I enjoyed this series so far.

This book (and series) are fantastic if you are just starting to read sci-fi/fantasy.

This book is very well written and it kept me hooked from the beginning.

I do highly recommend.

So, I received this second book for a free download. With that in mind, I bought the first book. Thinking that I love Lawrence's book's, so this would be a no brainer. I did like the first book. But, I guess I wasn't much impressed with this one. Nor do I have interest in the third. I'm not sure really what lost me. The d&d stuff was a drag. Yes, I once dated someone who was fairly awesome, then on a Saturday he took me to a d&d thing. He played. I read and watched m.t.v. He was hot. Then not! Maybe, that's it for me. I don't think nerds or geeks are cute. Never have, and I never will. I ain't gonna blow smoke.up.your ass and say the first book was great either. Except for the kick ass gal, "who's name I can't even remember," the rest were everything I avoided back in school. Don't get me wrong, because I didn't like jocks either. I was always middle of the road. I love Mark Lawrence when he does fantasy. This is not for me. I understand how others would like it, but again.....Not me. I actually want to know about the Sisters. That world. This is puff.

Well, I didn't for one second believe that Mark Lawrence could surpass the standard of the first book but he has! This second novel in the Impossible Times series is a fantastic and fiercely compelling tale of time travel, gaming, maths, paradoxes, action and excitement. The cast happens to be exquisitely drawn with complex, multi-dimensional personalities and the plot well constructed with tension aplenty. We learn so much more about Nick in this instalment as this was a lot more introspective than Limited Wish. Nick is incredibly real and relatable as he's quite awkward and introverted just like me and it can cause a few issues in life which he experiences throughout this book.

It is an excellent piece of fun, epic, speculative fiction with a plethora of original and intriguing ideas which come together in a flurry of different threads and eventually merge. I was expecting a cliffhanger given that it is leading into and setting up for the final book but Lawrence manages to craft a satisfying conclusion to it too; I certainly wasn't expecting that so it was a welcome surprise. The humour the author interspersed throughout was a stroke of genius and appears at just the right moments to provide a little light relief. This is a detailed, immersive world and a story that moves at a decent clip. Focusing on the issues surrounding time travel, this episode explores paradoxes and multiple universes, timelines, realities and is a real adventure. Many thanks to 47North for an ARC.

Yet another brilliant book from Mark Lawrence. Believable characters, imaginative plot, can’t wait for the final instalment.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.


Not to spoil anything, because it is the second book in the series, but oh my god. If you thought the first book was a wild ride, just wait until you read this one.

Mark Lawrence is such a skilled writer. In only 250 pages, he manages to give you everything you want in a story - enough exposition, enough action and a great, exciting and believable ending.

Limited Wish continues where One Word Kill left off and introduces some new characters. We still follow Nick and his friends, they still play Dungeons and Dragons and Nick still has leukaemia. But, as in the last one, there's so much more to the story. We get plenty of time travel, paradoxes and intrugue.

I loved it as much as the first one and can't wait to read the final instalment.
5/5 stars

This is the second book of a trilogy about time-travelling maths prodigy Nick Hayes and his Dungeons & Dragons playing friends. I read the first, One Word Kill, very recently which meant the plot and characters were all fresh, although the author helpfully includes a quick recap at the beginning - I wish more writers would do this! I definitely recommend reading these in order regardless.

A few months after the events of OWK, Nick’s life has changed dramatically - he is now studying at Cambridge under a famous professor, who will work with him on the equations which will ultimately help him travel through time. Mia has dumped him in favour of a flamboyant teen actor but is still showing up for their weekly D&D games. When a strangely familiar girl appears and the universe starts trying to kill him, Nick learns that the paradox he creates is putting multiple timelines at risk, and only he can fix it.

I confess I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first book, but it’s still a highly readable adventure - there was a bit too much D&D in this one - not something I was ever into - although I learned the origin of the personality grids that have been showing up on Facebook lately, referring to Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic, so that’s something.

