Blog Tour: The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence

“Only when it’s darkest can you see the stars..”

Hello and welcome to the Random Things Tours blog tour for The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence.

About The Book

“East of the Black Rock, out on the ice, lies a hole down which broken
children are thrown. On the vastness of the ice there is no room for individuals. No one survives alone. To resist the cold, to endure the months of night when even the air itself begins to freeze, requires a special breed. Variation is dangerous, difference is fatal. And Yaz is different.
Torn from her family, from the boy she thought she would spend her life with, Yaz has to carve a new path for herself in a world whose existence she never suspected. A world full of danger.
Beneath the ice, Yaz will learn that Abeth is older and stranger than she had ever imagined. She will learn that her weaknesses are another kind of strength. And she will learn to challenge the cruel arithmetic of survival that has always governed her people.
Only when it’s darkest can you see the stars.”

What I Thought

Wow I don’t even know where to begin with this one! Well firstly I really enjoyed it there’s no doubt about that. It’s really quite a dense book like there’s a lot in it so I had to take my time and just read in short burst because my concentration levels are a bit shot at the moment, what with the world falling apart, and I didn’t want to miss out on anything.

When I think about it, it really took me back to being a teen and reading Lord of the Rings for the first time, that sense of wonder over who these people are and the places they live in, the lives they endure. I enjoyed Marks style of writing too, it’s my first time reading one of his books but it won’t be the last. I already have Red Sister on the shelf waiting. And that ending though seriously!! Man I hope we don’t have to wait too long for book two because I get the feeling it’s going to be seriously epic.

I’m not sure how much to tell you because I want you to discover it for yourself but basically we have a strong female lead who is by all accounts still a teen, a child in her families eyes. Raised on the ice Yaz is strong but she also knows shes different, there’s  something she feels is not right about herself and has accepted that what lies ahead of her is most likely the pit where broken children get thrown in. Imagine sacrificing children to a hole because you don’t think they are strong enough, or they’ll eat too much, anything that reduces the clans chances of surviving.. not even giving them a chance. Things take a turn and she chooses her own path, never stopping for one second to think about, but was it the right choice? Time will tell..

If you’re looking for a new world to lose yourself in for a few days one with friendship, family, sacrifice, monsters and magic, I highly recommend The Girl and her Stars.

About The Author

Mark Lawrence was born in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, 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. His first trilogy, The Broken Empire, has been universally acclaimed as a ground-breaking work of fantasy, and both The Liar’s Key and The Wheel of Osheim have won the Gemmell Legend award for best fantasy novel. Mark is married, with four children, and lives in Bristol. 

Many thanks to Anne and HarperVoyager for having me on this tour, all opinions are my own and I am not paid to give them.