I am so pleased to be a part of the blog tour for The Unbound by Victoria Schwab! I absolutely loved The Archived and had so much fun being a part of/following that tour! I cannot wait to read this book! Read on for more about the book AND a totally awesome post from Victoria Schwab about librarians!!! How awesome is that?!?!!?
Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books. Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.
Last summer, Mackenzie Bishop, a Keeper tasked with stopping violent Histories from escaping the Archive, almost lost her life to one. Now, as she starts her junior year at Hyde School, she’s struggling to get her life back. But moving on isn’t easy — not when her dreams are haunted by what happened. She knows the past is past, knows it cannot hurt her, but it feels so real, and when her nightmares begin to creep into her waking hours, she starts to wonder if she’s really safe.
Meanwhile, people are vanishing without a trace, and the only thing they seem to have in common is Mackenzie. She’s sure the Archive knows more than they are letting on, but before she can prove it, she becomes the prime suspect. And unless Mac can track down the real culprit, she’ll lose everything, not only her role as Keeper, but her memories, and even her life. Can Mackenzie untangle the mystery before she herself unravels?
With stunning prose and a captivating mixture of action, romance, and horror, The Unbound delves into a richly imagined world where no choice is easy and love and loss feel like two sides of the same coin.
That cover! That summary! How amazing does it sound?!?!? And now, for my favorite part, the author’s guest post on the awesomeness of librarians (not that I’m biased!):
In the world of THE ARCHIVED, Librarian is the top rank, and for good reason. They aren’t mild-mannered attendants. No, Librarians are the keepers of knowledge, of history. They run the Archive itself, look after the lives of the dead kept there, and all their memories, and act as watchers and mentors for the members of the Archive tasked with hunting down the ones who wake. And before that, the Librarians were fighters, too. The best of the best. And while the librarians in our world might seem a bit more docile, they are no less remarkable.
They guard an immense treasure. The dragon Smaug and his gold are nothing compared to a librarian and their library. They don’t guard paper and binding. They guard the immeasurable wealth of words–and knowledge–between the books’ covers. They preserve the past for the future, and unlike a dragon hoarding treasure, a librarian shares that wealth with all who come through their doors.
They fight for you. They fight to keep books on their shelves, to make sure you have access to as many works on as many subjects by as many authors as possible. It is a noble and constant fight.
They know where everything is. Everything. Every newspaper article, every history tome. They’re the only ones who can navigate the maze-like networks of shelves and halls and levels and pluck out exactly what they’re looking for.
They live there. No, seriously. Librarians never go home. The moment the library closes, the librarians build giant book forts and throw parties with lots of cake. Bet you didn’t know that.
They can read your mind. It’s true. They may not know what’s going on in your head all the time, but they possess the supernatural ability to tell what you’re looking for, what you want to find, and what you need to. They’re basically your spirit guide.
So next time you look at a librarian and think they’re simply mild-mannered attendants, think again. They may not wear swords or armor but they are knights. They may seem quiet but their voices are loud. They may seem meek, but they are among the most powerful people in your lives.
Yes! Every word is true… especially the part about book forts 🙂 Thanks so much for Victoria Schwab for this post. Can’t wait to dive in to The Unbound!
About the Author: (from Victoria Schwab’s website)
I am the product of a British mother, a Beverly Hills father, and a southern upbringing. Because of this, I have been known to say “tom-ah-toes”, “like”, and “y’all”. I also suffer from a wicked case of wanderlust, made worse by the fact that wandering is a good way to stir up stories. When I’m not haunting Paris streets or trudging up English hillsides, I’m usually tucked in the corner of a coffee shop, dreaming up monsters.
My first YA novel, THE NEAR WITCH, a dark original fairy tale, debuted with Disney*Hyperion in August 2011, and is now out in paperback.
My next YA novel, THE ARCHIVED, is the first book in a new supernatural series about a world where the dead are shelved like books, and it hits stores January 2013, also with Disney*Hyperion.
My first adult novel, VICIOUS, about two brilliant and highly disturbed pre-med students who set out to generate their own superpowers and end up mortal enemies, is out in hardcover from Tor September 2013.
I have more books coming out in 2014, but I’ll get to those later.
These days, when someone asks me what I do when I’m NOT writing, I just kind of laugh nervously. But in truth, on the odd occasion I’m not typing away, I’m probably baking cookies, or watching BBC shows, or wandering. (See how we came full circle, there?)
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