Lawrence has a way with words, you can't deny that. The world building in this was fab, but my I was confused until quarter of the way through and then it really picked up. I enjoyed how the POVs intertwined and branched off throughout.

I was looking for more character development, while Livra was easy to follow, I found Evar a little on the slower side which meant it was not my first read I instantly wanted to pick up.

I'm eager to see what happens next as I think it was a good start to the series, but I need a bit more... I want adventure, epic storytelling and strong developed characters, I'm looking forward to seeing what's next.

I can’t wait to see where this goes. Truly fantasy and world bound at its highest quality. Full review to come.

Thankyou to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, HarperVoyager for a free e-arc in exchange of an honest review.

The premise of this book intrigued me so much! Iv never read a book like this and i found it quite daunting to pick it up and read. I'm so glad that i did though!

The book required my full attention and i found that i needed to take it much slower and read in in chunks so that i could fully absorb and digest the words. The twists and turns and dual POV had me captivated and i was asking questions and seeking answers the whole way through!

This is the sort of epic fantasy I like and it's a book about books! There are two different perspectives that you try to figure out how they are linked. It took me a while to get into Livria's story but Evar's enticed me straightaway. I also think this deserves a reread at some point because there are some nuances I missed.

I absolutely adore the premise of this book - I mean, what is better than the biggest library to ever exist, so huge that people actually get lost in it, with books being literally at the very centre of the whole story? Unfortunately, the execution just didn't work for me. This book is very very slow, and a lot of the time I felt... not bored, but indifferent to the story, because it was going too slow for me to gain any real connection to the characters, or be able to understand what was going on. I normally get through a book in 4 days or less, but this took me two weeks to finish. I was just constantly putting off picking this book up, and that makes me so sad because all things considered, I should have loved it!

I do think the book was well-written, and the author's writing style definitely suited this post-apocalyptic, war-torn world, but it just wasn't agreeing with me. Based off all the amazing reviews I've seen other people give it, I think this is sadly a case of it's not you, it's me.

I am always intrigued by Mark Lawrence's writing as he has a gift for hooking you with one sentence. In Red Sister I was hooked from the moment I read "It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size." For this story we open with " The first arrow hit a child. That was the opening line." immediately tension is raised as to what comes next.
Introduced to Livira (named after a hardy desert weed) at a point in life where her life changes, we follow her through the death of family, destruction of her village and capture by Sabbers a non-human foe. Rescued by soldiers from the imperial city of Crath, where she is judged for her usefulness. Through her doggedness, impressive memory and chance she is sponsored by Yute to work in the library.
The story then moves to Evar who lives in the library at an undisclosed time with just his siblings. Apart from two constructs the Assistant and the Soldier he, his two brothers and sisters are all that remain of civilization following destruction by Sabbers. The library has a chamber called the Mechanism which will transport you into the experience of whatever book you happen to take in with you. The knowledge gained is retained and so apart from escaping from the dull daily reality this is a way for the group to learn new skills.
The story builds in portals which connect to a meeting space outside of the world, very reminiscent of C.S. Lewis's pools between worlds introduced in The Magicians Nephew. Here Livira and Evar meet, become friends and start their joint adventures. For Evar the time is in days, for Livira the intervening time is years so that at their final meeting they are of the same age.
As the stories weave together revelations arise that cause both characters to evaluate their connection, what defines humanity and love.
I enjoyed the quotes at the start of each chapter - some from familiar authors or with names of authors amusingly disguised for example Training your Labrador by Barbara Timberhut.
I would recommend this book, as inventive, complex and thought provoking. My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this ARC, all views are my own.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for inviting me to review this title. I will provide a review as soon as possible.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As you may know, this book is set in a magical library, so if you like the sound of that you’ll probably enjoy this book! And beyond the intrigue of the library, there are two very likeable POVs that Lawrence switches between, with the characterisation of Livira throughout the story being a particular highlight for me. While the plot did not blow me way, I am invested enough in this new world to be excited for book 2 when it comes out.

3.75/5

I definitely struggled with the beginning of this book. I completely get what Mark Lawrence was trying to do with The Book That Wouldn't Burn but it just fell a little flat for me. Maybe it's my love/hate relationship with high fantasy due to my aphantasia and not being able to picture things properly unless I can refer to fan art or physical places. This book was also dense. Sometimes it just felt like it was going on for a bit longer than I would have liked.

I love the setting being around books, a feeling I know well, and the library was such a unique sort of setting for a fantasy.

I will probably try the second book in the series to see if it improves my opinion of high fantasy but we'll just have to wait and see.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperVoyager for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4 - 4.5 ⭐

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for this ARC! This review was voluntarily written by me.

