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Summary and Reviews of The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence

The Book That Wouldn't Burn by  Mark Lawrence

The Book That Wouldn't Burn

The Library Trilogy #1

by Mark Lawrence
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • First Published:
  • May 9, 2023, 576 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Mar 2024, 576 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

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.

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Reviews

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Over the course of the book, the characters' stories converge in unexpected ways as they seek answers to the questions surrounding them. The romantic elements complement the mystery well, as do excellent worldbuilding and character development, but for me the book's real draw is the opportunity to explore this extraordinary library through the characters' perspectives and experiences...continued

Full Review (585 words)

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(Reviewed by Katharine Blatchford).

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Beyond the Book



Books about Magical Libraries

Mark Lawrence's fantasy novel The Book That Wouldn't Burn centers on an incredible library, where the knowledge of millennia is guarded by magical assistants and dangerous labyrinths. For book lovers, reading about magical libraries can have a special appeal—a place that, in the real world, already feels enchanted and full of possibility can literally be so in fantasy. Below are some other books with extraordinary enchanted libraries.

Cover image for The Midnight LibraryThe Midnight Library (2020): Matt Haig's novel explores the choices we make and the regrets that result through a magical library whose books contain all the alternate universes from every decision made over the course of a lifetime. In exploring this library, Nora also confronts ...

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Read-Alikes

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Who Said...

It is always darkest just before the day dawneth

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