Beyond Reality discussion

Have you finished reading One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence? What did you think?

Spoilers allowed in this thread.

I finished it last night and found it an engaging, quick read. It didn't feel especially original to me, but it was definitely enjoyable! I loved the very real friendship of the four boys and how they always had each other's backs. At any other time I think I wouldn't have been so affected by Nick's cancer diagnosis, but a combination of general stress from current events, being a parent of a third grader just getting into D&D, and the fact that a few months ago a former student of mine - whose name was Nick - lost his own battle with cancer, I was quite emotional about it.

I haven't decided whether to go on with the series or not, but I'm glad I read this one. It's my first by Mark Lawrence and I'll definitely look up more of his work.

Initially I was concerned it was a bit YA. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I was looking for. But being a child of the 80s (about 5/6 years younger than those in book), and a fascination with the windows of Games Warehouse kept it interesting.
So I like reveals when I see then a couple of paragraphs before they happen, just as much as I do the ones that hit me out of the blue. So I enjoyed this aspect in the book. The initial reveal is nicely done and I like the way it’s twists around itself, so the darker points later on come as a good change of pace.
It has a number of SciFi/ Time Travel-y tropes in it, but good ones rather than cheesy ones.
Will definitely be looking at the next in the series soon

I, too, was a bit put off by the YA aspect of the story, and like Shel, affected by the cancer aspect, given that I’m a cancer survivor myself.

I learned a bit about Dungeons & Dragons, and enjoyed their gaming sessions, as well as the genuineness of the friendships among the Nick, Mia, John, Elton, and Simon. The time travel was a bit “hand-wavey” and the number of unanswered questions detracted from my enjoyment of the book.

Up until the last 20-25% of the book, I had no interest in continuing the series, but now, having finished it, I will likely keep an eye out for the other books. I may try something else by Mark Lawrence, just to see if it has a different feel to it compared to this.

The DND was mildly entertaining, though I've never done it before and probably never will. I don't feel like it added much to the plot, however, aside from being an excuse for the characters to get together in a social setting.

The time travel was reasonably well-handled. I don't think I've read any other book where characters deliberately caused memory loss to ensure they stayed on the same timeline. The quantum many-worlds theory could have been a bit better explored in the context of time-travel, though. I liked the way it handles the loop problem - Demus must necessarily come back to the past to ensure Nick becomes him, but if the timeline separates then that allows a future Nick who experienced Demus in his past to not be obligated to travel back.

What unanswered questions did you have, Kate?

I was concerned at first that this was going to be just a YA with some little romance centered around a game. Got a little peak at D&D and found it somewhat interesting, although I will likely never play.
Got more interesting as the time travel aspect got inserted as romance was budding.
Things began to get shook up as what started as some menacing bullying turned dark.
In the end I went from this is ok to I didn't see that coming.
When it was chosen as the month's read I thought the cover looked familiar. Turned out I had a copy when I went to buy. Turned out it was a selection for Amazon's First Reads program and was my choice for that month whichever month that was. Looks like I chose well.

This was a surprisingly heartwarming read.
I've read "Prince of Thorns" by the same author and didn't like it (grimdark), so I went into it with lowered expectations. The beginning with the cancer diagnosis and probable death of the 15 year old nearly made me put it aside, cause cancer is and has been front and center in my family and I avoid books with this topic wherever I can. But it turned out to be such a positive and engaging read about nerds and friendship that I felt quite warm and fuzzy inside (especially since I had some rather intense and depressing books as my last reads). The 80ies setting and the D&D playing nerds with the one token girl reminded me a lot of "Stranger Things". Is this a trend at the moment?
The story felt in parts like your typical timetravel story, but the known elements were stirred together in a skillful way and the prose was light-footed (if one can say this in English in this context) and humorous. This made it into an enjoyable read.

Since it has no ending I will go on with the series. I'm curious what happens and why Mia will lose her memory.

Ryan wrote: "What unanswered questions did you have?"

Did the timelines of Nick and Demus separate? Demus tricked Nick into thinking they would (with the cut wrist), but then he explained the trick.

How did the headbands with the stolen chips store memories? Nick’s were lost/erased but were Mia’s were stored in Nick’s brain? Or did that part not happen yet, although Demus told Nick about it (since that’s how he will later restore Mia’s memories). So maybe they both had memories erased at this point and nothing was stored?

Rust turned out to be a pivotal character, but other than knowing he’s a bit unhinged, I don’t think we really know much about him. Maybe we didn’t need to, but I felt like he was sort of tossed into the story just to play that pivotal role.

I also chose this as an Amazon First Reads option. I think the group had already voted for it to be BotM, and that may be why I chose it.

I disagree that it has no ending. I felt that everything introduced in this story was tied up well enough, and that it would even work as a standalone. Sure, we don't know what happened to Mia in Demus's life, but the focus of the book is on 15-year-old Nick and Mia, and that is concluded.

Did the timelines of Nick and Demus separate?

As far as we know, they didn't, and we have to assume they're still the same. The trick Demus did with the wrist was in fact necessary to stay on the same timeline - he remembers the Demus in his youth doing the same to him, and that's how he got the scar on his left wrist.

How did the headbands with the stolen chips store memories? Nick’s were lost/erased but were Mia’s were stored in Nick’s brain? Or did that part not happen yet, although Demus told Nick about it (since that’s how he will later restore Mia’s memories). So maybe they both had memories erased at this point and nothing was stored?

My understanding is that, with 1980's tech, there's not enough storage space to store human memories on hardware (chips). Instead, it requires wetware (a brain). Demus's jury-rigged invention allows Mia's memories to be stored in Nick's brain, which has the storage space required. The device blocks him from accessing her memories - they will be uploaded into Mia when she needs them. And yes, the upload did happen, near the end of the story.

Nick's memories were never uploaded, his memory is fine. The device (or maybe it's a different device) has a different setting which allows for memories to be erased. This is necessary to stay on the same timeline, since Demus has had his own memories of when he was younger erased the same way.

Rust turned out to be a pivotal character
Yeah, I think we just didn't need to know much about him. He's a generic psychopath villain, there's really nothing more to him than that.

I found this to be an enjoyable, light read. Like other comments above, I thought the friendships were warm and real. I'm not a D&D player, but my daughter and son-in-law are, and I recognize the way bonds form through shared experiences, even when it's imaginary play. Nick's cancer threw me for a loop at first, but the author managed to make it real without letting it dominate the story. Nick and Mia's growing relationship also felt sincere.

Downsides? The handwavy time travel bit, the handwavy memory recording headsets, and a one-dimensional villain.

While I found this mildly enjoyable, I don't expect to continue with the series. This one wrapped up well enough for me to let it lie.

I liked this book, even it it was a bit on the stereotypical path at moments. Geeky misfits that enjoy D&D are not that an uncommon trope. Neither are bullies that really like hurting people just for the fun of it, although the bully in this book is indeed a next-level character.

It was an easy, fast read, however, and I enjoyed the plot development. Still, I did not fall in love with the characters, even though they were cuteish. I'm not really interested in what happens next, so I might pick up the next book in the series, but then again I might not.