I suspect that a lot of Cannonballers would, like me, immediately pick this book up based on a quick read of the back cover. Evar has lived his whole life trapped in an incomprehensibly enormous library. While Livira, a nobody from a dust town, finds herself inextricably linked to his – and the library’s – fate.
Enormous library? Sign me up!
I’m not sure if I had a clear idea of my expectations from this book – perhaps a big adventure, or star crossed lovers, or a race against time that would bring these characters together. I suppose all of those things are kind of true, but this story is also much bigger and grander and more beautiful than I could have pictured. It’s less a race against time, and more about time itself, and how we construct meaning and truth from the stories we tell ourselves.
We meet Livira initially, and it takes the author just a few paragraphs to create a vivid picture of her world. As Livira tumbles through some rapid changes, we hear about the library. It takes sometime for Livira, and ourselves, to unravel the library’s mysteries.
Entirely separately, we meet Evar – trapped in what we assume is the same library, and living a strange existence alongside a handful of siblings and some mysterious assistants.
It takes a little patience to wait for these stories to come together, and for the reader to make sense of what’s happening. Sometimes it’s a little slow going, and there’s a little bit of repetition. But it’s worth the wait. I found myself struggling to put this book down, and as I got closer to the end, gasping out loud at some of the plot twists. I’m very much looking forward to reading the next book in this series (The Book That Broke The World), as well as more of Mark Lawrence’s frankly enormous catalogue.
