The Book That Broke the World

Evar is a second protagonist and point-of-view narrator. He was also a protagonist of the first book, and so his character arc continues from that novel. Evar is a young adult male canith, a species that is taller and stronger than humans, have prominent canine teeth, and have thick manes around their necks. Evar was fostered along with four other orphaned canith in a single library chamber that he never escaped, save for when he entered the Mechanism, which allowed him to enter the pages of the book he was holding. That first entry into a book was how he met Livira and fell in love, the inciting incident of the first novel of the series.

Evar’s birth family was murdered by humans when he was young, and he was raised by two assistants. This unusual family situation allowed him to bond deeply with his foster siblings: Kerrol, who is philosophical and interested in psychology; Mayland, who is interested in history; Clovis, who is a fierce warrior; and Starval, who is a master of stealth. Evar discovered late in the first book that the entity he called the assistant contained the ghost of Livira, though her spirit was unable to interact with him. Evar doesn’t know what happened to Livira’s ghost when the assistant was destroyed by skeer, so his quest in the novel is to find and reunite with her.

Evar is distinct from his more strong-natured siblings, who are fierce and crafty. In contrast, he fears that he has no special skills, but Evar is loyal, intelligent, and willing to put himself at risk for the people he loves. He is a strategic thinker and tends to consider a situation before he rushes in. He rarely chooses violence as an initial solution, but if attack is called for, he participates. He is especially protective of Clovis, with whom he is close. He longs to be reunited with Livira, but when he sees her again, he is uncertain whether she returns his emotion, showing his vulnerability. Evar doesn’t have his own stake in the war over the library and the nature of knowledge. On his own, he would be likely to take the side of his loved one, proving Malar and Kerrol right in their predictions about the reasons people form alliances. Little is resolved for Evar at the end of this book; he ends it injured, with his fate in doubt.

Livira is another protagonist and a third point-of-view narrator. Like Evar, she was a protagonist of the first novel in the series, and her story continues in this novel. She is a human, originally from a small settlement on the Dust, who was brought to the library at Yute’s direction. Fascinated by stories and the knowledge the library provides, Livira crafted her own book from library materials, first writing notes in the margins of other stories and then writing her own stories inside the repurposed covers of existing books, an effort to keep her book from being discovered by assistants. In the first book in the trilogy, Livira fell in love with Evar during their many adventures, several of which took place within her own stories. She entered the assistant in order to be near him, which allowed her to watch him grow up from afar, even if she couldn’t communicate with him. Livira’s goal in the book is to be reunited with Evar, but she also learns a lesson about taking control of her own narrative.

Livira is remembered by Arpix as a rebellious, curious girl. Yolanda also remarks on Livira’s lack of regard for boundaries. Livira is ultimately driven by a sense of fairness and justice, and she decries how King Oanold is treating the people in his care. She is grieved when Malar dies and feels guilty when another human sacrifices himself to save her from the ganar automaton. She is willing to take responsibility for her actions by retrieving her book, as instructed, and confronting the automaton when she realizes it is after her. When the final confrontation with Irad and Jaspeth looms, Livira thinks of the suffering taking place in Oanold’s camp and wants to address that first, rather than the philosophical debate. In the end, Livira wants to accompany Evar into his portal, but when she is denied, she takes Yolanda and Irad’s portal, the side in the defense of knowledge. Livira is attached to her own book and thinks of it as her legacy, and she believes knowledge, as well as storytelling, can be a force for good.

Arpix is the fourth point-of-view narrator. He is a human librarian who has been stranded on the Dust for the previous four years. Arpix is a reserved young man who was raised by quiet, reserved parents, and he has acquired his manner from them. Arpix proves resourceful in leading his band of survivors, taking part in efforts to recover useful materials from the buried city and raising the beans that will feed them.

Although Arpix’s family and whole world were destroyed by the canith attack, when he sees the trio of canith running toward them on the plain, Arpix argues to treat them as individuals and not the enemy, declining to hold them responsible for what others like them have done. His ability to bridge this gap with compassion and recognition leads to a bond with Clovis that verges on romantic. Arpix is intelligent and fiercely loyal; when Jella is hurt in the skeer attack, he insists on going back for her at the risk of his own life. Arpix is not a fighter but rather a peacekeeper; he hopes that Yute’s group might negotiate and reach a truce with King Oanold’s group, and in the confrontation with Irad, he doesn’t understand why his group is responsible for the fate of the entire library. Arpix is an example of an unwilling hero who doesn’t seek glory but will attempt to do the right thing, no matter the cost. He ends the novel as the prisoner of King Oanold’s faction, setting up the conflict for the third book in the trilogy.