The Book That Wouldn't Burn (The Book That Wouldn't Burn #1)[May 15, 2023]

[Chris]

3 months later....I'm at the halfway point! Yayyy....

[Tammie]

Chris wrote: "3 months later....I'm at the halfway point! Yayyy...."

😂

[Nirkatze]

Chris wrote: "3 months later....I'm at the halfway point! Yayyy...."

LOL Gogogo Chris! You can do it!

[Siobhan]

Oooh I'm reading this now! I'll keep you company Chris! :D

I'm up to chapter 45. I'm really enjoying Livira's chapters and following her as she grows, but I get confused by Evar's chapters, probably because there's less of them.

[Chris]

Siobhan wrote: "Oooh I'm reading this now! I'll keep you company Chris! :D

I'm up to chapter 45. I'm really enjoying Livira's chapters and following her as she grows, but I get confused by Evar's chapters, probab..."

And just like that, you blew past me...lol

[Siobhan]

Hahah only because I'm listening to the audiobook. I highly suspect this would not be keeping my attention if I was reading my physical copy.

RE Epigraphs - (not really a spoiler but) (view spoiler)[ I noticed the Mark Lawrence ones, quotes from Jorg etc. But I also noticed some that were like garbled quotes of real books, like I remember there being an Enid Blyton one. And that along with some other things like the assistants makes me think this is just another example of the world created in Broken Empire! (view spoiler)[ Lawrence seems to love writing fantasy set in the future after society has collapsed. So is it the same world? Or is it just old hat and he's repeating himself? (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

@Siobhan--re: Epitaphs--(view spoiler)[I tried googling several but never caught a real one! Except for the Mark Lawrence ones, of course... (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Nirkatze wrote: "@Siobhan--re: Epitaphs--[spoilers removed]"

I'll check my physical copy when I get home because I can't remember what chapter it is, but I was amused at the way they muddled up Enid Blyton's name on the audio. It was close enough that I'm sure we were supposed to get it :') And I might flick through them all because I'm sure there was another one I thought was a real book.

[Beena]

Chris wrote: "3 months later....I'm at the halfway point! Yayyy...."

Lol, that's some dedication, I'd I've chucked it in the fuck-it bucket by now if I was struggling that much with it!

[Siobhan]

Fuck it bucket hahaha :D

[Beena]

@Siobhan re Epigraphs (view spoiler)[ Yep, that was most definitely an Enid Blyton reference and he was ripping the shit out of her. It made me laugh as well. He's read his way through most of her books via reading to his daughter and is pretty withering in his reviews of them. (hide spoiler)]

[Chris]

Beena wrote: "Chris wrote: "3 months later....I'm at the halfway point! Yayyy...."

Lol, that's some dedication, I'd I've chucked it in the fuck-it bucket by now if I was struggling that much with it!"

I pretty much do....I set it aside for a few weeks, read a chapter...rinse, repeat

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I should rename this "The Buddy Read That Wouldn't End" ;)

[Chris]

Maybe.....I think of it as The Book That Wouldn't End

[Siobhan]

Hahaha Iain you're going to get in trouble 🤣

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I'm not actually going to rename this one... it does seem to keep hitting my notification feed, tho... despite being months old... and most people hating it...

[Tammie]

This thread has become more entertaining than the book was.

[Nirkatze]

LOL thank y'all for making me laugh today!

re: Enid Blayton--that's a really cool insight Beena!

I swear--a lot of the Epigraphs looked like something familiar to me, but when I googled they didn't show up... and then things like "Copper Davidfield" etc... I can see it being part parody, part in-world cannon, and part not wanting to get the rights to quote all of those different books... so everything is just a little off... except for his own books.

[Siobhan]

Nirkatze wrote: "LOL thank y'all for making me laugh today!

re: Enid Blayton--that's a really cool insight Beena!

I swear--a lot of the Epigraphs looked like something familiar to me, but when I googled they didn..."

I think he does it to show us that our real world is massively in the past for them (like Broken Empire) and things get garbled and lost in translation over time. So all the ones related to real names that's why I think he does it.

[Siobhan]

Tammie wrote: "This thread has become more entertaining than the book was."

I'm glad this is the buddy read that wouldn't end because now I have people to talk to about it even though I'm months late!! :D

[Chris]

I have an ARC, which is bad....So even with a head start I'm months behind...

[Beena]

and most people hating it..

I mean 5000 people have read it already which is pretty impressive, and 80% have given it 4 or 5 stars, so it's looks like most people enjoyed it apart from most peeps in our BR lol.

[Siobhan]

How can Mark Lawrence tell us this book has nothing to do with his other series when the city is called Crath and he uses quotes like the one in chapter 63 by Olidan Ancrath! :')

I'm up to chapter 68 now, nearly finished.

