Daniel Shellenbarger’s Reviews > The Book That Wouldn’t Burn > Status Update

huh, well I did NOT see that coming...

This is a weird book. It's fantasy but also clearly meant to be set in the distant future of our world (or a parallel version thereof) as there are many echoes of real things amidst the fantastic. It kind of reminds of me of Vance's Dying Earth or Hughes' Henghis Hapthorn books (setting-wise) though with much more of a nuclear post-apocalyptic feel.

Considering that Lawrence wholly copies the idea of a forest with pools that are portals to other worlds from C.S. Lewis, it's at least good of him to have an in-book book about said forest written by a person named C. Lewis.

Hmmm... 42% to go and it's due in two days...

Apparently, this was Mark Lawrence's first book with multiple POV's. Mostly pretty good, but it's kind of silly how you can be sure the next chapter will switch characters if it ends in any sort of cliffhanger.

Ok, I'm coming around, not EVERY character other than the protagonists is a heartless casually violent jerk.

So... I'm not giving up yet, but... wow, Mark Lawrence certainly seems to love mean-spirited pointlessly/casually cruel characters. Both of the protagonists are likeable enough, but everyone else... yeesh...