them bought for her than shake them herself. Coppelia takes her coffee very black, with a lump of muscovado brown sugar, producing something so richly bittersweet that it curls the toes of the casual drinker.

  Finally, the love of books and libraries comes across in every page of your work. Is there a particular library that is special to you or is there one you’d still love to visit?

  I have memories of libraries from all the places that I’ve lived, but I think one of my most special memories is the library from my old school - Christ’s Hospital. I was one of the pupil librarians who used to help keep the books in order, and I used to spend a lot of my spare time there. I remember the bay windows in the main fiction section, and the light slanting through them in the afternoon. The heavy old wooden tables and chairs. The card index. (This was over twenty years ago.) The side door leading to the old Dominions Library where a lot of the reference works and older books were stored, where it was always quiet. There were paintings and curtains and so on, but it’s the wooden floors and shelving that I remember, dark and old and heavy, and the books themselves.

  Of course, it may all be different now, but memories are an alternate world of their own.

  ENDNOTES

  1. The question of whether this is sociopathy or psychopathy is beyond the scope of this briefing document.

  2. Figuratively speaking. Librarians’ personal lives are their own business.

  3. Librarians who have other theological opinions are reminded that their personal beliefs are also their own business.

  4. We are aware that this is extremely simplistic. An in-depth discussion is beyond the scope of this briefing document and requires a high level of expertise in the Language.

  Praise for The Invisible Library

  ‘I absolutely loved this … flavoured with truly unique mythology and a dash of the eldritch. Such clever, creepy, elaborate worldbuilding’

  N. K. Jemisin

  ‘A breath of fresh air … With a companionable heroine in Irene, and a satisfyingly complex plot, The Invisible Library - the first of a series - is a book in which to wallow’

  Guardian

  ‘Written in a similar vein to Deborah Harkness’s All Souls trilogy … Contemporary meets fairy-tale in this novel’

  Big Issue

  ‘Surrender to the sheer volume of fun that appears on every page … thoroughly entertaining’

  Starburst Magazine

  ‘Fantasy doesn’t get much better … If you’re looking for a swift, clever and witty read, look no further’

  Fantasy-Faction.com

  ‘This witty and spirited adventure sets up a potential gold mine of lore for the writer to plunder in future sequels … a fun and original page-turner’

  SciFiNow.co.uk

  ‘Highly entertaining … It reminded me a lot of Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series’

  TheBookPlank blog

  ‘The Invisible Library is everything I could ever want out of a book … a stunning work of art that has me absolutely begging for more’

  FantasyBookReview.co.uk

  ‘An adventure story to delight the heart … The characters of Irene, her companion and those they encounter are vividly drawn, and the story moves along at breakneck speed to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion’

  ScifiBulletin.com

  ‘A book that was a sheer joy to spend time with … solid prose alongside great pace’

  FalcataTimes blog

  ‘An exciting, fast-paced introduction to a world you will yearn to revisit … Books such as The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games series are paving the way for stories like this’

  Geekchocolate.co.uk

  ‘I’ve seen it compared to Doctor Who, I’m sure it’ll be compared to Harry Potter, and it’ll probably get compared to every Anglophile novel full of vim and fun that’s ever been written. These comparisons will all be well-earned’

  BastianBalthasarbooks.co.uk

  ‘Cogman’s debut is a tremendously fun, rip-roaring adventure with protagonists that are easy to love and a setting that couldn’t have suited my tastes better … I can’t wait for the second instalment’

  AFantasticalLibrarian.com

  THE MASKED CITY

  Genevieve Cogman got started on Tolkien and Sherlock Holmes at an early age and has never looked back. But on a perhaps more prosaic note, she has an MSc in Statistics with Medical Applications and has wielded this in an assortment of jobs: clinical coder, data analyst and classifications specialist. She has also previously worked as a freelance role-playing game writer. Her hobbies include patchwork, beading, knitting and gaming, and she lives in the north of England. The Masked City is her second novel.

  By Genevieve Cogman

  The Invisible Library

  The Masked City

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Thank you, again, to everyone who helped with this book. Thank you to my agent Lucienne Diver, who helped me find monsters in the depths of London, and my editor Bella Pagan, who is marvellous at her job and to whom this book owes a great deal.

  Thanks to my beta-readers, my friends, my family, my supporters, and the Classifications team at work. Your help is very much appreciated.

  And many thanks to the beautiful city of Venice, which deserves far better writing than I have been able to give it.

  First published 2015 by Tor

  This electronic edition published 2015 by Tor

  an imprint of Pan Macmillan

  20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

  Associated companies throughout the world

  www.panmacmillan.com

  ISBN 978-1-4472-5626-7

  Copyright (c) Genevieve Cogman 2015

  Cover Images (c) Shutterstock

  The right of Genevieve Cogman to be identified as the author of th
is work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third party websites referred to in or on this book.

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

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