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The Book That Wouldn't Burn (The Library Trilogy 1) Kindle Edition
The boy has lived his whole life trapped within a book-choked chamber older than empires and larger than cities.
The girl has been plucked from the outskirts of civilization to be trained as a librarian, studying the mysteries of the great library at the heart of her kingdom.
They were never supposed to meet. But in the library, they did.
Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherAce
- Publication dateMay 9, 2023
- File size5124 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“This tale of knowledge and its cost flies by thanks to the gripping mystery and beautiful worldbuilding...Readers will be desperate for more.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Gripping, earnest, and impeccably plotted." – Kirkus (starred review)
"A fantastic setting, a feisty heroine, and hints of a deeper mystery that calls to mind the depths of Frank Herbert's Dune and its intertwined cultural and religious issues." – Library Journal
"Lush and intricately plotted, this dense fantasy tale of an aspiring librarian from a village in a backwater known as the Dust and a boy who's lived his whole life trapped in a massive and ancient library is full of surprising twists and turns. With a plot that encompasses everything from romance and political intrigue to time travel and philosophy, this first installment in Mark Lawrence's new Library Trilogy is an often devastating story of the price we pay for knowledge." – Paste Magazine
"Reading Mark Lawrence's latest novel, The Book that Wouldn't Burn, feels like having your mind blown in slow motion." - Grimdark Magazine
"This book is a tour-de-force that pushes the boundaries of the genre, a true page turner and a must read for anyone who appreciates great literature." - FanFi Addict
Praise for the novels of Mark Lawrence
“An excellent writer.”—George R. R. Martin, New York Times bestselling author
“Different than anything I have ever read.”—Terry Brooks, New York Times bestselling author
“An amazing series, and I eagerly anticipate Lawrence’s next literary effort, whatever it may be.”—Peter V. Brett, New York Times bestselling author
“It’s not like anything I’ve ever read before.”—Rick Riordan, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Dark and relentless...A two-in-the-morning page-turner.”—Robin Hobb, New York Times bestselling author
“Epic fantasy on a George R. R. Martin scale but on speed.”—Fixed on Fantasy
“Mark Lawrence’s growing army of fans will relish this rollicking new adventure and look forward to the next one.”—Daily Mail
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Livira
They named Livira after a weed. You couldn't grow much in the Dust but that never stopped hungry people trying. They said livira would grow in places where rocks wouldn't. Which never made sense to Livira because rocks don't grow. Unfortunately, not even goats could eat the stuff and any farmer who watered a crop would find themselves spending most of their time fighting it. Spill a single drop of water in the Dust and, soon enough, strands of livira would come coiling out of the cracked ground for a taste.
Her parents had given her a different name but she hardly remembered it. People called her Livira because, like the weed, you couldn't keep her down.
"Come on then!" Livira picked herself up and wiped the blood from her nose. She raised her fists again. "Come on."
Acmar shook his head, looking embarrassed now that a ring of children had gathered. All of them were dusty but Livira was coated in the stuff, head to foot.
"Come on!" she shouted. She felt woozy and her head rang as if it were the summoning bell and someone kept beating it.
"You're twice her size." Benth broke into the circle and pushed Acmar aside.
"She won't stay down," Acmar complained, rubbing his knuckles.
"It's a draw then." Benth stepped between them, a broad-shouldered boy and handsome despite his broken nose. Seeing Livira's scowl he grabbed her hand and raised it above her head. "Livira wins again."
The others cheered and laughed then broke and ran before the advance of a tall figure, dark against the sun's white glare.
"Livy!" Her aunt's scolding voice. Fingers wrapped her wrist and she was being jerked away towards the black shadow of the family hut.
Aunt Teela shoved a cracked leather bucket at her. "The beans need watering."
"Yessum!" Livira had always loved the well. She spat a bloody mess into the dust then grinned up at her aunt before hurrying off with the bucket. Her aunt shook her head. You could put Livira down but you couldn't keep her there.
