The Book That Broke the World by Mark Lawrence – a Review

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Description:
We fight for the people we love. We fight for the ideas we want to be true.

Evar and Livira stand side by side and yet far beyond each other’s reach. Evar is forced to flee the library, driven before an implacable foe. Livira, trapped in a ghost world, has to recover her book if she’s to return to her life. While Evar’s journey leads him outside into the vastness of a world he’s never seen, Livira’s destination lies deep inside her own writing, where she must wrestle with her stories in order to reclaim the volume in which they were written.

And all the while, the library quietly weaves thread to thread, bringing the scattered elements of Livira’s old life – friends and foe alike – back together beneath new skies.

Long ago, a lie was told, and with the passing years it has grown and spread, a small push leading to a chain of desperate consequences. Now, as one edifice topples into the next with ever-growing violence, it threatens to break the world. The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The time has come when they must fight for what they believe, or lose everything.

The Library Trilogy is about many things: adventure, discovery, and romance, but it’s also a love letter to books and the places where they live. The focus is on one vast and timeless library, but the love expands to encompass smaller more personal collections, and bookshops of all shades too.

Review:

The Book That Broke the World by Mark Lawrence is the 2^nd book in his The Library Trilogy. The Library Trilogy revolves around the Athenaeum, the legendary timeless library, such as; adventure, discovery, romance; also who controls access to knowledge or if information should be revealed.  The first half of the book was slow, with not a lot happening; however, the last half perked up a lot. It was a journey across various dimensions along the way. Though there were many characters in the book, the leads still revolved around Livira and Evar. 

Livira, who is a librarian, is now trying to find her way home to her family, as well find Evar again.  The relationship between Livira and Evan began in the first book, with both feeling love between them, but fear they will lose connections to each other in this multiversal time jump fantasy. Livera is also trying to find a book she wrote, which could possibly be a true threat to the library’s existence.  Evar, who was trapped with his adopted siblings for a very long time, being raised by the Assistant and Soldier.  He is determined to find Livira, and together with Evar’s sister, Clovis, who was an amazing and tough warrior, and his brother, as they manage to move forward; meeting up with other people in the huge library, with different walls. 

There were a number of new characters that played a part in this story.   Celcha, was born into slavery with her brother Hellet, as they both were part of a dig, finding lost books. A librarian manages to save them, and take both of them with her as they head into the Library world. Celcha was very good, as she was intelligent, tough, unyielding, and willing to fight. Hellet manages to create something that could destroy the library.  I really liked Arpix, who is a librarian, who also tutored Livira, and found himself falling for Clovis; with her being protective of him. Yute, deputy head librarian, also returns closer to the end.  I loved Wentworth (huge cat, who can find anyone), who was a terrific addition to the book.

I do not want to give spoilers, because you need to concentrate on what is happening, as we get closer to the end. This is a difficult review to write, as the whole concept was about books to reveal secrets, knowledge, freedom, as noted previously, as noted previously, the first half of the book was very slow.  The last half was exciting, with everyone coming together to make decisions on what to do.  The time will come when they will all decide if they will fight for what they believe or loose it all.

The Book That Broke the World was a different kind of fantasy, set in a huge immense library, with many chambers, with those who were trapped inside. The library had its own mechanism, with protectors of history, and the power of knowledge from those special books. The overall theme is knowledge, power, responsibility and war.  The Book that Broke the World was a complex and intriguing story line that was well written by Mark Lawrence. However, I will note that I have loved a number of series by Lawrence, and this book continues to be bit slow for most of the first half, but it was an exciting end.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher