A. J. Hackwith's The Archive of the Forgotten (2020)

In this week's episode, Mal takes a journey into hell with 'The Archive of the Forgotten' by A. J. Hackwith; it's a fantasy tale about the so-called Library of the Unwritten in Hell. Yes, that Hell.

It's a challenging episode as I'm working out that fantasy novels, in particular, are quite challenging to read out of order. It's all about the world building, so join me as I tell you about my reading experience of this novel (the second in a trilogy) .

In this episode, I may ramble on a bit too much about whether the four key characters are in hell or purgatory, while being a lot more concise when taking a look at how libraries are a fantastic places to put a fantasy or mystery novel. In addition, we'll take the usual look at the author and series while also considering how to improve my creative writing by being braver with using multiple viewpoints when telling a story.

Email: outoforderbookclub@outlook.com

Content: A bit of swearing

Helpful links and useful sources

A. J. Hackwith's website: You can explore many of the author's previous work here. It hasn't been updated recently, but it is worth visiting if you are intrigued by the 'Hell's Library' trilogy.

Interview with A. J. Hackwith (by Sarah Campsall) in The Daily Nerd: This 2020 interview was really useful in getting background information on the trilogy, since it happened when 'The Archive of the Forgotten' had been released, and Hackwith was working on the upcoming final part of the trilogy. To be honest, it is also just a nice interview to read as an aspiring writer.

Interview with A. J. Hackwith in Jean Book Nerd: This is another 2020 interview that I used in the episode, this one focuses more on what Hackwith was doing at that moment and future projects. I'm always curious about the lives of authors!

Interview with A. J. Hackwith (by Robert Lee Brewer) in Writer's Digest: This interview from 2024 focuses on Hackwith's novel 'Toto' which is the story of 'The Wizard of Oz' from the dog's perspective. It's an interesting article about how you develop original ideas and put them into practice.

Emma Darwin's 10 Tips for Reading like a Writer: This Substack article was written in 2024, and I had no idea about it until it was shared on Bluesky. I used it in this episode and I'll certainly use ideas from this article in future episodes. Darwin provides a writers' 'toolkit' on their Substack, so it's definitely worth exploring.

Camilo Peralta's Timeless Moments: Russell Kirk, Charles Williams and Stephen King on the Afterlife (2024): This article explores the works of three authors and the depictions of heaven and hell (plus, purgatory) in their works. It's a fascinating article that looks at them and how they hold very different religious views but seem to have a similar perspective on the afterlife, and it was one that certainly reflected some of the ideas I had about 'The Archive of the Forgotten' while I was reading it.

Karen Attar and Andrew Nash's Introduction to Books, Reading and Libraries in Fiction (2025): I'll admit I haven't read this whole study of reading, books and libraires but it is on my long term to-do list, however, even the introduction really gives you an insight into how reading is perceived in books not necessarily as a polite activity, but sometimes as a dangerous one especially for women if they weren't reading 'the right kind of books' whatever they are! The initial description of books as a source of freedom and intellectual activity for Jane Eyre vs. other characters considering libraries a sign of social standing is fascinating.