<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39792427-one-word-kill" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="One Word Kill (Impossible Times, #1)" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1537534197m/39792427.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39792427-one-word-kill">One Word Kill</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4721536.Mark_Lawrence">Mark Lawrence</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2834548405">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
The Fault in Our Stars meets D&D fandom meets TIME TRAVEL. <br /><br />I don't know why I thought this was an example of LitRPG but it isn't. It just happens to have a group of friends playing D&D in the 80's with our protagonist going through his own kind of hell with Cancer.<br /><br />There happens to be a real-world adventure, a bit of romance, and a psychopath, but let's not forget a few closed-time-like-loops, memory alterations, and the sweetness of kissing a girl. :)<br /><br />So what about One Word Kill? The D&D scroll that ignores saving throws once and for all?<br /><br />Ahhh, this is where the book gets really good. Not only do we have a few D&D in-the-know tropes working their way into theme and plot, but we've got a few great reversals that make this all kinds of awesome.<br /><br />I love it. It's light, definitely YA, but it was also good in the way that really surprised me. In a deep way. Emotional. The time travel bit was not a gimmick. It worked very well. :)<br /><br />No spoilers! Enjoy it for yourself! :)
<br/><br/>
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/4213258-bradley">View all my reviews</a>

3.5 Stars
This novel is full of all the things I love to geek out about: Dungeon & Dragons, mathematics, the 1980s and quantum theory. This book is clearly targeted at a nerdy audience, yet I would still consider it to be accessible to a larger readership. As a piece of light science fiction, I would be comfortable to recommend this one to readers who don’t normally read the genre. The technical concepts and geeky references are clearly explained to the reader in layman terms so readers do not need prior knowledge in order to enjoy of this novel.

In terms of page length, this book is quite short, which makes for a fast paced, exciting reading experience. The entire trilogy is expected to be published this year, which is great, because this is the kind of book that lends itself to binge reading.

Given the premise, this story reminded me of a lot of different tv shows and books, particularly Stranger Things and Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. While I enjoy those others stories, I felt that the author borrowed too many ideas. I felt like I had read this story before and I wanted to read something new.

While not perfect read, I would still recommend this one to readers looking for quick, fun with lots of 1980s geeky references.

Disclaimer:I received a digital copy from the publisher via Netgalley.

This book made D&D sound like one of the funnest social activities in the world. No, seriously, I'm down for trying out a session one day.

Between his recent cancer diagnosis and dealing with (literally) psychotic bullies from his school, Nick Hayes's only refuge of late are his D&D sessions with his friends, a motley, ragtag crew. When a stranger who looks suspiciously like a bald, older version of him steps into his life, things take a turn for the crazy.

What does this story have? Friendship, rumination on life and death, time travel, all packed into one fast-paced, relatively quick read. There was a very cozy, nostalgic atmosphere to the story, which is set in the 1980s. The sci-fi is relatively light and accessible to everyone, so if you're typically scared of dense sci-fi, this is a great option for you to try.

I enjoyed it overall. It has some character tropes that I generally dislike, but they were executed well nonetheless. Some things also felt a bit brief, the plot a bit <i>too</i> quick, so that the ending didn't resonate as strongly with me as it could have, but that's just me. I like slow stories that linger to delve deep. This book skims over the surface of some heavy topics instead—which isn't bad at all, just not what I'm in the mood for. Not a bad read at all, and I'm keen on checking out future books from this series.

Nick is just trying to survive high school in One Word Kill...literally.

Nick, Simon, John and Elton are best friends, high schoolers, and Dungeons & Dragons fanatics in 1986. Nick also has a crush on their newest player, Mia. Plus Nick has cancer.

Bullies Devis and Rust are rumored to have burned a homeless man to death. What is undeniable is that they have fun taunting the nerds in their high school. Nick’s secret weapon is the mysterious Demus, who appears exactly when he is needed and has strange forecasting powers. The plot just gets better from there.

One Word Kill is a smart, nerdy, many worlds’ hypothesis treat for anyone who loves Back to the Future, 1980s gaming, or physics class. Thirty years after the time period of this book, the nerds clearly have won. Right, Mr. Gates and Mr. Musk? But back in the 80s, the victory wasn’t so assured. That uncertainty is a large part of the charm of this book. If you’re a fan of The Goldbergs on television, I guarantee you will enjoy this book as much as I did. 4 stars!