I loved the time travel jokes and eighties throwback references, and while the mind-bending Timey-Wimey stuff got a bit confusing for me, the author did a good job of straightening it out again. I worried we were heading for a cliffhanger ending - the next book is apparently not due until November so that would’ve been annoying - but he actually wraps it up very satisfactorily while still leaving plot lines to be completed. 4.5 rounded up for the wonderful characters and originality of ideas (at least for someone who doesn’t read much sci-fi/fantasy).

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc which allowed me to give an honest review. Limited Wish is published on 28.05.19.

[Excerpt]:

Well. I was intrigued by this series for two reasons: time travel and the fact that a young kid gets cancer and has to deal with all these crazy happenings at the same time he undergoes treatment. Something about the combination caught my attention – it seemed unusual. So I downloaded the first book, “One Word Kill” for free from April’s Amazon First Reads list. Then I received an ARC of “Limited Wish” before I’d even got to book 1, so I hunkered down to read them both.

These books are well-written. They contain LOTS of mathematics and physics-speak. I’m sure to people who like both and/or one of those topics, the books would be extremely fun and interesting. However, I am not one of those people.

I was bored most of the time and confused at least half the time. I found events hard to follow. The time travel aspect was so ingrained within the actual mathematics that it lost its “shine.” I also didn’t feel connected to ANY of the characters, which is always a big indicator to me that I won’t like / enjoy a book. I’ve noticed in the past few years that I’m not as invested in stories with a male protagonist. I thought Nick was okay, and Simon was odd but likeable, but I didn’t care for either of the girls (Mia or Helen), and the whole Demus plotline was just….I don’t know, extraordinarily uninteresting to me. Also, Dungeons and Dragons features HEAVILY in this series, and since I have never played this game a day in my life, nor do I understand a single thing about it, I was equally bored and frustrated because nothing made sense. I did think it was cool that Nick’s daughter with Helen, Eva, time traveled to meet her father. But that wasn’t nearly enough to redeem this book.

[Full review on my blog!]

Limited Wish wasn’t quite as enjoyable to me as One Word Kill but it still carries some of the same magic I found in the first book. There is a paradox as two possible time lines are too close together and our Nick seems to be in both of them. He is the key to fixing things but since he is also the source of the paradox the universe is trying to kill him.

Nick and company are great again. I really like how most of this group of friends sticks together through thick and thin. Even Nick going off to university early is not going to mess up the Saturday D&D game, although the new Paladin might. Sam is Mia’s new boyfriend, yes you heard that right Mia has a new boyfriend and she invited him to the D&D game. I guess when the universe tells you, you’re going to be with a certain person sometimes you still fight it.
But now, it’s like… It’s like me and Mia are fated to be together. It’s like there’s no choice and we know where we’re heading.’
‘Pressure, dude!’
John always said ‘dude’ as if he were trying it on for size. But he was right. Romance and love can endure external pressure to end them. Being told no just made Romeo and Juliet get serious. But those emotions don’t do so well if that pressure is trying to make them happen instead of trying to make them stop. It’s like having a gun to your head and being told to laugh convincingly at a joke or you get a bullet.

So Nick is dealing with University, the girl he is supposed to be with fighting it, another girl who looks familiar popping up at strange times, a bully or two at school and just to round it all out a do-gooder Paladin.

The struggle I had with this book is that the tie in to the D&D game didn’t go along quite for me. Also, the dueling time lines starting to get a little confusing. The impending paradox and everything that entailed along with some of the other events like busting into a Nuclear Power plant did seemed a bit far out there too. But it was all entertaining, even if I possibly over thought some things.

Eva was a great character addition to the story and I was happy to see Demus again. I did like how this all hinged on Nick being in the right place at the right time to do ‘something’ to set both timelines right again
‘Hope,’ said Demus, ‘is an essential tool in any torturer’s kit bag. Hope is the thing that we will torture ourselves with after he’s knocked off and gone home for the night. That, sadly, is one of the lessons standing between you and me.’

One Word Kill had more of a Stranger things vibe to it. Still a decent second book to a series and enjoyable, but didn’t quite hold my attention as much. Looking forward to seeing what other time shenanigans our questing party will have in the next book of the series.

I received an arc from Netgalley. This does not affect my unbiased review of the book.

