'Would it really take a vengeful god to bring them all to ruin, or was it simply a case of handing sharp knives to toddlers and waiting for the bleeding to start?"Wonderfully written and captivating.  This book touches on some very heavy issues such as xenophobia, class structure, and cyclical violence.  It makes the reader think while all the while being a very rich story told by two P.O.Vs.  One of the big questions it raises is the power of knowledge, and however great that might be knowledge is a double-edged sword. The main characters are superbly written, and you are drawn into their stories within this world. The world building is the only issue i had. It gets a little lost in itself, but i think that may be because this part jumps around quite a bit. Finally, this book is a homage to books and the power they have pressed between their covers.

I'm not going to write a review. I'll just say that I loved the book and the world's he weaves. It is a slow going book, you definitely won't fly through it in one sitting.When I started the second book, the author provided a "the story so far" prologue. This would have been so helpful before reading the first page of this book. So, here you go (and no spoilers):The library is effectively eternal and infinite. It reaches into many worlds and contains a truly vast collection of books (or the equivalent) from a great many species, spanning all periods of history. It comprises square chambers two miles on each side and is staffed by gleaming white assistants that stock and restock the books. The door from one chamber to the next opens for every member of some species and not for those of others. The further you travel from an entrance keyed to one particular species the rarer doors they can open become.The Exchange is an in-between kind of place whose appearance is partly shaped by the expectations of those visiting it. The Exchange can change the appearance of others to suit visitors’ expectations and it makes the speech of everyone in it understandable to everyone else. The Exchange contains many doors. Those doors lead to the past, present, and future, and to different worlds. The furthest forward time a person visits becomes their present. If a person leaves the Exchange by a door that leads to their past then they appear there as a ghost, invisible to the people of that time and unable to touch anything or communicate with anyone. They will regain their normal form in the Exchange and in any place in their present or future. Left to its own devices the Exchange brings things together and creates coincidences.The Mechanism is a small building into which a single person can take a single book. It will then allow them to experience and interrogate the book as if they were walking through the world in which it’s set or talk to the author with the advantage of all manner of solid illusions to illustrate the text.Escapes appear to be spirits of some kind that can take physical form. They escape from the Mechanism and seem to be the result of damage to it. They tend to attack whatever’s in front of them.There are many mythologies concerning the library’s creation. All of them are true.

This is a book for people who love books. It's one of those rare pieces that absolutely leans into the strengths that can only be provided by the written word. I can't see how someone could turn this into a movie, for example. The story perfectly fits the media.I did find the beginning a little tedious in terms of pacing, particularly Evar's chapters. I found myself skimming just to get through.Each chapter begins with a little excerpt from fictional books by fictional authors. I think this may be my favourite part. Very tongue in cheek and breaks the seriousness of the world building with delightful silly passages.When the book let's go, it gets very good. The characters, the lessons they learn along the way and small revelations lead very naturally to the major reveals. It is very satisfying how the clues come together and all decisions make great sense.The book reads like a complete book.The last 3-5 chapters though feel a bit tacked on, like an attempt to pave way for the trilogy.I'm not convinced there's enough story for a sequel let alone 2, but I'm willing to give the writer a try.Solid 3.5 stars, would highly recommend.

“The greatest puzzle is one not understood until the final piece is set in place. Life, appropriately, can be like that, all the pieces tumbling together in a slow dance until in one last joining of hands epiphany strikes.”—The best kind of story, in my eyes, is the story that holds off on delivering information and revelation until the last possible moment. Not only does this book perfect that formula to a T but even goes so far as to revel in its superiority in that category with that very same self-crowning quote above.The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is the best book I’ve ever read as well as my #1 favorite. And those two self-canonized categories RARELY overlap. In any just world, this book at the very least becomes the greatest book of 2023, Mark Lawrence’s magnum opus, and in all justifiability, a modern classic and potentially a waypoint for the entire fantasy genre.To say much about this book would be to ruin it as the entire narrative of the book is stylized to be a continuous mystery and revelation cycle that will burn itself into the mind of the reader.I can comment on the wonderful use of literary device, as well as philosophy, mythology, and personal stakes made by Mark Lawrence that TOTALLY elevate this book to the next level.I am extremely impressed at how much effort it took to write this.It’s very clear that Mark labored ponderously for hundreds of hours and wrote his very soul into this book. I’m speechless at how well he is able to put himself into these characters shoes and really imagine what it is like to be them in their unique circumstances.The Book That Wouldn’t Burn is contemplative, romantic, existential, and even at times, shocking, horrifying and bleak. Everything in the story works itself into its’ themes. The plot comes full circle in the end, with an absolute God-tier final 40 pages, and leaves a mysterious trail into the 2 planned sequel novels.This is a story I will cherish and reread for years and years to come and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone even remotely interested in fiction and masterful storytelling. It’s a perfect masterpiece.All the stars. And more. Books 2 & 3 couldn’t possibly come soon enough.

Some background: I've read three of Lawrence's trilogies prior to picking up this book: The Broken Empire, The Red Queen's War, and The Book of the Ancestor. I enjoyed all three (especially BotA), but I felt like he leaned too far into narrative contrivances based around convenient amnesia (the former two trilogies), and nebulous unexplained magical powers (the latter trilogy). The Book That Wouldn't Burn is unburdened by such plot devices.The book itself is a love letter to reading and libraries. Every chapter opens with a humorous epigraph that establishes the theme, and I really enjoyed the tone of the entire book - it was lighthearted and very funny for the most part, but Lawrence wasn't afraid to go to dark places. The character work was also mostly excellent, especially Livira, the girl named after a weed which would grow anywhere, who has become one of my favorite fantasy protagonists. I also loved Malar, the foul-mouthed soldier - any scene with him was bound to be a good time.As for the plot, it revolves around a magical library, which has existed for all of recorded history and seems to defy the passage of time and the rise and fall of civilizations around it. While you may think that a book about a library would make for dull reading, think again because this book is capital-B Bonkers. I never knew where Lawrence would take me next, and the skill with which he positioned each important narrative beat and the (numerous) plot twists were superb and a vast improvement over his previous offerings - I look forward to future re-reads so I can pick out all the clues I missed in my first read.If you are a fan of Lawrence's work, you should read this book. If you are a fan of creative fantasy fiction, you should read this book. If you are a fan of reading (which I assume you are since you are reading a book review), you should read this book.