Sword and Pen perfectly end the Great Library Series.

Sword and Pen has action, drama, puzzles and betrayal. Every page was full of either emotion, action or details that kept me hooked from the beginning to the teary end.

As a twin, Jess grief and questions about being a sole surviving twin really hit me. The quote, "Did grief hurt this way? like a sickness." really resonate with me.

One of the elements that I will take away from this series is that family isn't just blood. It shows that the most unlikely people can become a family for each other, a illustrated perfectly with Wolfe, Jess, Thomas, Khalila, Glain, Dario, Morgan and Santi.

Throughout the series, I have grown to like all the characters. The one character who surprised me the most in Sword and Pen was Dario. It's nice to see his true self with Khalila, and the struggle with his divided loyalties.

I was worried about everything that happened in Smoken and Iron that certain elements wouldn't be resolved. But I needn't of worried. Everything felt resolved by the end.

FYI Wolfe and Santi are still one of my favourite bookish couple.

My rating for Sword and Pen is 5 out of 5.

Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Man, have I loved this series. Before I get into it, I want to thank Berkley Random House who gave me an ARC of the early first book last year (it's only been a year since I've been reading these?!), and of course Allison and Busby for this last installment - thank you for making sure this story came to the conclusion it deserved. Because I don't know what I would've done without this final action-packed, adventurous and indulgently sentimental story. The Great Library series comes from a devout adoration of books and is a wonderful addition to the infinite modern collection of fiction we have today - and it can't be burnt down anymore.

The aesthetics of The Great Library series are really something to commend. As a childhood lover of Ancient Egypt and an adult admirer of Ancient Greece, really the Library of Alexandria was going to be a winner full stop. But Caine creates a world so different to everything else out there at the moment, replicated in a way that feels authentic but also creatively exaggerated for our own excitement. The people she places into that world hold it up, but the foundations are pretty solid for them to perform on.

The Great Library series has taken us on pretty much a world tour during its four earlier books, but Sword and Pen is the first time we've been confined to just Alexandria. I don't think it suffers from that at all. Alexandria is like home at this point, and it's really the only place things could come to a close. And everyone gets to a hero in their own subplots but, as I was desperately hoping and as this series deserves, everyone gets pulled together for the last finale. No spoilers people, but it's worth it.

I may complain about the plot lines sometimes, but these books have such a cool mix of side stories, world-building, and character dynamics. Yes, some things don't pay off as you'd expect (why was Morgan so powerful all along? What's the deal with Eskander? Is the war really the main enemy here?), but the pure glee I got while seeing all these different people interact in so many different circumstances, under so many varied threats and pressures. The stakes remain high because Caine is so creative in the obstacles she sets - many, many obstacles - and the characters are so solid it's a game getting to watch them figure out her puzzles.

Because really, when you come down to it, it's the characters who win or lose a story's success. And the Great Library makes me want to keep coming back because of the people placed inside it. Each with their own personality, their own motivations, their own backgrounds, their own subplots that are (mostly) all allowed to come to fruition. The romance is great, the rivalries are great, but what's really impressive are the non-romantic relationships. The pairings that are platonic, familial; the physical affection between friends as well as lovers; the unconditional love for arses that are still friends.

I'm sad to see this series come to a close, but it was a good ending. There's potential room for more stories in this world, I guess, but I think The Great Library was done justice enough - though that isn't to say I wouldn't read a sequel series. I'd probably devour it immediately, honestly. But for now, this is the end.

I'm broken 'cause it is the end. But it is a 'masterpiece'!
5 HUGE, beautiful stars.
Misfits to rebels, to friends, to family. They are warriors!
The countdown to the end is here. War is upon them. Blood will be drawn. 'In bocca al lupo'.
Mrs. Caine has created & given her fans apart of her soul whilst creating #TheGreatLibrary series. & the world's a better place for it! WHAT AN ENDING!

The ending of Smoke and Iron (book 4) gave us loss, new faces, new enemies, and the start of a war.
Sword and Pen the finale, it gives us everything. Passion, heartbreak, friendships and an evil to the core Archivist on the run. He is a mouse in a snake pit, with its edge surrounded by hungry Lions, it's just a case of who will strike first in the war.

The gang come back in this book in full force, but the strain of war is a burden that can't be done alone. The group each have their own tasks and a place within this story to give us an epic, fast paced, tear jerking, what has she done; something pretty spectacular, end!

I am a huge Thomas fan. His mind, his intellect. He has some of the most epic scenes within this book. It's - for me - Indiana Jones meets Sherlock Holmes (R.D. jrn humour) as Thomas is tasked with creating weapons of mass destruction to protect Alexandria, The Great Library from destruction.

As Jess struggles to come to terms with his loss, he learns family isn't just blood. It's who you also choose.

Relationships find their culmination, and disastrous decisions made will lead to the ultimate sacrifice with blood and fire. But is it the end? Will the Archivist win when his lackies, and false deals, and his reign as the Pharoah have blackened the soul of the library.

This is a must read!!!

Make sure you have tissues if you love this series as much as I do.

The Pen is mightier than the Sword. 'In Bocca Al Lupo.'