Livira's hurrying didn't last long. She slowed as she passed Ella's shack. The old woman collected wind-weed, or rather the kids chased and caught it for her, racing over the hardpan in pursuit of the tough, fibrous balls. The things were almost entirely empty space and Ella's cunning fingers could coax the randomness of their criss-crossed strands into meaning that pleased the eye. Deft twists could render a horse or man suspended in a network of threads within the outer sphere that was itself just a lattice of thicker strands.
Livira watched Ella work. "I wish I could do that."
Ella looked up from her task and held up her current piece on the palm of one wrinkled hand. "For you."
Livira picked it up, a small sphere of wind-weed just five or six inches across.
Immediately Ella took up a replacement and began anew.
Livira studied her unexpected prize. It looked half-finished, the mass of fibres compressed towards the middle seeming like just a clotting of many threads that wove nothing. But as she rotated the ball a shape emerged within it, still vague, like a man approaching through a dust storm, indistinct but definitely there. A young man or maybe a boy. Though if asked how she could tell his age or sex, Livira would have no answer. And it seemed to her that she knew him, or rather that she recognised him.
"I wish I could do that," she said again, cradling the ball in both hands.
"You have other talents, dear." Ella didn't look up from her task. Livira's past efforts with the wind-weed had been comically bad and part of her thanked Ella for not offering false hope that she would get much better.
"Talents?" Livira kicked at the dust. A memory like a steel trap seemed more of a curse than a blessing. A poorer memory, one that ran the dry glare of one day into the next, might stop the time weighing so heavily even on young shoulders. And she was pretty much unbeatable at the game of hollows and stones, but it seemed to make the old men angry rather than pleased. She also understood the odds when the younger men gambled on the game-better than any of them did-but none of them were interested in her advice. "All my skills are useless."
"There are no useless skills, girl. Only talents that have yet to find an application."
"Well . . . Acmar can fart a tune."
Ella looked up at that, lips pursed, dark eyes unreadable. Livira glanced down, noticed the bucket at her own feet, and, thus reminded of her task, opted to skip away.
The well was a yard wide and a hundred yards deep. Livira had asked a thousand times how they ever managed to dig it. She’d scratched holes in the hardpan herself and never got deeper than the width of a hand. The well lay outside the settlement, beyond the bean rows. The scent of water attracts all sorts in the Dust, and rarely the sort you want wandering around your huts at night.
There was a wetness in the air above it, as if the well itself were a great throat. Livira could feel the dampness of its breath on her skin. She liked to lie on her belly with her head over the edge and stare down into the blackness. The children said Orrin had fallen in and that's where he went last month. But the water had stayed clear and sweet. Livira thought that a dust-bear had taken Orrin. The boy had never looked where he was going. And whilst that might lend credence to the idea that he could have walked into the well, there were, Livira said, many more dust-bears waiting just beneath the surface than wells.
Livira cranked the windlass, lowering the attached bucket towards the unseen water. She liked the well because it kept them all alive, but that wasn't the only reason. In her mind it was a connection to another world, out of reach but most definitely there. A world where what they needed most was commonplace, a world of darkness and flow, full of its own secrets, home to wet things that swam in blindness, tasting their way through unknown caverns.
"What you doing?"
Livira jumped, startled out of her daydreaming. She saw it was Katrin in her shapeless, dusty smock, hands crimson from shelling jarra beans. "I'm juggling elephants."
Katrin frowned, considering the statement. Katrin was loyal, kind, but really quite slow sometimes. "You're not ju-"
"It was a joke." Livira rolled her eyes and spun the windlass. "You can see what I'm doing."
"Oh." Katrin's frown deepened. "Why did you fight Acmar?"
Livira kept turning the handle. The rope spooling off the windlass was darker now-the new length that Old Kern had added so that the bucket would be able to reach the water again. The level had been sinking ever since Livira could remember. "He called me a weed."
"But . . . we all call you Livira."
"He called me weed." Livira shook her head. "It's not the same."
