ALA Booklist (Tue May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

While reading a strange book in his father's library, 12-year-old Alex suddenly notices letters flowing off the page and encircling his wrist, marking him with mysterious, shifting words. Though in training as a warrior, he becomes convinced that he must follow a different calling. A few years later, apprenticed to the elderly librarian at a castle, he discovers the man dead (strangled by a malevolent book on vines). Alex soon weasels his way into a new position: Royal Librarian at the Winter Palace. There he gradually wins over the recently crowned 16-year-old queen, while attempting to thwart the schemes of her treacherous uncle and the murderous intentions of the increasing number of books possessed by evil magic. The first in the Lost Books series, this features a number of strong characters, inventive details, and unexpected plot twists. Often impudent to those who disrespect him, Alex has a roguelike quality that will appeal to many readers. A page-turner of a fantasy with elements of humor as well as intrigue, swordplay, and librarian-versus-­hostile-book combat.

Horn Book

Hey, you. Sky's blue!... OPEN that door and... / Sprout, you're out!

Kirkus Reviews

A young librarian discovers that books are living things that must be read and, sometimes, stabbed.Teenage runaway Alexandren not only finds that the realm's long-locked-up royal library where he lands a temporary gig has gone "feral and moldy and restless," but that he too has become a target for certain specially marked and weaponized volumes. Fortunately, thanks to the martial upbringing he has fled, he turns out to be a dab hand with a blade. And, as Alex feels his way toward an understanding of his duties as a librarian, he finds unexpected allies in 16-year-old Queen Kenneret, newly crowned and also struggling to define her role and responsibilities, and Kenneret's dyslexic but extremely bright younger brother, Charleren. Amid alarums and excursions Alex learns that all books and their contents can be commanded by certain Lost Books…particularly a Scroll of Kings that, it turns out, Kenneret's scheming uncle is searching for as a means of usurping the throne. Along with slipping in many library jokes, Prineas makes sparks fly as Alex and Kenneret, both of whom are intense, prickly sorts, explore common ground and conflicting agendas. By the end, though the immediate crises have been resolved, there's still plenty of unfinished business for future episodes to tackle. Alex is pale, and Kenneret has olive skin—in this world, the nobility is dark-skinned.One for the books—and for all who, like Alex, cherish them. (Fantasy. 11-13)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In this lively middle grade fantasy, the start to a new series, an apprentice librarian discovers the true hazards of his chosen profession when he steals his deceased master-s identity and takes up the position of royal librarian, despite his lacking age, experience, and proper qualifications. Even so, 15-year-old Alex is determined to prove his abilities, and to discover just why the libraries are kept under lock and key and his fellow librarians are all elderly, secretive, and dying mysteriously. When he learns that certain books are actually alive, malicious, and fatal to the unwary reader, he enlists the aid of his new queen, Kenneret, and her headstrong, dyslexic brother, Charleren, to stop this plague of murderous manuscripts before the kingdom falls to an unexpected threat. Alex and his new allies experience a delightful level of conflict and chemistry in a setting ripe for future exploration. Prineas (The Magic Thief) delivers a fast-paced, engaging adventure in which libraries are as deadly as any dungeon and knowledge can literally kill. Ages 8-12. Agent: Caitlin Blasdell, Liza Dawson Associates. (June)