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The Book That Broke the World

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Brief Description
The second volume in the bestselling, ground-breaking Library Trilogy, following The Book That Wouldn't Burn. 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.... Read More
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The second volume in the bestselling, ground-breaking Library Trilogy, following THE BOOK THAT WOULDN'T BURN.

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

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The second volume in the bestselling, ground-breaking Library Trilogy, following The Book That Wouldn't Burn.

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 lifeβ€”friends and foe alikeβ€”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.

Series: The Library Trilogy

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  • The Book That Wouldn’t Burn
    All books, no matter their binding, will fall to dust. The stories they carry may last longer. They might outlive the paper, the library, even the language in which they were first written. The greatest story can reach the stars and The Book That Wouldn't Burn explores the infinite power of stories and their ability to transcend time and space....
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Book That Broke the World
    The second volume in the bestselling, ground-breaking Library Trilogy, following The Book That Wouldn't Burn. 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...
    Paperback
    $3000
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Book That Broke the World
    The second volume in the ground-breaking Library Trilogy, following The Book That Wouldn't Burn. 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...
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Pre-order
    The Bookshop Book
    An epic fantasy adventure through cosy, cluttered bookshops, set in the world of Sunday Times bestseller Mark Lawrence's groundbreaking The Library Trilogy. Bookshops have always been places where worlds collide. Places where ideas make war, where cultures meet and mate. Frederick 'Red' Archer is hanging on at the edge of society, in the care of the state, when he wanders...
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3699
    Pre-order
    Out 27 Oct 2026
  • The Book That Held Her Heart
    The final volume in the The Library Trilogy, following The Book That Wouldn't Burn and The Book That Broke the World. The secret war that defines the library has chosen its champions and set them on the board. The fate of an infinite library hangs on one book, a book that holds the power to break the unbreakable. In the...
    Paperback
    Sold Out
  • The Book That Wouldn’t Burn
    All books, no matter their binding, will fall to dust. The stories they carry may last longer. They might outlive the paper, the library, even the language in which they were first written. The greatest story can reach the stars... This is the start of an incredible new journey from the internationally bestselling author of Prince of Thorns, in which,...
    Hardback
    Sold Out
  • The Book That Wouldn’t Burn
    All books, no matter their binding, will fall to dust. The stories they carry may last longer. They might outlive the paper, the library, even the language in which they were first written. The greatest story can reach the stars... This is the start of an incredible new journey from the internationally bestselling author of Prince of Thorns, in which,...
    Paperback
    Sold Out

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780008456771

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 11 April 2024

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: HarperVoyager

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 33.0mm

Width: 153.0mm

Height: 234.0mm

Weight: 1080g

Pages: 384

About the Author

Mark Lawrence was born in Champagne-Urbanan, Illinois, to British parents but moved to the UK at the age of one. He went back to the US after taking a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College to work on a variety of research projects including the 'Star Wars' missile defence programme. Returning to the UK, he has worked mainly on image processing and decision/reasoning theory. He says he never had any ambition to be a writer so was very surprised when a half-hearted attempt to find an agent turned into a global publishing deal overnight. His first trilogy, The Broken Empire, has been universally acclaimed as a ground-breaking work of fantasy, and both Emperor of Thorns and The Liar's Key have won the Gemmell Legend award for best fantasy novel. Mark is married, with four children, and lives in Bristol.

Also by Mark Lawrence

View all
  • The Book That Wouldn’t Burn
    All books, no matter their binding, will fall to dust. The stories they carry may last longer. They might outlive the paper, the library, even the language in which they were first written. The greatest story can reach the stars and The Book That Wouldn't Burn explores the infinite power of stories and their ability to transcend time and space....
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Book That Broke the World
    The second volume in the ground-breaking Library Trilogy, following The Book That Wouldn't Burn. 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...
    Paperback
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Holy Sister
    Nona Grey’s story reaches its shattering conclusion in the third instalment of Book of the Ancestor. They came against her as a child. Now they face the woman. The ice is advancing, the Corridor narrowing, and the empire is under siege from the Scithrowl in the east and the Durns in the west. Everywhere, the emperor’s armies are in retreat....
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  • On Sale
    18% off
    Grey Sister
    Second novel in the brilliant new series from the bestselling author of Prince of Thorns. In Mystic Class, Nona Grey begins to learn the secrets of the universe. But so often, knowing the truth just makes our choices harder. Before she leaves the Convent of Sweet Mercy, Nona must choose her path and take the red of a Martial Sister,...
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  • Prince of Thorns
    From the publisher that brought you Game of Thrones… Prince of Thorns is the first volume in a powerful new epic fantasy trilogy, original, absorbing, and challenging. Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me, I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone, and what is left of...
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  • Red Sister
    It's not until you're broken that you find your sharpest edge. I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin. At the Convent of Sweet Mercy, young girls are raised to be killers. In a few, the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’...
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  • King of Thorns
    The second book in the Broken Empire series, King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence takes its young anti-hero one step closer to his grand ambition. To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I’ve walked from pawn to player and I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may...
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  • The Girl and the Mountain
    Second novel in the chilling and epic new fantasy series from the bestselling and critically-acclaimed author of Prince of Thorns and Red Sister. 'If you like dark you will love Mark Lawrence. And when the light breaks through and it all makes sense, the contrast is gorgeous' - Robin Hobb On Abeth there is only the ice. And the Black...
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  • The Girl and the Moon
    The final novel in the chilling and epic new fantasy series from the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of Prince of Thorns and Red Sister. If you like dark you will love Mark Lawrence. And when the light breaks through and it all makes sense, the contrast is gorgeous. β€” Robin Hobb The green world overwhelms all of Yaz’s expectations....
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  • Prince of Fools
    From the critically acclaimed author of The Broken Empire series comes a brilliant new epic fantasy series, The Red Queen’s War. I’m a liar and a cheat and a coward, but I will never, ever, let a friend down. Unless of course not letting them down requires honesty, fair play, or bravery. The Red Queen is dreaded by the kings...
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  • The Wheel of Osheim
    From the critically-acclaimed author of Prince of Fools comes the third volume of the brilliant new epic fantasy series, The Red Queen’s War. All the horrors of Hell stand between Snorri Ver Snagason and the rescue of his family, if indeed the dead can be rescued. For Jalan Kendeth, getting out alive and with Loki’s Key is all that matters....
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  • The Liar’s Key
    From the critically acclaimed author of Prince of Fools comes the second volume of the brilliant new epic fantasy series, The Red Queen’s War. If you like dark you will love Mark Lawrence. And when the light breaks through and it all makes sense, the contrast is gorgeous - ROBIN HOBB The Red Queen has set her players on the...
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