The Book That Wouldn't Burn

A book club pick :)

Who wouldn’t love a huge mysterious library?

The world is fascinating, there are characters to root for, the plot is twisting and turning, and the writing is mostly excellent.

We follow two stories, first in parallel, then as they converge, diverge, converge again.

Livira is a child of the desert, her settlement devastated by enemies. She is rescued and brought to Crath, a city of wonders and progress. The knowledge comes from a labyrinthine library, with an infinite number of books. Livira – talented, curious, fierce – becomes a library trainee. The library holds many mysteries and strange creatures inhabit it. There are hints of many worlds, of civilizations rising and falling in cycles, and the library being show more both a blessing and a curse.

Evar and his siblings are trapped in a vast chamber of a library. They grew up there, raised by two mysterious artificial beings. They are the last remnant of their people, that had fled into the chamber long ago.

This book is about many things: generational trauma, how knowledge can be used and abused, racism and hatred. It is also a love letter to books and reading.

There is a lot of world-building! Things are revealed gradually. By the time I was half way through, I began to wonder whether the book was too long for the story it wanted to tell. Then the plot sped up, and dramatic reveal after dramatic reveal and plot twist after plot twist began to jump at me. Exciting! Towards the very end, though, the narrative began to feel episodic, with things happening too suddenly. The writing and the dialogue took a slight turn for the worse. But this unevenness is not a major complaint. I still love the library, I want to have answers to my unanswered questions, and I want to know what is next for Livira and Evar.

And lastly, some quotes and lovely details:

“Where are you going?”
“To break some more rules.”

“It’s always the books you don’t have that call to you, you know that. Not the ones already on your shelf. They can wait.”

“A good book invites the reader in,” Livira said. “The writer is only half the equation.”

The epigraphs to every chapter are quotes from real and imagined books. The imagined ones are from worlds that are echoes of ours. Could Enanald Byten, who has written over 3000 books, including “Six Go On and On” be Enid Blyton? And there is something from a book written by a Copper Davidfield, lol. The characters mention Babran Cartlode the author... One of the characters has a cat named Wentworth. This is all quite delightful!

Now I am looking forward to getting my hands on the rest of the trilogy and the short stories set between book 1 and 2. Yay. show less

“We’re all the story we tell about ourselves….That’s all anyone ever is – the story they tell, and the stories told about them.”

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is the beginning of an ambitious new fantasy series by Mark Lawrence.

Within the city of Crath is the Atheneum, an infinite labyrinth that holds one copy of every book that has ever been written. The Library, it is said, is the source of truth, and whomever controls it, rules the kingdom. But the Library has its own power, and cedes none.

Livira lives in the Dust outside the walls of Crath. When her village is attacked by Sabber’s she expects to die, instead she is rescued, and with the intervention of Deputy Head Yute, is admitted as an Atheneum trainee, the first of show more her kind.

Evar lives in a sealed chamber deep within the Library, it is the only place he has ever known. With him are Clovis, Kerrol, Starval and Mayland, not related by blood but siblings nevertheless, watched over by automatons, The Soldier and The Assistant.

Told from the alternating perspectives of Livira and Evar, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn unfolds at a good pace. It takes some time before the two protagonists intersect as the story weaves through the present, the past, and the future, in unexpected ways.

Livira, whose name means ‘weed’, is a wonderfully entertaining protagonist. Despite her outsider status, Livira earns the loyalty of friends, and refuses to give quarter to those who wish to see her fail. Curious, Intelligent, tenacious, and a little reckless, the secrets of the Library are a puzzle she is determined to solve.

Evar, who unlike his siblings has no memory of his life before the Library, is a somewhat melancholy figure, longing for something he can’t name. While Clovis, Kerrol, Starval, and Mayland all possess an obvious skill, seemingly a gift of the Mechanism that brought them to the chamber, Evar believes he has none but what they have taught him.

Exploring themes such as tradition, knowledge, power, truth, memory, war and xenophobia, our current reality is often reflected in Lawrence’s fantasy. I highlighted several blocks of text that struck me as I read, particularly those about the use, and misuse, of information.

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is, of course, also an ode to the magic of reading, books, literature, and libraries. The Atheneum is in many ways a character itself, an infinite labyrinth of secrets, cared for by android-like guides, including a delightful mechanical raven, with their own mysterious agenda. It makes for an extraordinary setting that will appeal to any booklover.

I was taken aback by several clever twists in the plot, some of which genuinely surprised me. The story’s secrets remain elusive until the exact moment that Lawrence reveals them. There is plenty of action, from brief skirmishes to panicked chases, that accelerates as the end draws near to a cliffhanger ending. Though Livira is the more compelling character, there are moments of triumph, and of heartbreak, in both perspectives that support suspense and interest. Romance plays a low key role in the story, but there is a lot of heart in the relationships between allies.

Having not read anything by Mark Lawrence before I was pleased to find his prose is often lyrical and evocative, given to thought-provoking turns of phrase. There is also wit, warmth, and glimpses of self awareness in the writing. At times there is repetition in the narrative, but it’s only a minor issue.

A complex, intriguing, and utterly enchanting novel, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn delivers an absorbing read, and promises more to come. show less

I have not read as many books as I would have liked so far this year, but those that I have made time for have really delivered in quality. The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is another that is going straight on my Best Books of 2023 list.

