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Start giftingThe Book That Broke the World
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Learn moreTwo people living in a world connected by an immense and mysterious library must fight for those they love in the second book in a new trilogy from the international bestselling author of The Book That Wouldn’t Burn.
The Library spans worlds and times. It touches and joins distant places. It is memory and future. And amid its vastness Evar Eventari both found, and lost, Livira Page.
Evar has been forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover the book she wrote—one which is the only true threat to the library’s existence—if she's to return to her life.
While Evar's journey leads him outside into a world he's never seen, Livira's path will taker her deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.
The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.
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.
Reviews
"Mark Lawrence strikes the perfect balance between intellect and heart in this second volume of his Library Trilogy." - Grimdark MagazinePraise for The Book That Wouldn't Burn:
“The most tightly plotted novel I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading…it’s truly magnificent.” – BookRiot
“This tale of knowledge and its cost flies by thanks to the gripping mystery and beautiful worldbuilding...Readers will be desperate for more.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Gripping, earnest, and impeccably plotted." – Kirkus (starred review)
"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
"Lush and intricately plotted, this dense fantasy tale of an aspiring librarian from a village in a backwater known as the Dust and a boy who's lived his whole life trapped in a massive and ancient library is full of surprising twists and turns. With a plot that encompasses everything from romance and political intrigue to time travel and philosophy, this first installment in Mark Lawrence's new Library Trilogy is an often devastating story of the price we pay for knowledge." – Paste Magazine
"Reading Mark Lawrence's latest novel, The Book that Wouldn't Burn, feels like having your mind blown in slow motion." - Grimdark Magazine
"This book is a tour-de-force that pushes the boundaries of the genre, a true page turner and a must read for anyone who appreciates great literature." - FanFi Addict Expand reviews