This is the first book by Mark Lawrence that I have read but it will not be the last.


I don't often read young adult Sci-fi/ fantasy but this book sounded interesting.


I am so happy I got the chance to read and review this book. It is very well written and it is very well written. I was hooked onto the story pretty much right away.


I can't wait to read more in the series and I already have the second book to read and review so you will be seeing that review close to release day.


You can now purchase this book in your local book shop or online .



I am giving this 4 out of 5.

An interesting read, i have not read any of the authors previous works but understand them to be more fantasy than sci-fi, well written with engaging characters and a story that moved along nicely, it will be fun to see where the sequel takes these characters

"One Word Kill" is an interesting take on the time travel trope. I liked the premise of the story and the main characters had some fun character dynamics. Unfortunately, the time travel stuff is rather confusing and the ending felt rather rushed.

I was really interested to see how Mark Lawrence would operate in our own world and I was not disappointed. Pitched as Ready Player One meets Stranger Things, this tells the story of Nick, a 15 year old boy recently diagnosed with Leukemia. When tasked with saving a future version of one of his friends, Nick enlists the help of his D & D group and hijinks ensue. Jumping firmly onto the 80s nostalgia bandwagon, this book does everything it promises. We love Nick and his friends and we want him to succeed and get the girl. I also thought the addition of genuine, real world stakes in terms of the psychopath, Rust lent an air of fear and consequences that I appreciated, although I do think that the character himself was a little cartoonish in his villainy. I think what most people, myself included, will latch on to here is the core friendship of Nick, Simon, Elton, John and Mia and I thought that these characters were very well drawn, albeit a little archetypal - I think this was somewhat intentional however, given the D & D aspect to the narrative. All in all, Mark Lawrence has managed to pack an awful lot into a book that is less than 200 pages long and I am very much looking forward to seeing where things will go in the next instalment.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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.