Thanks to 47North, Amazon Publishing UK, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the early copy!

This was short science fiction novel with an interesting plot and well-written characters. I will be checking out the next book in this series. I did feel like it was too short for the amount of action and stuff that happened in it. Parts of it were confusing but overall it was a solid read.

3.5 / 5 ✪

Reviewed on https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/

One Word Kill follows fifteen year-old Nick Hayes through his weekly chemotherapy, D&D sessions, and a slow but insistent descent into madness. You see, it begins with the diagnosis of cancer, but takes off when Nick notices a strange yet familiar man following him. This man, Demus, claims he’s in a race against time to save Mia—Nick’s friend (in the way that teenage girls are considered friends to nerdy, quiet teenage boys; so, maybe somewhat)—and needs Nick’s help. Nick agrees but only after an important piece of info. See, Demus claims to hail from the future, a future in which Nick lives, something that’s of a great concern to a boy diagnosed with a mostly terminal disease. Now, Lawrence may not describe this as Nick’s intro to a less than sane version of himself, but honestly that’s pretty much what it sounds like. Next thing it’ll go all Pincher Martin and dude’ll wake up to find that he died at the beginning.

Anywho~ so begins Impossible Times.

So, going in to this I didn’t remember a whole lot of the premise. I knew it was by Mark Lawrence (whom I’m familiar with), about time travel, and set somewhere in the 80’s. That’s about it. And I started reading.

The resultant was actually pretty good.

While I was initially disappointed that the chemo didn’t make Nick develop time-bending superpowers (Spoilers!: he doesn’t), and he didn’t use said powers to travel time fighting crime and teaching various generations of women to looove—I got over it. The actual story is… what? More realistic, I guess. I mean, it’s the 80’s. In London. Back to the Future has just come out. D&D’s a thing. And there’s time travel, apparently.

The story’s pretty solid. I mean, it’s… complete. But kind of a bare bones complete. A straightforward plot that doesn’t take the time at the outset to cover all its bases. So, it’s your classic back-in-time to save-the-future time travel adventure, but with some interesting twists at the end. There’re also more than a few details we’re left hanging on. Maybe the author’s holding these for Book II, but it seems more likely an err on his part.

The D&D sessions help set the tone of One Word Kill. The title, for instance. It’s based on some D&D thing. If you’re unfamiliar with Dungeons and Dragons, well, the book will help with that. Maybe watch some Critical Role to top it off. Nick and his friends Simon, Elton, John and Mia find that their adventures through the fantastical world of imagination and twenty-sided dice often parallels their real world dilemmas. Many sessions even provide insight into how to approach their physical lives. As D&D often does, I’m told.

There’s a fair amount of math and physics talk, which Lawrence gets through in generally broad terms (this being a book that he’d like people to read for like, fun) and gets mostly right. If you don’t like science or math or find it confusing—it’s cool. Just skip it. Mostly it all comes down to Nick trying to justify time travel as an actual thing. Not just science fiction. Despite this, there was never any explanation of how exactly (roughly) time travel worked. I mean, like if there was a machine or wormhole or something. I would’ve expected Nick to harp on this, but he didn’t mention it once. Maybe Lawrence forgot, or couldn’t think of anything.

Nick’s a pretty cool guy. For being a total nerd and teen genius, I mean. His narration skills are pretty good (yes, this is written in 1st PPOV), although he gets distracted by the normal teenage things like girls, alcohol, girls, and video games. Also cancer, but that’s natural (getting distracted by it, I mean).

I’m really trying not to spoil the plot, so forgive me if I’m being a little vague. Or maybe just get the book. I think it’s free for kindle unlimited. Or cheapish otherwise. Besides, it’s a great little adventure, yet fails to provide answers to all the questions it raises. It’s not bad by any means, but hopefully the plot will improve with the sequel. Which I eagerly await.

Limited Wish, Impossible Times II, comes out in just a couple weeks, on May 28, 2019.

What at first glance looks like an interesting sci fi, time travel tale with a Strangers Things vibe unfortunately fails to pan out and ends up being an exceptionally drawn out and boring tale. The first 50% of the book feels like it only contains the main characters playing dungeons & dragons before a weird and not well thought out time travel scenario is injected.