(view spoiler)[ Stuff has started to happen quickly, but I'm not 100% following to be honest. I liked the revelation that Livira and Evar are both "sabers" to each other, and the exchange made them see what they wanted to etc. I'm not so sure on the revelation that Yute is an assistant of some sort, I picture them as robots and Yute as human, even though it was suggested he's not of the same race.
And I like Malar and his sweary hard ass persona but he's really lovely. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

@Beena: FBR opinions superior ;) … haven’t really looked at book page…

[Beena]

Lol

[Nirkatze]

I get the sense that it's less that this book is in the same world as the other books, but that the other books' worlds all exist in this world...

[Siobhan]

Nirkatze wrote: "I get the sense that it's less that this book is in the same world as the other books, but that the other books' worlds all exist in this world..."

That makes sense :)

[Chris]

Hey...ummm look what I finished....lol

[Siobhan]

Chris wrote: "Hey...ummm look what I finished....lol"

Wooo! What's your verdict? :)

[Chris]

I ended up liking it....It's weird, but somewhere around 60% it really grabbed hold

[Siobhan]

Great!! I liked it too. Just wish I loved it like all his new readers seem to.

[Nirkatze]

Chris wrote: "Hey...ummm look what I finished....lol"

LOL I love the way you phrased this, like "look what the cat dragged in."

[Chris]

Haha, yeah well....I was kinda surprised that I got through it

[Nirkatze]

Yeah, congrats!

[Charlie]

I've been reading this for nearly a year. I've started again three times. I'm listening to the audio and for some reason I just can't keep track of it on my head and I have no idea what's happening! Up to chapter 14 again, can someone please explain what is going on before I give up entirely!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Lucky you… tou don’t have to stop reading… The Book That Broke The World comes out Tuesday… just keep chugging along right into book 2…

(I haven’t read this and can’t be any help with a synopsis)

[Tammie]

Sorry Charlie, I had a hard time with it too and gave up on it.

[Charlie]

I don't know why I'm struggling with it so much honestly.

[Nirkatze]

Charlie wrote: "I've been reading this for nearly a year. I've started again three times. I'm listening to the audio and for some reason I just can't keep track of it on my head and I have no idea what's happening..."

Whookay, it's been a year since reading, so I'll see if I can help any... if it makes any difference, I ditto Rob's assessment of this stage of the book:

Rob wrote: "i'm thru chapter 14/about 22% of the way in. Still very much in a "what the heck is going on in this novel" stage :)"

Like, seriously, you're supposed to feel like WTF is going on at this point. Things do click later, I remember... though this definitely isn't peak Lawrence writing. More like middling.

What I vaguely remember, and hopefully doesn't have much post-chapter 14 spoilers... (view spoiler)[Two different POVs which seem to potentially be different timelines or universes linked by the existence of the Library. We have no idea how they are connected... though Evar recently (I hope) found a book that suggests connections...

Evar lives in the library with his "siblings"--they all are people who were taken out of their time by the Mechanism, and their families were all destroyed by the "Scabbers." There are strange creatures in the library that attack them and they have to fight. There are two statue-like people who have kinda raised them. Each of Evar's siblings have some kind of strange power, but Evar is kinda normal.

Livira's POV: her village was wiped out by Scabbers and she was taken for slavery--but a roving guard-group from the City took out the Scabbers and save the survivors, taking them all to the City. On the way, Livia saves the life of one of the warriors, and so he helps her in return when they get to the City. She decides she wants to be a Librarian even though she doesn't know anything--and an eclectic Senior Librarian decides to take her on as a curiosity. He's also connected to the warrior somehow. There's also a cat and a housekeeper... and Livira joins the newest class of wannabe-Librarians. The Library has a lot of secrets--it is more than just books for reading. (hide spoiler)]

Not sure how far that is though, so I hope I didn't spoil anything.

[Charlie]

That helps so much, thank you!!

[Nirkatze]

Oh good! We're cheering for you Charlie!

[Charlie]

I read another chapter yesterday and now I'm looking at it with a new perspective thanks to your summary, I feel like I have a grasp on things now.

[Nirkatze]

Oh huzzah!

Here's the link for the second book, if you decide to continue, BR currently for May 16.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Charlie]

thanks!

[Beena]

How the hell is this thread still going?! Lmao.. longest BR ever!

[Chris]

Beena wrote: "How the hell is this thread still going?! Lmao.. longest BR ever!"

That's just how long it takes to get through this book 🤣

[Charlie]

Chris wrote:

That's just how long it takes to get through this book 🤣"

So freaking true! I'm trying so hard to get through it but my brain doesn't want to listening to it! I have to keep rewinding because I'm not processing what's happening. Though since I have Nirkatze's explanation to go back to it is getting easier.

I really wanted to love this, I hope I start to feel that love in the next few chapters.

[Nirkatze]

LOL The Book That Wouldn't End, more like.

I do remember the end picking up in pacing, and seeding some curiosity, but it didn't score in the top Lawrence books for me.

[Marie]

I agree that the book has very long set up. But it sold me with the worldbuilding and the twists... top Lawrence for me 🤷🏻

[Nirkatze]

I find it interesting how divisive Lawrence's books are--like, everyone seems to have a different favorite of his series.