Member Reviews

Leave it to Mark Lawrence to write a second book in a trilogy that is even better than the first! I love how every series is of his is so unique, a wonderful mix of humor, heart, and action.

The universe is trying to kill you.

Just when Nick didn't think his life could get any more stressful, more time travelers show up and need his help. Because battling leukemia and life as a 16-year-old math genius now attending university wasn't enough, now the universe is out to get him. He is at the heart of a paradox that could cause not only his universe to be destroyed…

This has all the trademarks of Mark Lawrence's brilliant writing. There's the humor that is found even in the darkest days of a teenager battling leukemia:

"We need to play to our strengths." "We calculate him to death?"

The love and support found in a family:

"My dad used to say that he didn't love my mum because she was perfect, he loved her because her imperfections were a good match for his."

And the friendship that unites five outcasts who would love nothing more than to hide in a good game of D&D, but are forced to find the strength to battle real-life demons.

*quotes were taken from an uncorrected proof*

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Limited Wish is a far more enjoyable read than Book 1 in the series, possibly, because I know what to expect now, (but also because there's less 'mirror action' in the D & D game than in Book 1 - sorry, not a fan because I've never played it, and I just don't get it (ducks for cover!)).
I read it in a few sittings, and look forward to Book 3 to discover just how Nick fares!

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Many thanks to Publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC ahead of the release!

Limited Wish is a fine story, it pulls you in from the first page and keeps you on the edge of your seat as a good thriller should. It is a perfect follow-up to the One Word Kill and shares all the strengths with the first volume of the series.

In fact, it shares so much that it reminded me of the problem with Hangover and Hangover II movies. Both are great and deliver the laughs - but it is essentially the same movie. Different context, same plot devices. This is my only grumble with the Limited Wish. I liked it, but I also felt like I read this already (kind of...).

Fans of D&D, Stranger Things and Dark Matter - should really give it a go. The easy flowing story, plot thrills, cute characters - it got it all for a good escapism session. Suitable for both lovers and haters of YA genre.

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Thankyou to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK, 47North and the author, Mark Lawrence, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of Limited Wish in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I am a huge fan of Mark Lawrence's novels which is why I jumped at the chance to review this book. And I was certainly not disappointed either.
The storyline was well thought out and written with intriguing characters and descriptive imagery. I was hooked from the start and, as with every other novel by this author, read in one sitting.
Well worth a read. 4.5 stars.

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Damn!!!! This was such a brilliant book!!!! I didn't think that Mark Lawrence could better his first book but boy he did!! And probably for the first time in my life I've read books that had paradox, mathematics, science and quantum mechanics in it and I actually enjoyed it. As I had written in my review of the first book, he's so brilliant in describing the extraordinarily difficult and complicated theories in such a simple way that even a layman like me could understand and appreciate it so much. And the book is also so funny in parts, especially Nick with his friends and when he meets Eva. Overall, this is just a wonderfully brilliant book but now I'm grumpy as I'll have to wait for quite some time before the next book is available and I so want to read it now!! Again, this book is much more than a 5 star read but since that's the amount of stars available 5 stars it is. Thank you Mark Lawrence for this wonderful book. And a big thank you to NetGalley, Amazon Publishing UK and 47North for giving me a chance to read this wonderful book in exchange of my honest review.

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I didn't think it was possible but Mr. Lawrence topped the first book. The weaving of timelines is done to perfection. As is always the case, his prose is second to none. Bring on book three!

I received this via Netgalley and I can't wait for the hardcover to come in so I can add it to my collection.

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Just perfect !!!
What a wonderful mind Mark Lawrence has to create such a wonderful book as this it just has everything you would want in a story and I thought he couldn’t better book one well he surely has with this one so god only knows what is to come with book three and I just wish I didn’t have to wait so long for it, having read books one and two back to back I now have serious withdrawals while awaiting book three.
This is an amazingly written series and I would say has something for everyone it has science, time travel, paradoxes but also at its core it has love and I can’t fault anything about the books at all and I guess you can see I just fell in love with them.
So here I am wishing I could split off in another future timeline and be reading book three, instead I will be patient and just thank the amazing Mark Lawrence for giving me so much pleasure reading this fantabulous series. All the stars and more and highly recommended.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK, 47North for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

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I'm already a fan of Mark Lawrence, having loved his Red Sister series, and I see him as kinda a lite Jay Kristoff or Roth.
He writes fun, easy to read novels that focus on small core groups, and this series is his first advance into science fiction. I actually bought the first one after getting this galley, so I could read them in order. I read a lot of science fiction, both hard and lite, and it sits somewhere in the middle. The main character, Nick, is a maths genius, like his father, and sometimes I got lost in trying to wrap my head around the concepts he was using (paradoxes, anyone?!), but really, you can't go wrong with a good time travel series. And this is one, weaving typical 1980's nostalgia, time travel, and coming of age strains together into a sometimes poignant but always exciting thread that I will not spoil by giving away any spoilers!

Stranger Things with Time Travel - what's not to like?

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Limited Wish, book two of the Impossible Times trilogy, is a highly-enjoyable and heady sci-fi adventure with heavy emotional beats. Although this book takes a bit longer than One Word Kill to have its full scope be revealed, the mind-bending paths that we’re being led through becomes a twisty and challenging puzzle that deepens as the story progresses. Exploring the implications of the characters' actions and their ripple effects through various timelines is as impressive as it is complex. Yet Lawrence does an admirable job interpreting these rule-breaking time-travel theories and making them quite clear for the reader to follow.

The book itself is a paradox in a sense, as it is simultaneously a light and heavy read. Romance, role-playing games, and challenges at school help to shape Nick’s coming of age tale, yet it also asks the reader to contemplate advanced mathematics and physics theories, time loops, paradoxes, universal energies, and the potential existence-destroying possibilities that stem from it all. Although Lawrence outlines some of the bigger concepts in as clear a way as possible, I still recommend spending a bit of extra time to think about and absorb each new fold before continuing. Like any good book, you get out of it as much as you put in, and I found myself pausing and doing a bit of extra research to consider some new angles of where the story might be headed. And if any book makes me want to research math and physics on my own time -- for fun! -- then that’s a pretty damn good compliment to the author.

Limited Wish shares a fair amount in common with its predecessor which, considering the plot, is entirely expected, but also serves as a bit of a detriment. Once again, the D&D game emulates Nick’s real-life dilemmas… or perhaps his dilemmas are emulating the game. A few of the story's beats feel familiar, which may be an unfair dig at a story that involves time loops and paradoxes. But it's a small gripe when weighing it against how damn entertaining this story is. These books are relatively short, but make the most of their pages by creating strong characters that leave a lasting impact on the reader, and a furious pace that will force you to want to read this story in just a sitting or two. With only one book to go, and many more questions raised than answered, I can't wait to see what Lawrence has in store for the conclusion.

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