That had been part of the reason, the spark that had made her throw the first punch. But the real reason was that he had tried to snatch her scrap from her. That's what Aunt Teela had called it when Livira showed it to her. A scrap of paper. The wind had revealed this treasure to Livira months earlier, pushing aside the dust to expose a corner. A torn triangle, no larger than the palm of her hand and, like an old man's skin, thin, wrinkled, discoloured by age. Dark marks patterned it. Her aunt had shrugged when Livira showed her and had grown inexplicably angry when Livira persisted in asking about the marks, saying at last, "They're just scribbling. Tally marks for counting beans at market."
"But-" Livira had wanted to protest that there were so many different marks, they were too beautiful just to be counting, but Teela had cut her off and had set her to her least favourite chore: cleaning out the cookpot.
Livira shook off the memory. "See what Ella gave me!" She lifted the wind-weed that she had tied to her belt with a cord.
Katrin narrowed her eyes at it. "It looks like what we give Ella in the first place. Did it go wrong?"
"No!" Livira started to rotate the ball, searching for the best angle, but Katrin looked away.
"Did it hurt," Katrin asked, "when Acmar hit you?"
"Yes." Livira scowled and let the ball drop. "Lots." The windlass had run out of rope so she began to wind the bucket back up. After a few turns the reassuring resistance told her that the bucket had filled. Every time she carried out the task a small part of her held its breath, thinking that one day there would be no resistance. One day the water would simply not be there. An even smaller part of her hissed its disappointment when the turn of the handle revealed that new weight. When the water was gone there would be a change. Not a good change. But a change nonetheless. And sometimes, in the dark of the night with the hollow sounds of the Dust all around and the bright stars cold in their heaven, sometimes what scared Livira more than the water running out was that the water would not run out and that this would be her life. Dust, and beans, and dry-wheat, and the wind, and the little huddle of huts like stones gathered in the vastness of the empty plain, until she ran out rather than the water, and she joined the dust, and the wind carried her away as if she had never even drawn breath.
"I like Acmar," Katrin said.
Livira made a face and put her back into the winding. All the girls liked Acmar, at least to look at. Livira had never been able to put into words quite why he made her angry. It was to do with the way he didn't value any of the things she valued most. And all that lack of interest did was make him spokesman for the settlement, because none of them cared about those things really, not even Katrin or Neera, who said they were her best friends.
"You can have him," Livira grunted, her arms growing tired, her hands sore. "I'm going to the city soon. And you can all live in the dust while I . . . while I . . ." She didn't really know what they did in the city. She thought perhaps her scrap had come from there, stolen from the city folk by the wind. All she'd ever seen of the city were its walls, as a low smudge in the distance. She'd had to walk half a day even for that view, climbing the ridges to the west, returning to the settlement parched and dusty late at night to a frantic Aunt Teela. People said that the city was full of marvels with new ones added every week. But none of them had ever been there or even seemed interested in trying.
"I'm going to the city," Livira repeated.
"They won't let you in, silly." Katrin put out her tongue. "Even the dust doesn't get past their gates without permission."
She was just quoting what came out through Kern's grey beard, but it made Livira angry because she feared it might be true. "What I think is-"
Livira's hot reply faded from her lips and she rested against the windlass handle staring out to the east. There it was again, distant and dancing in the heat haze. A figure. "What I think . . . is that someone's coming!"
. . . and other doubters. The historian must ensure that all their work is plainly marked as such, for if it were presented as a work of fiction its readers would clamour that it lacked sense, the events too implausible, too random, and too cruel. Truth will set you free . . . from certainty, comfort, and the beliefs upon which we rely for sanity . . .
A History of Histories, by William Ancrath
Chapter 2
Livira
People never came to the settlement. Livira hadn't ever seen a visitor, had never met a single person who hadn't grown among the four dozen souls who sheltered in the huddled shacks. It was the sort of place that you went from, not to. Kern went from it to the dust markets. The patched waistcoat he was so proud of allegedly came from the city, purchased at great cost from a dust-market stall. What he bartered on his trips might then go on to bigger markets or to the city itself, but Livira had always had to take the existence of these places and people on faith. Now-someone was coming!