Unfortunately this is not one of Mark Lawrences greater works and should be avaided at all costs

I was drawn to this book by a blurb that called it "Ready Player One meets Stranger Things" - which turned out not to be accurate. I don't see the connection to Ready Player One at all - maybe Stranger Things in that it is set in the 1980s and involves a group of teenagers who play D&D and get involved in a real life adventure - though in this book it has to do with time travel rather than a monster. I'm not sure the book made sense at all, but I did enjoy reading it. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

Actual rating 3.25/5 stars

One Word Kill was actually a really good take on time-travel, mixing sci-fi and fantasy. it also mixes those along with real-life situations people face. I don't think I was the target audience for this though. It just didn't really resonate with me. I liked the characters, well for the most part, but the actual story just didn't suck me in as it did for others. I felt out of it and just uninterested for a good chunk. I may have to come back to this at a later time, but for me it was just ok.

Having recently fallen in love with Mark Lawrence’s fantasy series, Book of the Ancestor, I jumped at the chance to get this sci-fi offering, billed as Stranger Things meets Ready Player One. It ended up living up to neither for me, but still a decent read.

Nick Hayes may be a mathematical genius at 15, but he’s as unprepared as anyone to be told he has leukaemia. As he starts chemotherapy, he distracts himself with his D&D sessions with his friends, including a newcomer to the group: their first girl, Mia. But he still has to put up with the psychotic school bully, and a strangely familiar man who might be stalking him…

Teenagers with cancer, in the 80s no less, turns out to be a bit of a trigger for me. I was kinda happy that the author got a few bits wrong (contrary to popular imagery, chemo often leaves its victims bloated from steroids, not concentration-camp skinny). As the book goes on and Nick’s story involves more than just hospitals and life expectancy odds it was easier to cope with this bit of the story, but possibly for the first time I feel like offering a warning to other readers.

That aside, I wouldn’t suggest this story hits the heights of either of the ‘meets’ titles. The 1980s nostalgia is fairly light – mentions of using phone boxes and a few tech oldies aside, I’m not sure I would have noticed the ‘period’ setting much, which was ever so slightly disappointing. The characters are fine, but the teenage-ness of it all did little for me. I was put in mind a bit of Neil Gaiman’s Interworld; it all felt a bit for-younger-readers.

Plot-wise it’s difficult to say much without spoilers, but the group of teens end up on a quest that doesn’t feel a million miles from their board games.

Overall, I enjoyed this but it’s not grabbing me anywhere near as much as Red Sister. Still, sequel already started, and I’m curious to see where the story could go.

" In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week. Nick and his Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next."
I wasn't prepared, either, for just how good this was going to be.
Mark Lawrence is an established and well-regarded Fantasy author. He is also a scientist. So it's surprising that this is his first foray into Science Fiction. And he nails it in every area: the science, the characters, the action, the 80s nostalgia, and the real emotion the characters feel and the reader feels for them.
The science is about quantum physics, multiple realities and time travel. Lawrence deals with it by explaining briefly and competently and moving on to the story, which I like. This is not a "hard" science fiction novel - it's character and plot-driven. Paradox, the perennial thorn of time travel narratives, is handled confidently and convincingly.
The character of Nick is masterfully written, right from the start. The scenes focusing on his cancer and his feelings about it read so truthfully that I felt he was someone I actually knew. Nick's friends are all well-drawn and interesting in their own right. Apart from Nick, Elton and Simon were the stand-outs for me, but every reader will have their favourites.
When the novel moves into action, it is edge-of-seat kind of stuff and more genuinely frightening than I had expected. Despite the young protagonist, this is not a novel for children.There is violence and gore and some pretty disturbing incidents. And one character, named Rust, is going to stay with me much longer than I would like.
It is a nostalgic book, giving the kind of homage to an eighties childhood that we see in Stranger Things and even more in Ready Player One. There are references to Dungeons and Dragons, Commodore 64s, Back to the Future and plenty more. The Dungeons and Dragons sessions in this book are so engagingly written, I wouldn't be surprised if they made some readers want to have a try themselves, no matter their age or previous level of disinterest. But whereas in Ready Player One, the nostalgia was the only reason for my enjoyment, there are so many more here.
Lawrence has woven three plot threads into One Word Kill and all are connected with the title in different ways: Nick's cancer and hospital visits, his interactions with his friends, and the time travel aspect. Not only do all of these weave in and out of each other in a way that feels perfectly balanced, but each of them is equally interesting. That's quite a feat. I never felt disappointed when the story moved from one aspect to another, and that's a rare thing. Before I read this, I would have guessed that I would enjoy the sci-fi part of the story more than the part about Nick's illness, but I would have been wrong.
Another joy: the whole novel is so beautifully written: Lawrence's language is spare when it needs to be to carry the action, and the dialogue between the teenage characters feels authentic and spontaneous, but at other times Nick's thoughts are almost poetic:
Because ugliness multiplies, and hurt spills over into hurt, and sometimes good things are just the fuel for evil's fire."
The novel ends in a very satisfying way and can be read as a stand-alone. But I am so glad that there are going to be two more in this series. I can't wait to spend more time with Nick and his friends and see what happens next. There are plenty of possibilities from the threads Lawrence has started.
I could go on, but here's the bottom line: go and buy One Word Kill. And buy a copy for your best friend too. They'll thank you.
As for me, I'll be getting my hands on the next book in the trilogy as soon as humanly possible.
A digital A.R.C. of this novel was supplied to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