I am not a big reader of fantasy, but this combination of parallel worlds, a central library setting and the promise of a trilogy from a bestselling author, was enough to tempt me.

My first experience of Mark Lawrence’s writing, this novel exceeded my expectations. That his world-building in The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is both vivid and detailed while at the same time epic in scale and scope, is perhaps not a huge surprise given his bestselling fantasy author status. But it was his wonderful show more characterisation and this story’s strong dramatic threads that captivated me from the very first chapter.

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn‘s Livira is the perfect ‘imperfect’ female lead character. She is innately curious, a voracious learner, and not afraid to ruffle feathers by asking questions. She is an impetuously gutsy underdog and loyal to a fault for those deserving of it. She is a natural born leader, not afraid to push the boundaries for a worthy cause. She is fantastic. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2023/07/the-book-that-wouldnt-burn-review-m... show less

It'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 show more 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. show less

This was one of the most beautiful books I've ever read in my life. I'm going to be thinking about it and processing it for a long while yet, so I'll keep this brief. Lawrence's background and education is showing in spades here... so much theory applied in a way that is accessible to every reader. During my MFA, one of my professors said every author gets ONE book/series about books or libraries, and Lawrence has honed his skill to perfection before writing his. And it's a perfect gut punch that made me do a lot of work while reading but left me feeling more satisfied than I've felt upon finishing a book in a long time.

While I'd put this book in the speculative fiction category (so much space/time theory!) I'd give too much away show more trying to talk about what's working so well for this installment. Instead, I'll just say you'd do yourself an injustice not to add this to your read list! show less

Truly Phenemonal. Near Perfection.

I find it hard to put into words just how much I fell in love with this book, it's characters, and the fascinating and intriguing worldbuilding. To think I picked this up completely at random and it's genuinely one of the best fantasy books I've ever read.

The core elements are classic: plucky, precocious, outsider young girl is taken from all she knows through tragedy and does the incredibly talented inquisitive and cheeky fish out of water thing. There's a lovable, foul-mouthed soldier bodyguard, well-written romance, a split narrative with that comes together, and the futility and pointlessness of war and hatred of one people for another. But what Lawrence does with those elements, the world they show more create, and the way concepts are explored and extrapolated through a fantastic, wondrous, and terrifying library that straddles all dimensions, is a work of utter brilliance.

The ideas and message are great, combining mind-bending speculative sci-fi concepts and epic fantasy fun with humour, intrigue and human emotion.

I really need to go back and listen to the last handful of chapters, as some of the reveals and elements genuinely had me sobbing my heart out, while pleasantly baffled. This definitely took my brain on a long walk and made my emotions work out.

I'm absolutely gutted this came out this year and absolutely need the next book as soon as humanly possible!

The performance by Jessica Whittaker is out of this world and absolutely top tier. The range of accents, age, and emotion they embody are mind blowing! An absolutely breathtaking performance that makes me genuinely want to listen to anything and everything they narrate.

I loved this book so very much, but I do have two issues that, while absolutely weren't deal breakers, did impact my enjoyment and make me question how much I can trust the author and their views. The first is a fictional quote heading up one of the chapters that discusses very stereotypical and not gender-inclusive depictions of mothers, fathers, and pregnancy. The other is this quote:
"If a civilization is not capable of keeping a book from burning then perhaps it wasn't ready for whatever knowledge was held within"
The point is a good an interesting one in the context of the book with it referring to knowledge, particularly that of weapons of mass destruction. However, we live in a world where fascist and bigoted book burnings have taken place, and we are currently seeing truly wild and dangerous censorship and removal of books from schools and other places due to ignorance, bigotry, and rightwing propaganda. There has to be a better say to phrase this. All I could think of were the Nazi book burnings, which the famous photos come from the destruction of the research and writing of the Hirschfeld Institute, particularly those on sexuality and gender identity. We have always been ready for Queer/ trans folx because we have always existed.

I don't think either of the above points was done maliciously, but it does come across as some cisnormative ignorance that was a small blemish on an otherwise utterly brilliant book. show less

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is my first experience reading a novel by Mark Lawrence, and it will not be my last. I mean, it is the first in a series, about which I am very excited. His newest book is a gorgeous amalgam of science fiction and fantasy with a glorious homage to the power of the written word. How could I not want to read more by an author who writes that?

I will not bother describing the plot of The Book That Wouldn’t Burn because I know I could never do it justice. In my notes, I describe it as a time travel/world travel novel because the worlds in which Evar and Livira live are as different as the two places can be. Even The Library, one of the constants between both time periods, differs according to the narrator. To show more say any more would ruin the surprises Mr. Lawrence leaves for the reader. Suffice it to say that when one of the main characters is a mysterious and mystical library, you know the story will be good!

In this quirky but fascinating novel, Mr. Lawrence plays with the concept of a story, why any story is important, what a story can tell current readers about the past, and what a story hides. He relies on the fact that every reader brings their own biases and viewpoints to a novel, using it to play with a reader's understanding of what is or is not occurring. This makes The Book That Wouldn’t Burn more complex, unexpected, and oddly satisfying. It is a clever novel that questions, entertains, and amazes the reader, and I can't wait to read more. show less