Rex Libris: Space Librarian

Read about the first half of Rex Libris: Volume 1 today in the cloying Floridian heat by the pool.  The book starts with a lot of hype about the book itself, which is awkward because I'd:

• Never read the book before, nor
• heard anything about it (I found it at the library)

so that was more annoying than anything, but after that it picks up.  It's about a semi-immortal noir-esque librarian who fights sci-fi/fantasy-style villains to reclaim overdue books, so that's pretty excellent.  The MacGuffin in question in the first book is Whitehead and Russell's Principia Mathematica, and I appreciate that, although it's not entirely clear why the space tyrant Vaglox actually wants it.  (Maybe he really needs to know how to add?)  Oh, and Thoth is the library administrator, which is just excellent.

Based on the words "colour" and "shit-disturber", I'm reasonably certain that the author is from Canada, the country that brought you poutine and Harlequin Romance.

The frame story for the action is that Rex is dictating his autobiography to his publisher, who constantly jumps in with suggestions on how to spice it up.  This is funny enough, but his suggestions often break into the action in a jarring, semi-diegetic way to relieve all that action with some more words, as if we were in danger of forgetting how smart everyone is.  This contrasts severely with the incorrect (but at least consistent) misuse of "it's" versus "its".  That just makes me sad.

The art is pretty decent; it was drawn by computer, and based on one smoke effect I think I recognize the Hand of Illustrator.  It reminds me of nothing so much as Samurai Jack, both in the aesthetic and the hyperbolic action.  All in all, it's pretty good, although (gods forgive me for saying so) a bit wordy.  Get it from the library first, but watch your ass if you take it across the galaxy and rack up late fees.