The Book That Wouldn't Burn

Livira is a young girl living in a barren, harsh land called the Dust. She gets into a fight with a bigger boy named Acmar, and the other children cheer her on. Her Aunt Teela intervenes and sends Livira to fetch water. On the way to the well, she encounters a woman named Ella, who gives her a ball of twisted wind-weed that contains the image of a young boy.

As Livira gets water, a girl named Katrin asks why she got into the fight. Livira claims that Acmar insulted her, but in reality, she wanted to stop him from taking a scrap of paper that she found. While she cannot read the writing on it, she is curious about it, but the others in the village rebuff her questions. Livira wants to go to the city, Crath, but Katrin says that its residents won’t let her in. Their argument is interrupted when a stranger appears in the distance.

The stranger who comes to the isolated settlement is a wolf-like canith, which the villagers call a “sabber.” He says “T’loth criis’tyla loddotis,” (11) then tells the villagers that they belong to the canith now. Despite the men’s attempts to defend the village, the canith and his reinforcements kill those who resist. In the ensuing panic, Livira is knocked unconscious.

The canith bind Livira and the children together and lead them away, across the Dust. As they walk, she realizes that her wind-weed is gone. She then notices the ribs of a massive ship in a long-dry lakebed, as well as the remains of an ancient tapwood tree. As they reach the hills, an arrow strikes one of the children.

The group is ambushed by soldiers from Crath. Although the soldiers kill the canith, they show little compassion to the captives; they leave the body of the fallen girl behind and lead the surviving children away. Livira approaches a soldier named Malar, whose face is badly clawed, and asks him about the city of Crath, but he brushes her off. As they travel, Malar is attacked by a burrowing dust-bear. While the other children flee, Livira grabs one of Malar’s daggers and forces the creature to retreat. When the group finally reaches the city, Malar tells Livira that she will be assigned a job there. Livira also learns that Crath’s value lies in the library at its center.

Evar Evantari is a young canith trapped in the library. He and each of his four “siblings” were caught by the Mechanism, a device that allows users to experience the content of a book as if it were reality. However, the Mechanism sometimes loses track of people. After exploring the worlds of different books, the five lost children emerged together into a now-abandoned chamber. Each child now has a unique skillset acquired from the books they had with them at the time. However, Evar has no real skills and is only haunted by a faint memory of “someone” whom he must save. Evar builds a ramp of books in a desperate attempt to reach the library’s ceiling, feeling as if escape is his only hope.

Clovis, the only girl in the group, was the last to be lost; she had hidden in the Mechanism to escape when the human “sabbers” massacred their people. Now, she is violent and angry, and she stalks off to track down an Escape, a monstrous creature that periodically emerges from the Mechanism to feed off the library’s ideas. Evar goes after her to help but is chased by the Escape instead.

The Escape chases Evar through the library’s endless maze of book stacks, mimicking the stories it encounters and growing into a menacing creature with scythe-like limbs. Clovis intervenes and stabs the creature. As the Escape dissipates into nothingness, Evar realizes that Clovis and their brother Kerrol were using him as bait to draw out the Escape, knowing that manipulating his fear would make it easier to track.

In the aftermath, a massive bookstack collapses and nearly traps them. Among the scattered books, Evar finds a plain, leather-bound volume that feels familiar. Clovis looks at it first and says it’s not in a language that they have been taught by the Assistant (the automaton that raised them). However, when Evar looks at the volume, he finds a message inside that he can read; it is a note addressed to him. It warns him not to turn the page and tells him to find the writer “at the bottom” (48) in a place called the Exchange.

Upon her arrival in Crath, Livira is struck by the contrast between the crowded city and the Dust. As she follows Malar, she is met with disdainful glances, casual cruelty, and unfamiliar wealth, all of which deepen her growing resentment and confusion. Malar also pushes her into a trough of water as punishment for her questions.

He takes the children to a building with five doors, each representing a different social tier and opportunity. He sends most of the children to the first door and tries to send Livira through the middle door. However, she chooses the fifth door, which is traditionally reserved for the highest-born citizens. She tells the white-robed elder at the door the same foreign words that she heard the canith say. When the elder begins to refuse her entry, a pale man in gray arrives and convinces him to let her pass.

