Mitsu Izumi

Magus of the Library, volume one, is the start of a series about a planet where books are very important, and so are the Kafna, as librarians are called. At a time where parts of the USA are banning books and threatening librarians, this is a welcome fantasy.

A great deal of this world was wrecked by a fog called 'the ashen death,' brought by the Emissary of Wormwood. The various races fought among each other for the remaining land and sought to destroy the culture and knowledge of other races. Everything, even words, have an energy called 'mana'by those people called 'magi' who can do spellcasting, called 'kalachpwa'. The Emissary of Wormwood was defeated by seven magi before the races started warring against each other. The magus who constructed the great hall to preserve all texts and memories of all the races became the Magus of the Library.
(Texts are any form of writing on any form of writing material.)

The librarians of the Central Library in the city of Aftzaak manage (conserving, protecting, restoring) text collections throughout the still usable land. The test to become a kafna is very difficult and few succeed. The kafna also set up branch libraries. The goal is to have a 100% literate population. That is why even an insignificant, out-of-the-way village such as Amun has a library.

It is in the village of Amun where this story starts, for this is the home of an unusual six-year-old boy named Theo Fumis. The village is in the territory of the Hyrun race, who probably have brown skin and eyes. Their hair is black. The slums of the village is where Theo lives with his older sister, Tifa. Theo is hated by most villagers because he has pale skin, blond hair, moss-green eyes, and long, pointed ears. Theo is only half Hryun. Almost everyone but his sister calls him 'Long-Ears'.

His sister Tifa is overworking and under-eating to send Theo to school because she believes that being able to read will enable him to go anywhere he wants and escape the slums. Theo didn't want to go, but now he loves books. So does his friend, Sakiya Menes, beloved daughter and only child of Osser Menes, merchant and caretaker of Amun's library. Too bad Osser won't allow people from the slums to check out books. (Given that Theo is the only slum child to attend school, the people there are probably illiterate, as Tifa is, but it's still rude.)

Osser catches Theo reading a library book and is quite harsh with the boy, taking it from him. Theo is a big fan of the popular series, The Adventures of Shagrazaat, about a pirate captain with a crew made up of all the races. He longs for a hero to show up and whisk him away.

As it turns out, a dealer found a damaged grimoire and wrote to the Central Library about it. Four Kafna have come to collect it. The oldest and leader is Anzu, mother of six. She seems sweet, but there's a story that one may see a giant serpent behind her when she is angry. Is it true? She's from the liaisons office. Two of the Kafna are from the restorations Office: Nanako Wattle (renowned for her speed) and Pipiri, who is a member of that very small and winged race called the Kokopa. The one who really captures Theo's attention is Sedona of the protections Office. Sedona and her magnificent horse, Birou, save Theo when several little boys gang up on him.

Theo does Sedona a good turn when he protects her favorite book from being rained upon. Sedona does Theo a good turn using a medical book when Tifa collapses from exhaustion and malnutrition. Sedona is willing to give Theo alms to purchase food for Tifa, but the boy insists on earning it. He takes her to his special place -- where one may overlook the entire village. There, Sedonna is twice astonished. Meeting a sacred beast of legend, the one-horned ferriona, known for keen intelligence and ferocious temperament, is the first time. Finding out that the the ferriona is Theo's dear friend, Kukuo, is the second.

After giving Theo a flying carpet ride, Sedona lends Theo her book. Osser assumes he's swiped a library book and takes it from him.

Osser is home and realizes that it's not a library book. He did acquire the grimoire from the finder just as a status symbol. He doesn't know that the fact it is leaking mana from its damage makes it dangerous until it sets the library on fire. Theo, noticing the fire, rides Kukuo to rescue Sedona's book.

I have a book of Japanese tales, one of which was about a warrior who had been given a second chance by a new lord. The house was on fire and the lord's important documents were in danger of being burned up. The warrior rushed to the room, cut his torso open, thrust the documents inside, and fell forward, dead. The documents survived. I couldn't help thinking about that story when Theo does something almost as drastic to protect Sedona's book (after saving Osser).

The fire is put out, the library is saved, and so is the grimoire. Theo is a hero. Sedona tells him to keep the book until they meet again. Osser is chastised because, as Anzu quotes to him, 'No library shall discriminate against patrons on the basis of race, gender, or disparity in social or economic status'.

Six years pass. 13-year-old Theo is a hard worker and a village favorite. He's getting ready to journey to Aftzaak to take the test to become a librarian.

I love the enthusiasm about books and librarians! (I'm a former librarian). Theo is a very engaging character. I went ahead and ordered the second volume because I enjoyed the first so much.

Horse fans should love Birou.

Monkey fans should love Sakiya Menes' monkey, Keko (such world-weary expressions the creature has!).

Fantastic beasts that look rather like a wolf lovers should enjoy Kukuo.

The art is beautiful.… (meer)

A manga that is essentially a fantasy adventure in celebration of books and libraries? Yes please! Beautiful art and a compelling world with relatable elements makes sinking into this story easy, even for new readers of manga. Our main character is an impoverished boy with a love of reading and a sense of justice, and his subsequent adventures with a team of kafna - librarians with mystical powers that protect and collect books and texts. Troves of accurate information about the history of language and writing, accurate scientific knowledge, and true facts about how books are cared for and preserved litter these pages, making this as serious a book as it is fantastical. A great choice for any library, and a manga with heart, character and adventure but without the graphic violence of sexualized content so many include.… (meer)