The 8th novel in The Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman, and the sequel to The Dark Archive.
Librarian Spy Irene is heading into danger. Not for the first time, but could this be her last? She’s tasked with a terrifyingly dangerous solo mission to eliminate an old enemy, which must be kept secret at all costs. But even more troubling news emerges. Multiple worlds are disappearing – and the Library may have something to do with it.
Determined to uncover the truth behind the vanished worlds, Irene and her friends must descend into the unplumbed depths of the Library. And what they find will change everything they know. This may be Irene’s most dangerous assignment of her hazardous career.
This page includes unmarked spoilers for Novels 1-7 of The Invisible Library series, as the plots of all the previous stories tie heavily into that of The Untold Story.
Not related to the 1993 film The Untold Story.
The Untold Story contains examples of the following tropes:
- Apocalypse How: Class X-5 - the plot kicks off when people start noticing that alternate worlds are disappearing.
- Dangerous Deserter: The fact that Alberich broke his vows to serve the Library serves to highlight just how cunning and dangerous an opponent he is. This story reinforces just how impossible it was for Alberich to break his vows.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Much of the drama in The Untold Story hinges on The Reveal from the previous novel that Irene is the biological daughter of Alberich, the most notorious traitor to the Library. Over the course of the story, Irene pieces together Alberich's full story and concludes that her birth mother is Melusine, head of Library Security.
- The Oath-Breaker: Alberich, the first traitor to the Library.
- Outside-Context Problem: When Alberich offers a cessation of hostilities against the Library in exchange for a conversation with Irene, both sides draft up a treaty written in the Language to bind both sides of the table to complete nonaggression. No one involved ever considered that an entity with ties to the Library but not specifically part of the Library would hijack one of the negotiators and use the opportunity to seal the negotiation site against escape and destroy the alternate world.
- Possession Burnout: The Three Founders' possession of Bradamant kills her.
- Rule of Three: Irene finds 2 more stories that relate to the Egyptian text of a previous book. The three stories turn out to be the same story told from 3 different perspectives that lead to the 3 Antagonists who are the secret creators of the Library.
- Unprocessed Resignation: At the end of the day, Shan Yuan chooses to hold back on delivering notice of Kai's resignation of his post as dragon treaty representative for "a few decades" - enough time for Kai to spend a lifetime with Irene.