Nick Haye's mathematical ability has wowed Oxford and vaulted him into helping with a  series of experiments that may be the answer to his time traveling questions... but there's a problem. Ok, several problems. Echos in time, stray energy, temporal resonances, and PARADOXES! Possibly brought on by Helen, a new character who helps him out of a tight situation...running from some jerky, older Oxford dorks... coincidences become fate.

Will the "spanners in the works" mess up the ‘Save Mia’ plan... Chased by a government agent with past issues and rippling, mind-bending time loops, it’s up to Nick's friends and Demus and Mia and Helen and others to help him sort it out.

More D&D. More maths, More... I certainly liked One Word Kill, but I loved Limited Wish. The second book seems more introspective than the first; it concentrates mostly on Nick's timeline and honestly, more of the things that I found enjoyable in the first book. He now has the main goal of discovering time travel, yet there are several factors that may get in way, including most importantly, his health. Two things to love about his characterization: Lawrence's description of Nick's manipulation of numbers was an excellent way to help the uninitiated understand a sliver of the process. Nick's awkwardness in the face of infatuation, flirting, and love is heartbreakingly realistic. 

D&D. There's a big shift with Elton dropping out of the narrative and the friendship group. Mia takes over the task of DM, and the quest takes on a more symbolic twist on the story running in the forefront of Limited Wish... and when you get to the origin of the title, it is an awesome piece that links several threads together. Fun Stuff!

Note: A Mandlebrot reference made me happy... not that understand any of his work, but I read Ziemska's novella Mandelbrot the Magnificent last month and loved it. (Review can be found here: Mandelbrot the Magnificent: A Novella by Liz Ziemska)

I highly recommend this series and am eagerly waiting for the 3rd installment. 

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Following on from One Word Kill (so if you haven't read that go and avoid any people-who-survived type spoilers!!), Nick Hayes, 16-year-old mathematics genius, now knows that he has about 25 years to invent time travel before coming back to meet himself last month. So, he decides it's time to stop pretending to be 'normal' and accept early admission to a posh University filled with upper class nobs, where he can try to dumb down his explanations to his new maths professor. He also has to try to reclaim the girl that he was trying to save in the first book, but who is understandably a little freaked out by all the 'destiny' with their relationship.

Much as I enjoyed OWK, it didn't quite hit all the buttons I would have hoped for. Still, I was looking forward to this sequel to see where the story would go. And I was not disappointed! In fact, LW is the story getting much more into its stride, and as a result I enjoyed it even more.

Time travel has always been one of my favourite plots in speculative fiction, and I very much like how it's handled here. The characters feel a lot more grown up, too, despite the passing of mere months. And with different expectations after book one, the gentle nods towards the 'period' (hey - I lived through it, it's not exactly the Victorian age!!) made me smile rather than being disappointingly light. There is a great deal of amusement, I thought, from the mention of modern band names and how nonsensical they would be in the 1980s - Lady Gaga? Red Hot Chilli Peppers? Fnarf.

I also loved the way the D&D game reflects the events in real life for the kids, without being overly forced. This takes a while to show up, as in the first book, but is a nice little touch.

Recommended, and bring on the third installment already!

Well, even I don't understand D&D references used in this story, Mark Lawrence kept a compelling storyline than One Word Kill. The characters here are mature and more of the time traveling references than the first book.

This was a wonderfully fun read.
I love this series and am a huge fan of Mark Lawrence anyway and i enjoyed his trademark humor in this.

This story done so well it feels almost real in a way and is a refreshing change from much of what else is on the market at the moment.

Big fan, can't wait to read the finale

This book is a follow up to 'One Word Kill' and that book should definitely be read first to understand this book. While the author does give a helpful recap of OWK, it in no way replaces the full experience of the first volume of this planned trilogy.

I described OWK as Stranger Things meets Terminator 2, and many of the themes continue into this book. The first book introduced the overall arc and the mechanics of time travel. This entry into the series focuses more on one of the primary problems with time travel: paradoxes and multiple universes/timelines/realities. Between this book and Avengers Endgame, my head is spinning with trying to wrap my head around how it all works. Without delving into too many spoilers, it also has a great look into the Butterfly Effect and how small choices affect the future.

