The Book That Wouldn't Burn

The Book being about a big library and books had me hooked. Also the part about time travel and the characters finding out what's behind it was very interesting and has a lot of potential. The political setting reminded me a bit of The poppy war but only at the beginning. But for me the first 150 pages should have been max 50 because I found it boring and nearly abandoned the book. Also I struggled a bit that we didn't find out a lot about what exactly everything is good for/ a red thread. For over half of the book. At the end I think this was on purpose. We shouldn't have known for the plot.

Hard to get in

I needed like 300 pages to get into the book and it still wasn’t really worth it in my opinion. I‘m probably not gonna continue this series but I enjoyed the writing style a lot.

“all books, no matter their binding, will fall to dust. the stories they carry may last longer. they might outlive the paper, the library, even the language in which they were first written. the greatest story can reach the stars.” This book causes the reader to ask questions, challenge beliefs and seek new perspectives. If you love libraries, protectors of stories and power of books this is story is the one. The infinitely large library contains the collective knowledge of human kind and represents our legacy as a civilization and what remains once our hunger for self destruction is sated. The writing of this book is witty and heartfelt with Livira and Evar as outstanding leads. The themes of The Book That Wouldn’t Burn extend well beyond the nature of knowledge, learning and memory. Lawrence also contemplates how society develops the notion of a collective enemy, the dehumanization of “the other” and ultimately, we may discover that we are our own worst enemy. I think this is a book that transcends genres in a sense that, even readers who will not typically reach for a fantasy book will enjoy it.

Mind blowing…Don’t know how to describe

This book isn’t just a story. It’s worlds and times put into mind blowing feelings of cold, confusion, pain and curiosity. It’s the smell of dusty books. It was hard to get in at first…Livira is a rebellious character wich I really liked to grow with. Evar has my heart, I really felt his perspective . Mark Lawrence has an incredible and buffling understanding to create the world I’ve find myself in. Sometimes it was so hard to stay focused and to understand all the content but this book made me really WANT to understand everything. Because this is some type of book you won’t find again. It’s unique! A world full of questions and philosophy and monsters to face. Some great plot twists got me breaking in the end. Loved it!

This really was a magnificent read.

Right from the beginning, I fell in love with Lawrence's writing style and the way he introduces us to new characters and scenes. I will say, this is a slow read. The pace only picks up for the last third of the book and a lot of the book is spent with long descriptions and very little action but once I got past that, I found that I could not put it down. The last third was filled with so many "wtf"-moments and revelations, so many things that suddenly made sense, I was absolutely awe-struck at the way the author manages to weave so many threads together. I already bought the second part and I am so excited to see how the story continues!

The concept behind this book is amazing and fascinating. I'm sorry to say that the writing and characters still didn't catch me. It's hard to take this book because I think if you're able to get into the story, there's a good chance to totally love it. Sadly I didn't.

[Print/Englisch] ▪︎ Spoiler möglich Ich habe über einem Monat für dieses Buch gebraucht. Es spielt aktiv über 10 Jahre der Protagonistin und inaktiv über hunderte bis tausende allgemein und umfasst damit doch einiges and Kontext. Die ersten 70% des Buches ist vor allem Aufbau, in den letzten 30% wird dann der Schalter umgestellt und es nimmt fahrt auf und viele Punkte verbinden sich. Einer dieser hat mich womöglich auch zum weinen gebracht... Die letzten 30% haben auch dieses Buch von 4 zu 5 Sterne bewegt und lässt mich auf Band 2 freuen. Die Story war lang, aber gut. Es geht um Wissen und wie dieses ein Segen und ein Fluch ist. Sowie ein nicht endendern Kreislauf welches damit erschaffen wurde. Ebenso um die Beziehung der zwei Protagonisten. Ich mochte beide Protagonisten und auch einige der neben Charaktere. Allem voran Malar, ein Soldat in Rente. Ich wollte nach all den Wochen endlich das Ende sehen, aber nun wo alle Punkte einen Sinn ergeben, bin ich traurig es fertig zu haben und auf Band 2 warten zu müssen 🥲

MIND. BLOWING.

Unique and compelling concepts but not executed well enough

The title of the book promises a lot and how gorgeous is the fact fact that there is a huge library, books and librarians involved However, unfortunately to my greatest regret I must say this book is not for me. The prose is stunning and beautiful with many great quotes. I love it. And it is the prose that makes me read the book to the end and not dnf it. BUT it is the way the story is told that bothers me. It takes the longest time at the beginning, since it is dragging on to the verge of boredom and seems to progress the story in very slow motion. I have great difficulties connecting with anything in the story, be it the characters, the world or the plot. Only after more than half of the book do I find myself feeling comfortable with the characters and the story for maybe 150 pages, before events seem to be overtaking each other and too much happens too fast and it gets rather confusing and therefore exhausting to read on, at least for me. Only with difficulties can I get myself to read the last 50 pages. The story features some unique and very interesting and compelling concepts which aren’t executed well enough for the reader not getting confused and overwhelmed at times but rather losing the overview and coherency. After reaching the end of the book I feel the need to start reading it immediately from the beginning again in order to understand it better this time.

Das Buch wird empfohlen mit der Überschrift "erst ab 70% des Buches verstehst du, worum es wirklich geht". Und ich kann das definitiv bestätigen, jedoch war ich gegen Ende des Buches immernoch sehr verwirrt. Viele Fragen sind offen geblieben. Das World Building ist sehr kompliziert und recht lang, daher fängt die wirkliche Handlung wirklich erst ab 70% des Buches an. Ich finde die Charaktere jedoch sehr toll und werde allein wegen ihnen das zweite Buch auch lesen. Die Handlung gegen Ende war trotz Verwirrung sehr spannend und auch intensiv.