"Stranger!" Livira let the bucket fall and charged back through the bean rows, shouting her news, Katrin hard on her heels, eating dust. "Stranger!" She raced along the rows, rattling the drying beans in their pods. Only this morning she'd been watching the old men play stones and hollows, dreaming of an escape to something more, to a world that lay beyond the haze. Now that world was coming to her. "Stranger!"
"What are you saying?" Aunt Teela caught Livira's arm in a steel grip as she emerged from the crop.
"A stranger! Someone's coming!" Livira repeated at a lower, more comprehensible volume.
Teela's face stiffened as if a deadwasp had stung her. Her hand fell to her side. "Tell everyone."
Livira ran on, shouting. Something in her aunt's expression had put a chill into her and now fear edged her cries. The summoning bell took up the alarm.
“What do they want?” Livira stood with the others out by the well. Everyone she knew was there, except those few too old, too sick, or too small to emerge from their huts. Aunt Teela held her hand in a painful grip. Livira waited, still sweating from her run. The sun seemed brighter, the dust sharper on her lungs.
"You stay close to me, Livy. Do as you're told for once in your life." Her aunt pulled Livira's face around to hers, meeting her gaze with over-bright eyes. "I love you, child." Aunt Teela was not a woman given to displays of affection and this one filled Livira with a fear far greater than any that Acmar's approaching fist had instilled.
Product details
- ASIN : B0B6B5CPF6
- Publisher : Ace (May 9, 2023)
- Publication date : May 9, 2023
- Language : English
- File size : 5124 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 571 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0008456720
- Best Sellers Rank: #27,700 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #328 in Action & Adventure Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #499 in Action & Adventure Fantasy (Books)
- #656 in Epic Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Mark Lawrence is married with four children, one of whom is severely disabled. His day job is as a research scientist focused on various rather intractable problems in the field of artificial intelligence. He has held secret level clearance with both US and UK governments. At one point he was qualified to say 'this isn't rocket science ... oh wait, it actually is'.
Between work and caring for his disabled child, Mark spends his time writing, playing computer games, tending an allotment, brewing beer, and avoiding DIY.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book has an engaging plot with unexpected twists and turns. They praise the writing quality as impressive, lyrical, and harmonious. The characters are described as wonderful, cacophonous, and excellent. Readers describe the concept as original, creative, and clever. They appreciate the knowledge aspect and the importance of knowledge in the face of adversity. The visual quality is described as vivid and satisfying. Overall, customers enjoy the book's history and world-building.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoy the book's plot twists. They find the story engaging with unexpected turns and a unique plot idea. The book is described as an exciting adventure with action, mystery, and political commentary. Readers appreciate the entertaining epigrams and references.
"...This book has as many turnings as the corridor of the library and I'm sure I didn't discover them all, no matter how much I savored this book...." Read more
"...A nice give and take of secrets and answers that somehow leave you wanting more. I was entertained and curious to what the next chapter held...." Read more
"...The plot comes full circle in the end, with an absolute God-tier final 40 pages, and leaves a mysterious trail into the 2 planned sequel novels...." Read more
"I loved both of the books. There are definitely a lot of unexpected twists and turns, and everything comes together so well...." Read more
Customers appreciate the writing quality. They find the characters memorable and the plot twists engaging. The writing is described as thoughtful, lyrical, and well-crafted. Some readers found the story clear and inventive, while others felt it was overly allegory-driven.
"...It's a beautifully written and thoughtful work." Read more
"...The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is contemplative, romantic, existential, and even at times, shocking, horrifying and bleak...." Read more
"...Lawrence's unparalleled storytelling skills combined with his ability to craft complex characters have once again resulted in an unforgettable..." Read more
"...The characters had a lot of depth. The plot and world building was well thought out...." Read more
Customers enjoy the character development in this book. They find the characters wonderful and cacophonous, describing them as some of Lawrence's best writing. The world-building and plot structure are also excellent, with the necessary young hero maturation and heroics.
