Overview
The astonishing story of the incomparable Rex Libris, Head Librarian at Middleton Public Library, and his unending struggle against the forces of ignorance and darkness. Rex travels to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in search of overdue books. Wearing his super thick bottle glasses, and armed with an arsenal of high technology weapons, he strikes fear into recalcitrant borrowers, and can take on virtually any foe from zombies to renegade literary characters. In this first collection of Librarian adventures, Rex must confront the powerful Space Warlord Vaglox and retrieve the overdue Principia Mathematica while an energy manifestation of blood thirsty Vandals attempt to burn down Middleton Library, and all within, to the ground.Synopsis
The astonishing story of the incomparable Rex Libris, Head Librarian at Middleton Public Library, and his unending struggle against the forces of ignorance and darkness. Rex travels to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in search of overdue books. Wearing his super thick bottle glasses, and armed with an arsenal of high technology weapons, he strikes fear into recalcitrant borrowers, and can take on virtually any foe from zombies to renegade literary characters. In this first collection of Librarian adventures, Rex must confront the powerful Space Warlord Vaglox and retrieve the overdue Principia Mathematica while an energy manifestation of blood thirsty Vandals attempt to burn down Middleton Library, and all within, to the ground.
Steve Raiteri - Library Journal
Welcome to the Middleton Public Library, where the patrons are not always human, the telluric energy of the local ley point brings fictional characters to life, and the librarians are always heavily armed. Long-lived Head Librarian Rex Libris, whose first library job was at Alexandria, is a member of the Ordo Bibliotheca, which throughout history has protected human knowledge from menaces both natural and supernatural. His colleagues include the ancient witch Circe, the megalomaniacal talking bird Simonides, and newcomer Hypatia, already bored with circ desk work and yearning for action. Here, Rex travels to Benzine V, planet of sentient snowmen, to retrieve an overdue copy of the Principia Mathematicafrom the Supreme Warlord Vaglox. Rather than play it straight, Turner complicates this inventive romp by turning it into a comic-within-a-comic, complete with discussions between Rex and his publisher on storytelling. Turner's black-and-white artwork here is more realism-based than his highly abstract work in Nil: A Land Beyond Belief(LJ9/15/04) but still quite angular and cartoony. Rex is already an icon for librarians on the order of Buffy's Giles or Read or Die's Yomiko Readman, but the lay public will enjoy his adventures as well; recommended for mid-teens and up.
Editorials
Library Journal
Welcome to the Middleton Public Library, where the patrons are not always human, the telluric energy of the local ley point brings fictional characters to life, and the librarians are always heavily armed. Long-lived Head Librarian Rex Libris, whose first library job was at Alexandria, is a member of the Ordo Bibliotheca, which throughout history has protected human knowledge from menaces both natural and supernatural. His colleagues include the ancient witch Circe, the megalomaniacal talking bird Simonides, and newcomer Hypatia, already bored with circ desk work and yearning for action. Here, Rex travels to Benzine V, planet of sentient snowmen, to retrieve an overdue copy of the Principia Mathematicafrom the Supreme Warlord Vaglox. Rather than play it straight, Turner complicates this inventive romp by turning it into a comic-within-a-comic, complete with discussions between Rex and his publisher on storytelling. Turner's black-and-white artwork here is more realism-based than his highly abstract work in Nil: A Land Beyond Belief(LJ9/15/04) but still quite angular and cartoony. Rex is already an icon for librarians on the order of Buffy's Giles or Read or Die's Yomiko Readman, but the lay public will enjoy his adventures as well; recommended for mid-teens and up.
—Steve Raiteri