The Library Trilogy #1
by Mark Lawrence
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published May 2023
576 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
Two strangers find themselves connected by a vast and mysterious library containing many wonders and still more secrets, in this powerfully moving first book in a new series from the international bestselling author of Red Sister and Prince of Thorns.
The boy has lived his whole life trapped within a book-choked chamber older than empires and larger than cities.
The girl has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust, where nightmares stalk and no one goes.
The world has never even noticed them. That's about to change.
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.
"Lawrence draws readers into a vast subterranean library in this thrilling romantic fantasy and Library Trilogy series launch...[T]his tale of knowledge and its cost flies by thanks to the gripping mystery and beautiful worldbuilding, ending on a devastating cliffhanger. Readers will be desperate for more." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[A] madcap adventure full of political intrigue, time travel, philosophy, and romance. Lawrence works with many threads here, but none feels misused or insufficiently explored. Rather, the author unspools them masterfully, leaving behind a tightly woven tapestry that readers will ache to see finished even if they can predict one or two of the tale's myriad twists and turns. Gripping, earnest, and impeccably plotted." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"[S]pellbinding...There is a lot to enjoy here, with 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
"The most tightly plotted novel I've ever had the pleasure of reading…it's truly magnificent." —Book Riot
This information about The Book That Wouldn't Burn was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Mark Lawrence was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, to British parents but moved to the UK at the age of one. After earning a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College London, he went back to the US to work on a variety of research projects, including the "Star Wars" missile-defense program. Since returning to the UK, he has worked mainly on image processing and decision/reasoning theory. He never had any ambition to be a writer, so he was very surprised when a half-hearted attempt to find an agent turned into a global publishing deal overnight. His first trilogy, The Broken Empire, has been universally acclaimed as a groundbreaking work of fantasy, and both Emperor of Thorns and The Liar's Key have won the David Gemmell Legend Award for best fantasy novel. Mark is married, with four children, and lives in Bristol.
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