One Word Kill is adrenaline-laced adventure, ideal for lovers of science fiction and popular culture. Mark Lawrence takes us into a vivid and gripping fantasy world worth checking out. I look forward to reading more work from this author.

brief summary
After receiving a terminal diagnosis fifteen year old Nick also begins receiving visitations from the future urging him and his friends to undertake a quest to the future loss of someone dear to them.

full review
Author Mark Lawrence takes us back to England in 1986, to the day a young man named Nicholas receives the news he has leukemia, and not long to live. What follows is far from the typical "teen with cancer" story, although it does hit some of the expected points: the moment when he reveals his soon-to-be-dead status to his friends, the introduction of a girl with whom he cannot possibly have enough time, the quest he has to complete before it's too late. Time is an ever-present element in this story, as one might expect, but not for the reason one might think, and that is what takes this from being a British Lurlene McDaniel story to an intriguing science fiction adventure.

Not long after Nick receives his diagnosis and his future love interest (this is not a spoiler, it is too obvious to be a spoiler) joins his D&D group, a man begins appearing around Nick, at first creeping him out, and finally stepping in to help, and then ask Nick and his friends to commit a felony in order to save Mia (the newest D&D player and Nick's eventual love interest) from a future of brain damage. The young men are convinced, eventually, that the man is a version of Nick from a version of the future, and things proceed. There are a number of interesting and clever things about this quest the group embarks on, including the way it echoes the campaign they are following in D&D, but at the risk of being called a spoiler I won't go into them any further here.

Instead I will say that I delighted in the unabashed nerdery of the characters, and the idea that their parents and siblings actually had lives and personalities of their own, rather than existing simply to spawn the main characters and then bugger off. Truly, I enjoyed this group of kids, and found myself forming actual attachments to them, despite the book's brevity. They reminded me pleasantly of Real Genius, although that might've just been the 1980s setting.

I also appreciated Lawrence's ability to integrate different elements of being a British teenager in the '80s into the background. (Although, now that I think about it, that might be because he's approximately of an age to have been a teenager in the '80s himself.) At any rate, the '80s culture the book includes is more than just flavor text, as it is also key to the group's quest. A part which particularly tickled me was the idea that future-Nicholas is hindered in his designs by being stuck with '80s-level computer technology when he needs to perform futuristic feats that we still have not achieved in 2019.

It is worth mentioning that this story's antagonist, other than leukemia and time, is a genuine psychopath of the sort that seem to occur with disproportionate frequency in stories of British teens. This fellow is astonishingly awful, and there is no real explanation ever offered as to how he became that way, only that he knows he's dreadful and seems wholly unbothered by that fact. In fact, he seems to revel in it in a way that makes me wonder if he ever had parents, or if he did and then killed them.

This was a promising start to Mark Lawrence's newest series, and I eagerly await the next installment.

Rating:★★★★★

Synopsis

In January 1986, fifteen-year-old boy-genius Nick Hayes discovers he’s dying. And it isn’t even the strangest thing to happen to him that week.

Nick and his Dungeons & Dragons-playing friends are used to living in their imaginations. But when a new girl, Mia, joins the group and reality becomes weirder than the fantasy world they visit in their weekly games, none of them are prepared for what comes next. A strange—yet curiously familiar—man is following Nick, with abilities that just shouldn’t exist. And this man bears a cryptic message: Mia’s in grave danger, though she doesn’t know it yet. She needs Nick’s help—now.

