The Book That Wouldn’t Burn

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn, Book 1

By: Mark Lawrence

Narrated by: Jessica Whittaker

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 is the start of an incredible new journey from the internationally bestselling author of Prince of Thorns, in which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned…

Evar has lived his whole life trapped within a vast library, older than empires and larger than cities.

Livira has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust where nightmares stalk and no one goes.

The world has never noticed them.

That’s about to change.

As their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time, each will unlock vast secrets about the world and themselves. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another.

©2023 Mark Lawrence (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

Praise for Mark Lawrence

‘An excellent writer’
George R.R. Martin, #1 SUNDAY and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of GAME OF THRONES

‘Dark and relentless…A two in the morning page turner. Jaw-dropping’
Robin Hobb, the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE ASSASSIN’S APPRENTICE

‘Excellent – on par with George R.R. Martin’
Conn Iggulden, author of GENGHIS

‘Mark Lawrence gets better with every book. It has a drive to it, a pulse, a gearshift that kicks higher and higher.’
Fantasy Book Review

‘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

‘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

Great book

Original, fantastical, charming and enthralling. Im looking forward to the next books in the series.

very juvenile. pre teen not typical YA at all.

I did not enjoy this book at all. I usually love books by Mark Lawrence but not this time. it just did not work. the story was at odds with ? human nature. with how civilisation works. how people are...what motivates them and what not. it was missing the kernel of truth that makes fantasy novels so exciting and enjoyable. I did finish but I had to work at it.