The library in the title of this engaging fantasy debut is a vast complex which collects books from multiple alternate Earths, and this story concerns a mission by librarian Irene and her novice assistant Kai to pick up a rare (and dangerous) edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales from a version of London still very much in thrall to the Victorian era.

These different realities vary not only in their technology but their levels of magic and chaos. This particular London is one in which werewolves and vampires exist, so the task of retrieving the book is going to be anything but straightforward. Cogman has thrown together an appealing jumble of elements that bring to mind Bryan Talbot, steampunk, the bibliophile sensibility of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series and a library that can't help but evoke Hogwarts. It's a fun read, and the number of alternate realities available for Irene and Kai to visit gives it almost infinite possibilities for sequels.