Mark Lawrence has done it. He has taken everything literary and formalized it into a religion, a sect, a cult. And The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is the bible. That’s it. That’s my review. Welcome, follower of the faith, this book is the mandatory reading of the order. 

The library that Lawrence has created is everything, it’s the start of times, the end of times and everything in between. All of time can be found in there, contained into segments. It’s a complicated, magical space that is bigger than the space it physically sits in. 

Lawrence has taken the real and the fictional, the book and the library, the reader and the academic and created a love letter to this universe that is literature. There are lovely little gems as an ode to some of the greatest writers of our time, like Hemingway and Poe, and others. 

Another big element of this story is time. Parallel time, present, past and future. The vastness of the world that, this library Lawrence has created, opens out to, is mind blowing. At times it’s almost like a fever dream yet it still follows a pattern, a synchronicity, an order. And what are books, if not papery devices of time travel? Portals to other places, times, people, events. I do not know HOW Lawrence made it make sense. I guess this is what great authors do. There are moments in the book, that make a full circle… somehow, through the maze that is this story. A moment, an element, a small little detail hits home and you go: I get it! I get it! The Easter eggs! I wish I could tell you about them all but they’re spoilers, and the joy of discovery is too great with this book.

This takes me to the point that Lawrence is a VERY quotable author. From the time I discovered this author with his Broken Empire trilogy, Lawrence has managed to make everything screech to a halt with quotes that stop you in your tracks. Same goes for The Book That Wouldn’t Burn. Quotes are bountiful! Beautiful use of language, beautiful writing. Wholesome and bountiful. 

Lawrence has thought of everything. Everything that a written word can be or mean or do. There is a hint at fake news, which is a current issue we face in our times. There is a big play on the concept of ‘truth’, of how when looked from a different POV, the truth can look very different. The story explores where the meeting point of more than one truths lies and how the reaction to that very meeting point of truths decides the way forward.

So, this is the story, guaranteed to take you on a wild journey. Your mind will go into overdrive trying to imagine all that Lawrence is trying to show you. But it’s a good one. It’s also one of those books that will bring you joy, even more so, on a second read because now you’ll know to recognize all of the hints, the clues of what’s to come and that will make you really want to tip a hat towards the author. Fantastic job!

A word or few about some of the characters, too.

Livira… The girl from outside of the library, outside of the city. She comes from the harsh conditions of Dust. The way time works in this book, allows us to have a real coming of age story when it comes to Livira. She’s always curious, ambitious, and brave. She’s the fish that swims against the current just because she has a question and she wants to experiment for a different outcome. You can’t help but love her.

Evar… The boy that lives in the library with his siblings and a couple of helpers. Knows a bit about everything, but has confidence issues, because there seems to be a chunk of his memory missing. He is the one that his 3 ‘brothers’ and a ‘sister’ get along with – he’s the constant in between them. This character delivered the biggest surprise by far, but I always enjoy how humble and even shy he was.

Malar… I am a simple human, I like working man who knows what he does and swears like a sailor. Malar is a soldier, a guard and his mouth is as dirty as a steamboat’s chimney. He added that extra spark that I like to have in the books I read. The minute I met Malar, I know that scenes involving him were going to be just that extra bit spicy and exciting.

The librarians – including Yute – I put them all into same pot… They are the guardians of books, the all-knowing, the herders of society. The protectors of truth. But as always, with great power and vast knowledge comes the difficult task of balancing – what do people deserve to know? Do they need to know everything? Should some truths remain secret? How is it that they necessarily know what’s best? The age old concept of rules… We trust them blindly, we follow them, we praise them. All we can hope is that they’ll do right by us. 

And I love how Lawrence seems to have put the whole of society into these characters. The richness of diversity – we need them all for things to work. We need people who know everything about one thing. We need people who know a little about everything. We need people who do the hard, dirty work. We need the paper pushers and pen wielders to write it all down. The magic, as always, is striking the balance. 

Did the pacing give me a niggle now and again? Sure, but that’s personal preference. Hindsight is always the best sight, they say, and in hindsight, this book is absolutely the work of masterful and epic proportions. Some things cannot be rushed. 

Am I absolutely excited about where the sequel will take me? Absolutely. The crazy thing is, I cannot even imagine where Lawrence is going to steer this story next. So many big things, Earth-shattering things happened in this book. Lawrence was thoroughly generous with the twists and surprises that were already gifted to the reader. I feel like this is going to be the title and trilogy that will sum up everything that is fantasy fiction for decades to come. It is the anthem to reading, to love of books, to knowledge. 

In short summary, The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is like getting lost in the library that goes on and on and on without end or edge- it’s bigger than what you think should fit in between the covers. It deserves the whole 5 stars, simple as that.