Basic plot: Nick is a teen genius recently diagnosed with leukemia. Aside from going to a posh school and roaming the streets of 1980’s London, most of his time is spent playing D&D with his group of friends. And then a man claiming to be from the future saves him from a local psychopath, and Nick’s whole universe(s) turns upside down.

As soon as I read that this was set in the 80’s, I was ALL-IN! There were plenty of references to that wild-haired, synthesizer-heavy, glammed-out bygone era; enough to keep me grounded in the pop culture nostalgia of the story. The mainstay was the game. I’ve always been mystified and hugely curious of D&D (Dungeons & Dragons)— never had the opportunity to play it, myself, but would jump at any given chance should it ever arise. The way it takes center stage, and at times intertwines analogously with Nick’s cancer treatment, was pretty clever. The fantasy quests in-game often reflected the real-world trials of someone living with leukemia, and I thought that was done well. It started losing me a bit once the whole ‘time travel-y, Back to the Future’ storyline was introduced, but whatever. I was still engrossed, though, if only because the characters were so likable and multi-faceted (which is impressive for such a short book). Even amidst all the sci-fi jargon, the plot felt so human and real: living with an illness, coming of age, friendships... metaphysical questions of fixing the past or changing the future.

This was simply a really fun read! (One irrational complaint: Why is his mom constantly referred to as “Mother”? Like, she has no given name in the story. It’s simply, “Mother has said”, “My mother blah blah blah”, “Mother was wearing”... and every damn time it made me think of the movie Psycho).

Seriously, though, I cannot wait for the next installment!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book, in exchange for an honest review.

I truly amazing and remarkable story needs some fundamental ingredients...
...like characters you an relate to. Why I start with that? Because in the long run the characters are the reason why I stay with the book and return for next. I need at least one I can relate to. One Word Kill has 5. Five teenegers: Nick, our lead character, is a 15 year old who just found out he has cancer. He takes it pretty well considering he has to go through chemotherapy once a week. Elton, who is into martial arts, Simon the computer geek, John the rich boy who is into D&D and the latest addition to their group, Mia. They play D&D every week and that gives them something solid, something constant. Their relationship reminded me of Stranger Things, of what those boys have, something akin to brotherhood. Oh and there is Demus. Interesting fella, that one.

...and any real good stories have villains too. Now this is a fairly short book and the villain in this case is a total nutjob called Ian Rust. There is not much that can be said about him except that he deserves what he gets.

The other most important ingredient is the plot. The stranger the better. The more impossible it seems the better. And this one has some crazy ideas which are even crazier because they might become real some day.

Highly recommended.

I haven’t read anything else by Mark Lawrence yet but I will and I sure will read the next book in the series too and I’m going to start reading it immediately.

Thanks to NetGalley, 47North and Mark Lawrence for my copy.