"...Evar's life is more static, confined as he is. The other characters are varied and compelling, from Malar, the soldier who rescues Livira, to Evar's..." Read more
"...felt different from the author's other books, there was excellent characters and a very unique story where books are highly valued...." Read more
"...The character work was also mostly excellent, especially Livira, the girl named after a weed which would grow anywhere, who has become one of my..." Read more
"...'s unparalleled storytelling skills combined with his ability to craft complex characters have once again resulted in an unforgettable reading..." Read more
Customers enjoy the originality of the book. They find the concept creative and engaging. The world-building skill shines, and the characters are nuanced. Overall, the book is described as inventive, imaginative, and different from other books.
"...In all, while it is very clever, well written and conceived it was just a slog. Unfortunate, as I really wanted to like it." Read more
"...back to this one to get a better picture of things but the ideas are awesome and looking forward to book 2." Read more
"Overall really enjoyed the book, original plot and idea, will definitely grab the next on the series when it comes out...." Read more
"...Lawrence's knack for world-building shines, the characters are nuanced and the plot threads are woven together in a fascinating tapestry of intrigue...." Read more
Customers find the book engaging and intellectually challenging. They appreciate its themes of family, intelligence vs education, and xenophobia. The book is described as smart, unique, captivating, and refreshingly new. Readers mention that the decisions make great sense in hindsight. Overall, they describe it as an impactful and glorious read that the author labored over for hundreds of hours.
"...It offers not knowledge of good and evil but knowledge for good or evil. Of course fire could be forbidden...." Read more
"...It’s very clear that Mark labored ponderously for hundreds of hours and wrote his very soul into this book...." Read more
"...It is very satisfying how the clues come together and all decisions make great sense. The book reads like a complete book...." Read more
"...to the strength of the human spirit and the importance of knowledge in the face of adversity...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's visual quality. They find the imagery rich and vivid, weaving a satisfying tapestry in the end. The tone is lighthearted and lyrical, with an earthy world-building.
"...Mark Lawrence does an amazing job of making everything very vivid...." Read more
"...epigraph that establishes the theme, and I really enjoyed the tone of the entire book - it was lighthearted and very funny for the most part, but..." Read more
"...where all the diverse threads came together to weave an immensely satisfying tapestry in the end...." Read more
"...It is beautiful and captivating and unflinching in the depictions of mankind's failures, but also hopeful and full of wonder...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's history. They say it has a timeless message that spans all periods of history. The magical library seems to defy time, and it is considered a modern classic. Readers describe it as a blend of fantasy, mythology, and mysticism with a love story.
"...on the wonderful use of literary device, as well as philosophy, mythology, and personal stakes made by Mark Lawrence that TOTALLY elevate this book..." Read more
"...of books (or the equivalent) from a great many species, spanning all periods of history...." Read more
"...plot, it revolves around a magical library, which has existed for all of recorded history and seems to defy the passage of time and the rise and..." Read more
"...It is, in its way, a timeless and yet extremely timely message...." Read more
Customers have differing opinions on the pacing of the book. Some find it captivating and engaging, with top-notch world-building and a more magical quality than his previous works. They describe it as a good start to a new series and look forward to the two short story releases. However, others found the beginning tedious and hard to follow. Additionally, some felt the book was excessively long.
"...It is a slow going book, you definitely won't fly through it in one sitting...." Read more
"...I did find the beginning a little tedious in terms of pacing, particularly Evar's chapters. I found myself skimming just to get through...." Read more
"...Livira is a beacon of hope amidst the chaos, portraying strength, resilience, and a burning passion for preserving the written word...." Read more
"...The plot and world building was well thought out. It took a bit to read this book because I didn’t want to miss any details." Read more
Reviews with images
Can't wait for the 3rd book!
