TBTWB: December 2025 Pick - The Book That Wouldn't Burn by Mark Lawrence

[Rob, Roberator]

Our final pick of the year is The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence

Let us know what you think

[Tamahome]

Fahrenheit 451 degrees should do it.

[Trike]

Tamahome wrote: "Fahrenheit 451 degrees should do it."

Hah! That’s how he gets you. The book is made of woven titanium.* Very high melting point.





* That’s not true. Don’t expect that and be disappointed.

[Joanna]

Asbestos would do. ;-)

[Ruth]

I haven’t read any Mark Lawrence before, this one sounds like a decent place to start. Love a huge library- and my local library has it in stock so I can get it easily!

[Stephen]

I am a big fan of Mark Lawrence, I have read every book written by Mark and this one is a wild tale, Starts out one way, does a u turn, goes another way, then a loop de loop. It has fantasy elements, SF elements and ... well I will let you all find out. The trilogy just finished when the 3rd book was released early this year. and there are novellas tied to the series. Overdue and Returns.

[AndrewP]

Ruth wrote: "I haven’t read any Mark Lawrence before, this one sounds like a decent place to start. Love a huge library- and my local library has it in stock so I can get it easily!"

8 copies and 0 holds in my local library system too so getting it will not be a problem.

[Tamahome]

A third of the way through it gets pretty crazy. Mark Lawrence seems to be a real pantser and makes things up as he goes along.

[Scott]

It gets much crazier, but there's considerable structure and connections back to very early elements that are critical for the conclusion.

I haven't looked up any interviews to find out if Lawrence has discussed his approach to the craft, but I'm reminded of V.E. Schwab's reaction at the National Book Festival when Nnedi Okorafor (a total "pantser") told her the highly complex literary structure of Death of the Author was basically all present in the initial draft. It wasn't a product of editing. The way an author approaches the craft of writing doesn't actually predict the end result.

[Trike]

Tamahome wrote: "A third of the way through it gets pretty crazy. Mark Lawrence seems to be a real pantser and makes things up as he goes along."

Scott wrote: "I haven't looked up any interviews to find out if Lawrence has discussed his approach to the craft"

He and I talked briefly here a couple years ago and he said he makes it up on the fly. I don’t recall which thread it was offhand.

I think he has terrific ideas and is a capable wordsmith, but for my taste his writing needs to be tighter. (Sorry Mark, just my personal preference. Obviously I’m in the minority on that.)

[Scott]

Thanks! I haven't read any of his other work so my only exposure is this novel. But this one definitely has a slowly revealed complex and layered story where seeds are planted early and can be understood properly once revealed but were still surprising when they were revealed. I also appreciated the themes explored in this particular novel. And I felt it really came full circle and landed the ending.

[Melissa]

I have been wanting to try his work for a while, but I was unsure where to begin. I am looking forward reading this!