Ex Libris: Stories of Librarians, Libraries, and Lore

by Paula Guran

Overview

Portals to all the knowledge in the world, libraries are also created universes of a multitude of imaginations. Librarians guide us to enlightenment as well as serving as the captains, mages, and gatekeepers who open the doors to delight, speculation, wonder, and terror. Both inspire writers of speculative fiction to pen wonderful tales woven around them.

This captivating compilation of science fiction and fantasy short fiction showcases stories of librarians-mysterious curators, heroic bibliognosts, arcane archivists, catalogers of very special collections-and libraries-repositories of arcane wisdom, storehouses of signals from other galaxies, bastions of culture, the last outposts of civilization in a post-apocalyptic world . . . grand adventures and small sagas of the magical places we call libraries and the wizards who staff them!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607014898
Publisher:	Prime Books
Publication date:	08/08/2017
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	16 Years

Table of Contents

Ad Librum Paula Guran 7

In the House of the Seven Librarians Ellen Klages 17

The Books Kage Baker 39

Death and the Librarian Esther M. Friesner 51

In Libres Elizabeth Bear 63

The King of the Big Night Hours Richard Bowes 79

Those Who Watch Ruthanna Emrys 93

Special Collections Norman Partridge 107

Exchange Ray Bradbury 135

Paper Cuts Scissors Holly Black 145

Summer Reading Ken Liu 161

Magic for Beginners Kelly Link 167

The Inheritance of Barnabas Wilcox Sarah Monette 207

The Midbury Lake Incident Kristine Kathiyn Rusch 217

With Tales in Their Teeth, from the Mountain They Came A.C. Wise 227

What Books Survive Tansy Rayner Roberts 239

The Librarian's Dilemma E. Saxey 253

The Green Book Amal El-Mohtar 271

In the Stacks Scott Lynch 279

A Woman's Best Friend Robert Reed 313

If on a Winter's Night a Traveler Xia Jia 325

The Sigma Structure Symphony Gregory Benford 331

The Fort Moxie Branch Jack McDevitt 359

The Last Librarian Edoardo Albert 371

About the Authors 377

Editorial Reviews

04/17/2017
Anthologist extraordinaire Guran compiles 24 fantastical reprints that are linked by libraries and librarians. Ellen Klages’s charming “In the House of the Seven Librarians” is about the librarians who inhabit the abandoned Carnegie Library, and an orphaned baby girl who changes them forever. In Norman Partridge’s nightmarish “Special Collection,” a murderous librarian comes face to face with a vicious killer right out of the history books. Ray Bradbury’s delicate, dreamlike “Exchange” tells the story of a librarian who, through books, helps a soldier remember his golden childhood, then ushers him on to his next destination. Ken Liu’s tender “Summer Reading” imagines a future Earth that’s a museum with robot curators; when a seven-year-old girl asks CN-344315 to read one of the physical books that he fastidiously maintains, they escape to another world, if only for a short, precious time. “A Woman’s Best Friend” by Robert Reed features a librarian of many worlds who helps a man after he saves an angel’s life on Christmas Eve, putting an otherworldly twist on a classic film. This solid collection has something for everyone and includes a comprehensive introduction by Guran. (June)

Publishers Weekly

06/15/2017
In this collection of 24 stories from such acclaimed fantasy and sf authors as Ellen Klages, Ruthanna Emrys, Ken Liu, and Scott Lynch, noted anthologist Guran (Beyond the Woods; Blood Sisters) celebrates librarians and libraries. Klages's "In the House of the Seven Librarians" revolves around the inhabitants of an abandoned Carnegie Library and the orphaned baby girl who helps them discover a new life. Esther M. Friesner's "Death and the Librarian" features an elderly librarian facing off against the Grim Reaper. A fifth-year student wizard faces the last challenge before moving up—returning a library book—in Lynch's "In the Stacks." VERDICT This anthology showcases an amazing range of sf and fantasy centered on a favorite institution and the people who serve it.—KC

Library Journal