My best advice? Enjoy the ride and don't think on the mechanics of time travel too hard... That's generally a good rule of thumb for time travel. Mr. Lawrence does a great job of explaining it all, but it's best to just live in the moment.

The book is extremely well-written, combining Dungeons and Dragons scenes, "normal" teenage experiences, time travel, action/heist sequences, and the experiences of a cancer patient. Those all don't seem to go well together, but in this book, it does.

I definitely recommend this book and series to anyone. While it is marketed as YA fiction, there's enough there that can be enjoyed by teens and adults alike. I'm currently hoping I Can develop time travel to get to the last book in the series even faster.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC for me to review.

More time travelling and physics in the second book in this fun and mind bending series from Mark Lawrence. I will say that it is pretty essential to read the first book, One Word Kill , before tackling this one, as otherwise The reader would be pretty lost. Once again our group of D&D playing friends must complete a risky heist , this time to repair a fracture in the time lines that is causing ripples and trying to kill our protagonist in a series of increasingly unlikely ways. Once again there is a good blend of action and humour to hold my interest as a reader. This was a fun book, and I am thankful to the publisher for my copy supplied via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I read both of mark lawerance's new books in this series courtesy of herbalist and really enjoyed them! Such a great author.

5×10ⁿ STARS! This book will make you go round and round and round in a never-ending loop of paradox...and fall down dead; a “head-twister” is what I like to call it :)

“Time heals all wounds.” Sam offered the old cliché.
“Time causes a lot of them, too.”

J.D. Salinger wrote, “What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though.” but when it does, it's an author who feels fabulously familiar, who understands you in a wondrous way, who you know you would have the most terrific talk with...and every time, every time, I turn the last page of a book by Mark Lawrence, that wish descends upon me like a vicious falcon, that cunning cruel creature, would upon its vulnerable prey.

Limited Wish is the best sequel One Word Kill I, this mulish maniacal meretricious mortal who would read anything the malefic munificent meritorious Mark would write—even pure poignant poetry (which he actually has and which are azure, ardent, and amazing), could have hoped for!
(Note: did I seriously just do that??)

“We humans care about what is, about what’s in front of us. Untouchable realities are too academic. If a man is starving to death on our street we empty the larder to feed him. Move him to a country a thousand miles away and our compassion shrinks a hundredfold.”

With his exquisite, flowing, and memorable writing that utterly traps you in its tale, throwing away the key (yay I stopped doing it!), and his glamorous gratifying grasp on anything from love, cancer, and humanity, to mathematics, physics, and paradox, and his incredible ingenious imagination to shape a singular strong story (nope...didn't stop), and with his tremendous talent in teaching to simplify the most complex concepts, Mark Lawrence has created magic in this book—more than ever before!

And I know that is a paragraph of praise, but it's true.

“A good mathematical proof is a gem. It sparkles in the same way, and like a diamond it’s impervious to time. It takes and multiplies the light of understanding, refracting it through many facets.”

There is the likely possiblity that this book might give you a headache, but in a good way! One Word Kill was much simpler and stood as an introduction to accustom the reader to the concept, aiming to explore its more complicated and fascinating side in the sequel(s); and thus there is more science in Limited Wish, and it's a unique book to truly challenge your mind, but you shouldn't worry—the author makes it all impossibly easy!

As Jane Austen said, “if a book is well written, I always find it too short.” and in this case it is too short :(
So I strongly suggest you pre-order it right now, because you are in for a ride unlike anything before.

The nostalgic fun continues in LIMITED WISH, the second book in the Impossible Times series by Mark Lawrence. The main character, Nick, has a lot on his plate: recovering from his recent bout with leukemia, falling for a girl but her dating someone else, and finding out that he is a time traveler in the future because his future self has visited him. Now Nick discovers there are multiple timelines and his head is spinning over which timeline is the right one. On top of it all, he has started research work at Cambridge and that quickly becomes complicated. Girls, physical recovery, time travel, friends, potential universe-shattering paradoxes. Nick has to balance it all and decide what are the right choices for him.
I really like how Lawrence has built the world that Nick lives in. Being in the 1980's brings back pleasant memories and having Nick still yearn to be a kid at heart by placing his weekly D&D game at the same level of importance to him as everything else. Nick is such a relatable and likeable character, through his struggles and successes, his awkwardness and bravery, and his sheer curiosity, the reader sees a teenager that we all once were. And all of the supporting characters are well developed and fun too. The action pleasantly builds to the climax of the book and there are some good twists along the way. Excited up until the end, the book also leaves a cliffhanger big enough that the reader is yearning to get their hands on the next book.
LIMITED WISH is not overly complex or epic in style, but it is loaded with exhilarating actions, endearing moments, and entertaining banter. I'm looking forward to the next Impossible Times book.

