Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1)

Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. In a world where the ancient Great Library of Alexandria was never destroyed, knowledge now rules the world: freely available, but strictly controlled. Owning private books is a crime. Jess Brightwell is the son of a black market book smuggler, sent to the Library to compete for a position as a scholar . . . but even as he forms friendships and finds his true gifts, he begins to unearth the dark secrets of the greatest, most revered institution in the world. Those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life--and soon both heretics and books will burn. . . .