From the Library of Jurgen Leitner (The Magnus Archives)’ Review: A Must-Read for Fans of the Series

I love The Magnus Archives. Seriously. The audio drama is one of my favorite horror offerings, and the mythology surrounding the various entities, artifacts, and general assortment of things you should leave alone is a big part of why. So when I had the opportunity to read From the Library of Jurgen Leitner, I was pretty excited. A companion novel centered around one of the more infamous names in the series? Sign me up. Immediately. Even if it meant stepping on Chad Collins’ toes (he does most of the book reviews for Dread). Check out his review of Home School here.

Unfortunately, I came away with slightly mixed feelings. Overall, I had a positive experience, yes, but there were definitely some issues. The first of which was the pacing. It took a while to get the ball rolling. And I mean a while. However, having finished the book and having had time to reflect on it, I have to give the story a little more credit. The slow-moving plot serves a purpose, and there were clues pointing toward this all along. Did I pick up on these on a first read? No, of course not. I’m an idiot. In retrospect, however, the meandering makes a lot more sense once you understand what is happening. I still think it takes a little bit too long to get going, but I can appreciate what it was going for. Turns out the story was playing a much longer game than I gave it credit for.

And speaking of books. For a story centered around a collection of books so dangerous that simply opening the covers can sometimes lead to a horrific and violent death, the actual books did not take center stage nearly enough. The concept is fantastic. These are not your average books collecting dust on a shelf. These are artifacts capable of doing some truly awful things to the people who encounter them. There is so much potential for some genuinely unsettling horror here, and I found myself wishing the story would lean into that a little more. If you are going to write about Jurgen Leitner and his infamous library, I want the books to leave a bigger impression.

The characters were the strongest aspect of the novel. Specifically, our leads, Hugh and Sebastian. The mythology behind The Magnus Archives is terrifying, but much like the otherworldly entities that inhabit it, a human element is required for the fear to latch on to. You need people who can make you care when things inevitably go horribly wrong. Hugh is, simply put, pathetic and spineless, but likable. And Sebastian is unapologetically vicious and manipulative. They made for an interesting pair of leads, and I found myself more invested in their story than I sometimes was in the horror surrounding them. Which is a good thing, considering how much the pacing seems to struggle elsewhere.