He finds himself in a race against time to unravel an impossible mystery and save the girl. And all that stands in his way is a probably terminal disease, a knife-wielding maniac and the laws of physics.

Review

Thanks to 47North and the author for an advanced reading copy of One Word Kill (Impossible Times #1) in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this eARC via NetGalley did not influence my thoughts or opinions on the novel.

I’m sure most of you have seen the comparison of One Word Kill to Ready Player One meets Stranger Things, and to be quite honest, it lives up to the hype. For those that lived through the 80’s (which I am not one), the nostalgia alone should enrapture you, much the same way that Cline did in his debut. Having said that, RPO gripped me a little harder than did OWK because I grew up in the 90s where video games, IMHO, took precedence over tabletop games; at least where I’m from, anyways.

I know this was Lawrence’s science fiction debut and even though I have loved every single work he has produced, there was the tiny possibility that OWK was going to be a dud. You just never know how one of your favorite authors is going to handle writing a novel in a new genre, let alone not having a new world to build.

Suffice it to say, Mark handled his debut with panache, showing that he has the skills to pay the bills. One Word Kill has immense staying power for those of us who ponder upon those “back in the day” moments. I mean seriously… what can this man NOT do? I knew there would be characters I could instantaneously connect with, a world I could see through new eyes, and, more than likely, some mind-bending physics that I’d have to glance at twice before being able to wrap my head around things and move on.

Whether it is the Hawkins AV Club, the Losers Club, or the Goonies, you can add Nick and his D&D party to the list of gangs you wish you were apart of growing up. Or maybe they remind you of yourself and the group you hung around, giving you a grand sense of nostalgia and the want to go back in time; to relive all of those childhood memories.

Well, maybe you can?

This review will be posted on my blog on 5/10/19.

Fifteen-year-old Nick has been processing a lot lately. He's just been told he has leukemia and may only have a few years to live at best. He's trying to figure out how to tell his D&D group, a process made more complicated by the addition of new member Mia to a previously all-boys session. And a mysterious man has started appearing at random intervals, a man who knows far too much about Nick and his life to be a stranger - and he wants Nick to pull off a heist at one of the biggest tech companies in the city.

This is one of the harder reviews I've had to write, because while this story didn't fully resonate with me, I know it is going to be (and has been) deeply moving and personal for others. And that's okay! I appreciate a lot of the craft of storytelling that went into this tale. The problem for me was that I didn't connect emotionally with the characters, the somewhat clinical tone distancing me from a story that has a lot to say about life, death and living.

Though ONE WORD KILL is a heavy love letter to Dungeons and Dragons and the community of people who play it, it is NOT a fantasy story, at least, not in the orcs and wizards kind of way. It's a coming-of-age sci-fi story that shares at least some DNA with STRANGER THINGS. In the 1980s, a close-knit group of young friends is presented with a beyond weird situation. You'll find monsters here, but of the neighborhood gang members variety.  Behind it all, however, you will find an excellently wrought story of a boy trying to come to terms with the fact that his life may soon be over. He wrestles with that inevitably in his D&D sessions, in his interactions with bullies, and in this bizarre situation that has been handed to him. I did truly like how all the elements wove together in exploring these themes of death and fate. Moments at the gaming table force Nick to confront some truths he's not ready to experience, and are there for a call back later in the story.

ONE WORD KILL is a tale of love and life. I appreciated the times that Nick saw his relationships in a new light, knowing how time is fleeting. I loved how much Mark Lawrence clearly cares about those who gather around the table for role-playing games.  If I'd been able to relate a little better to band of teenage boys in the UK in the 1980s who occasionally have to worry about psychotic gang members, this would have likely ticked into a 4 star for me. If this scenario sounds like your cup of tea, I still recommend checking this tale out!

This book doesn't have that much in common with Stranger Things except the setting and Dungeons and Dragons being involved. The characters are older and this deals with time travel. Another big thing is that our main character has cancer and is actively dealing with chemo side affects.

I loved Mia. Even though she was the love interest, she was a well rounded character with her own problems and interests. Nick as the main character was fine. He had a lot of empathy for a teenage boy especially one facing his own mortality.

There was so many questions I had at the end that almost took away a star. Then I saw on Amazon that there's going to be a second book and now hoping that I'll find out what it meant by Mia saving Nick in the future.

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.