#I like to think I'd survive in the TMA universe but realistically I'd absolutely get killed by a Leitner

[the-magpie-archives]

MAG 4 - 'Page Turner' - The odd attraction of antiques.

This statement has a lot of significance to me as an antique book collector. Being able to relate so clearly to that experience goes a long way to making the whole thing more unnerving. A collector of any object will be able to relate to the burning, jittering urge to acquire an object for your collection, but there's something else with antiques, books in particular.

The knowledge that not only does the object matter now, but it's mattered for decades, centuries, even. Its touched the souls of many through the years, and has reached through time and holds its hand out to grasp yours. A thing- an object, yet it outlived its creators and owners; a subtle defiance of the natural order, or so it feels.

But a book? It's all this and more. A tome that's educated its readers and is imbued with information and knowledge that someone was so desperate to share that they went to the effort of publication. A story or a theme that was so important an individual asked for it to outlive them. It's pages marked with fingerprints, coffee stains, annotations, even blood- all of them out of the control of whoever left them.

And that is just a book. Though the idea of 'just a book' does make me chuckle, the idea of a book with real, tangible, undeniable power does not. 'From the library of Jurgen Leitner', a mark of terror and rightly so. Some people are of the nature that means they're drawn to books, but a book with the power to draw in those that aren't? That's dangerous. Even outside of the awful power those books posses, a book in the hands of the wrong person can be a terrible weapon.

But can you imagine the feeling of having real power, control, otherworldly means of action. It's addictive, as proven by many other statements, it's hard to let go of if you end up with the right one. If the power fits the soul of the hands it ends up in then can it ever be released?

Even though the book wasn't supposed to be for Dominic Swayne he had a connection to it, it affected him. Micheal Crew is proof that if the book fits, it can do all sorts of things to you.

This, to me, poses an interesting question. If it was you, and if the book really spoke to you, however evil, would you be able to hand it over? To watch its destruction?

I don't think I would.