The Book That Wouldn't Burn

During a meal with her fellow trainees, Livira learns about “house readers,” who read and interpret books for wealthy families—particularly the books that have been approved by the king. The library’s influence and the king’s authority are woven together into the fabric of society, and when Livira questions the traditions, her concerns are summarily dismissed.

In class, Master Logaris assigns Livira’s group to locate a book within two days; if they fail, one of them will be dismissed. When Livira eagerly suggests searching the library’s shelves, her friends reveal a truth that startles her: She has only seen the trainee library—a small subset of the true library, which is possibly limitless.

Livira and her fellow trainees head into the library to find the book for Master Logaris. As they enter, Livira is struck by the library’s sheer scale, but Carlotte says that this is only the first chamber of the hundreds known. Livira snaps that this is all a pretense to get her kicked out. When she questions the other trainees about it, they say that the books on the king’s lists uphold the social biases that marginalize “dusters” (those who come from the Dust).