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Rex Libris, originally uploaded by 160507.

“We have few badass librarian stories. Joss Whedon gave us Rupert Giles, who can swing a sword as well as shelve a tome. Kelly Link introduced us to Fox, the gorgeous and similarly sword-wielding librarian in the story “Magic for Beginners.” The husband of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time-Traveller’s Wife takes care of Special Collections as his dayjob. The orangutan librarian of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is not to be messed with. Infinite librarians inhabit Jorge Luis Borges’s very small story, “The Library of Babel. “

“This is a fine company of heroes, but, given what we owe librarians, it is still an insufficient tribute. Librarians were among the first to stand up to the Patriot Act. They safeguard the sum of our knowledge and keep it findable. They let us read books for free. They spend their days battling forces of darkness and ignorance, and now they have Rex Libris to demonstrate this to the world.

“James Turner’s square-headed, noir-ish, immortal survivor of Alexandria’s famed library is a marvelous creation. He wears a dark suit and speaks with the accent of a hard-boiled tough guy. He fights demons and villains and alien warlords. He carries weapons and equipment in his notebook by “fictionalizing” them first. He’s read everything ever written, and he knows where to find it all. . .” From a review by William Alexander in Rain Taxi.

Sold!

I’ve spent a lot of time in libraries, but I’ve never met an inspiring librarian, much less one who could tell me how to slay demons. All they ever said to me was “Sssh.” They shushed Me, the nerd who sniffed books! Well there was the nice nun at St Theresa’s, but I don’t remember her name.