Novels with Giant Possibly Magical Libraries

2019-01-23

I'm currently reading a fantastic novel where the protaganist - who is in her teens and lives in a sort-of convent for sightseers in the middle of a glacier - is asked by the elders to choose a role for part-time work. Our hero considers two options:

• Become a pilot of paper-mache, semi-alive airplanes controlled by whistling
• Become a librarian

I held my breath as I read further: choose The Library!

Why Libraries?

There are two things that, when I encounter them in a book, immediately cause me to fall in love.

• The word palimpsest
• A giant, possibly magic, library (extra points for a Forbidden Section or two)

The two are not unrelated. A palimpsest is a book that has been one or more books before, with the older knowledge hidden just beneath the surface of the parchment, waiting to be unearthed. A giant library must, invariably, contain books with once-known, now-forgotten knowledge, just beyond that locked door over there.

But I have the key...

I hereby present a list of the very best novels featuring giant libraries filled with secrets.

My List of Novels with Giant Libraries

• La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind) - Carlos Ruiz Zafón
• The Kingkiller Chronicles
  • The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
  • The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss
• The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
• Lirael - Garth Nix
• The Library at Mount Char - Scott Hawkins
• Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell - Susanna Clarke
• Harry Potter
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - J.K. Rowling
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J.K. Rowling
• Rainbows End - Vernor Vinge
• A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge
• A Deepness in the Sky - Vernor Vinge
• Anathem - Neal Stephenson
• Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
• Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan
• A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness*
• The Library of Babel - Jorge Luis Borges*
• The Pagemaster - Todd Strasser*
• The Strange Library - Haruki Murakami*
• Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino*
• Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami*
• In the Stacks - Scott Lynch*
• Ink and Bone - Rachel Caine*
• The Colour of Magic (Discworld #1) - Terry Pratchett*
• If on a Winter's Night a Traveler - Italo Calvino
• Preludes & Nocturnes (The Sandman #1) - Neil Gaiman*
• Wireless - Charles Stross*
• The Book of the New Sun - Gene Wolfe*
• Eon (The Way #1) - Greg Bear*
• Protector - Larry Niven*
• The Book of Sand - Jorge Luis Borges*

*Indicates that I haven't read this book (yet), but rest assured that it was recommended by a semi-close friend, cousin of mine, or Hacker News commenter.

Let me know on Twitter (@whatrocks) if I'm missing anything and I'll update the list, almost like a palimpsest.