The God of Lost Words is the third and final book in the Hell’s Library series by A. J. Hackwith. It picks up some time after the end of the second book when the employees of the library are faced with a new threat. The demon Malphas, the same one who threatened the library previously, is threatening it again by pushing for more information on the status of the books. Claire, Ramiel, Hero and Brevity must try to find a way to neutralize the threat and protect the library. After the destruction of the arcane wing they decide that the only safe option in the long term is to find a new realm for the library. To declare their independence though they must first find a new realm, and potentially a new god in the process, as well as convince all of the other wings of the library that they need to band together and all of them relocate. To do so each of them also must face themselves and their own past in order to figure out what they need to do next.
I was more than a little sad to finish this book because the series was really good and I really enjoyed reading it. The idea of libraries being created for all of the unfinished works out there was seriously intriguing. Mind you the idea of one of these libraries being in hell was also rather interesting. The one thing that drew me in the most though is how this series seems to be exploring the idea of what constitutes a story. The added depth to that idea in this last addition to the series was incredibly thought-provoking and I found myself rather distracted by all of the different wings of the library that are used to help fiddle with that idea. While it is something I have long thought about I must admit that I hadn’t considered some of what this series discusses. Moving off of that though the plot for this final book is even more twisty and turny than the previous books as it really has some unexpected twists. Many of them I was not really expecting though looking back they seem to make a lot of sense. It really kept me on the edge of my seat, so to speak, for a vast majority of the book. Something that is not particularly easy to do considering my extensive reading history. The character development and the interpersonal relationships also saw a lot of growth in this book. More specifically, the interactions between Claire and Hero and then between Claire and Brevity were entertaining. Seeing just how far Claire and Hero have come since the first book was great and I find myself wondering where they would go next. For Claire and Brevity I feel like they are finally finding stable ground for their friendship after the fallout from the events of the first book. They are finally figuring out where they stand with each other as equals which is pretty great to see. Ramiel is just finally finding his own place in life and figuring out exactly what he actually wants which is a pretty big improvement considering how lost he was originally. Overall it creates a pretty great book which I am happy to give 4.5 out of 5 stars to.
This book is fantasy though I am not exactly sure what sub-genre it would be. If you like books about libraries or speculative works about the nature of stories or even books about angels and demons and hell than I suggest you consider trying this book out. Make sure you read the previous two books if you do though as you will be hopelessly lost if you don’t. The background knowledge from the earlier books is essential to understanding this one in many ways. This series is aimed at adult readers and I would mostly agree with that. There isn’t a lot of violence or mature content so I would be okay with recommending it to readers older than about fifteen. However, there are some LGBTQ+ themes in the book and not everyone would be comfortable with that, just something to keep in mind. Like I said it is a good book so I hope you will consider trying it. Remember to feel free to share your thoughts in the comments if you do.