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2023It's no secret that Mark Lawrence is one of my favorite authors. As I read each book of his, I decided that this is the one I love most (except that Jorg Ancrath will always have a place in my heart). | Undoubtedly, The Book That Wouldn't Burn is my current favorite book of his. I have read this slowly, which is unusual for me, and savored every word of this book.
The story alternates between the POVs of two characters: Livira is an orphan girl from the Dust, and Evar is a young man trapped in the library. Livira's village is attacked, and eventually, she works in the library due to her photographic memory. Evar has been stuck in one chamber with his four adopted siblings and two android-types who care for them and only want to escape into the world.
Time is fluid in this book, as in many of Mr. Lawrence's stories, and we get to read about Livira as she comes of age, always asking questions and seeking knowledge. Evar's life is more static, confined as he is. The other characters are varied and compelling, from Malar, the soldier who rescues Livira, to Evar's siblings, all trained for one purpose based on the book they had with them when first snared in the Mechanism, a feature of the library that allows a person to absorb a book without necessarily reading it.
Ultimately, this is a book about knowledge vs. wisdom. Is it better to have knowledge freely available, or should one have the wisdom to use it ethically and morally first? It's currently an important issue in the United States, with numerous books being banned around the country. As one of Livira's teachers says:
"The library is both the tree and the apple. It offers not knowledge of good and evil but knowledge for good or evil. Of course fire could be forbidden. But one of the compromises that holds back the war—not your little one here, but the big one—is the agreement that if a civilisation is not capable of keeping a book from burning then perhaps it wasn’t ready for whatever knowledge was held within."
If you've read other of this author's books, you'll be pleased by the various Easter eggs hidden away. I especially like the epigraphs before each chapter:
"Start a tale, just a little tale that should fade and die—take your eye off it for just a moment and when you turn back it’s grown big enough to grab you up in its teeth and shake you. That’s how it is. All our lives are tales. Some spread, and grow in the telling. Others are just told between us and the gods, muttered back and forth behind our days, but those tales grow too and shake us just as fierce. Prince of Fools, by Mark Lawrence"
And now I wait for the next book in the series to see what happens next. But I'll be thinking and probably rereading this one for a while. This book has as many turnings as the corridor of the library and I'm sure I didn't discover them all, no matter how much I savored this book. It's a wonderful story that appeals to any reader of almost any genre. It's a beautifully written and thoughtful work.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024Definitely felt different from the author's other books, there was excellent characters and a very unique story where books are highly valued. A nice give and take of secrets and answers that somehow leave you wanting more. I was entertained and curious to what the next chapter held. What kept this from a five star rating ? Not to give any spoilers, but the ending felt chaotic and a tad confusing. Looking forward to book two.
- Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2023“The greatest puzzle is one not understood until the final piece is set in place. Life, appropriately, can be like that, all the pieces tumbling together in a slow dance until in one last joining of hands epiphany strikes.”
—
The best kind of story, in my eyes, is the story that holds off on delivering information and revelation until the last possible moment. Not only does this book perfect that formula to a T but even goes so far as to revel in its superiority in that category with that very same self-crowning quote above.
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is the best book I’ve ever read as well as my #1 favorite. And those two self-canonized categories RARELY overlap. In any just world, this book at the very least becomes the greatest book of 2023, Mark Lawrence’s magnum opus, and in all justifiability, a modern classic and potentially a waypoint for the entire fantasy genre.
To say much about this book would be to ruin it as the entire narrative of the book is stylized to be a continuous mystery and revelation cycle that will burn itself into the mind of the reader.
I can comment on the wonderful use of literary device, as well as philosophy, mythology, and personal stakes made by Mark Lawrence that TOTALLY elevate this book to the next level.
I am extremely impressed at how much effort it took to write this.
It’s very clear that Mark labored ponderously for hundreds of hours and wrote his very soul into this book. I’m speechless at how well he is able to put himself into these characters shoes and really imagine what it is like to be them in their unique circumstances.
The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is contemplative, romantic, existential, and even at times, shocking, horrifying and bleak. Everything in the story works itself into its’ themes. The plot comes full circle in the end, with an absolute God-tier final 40 pages, and leaves a mysterious trail into the 2 planned sequel novels.