For me, one indicator of a good book to me is it makes you think of it and have more questions after reading it, and this book is one of them. My reading is slower than I thought and that is because of myself because for me, this book is a type of book that needs to be read carefully in order to understand and think about the plot, the dialogue, and the writing. For the characters, this story is told more from Livira’s side than Evar’s but I think Evar will get more POVs in the next installment. I have some favourite characters but ones that really intrigued me are Yute and Yamala. I really want to know more about their stories and background and I think their background is important in this story or trilogy. The worldbuilding is cool, like a library that has existed for many generations and the rise and fall of civilizations. This is a gargantuan library that has already seen many things and keeps many treasures inside it for those who seek them. That’s awesome. However, one thing that I can see when reading this is that this book may be tough to get in (it is for me too) due to the lot of details that readers need to think and sort before it becomes gradually clearer nearing the end. Lastly, if you are a fan of high fantasy, this book may be for you.

"The Book That Wouldn't Burn" by Mark Lawrence is an ambitious and polished tale that takes readers on a captivating journey through worlds and time. While the book has a slightly slow and disjointed start, requiring some effort to fully engage, it truly comes alive around the 40% mark. From that point on, the dual perspectives of the boy trapped in the vast library and the girl in the dangerous Dust settlement intertwine in a way that keeps you invested and craving answers.

The strength of this novel lies in its well-written characters, striking a balance between believability and readability. Even the child character is portrayed without becoming annoying, a testament to the author's skill. Additionally, Lawrence presents a clever magic system with almost scientific foundations, complete with clear rules and consistency, which adds depth to the narrative.

Overall, "The Book That Wouldn't Burn" is a rewarding read. It may have a slow start, but the intriguing mystery and well-crafted characters make it worth the effort. This ambitious story leaves readers eagerly anticipating the next installment in the series.

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is a fairly hefty book. The hard back comes in at 576 pages so you know, it’s big. You could do some damage with such a chunky tome.

It didn’t feel like it though. You are picked up and whisked along with Livira and Evar in the brilliantly build world that they live in.

Livira lives out on the dust with her aunt. Life is already tough, as is Livira, but things take a dramatic turn when she and several other children from her settlement are captured by Sabbers. To Livira, the Sabbers are a humanoid race with dog like features: the word “sabber” actually meaning “enemy” in the enemy’s language. From there, she is taken to the city of Crath, home to the renowned library, where Livira, through a turn of events involving a pale librarian named Yost, ends up being taken.

Interspersed between Livira’s story is that if Evar, who lives in the library, along with his two brothers and sister. The survivors of their race following attacks from the Sabbers, they all have their own motivations. Eave’s sister Clovis is seeking revenge on the Sabbers for the death of her family, whilst Evar is just trying to find a way to escape.

Their two stories eventually converge in a way about which I shall say no more!

I was absorbed into the world of this book, it had so many elements that appealed to me. The world of the library was mysterious and intriguing and I was fascinated with Livira's explorations into it. The characters were well written and I was rooting for Livira and Evar throughout. I also liked the turns that the plot took, which I won't go into for fear of spoiling anything.

A special mention has to go to the little snippets of books that preceded each chapter. They act as little Easter eggs, often mirroring or referencing real life authors (spot your favourite fantasy author!) or even bands and were a lot of fun.

I've not read anything else by the author (yet) so can't comment on how it compares to his previous works, but I'd recommend this to fantasy fans. The seemingly endless world of the library put me in mind of the Tower of Babel from Josiah Bancroft's books, which was a setting that absolutely drew me in in a similar way. That series just so happens to be one of the little easter eggs I mentioned so look out for that.

I can't wait to see what happens next with these characters.

This book! It was absolutely huge and it's definitely a fantasy that requires your full attention but it's a story unlike nothing I've read before. It was really fresh, really clever, really complicated but I'm glad I got given the opportunity to read it.

I must admit I enjoyed Livira's chapters a lot more than Evans, perhaps because to start with her life was chaotic from page 1 whilst Evan's existence was rather dull in comparison, however the more invested I got the more I also enjoyed Evan's character.

The concept was brilliant and intriguing and it's something I'd definitely recommend to friends who like a more complicated fantasy read!

Sometimes you need to read a old-school fantasy book, sometimes you just want to read and lose yourself in the plot and the world building.
This is a book about books and a book that kept me turning pages and brought to new places.
I loved it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I struggled with this one. I'm sure it is someone's cup of tea but it's certainly not mine. After reading over 200 pages I still had no idea what was happening. Halfway through I still barely had a grasp on it. I think that perhaps the character Evar is slightly 2 dimensional as I just never found it within myself to care much about him. Livira did end up growing on me as she grew however. I think the pacing of this book really threw me a bit as well. Sometimes chapters just went on forever with seemingly nothing happening and then other times years had passed and we're just expected to catch up and carry on. Overall, I think it's a cool concept and I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I wasn't able to buy into it as much as I has hoped.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this advanced copy.