Limited Wish picks a few months after the ending of One Word Kill. Nick goes to Cambridge University where he impresses everyone with his almost preternatural mathematical skills. In the meantime he has to deal with the Universe willing to kill him (by all means necessary, Leukemia included), girls (yep, plural), D&D sessions and guests from the future.

Problems faced by friends during D&D sessions translate into real life decisions and titular spell Limited Wish has an interesting concept I’ll let you discover on your own.

I always loved mathematics and Lawrence shows it beauty without delving into complicated equations. Highly appreciated.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy of Limited Wish!

So often book fall prey to second book syndrome, where the book really feels less like a book in its own right and more a transition between books one and three. This book did almost the exact opposite. In fact, it solidified Mark Lawrence as one of my favorite authors of the year.

This book takes all of the elements of One Word Kill that I loved and built on them, all while telling a new and intriguing story in this trilogy. It gives just enough to leave me wanting more while also wrapping up this chapter of Nick’s story without me having too many unanswered questions.

The. Writing. I’m the type of reader that cannot get into books with flowery prose, the type that feels like the author is trying too hard to show the reader how many big words they know. Lawrence has a simplicity to his writing in the best way possible. When he needs to get technical with the physics of time travel, he gets technical, but it never feels forced or unnatural. And it’s easy to follow even the more complex elements. I devoured this book because it was so easy to get into the flow of the story with the fluidity of the narrative.

I also really enjoyed how the old characters from the first book were developed more, while adding some awesome new characters. Eva’s my new favorite okay? Okay. She’s a total badass and I’d protect her with my whole life.

I cannot wait to see how this series ends! Luckily it sounds like I won’t have to wait too long!

Limited Wish is the sequel to One Word Kill. Like its predecessor, this novel involves twisty plots revolving around quantum theory and time travel and I loved how Lawrence kept the ambiance that I loved from the first novel but managed a plot that felt different and had its own share of twists and tangles.

Much like in One Word Kill, Lawrence excels at getting us inside the head of Nick, our protagonist. If anything, Nick feels even more authentic in this novel. He may be a mathematics prodigy, but he feels like a real teenager. Although fantastic events have taken over his life, Nick still has many of the same struggles and concerns that any high school or university student would experience. It’s this relatability that really helps the novel to shine, I think. Lawrence also gives us some wonderfully evocative D&D sessions. Anyone who has even played D&D and then tried to describe a session to someone knows how hard it can be to translate the excitement of playing the game into a description of the game. Lawrence manages to do this regularly, creating D&D sessions that are fun and enjoyable to read about. That alone deserves praise. Of course, the plot is also a lot of fun. This time we get to see Nick struggle with how paradox fits into his (fairly tidy) understanding of time travel. It’s a wild ride and even at the end of the novel after a few fun reveals, I still have some questions in terms of how this whole paradox thing actually works, but then - that’s kinda the point, isn’t it? I really enjoy books that keep me thinking long after I’ve finished them, and Limited Wish is definitely that sort of novel. If you enjoy cerebral sci-fi I think you’ll very much enjoy this one!

There’s obviously a lot that worked for me. If there is anything that didn’t work for me, it was that I felt like some of the friendship and camaraderie that made the first book so much fun was lacking in this one. The characters did have quite the same level of one-for-all, all-for-one that we were able to enjoy in One Word Kill. I also felt like, while the plot was a lot of fun with plenty of twists and turns and science-y mystery, there wasn’t much character growth for Nick or any of his friends.

In the end, Limited Wish might not quite measure up to One Word Kill, but it’s still a wonderful sci-fi read with fun characters and a plot that keeps you thinking long after you’ve put the book down for the last time. Highly recommended.