This is a story I will cherish and reread for years and years to come and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in fiction and masterful storytelling. It’s a perfect masterpiece.
All the stars. And more. Books 2 & 3 couldn’t possibly come soon enough.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2024I loved both of the books. There are definitely a lot of unexpected twists and turns, and everything comes together so well. Mark Lawrence does an amazing job of making everything very vivid. Both books end on a cliffhanger, but the cliffhanger in the second book made me wish I waited until the 3rd book was out to read the trilogy! I both love and hate cliffhangers. Love em if I can immediately start the next one. Hate em when I have to wait lol.
The titles kind of give away the plot. Which already makes me have an idea of what the 3rd book is going to be like, and makes me mad at the same time! Regardless, I absolutely loved these books, and am super excited to read the 3rd!
5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait for the 3rd book!I loved both of the books. There are definitely a lot of unexpected twists and turns, and everything comes together so well. Mark Lawrence does an amazing job of making everything very vivid. Both books end on a cliffhanger, but the cliffhanger in the second book made me wish I waited until the 3rd book was out to read the trilogy! I both love and hate cliffhangers. Love em if I can immediately start the next one. Hate em when I have to wait lol.
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2024
The titles kind of give away the plot. Which already makes me have an idea of what the 3rd book is going to be like, and makes me mad at the same time! Regardless, I absolutely loved these books, and am super excited to read the 3rd!
Images in this review
Top reviews from other countries
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SilviaReviewed in Spain on January 6, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Bueno
Buen libro y llegó en muy buenas condiciones
- Emily MReviewed in Germany on September 13, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Unusual storyline!
As an avid fiction reader and general book lover, the fact that this book was all about a book was a great start to being with!😆
The characters were believable and I liked how the author didn't give too much away about their Backstories until well into the book. That way we're were as much in the dark as the protagonist, trying to work things out. The crescendo to the ending was perfect and the twists ...! I had to re-read a few pages to be sure I hadn't missed anything and that I'd understood everything correctly! Totally unexpected!
I could go on and on with praises. If you like fantasy, dystopian worlds mixed with a magic-of-sorts, then this book is for you.
- PurvaReviewed in India on May 19, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Great 1st book of the series. It's a bit slow in the beginning but picks up pace really well in the 2nd half.
Purva
Reviewed in India on May 19, 2024
Images in this review - CTHULHUReviewed in France on May 18, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Just couldn't put it down, read it in one gone basically. Can't give higher praise.
Well done Mr Lawrence.
I'm impressed.
- LarsLovesBooksReviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book of 2023
What a fantastic read! Mark Lawerence has done it again. As much as I love libraries, I was hard pressed to understand how you could have such a chunky tome about life in a library. Much like the library in this book, you don’t really understand the scale and intricacies of this book till you get into it for the first time.
World building is sublime - who knew a library could have such dimensions, histories and worlds to it? I mean you know and you don’t know. Bibliophiles and bookworms alike will be enamored with this book and the stories within.
Character development is ace - we watch Livira grow from a child to an equally strong minded woman that is still unwilling to conform and breaks all the rules (Lawrence writes the best female leads!). She is a fierce and fascinating character. She’s a beacon that illuminates all the other characters - Evar, Marlar and Yute. (Side note I knew who the soldier was from the jump but the rest? Mind blown).
I truly loved the plot and how complex it is with past and future merging and the concepts of the exchange. As each revelation is exposed I was sucked further into the story and didn’t want to put it down. I thought it would be hard to surprise me or introduce a new concept to me in fantasy but this is … it’s almost like science fiction rather than fantasy but just all round amazing. I loved the ending and I’m glad to know this is a trilogy. I am also glad that we weren’t left hanging on a cliff, leaving us hard pressed for the next book.
Can’t recommend this book enough and think everyone should read it immediately. I’m only hoping I still remember all the detail when it comes to reading book 2 lol.