This was my first time reading Mark Lawrence's work. but I enjoyed it. However, I understood how Mark Lawrence wanted to describe the worldbuilding of this book as detail as possible. But, at some point it was boring. Overall, this book was perfect for fantasy reader

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn Just About Managed to Ignite

I’m afraid I have mixed emotions for this book. I mean, it’s a book about books and libraries- so how could I be anything other than positive? Yet sadly, my feelings for a lot of it were pretty lukewarm.

As much as I was drawn in by the old school fantasy feel, it seemed to be missing that vital piece of magic that makes a story tick. While I connected quickly to the tough and tenacious Livira- named after a weed- I struggled to click with any of the other characters. And as much as I found the world layered and shrouded in mystique, I found the story a little on the dense side. The plot, quite simply, failed to fly. There was a time jump that threw me from the story and an uncertainty about where it was heading. It wasn’t until the last quarter that I found myself turning the pages at a rate of knots.

Honestly, that ending saved the story for me. There were some cool concepts packed in there that sparked my interest. There were poignant moments and depth. Still, I think it might have been too little, too late for me. Much as this was a love letter to books, I’m not sure I’m going to be writing home about it.

Rating: 3½/5 bananas

This is really hard to review. I wouldn't say that I didn't like this one, but it was dragging sometimes and the writing felt sometimes a little superficial rather than lyrical (in my opinion). I read only the Ancestor's trilogy from this author and there I liked the characters more. Here, the focus is more on the setting and the mysteries.
A really cool part of the book is that it leaves so much room for imagination and dreaming. It lets your mind constantly be active and trying to solve mysteries or find equivalents to our world... Or trying to find similarities to other books. For example for me it reminded me in parts of His dark Materials and Strange the Dreamer.
The worldbuilding is outstanding. The library is such a fascinating setting. There is a strong sense of lonliness and at the same time you feel the vastness of this place and you want to discover all the secrets of the chambers.
I will definetely re-read this before the next book comes out, because I suspect that I will like this one much more the second time, as I can focus much more on all the details and on the aspects that I didn't quite get on my first read.

Many thanks to HarperVoyager for inviting me to read an ARC. All opinions are my own.



If you've ever read a Mark Lawrence book before, it will come as no surprise that <i>The Book that Wouldn't Burn</i> is very clever and completely engrossing. It's fantasy and sci-fi and kind of slip-stream. The themes are so strongly rendered, however, that even if you're not a speculative fiction fan you'll probably connect with this story.



Plenty of other people have summarised the set up and plot so I won't repeat that. On the surface this is a slightly quieter hero's journey that orbits around a vast and possibly magical library. The alternating viewpoint characters - Evar and Livira - are engaging and likeable. They are easy to access which belies the subtle depths of the characterisation. The supporting cast is equally good. And who doesn't love a library with sff elements? Especially guardian animals.



However, below what seems to be a simple premise is a complex and searching conversation about knowledge and its relationship with power. As a librarian, I can see parallels here between UK libraries' desperate struggle to combat the digital skills gap (the new illiteracy) and all the consequences of all services and supports moving online, with the covetous way the rich view the Athenaeum and their desire to keep the Dusters out. In addition, Lawrence exams the concept of 'enemy' and the othering of a different people and culture to excuse acts of war. There's also a good hard look at the power of stories (and information) to both transform and destroy, and that truth is often smothered in the cradle by narrative - a very dangerous thing if you're not the one controlling the narrative.



But even if you don't want to get deep into examining the themes, this is bloody good story. It's perfectly paced, immersive, drily funny and poignant. It captures all the wonder of the concept of 'library' and raises it to the power of ten before reminding you it has a dark side too. I absolutely loved this book and can't wait for the next one.

The Book that wouldn't burn follows the lives of Evar and Livira as their lives are drawn together in the vast Library. A chance meeting exposes the mysterious nature of the world inside the library and the differing strands of time that the characters exist within.

This is clearly the first book in a series and considerable time is spent world building, which at times is all consuming. Various factions are at war amongst the Dust, with rival species vying for supremacy and revenge for past horrors. Plus internal hierarchies position the town by 'class' allotting roles by status. Liviria is the anomaly a 'duster' who is selected to become a librarian - the keeper and perhaps creator of knowledge.

Lawrence is clearly permitting himself some 'veiled' social commentary....how individuals are viewed; tribalism; the importance of trusted information and the abuse of power via technological advances....which at times feels a little forced.

This book demands attention and requires concentration, making it a challenging read for non-fantasy aficionados.