Livira enters a grand chamber with four tables, each of which tests children for placements in different roles throughout the city. The first examiner tests Livira on math, but although she is able to complete quick mental calculations, she does not know formal mathematical terms. At the second table, she struggles with books for the first time, prompting laughter from the other children. When asked to write her own name, she writes in a strange script instead. The man in gray, Davris Yute, advocates for her, insisting that she has potential despite her lack of formal training. Ultimately, however, the examiners and Algar, a lord watching the proceedings, deem her to be unfit. As Livira leaves, Yute catches up to her and offers her a job in the library.

Evar brings the mysterious book and returns with Clovis to the siblings’ camp, which is situated beside a deep pool. Though Evar tries to keep the book a secret, Kerrol quickly suspects that Evar has found something significant. When Kerrol presses him on the topic, Evar retreats and approaches the Soldier—the other automaton who raised him and his siblings. The Soldier comments on Evar’s book: a rare display of interest from the normally reserved figure. When Evar mentions that Clovis killed the Escape, the Soldier prepares to look for further disruptions, and Evar decides to join him.

Evar follows the Soldier to the reading room that contains the Mechanism. As he does, he reflects on the turbulent relationships amongst the siblings. Although there were once five of them, the eldest, Mayland, is now missing and presumed dead. The remaining three are often at odds, and they use Evar as their peacekeeper.

By the Mechanism’s door, Evar and the Soldier meet with the Assistant. When the Assistant comments on his book, Evar questions her about the author, but she cryptically replies, “The person who finished writing it was very different from the one who started it” (79). Before he can inquire further, the Mechanism begins leaking part of Starval’s simulated world into reality. Several Escapes appear, including a massive, insect-like creature. When the latter attacks the Assistant, Evar impulsively tries to protect her. With Starval’s help, they eventually drive the creature back toward the Mechanism, where a strange force pulls it back inside. Evar is shaken and realizes that the Mechanism still exerts a pull on him and his siblings, desiring to reclaim them. The Assistant, despite her near-invincibility, is also damaged after the fight.

Master Yute escorts Livira through Crath’s crowded streets and up the mountainside to a tower-shaped house. There she meets Salamonda, Yute’s friendly yet formidable housekeeper, who takes charge of Livira. The house is full of books, towers, and mysterious objects, and it also houses Wentworth, Master Yute’s massive cat. Although Livira accepts the proffered new clothes and food, she remains wary.

Master Yute takes Livira to a cave at the top of the mountain, explaining that the cave is the entrance reserved for library staff; the public entrance lies further below. Inside, the library is a labyrinth of corridors filled with staff members who are busily transporting stacks of books. Yute brings Livira to Master Logaris, a teacher overseeing a classroom of young trainees, and leaves her with him. Logaris introduces Livira to her new study group, warning that her lack of reading and writing skills will be their responsibility to address.

Livira begins adjusting to life in the library. She and the four other trainees in her group—Arpix, Carlotte, Meelan, and Jella—share dinner in the bustling dining hall. Livira’s rough appearance draws the others’ curiosity, and she tells them about life in the Dust. Despite her exhaustion and unfamiliarity with reading and writing, Livira pushes herself to keep up with her peers. As the day ends, Livira is shown to her own small room. Once alone, she collapses in tears, overwhelmed by sorrow, guilt, and loss for those left behind.

Evar and Starval meet with Clovis, Kerrol, the Assistant, and the Soldier. Together, they discuss the increasing attacks of the Escapes. Kerrol suggests that the Escapes’ arrival can be explained by an energy leakage coming from the Mechanism, but Starval suspects sabotage.

When the siblings learns that the Soldier attacked the Escapes—something that he has never done before—they question him. He explains that he attacked the Escapes to save Evar’s new book. Clovis demands to see the volume. Evar reluctantly surrenders it, but before anyone else can examine it, the Assistant returns it to Evar, declaring it to belong to the boy. The Assistant’s touch also briefly reveals a design on the cover, depicting a person amid chaotic lines.

Evar reflects on his lost brother Mayland’s passion for mythologies, including a story about the original library founded by Irad, a descendant of the first murderer. Mayland believed this library to be an echo of that primeval one. Evar sets off alone to look for answers about the mysterious girl whom he is certain that he must help. He goes to the “char wall,” where a past fire left charred books that seal off one of the library’s doors. However, the Soldier intercepts him. When Evar insists that he needs to find the girl, the normally stoic Soldier changes. He says that he lost her as well as himself and would not hesitate to stop anyone who hurts her. However, the Soldier’s usual demeanor returns just as quickly, cutting off what he was about to say about the girl’s location.