Chapter 5

Summary

• The chapter begins with the character Evar, who is running from a creature referred to as the Escape. The Escape drains information from books and uses it to aid its pursuit of Evar.
• In fear for his life, Evar realizes he can't make it back to safety in time and questions what this new, more powerful version of an Escape is.
• During his flight, Evar crashes into a large book tower, the impact momentarily disorienting him and causing him injury. However, this also stops the Escape in its tracks.
• As Evar recovers, he watches the Escape taking form from the books it's devouring. The new form is more dangerous and more weaponized than before, and it's now able to speak Evar's name.
• We learn that Evar was out in the library stacks against better judgment, hoping to find answers to questions. As the Escape continues to grow more powerful, a character named Clovis intervenes, killing the Escape before it can harm Evar.
• Clovis reveals that they used Evar as bait to lure out the Escape, angering him. After an argument, their attention turns to the giant book tower Evar had collided with, previously unnoticed within the library.
• The book tower starts to collapse and in a vain effort to save it, Evar and Clovis try to counteract the tower's lean. However, they fail, and the tower collapses, burying them in a heap of books.
• Both manage to escape, but Evar spots a single, unremarkable book and is inexplicably drawn to it, sensing that it will change his life. He picks up the book despite Clovis's interference, and is able to read the strange language inside, a note that urges him not to turn the page and to go to a place called the "Exchange"