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The Broken Empire #2
King of Thorns
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Fantasy (2012)The second book in the Broken Empire series, Lawrence takes his young anti-hero one step closer to his grand ambition.
To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I’ve walked from pawn to player and I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood…
The land burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings fight for the Broken Empire. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.
A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg's gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.
Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan.
To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I’ve walked from pawn to player and I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood…
The land burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings fight for the Broken Empire. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.
A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg's gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.
Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan.
449 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2012
About the author
Mark Lawrence
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Mark Lawrence is married with four children, one of whom is severely disabled. Before becoming a fulltime writer in 2015 day job was as a research scientist focused on various rather intractable problems in the field of artificial intelligence. He has held secret level clearance with both US and UK governments. At one point he was qualified to say 'this isn't rocket science ... oh wait, it actually is'.
Mark used to have a list of hobbies back when he did science by day. Now his time is really just divided between writing and caring for his disabled daughter. There are occasional forays into computer games too.
[My new book The Book That Broke The World is out now!]
Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/marklawrencea...
Blog here: http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk/
I'm on Youtube now! *excitement!*
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIrB...
Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/MarkLawrence...
https://www.instagram.com/mark___lawr...
Threads
https://www.threads.net/@mark___lawrence
Blue Sky
https://bsky.app/profile/marklawrence...
Three-emails-a-year newsletter here:
http://eepurl.com/cimnK1 #Prizes #FreeContent
I'm even on Tumblr!
https://www.tumblr.com/blog/marklawre...
Pintrest!
https://uk.pinterest.com/princeofthor...
Plus I have free stuff on Wattpad!
https://www.wattpad.com/user/MarkLawr...
Mark Lawrence is married with four children, one of whom is severely disabled. Before becoming a fulltime writer in 2015 day job was as a research scientist focused on various rather intractable problems in the field of artificial intelligence. He has held secret level clearance with both US and UK governments. At one point he was qualified to say 'this isn't rocket science ... oh wait, it actually is'.
Mark used to have a list of hobbies back when he did science by day. Now his time is really just divided between writing and caring for his disabled daughter. There are occasional forays into computer games too.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,267 reviews
February 21, 2015
Jorg Ancrath, you little fucker.
My feelings towards Jorg and this book can be best described as the epitome of an abusive relationship.
Jorg is not a nice man. Actually, for most of the book, he's 14 years old, so fuck the "nice man" part because he's not even a man yet. But he'll rip your head off, quite literally, if you say that to his face.
He is a rapist. A murderer. He tortures. He kills haphazardly. He is destructive, capricious. A madman in every sense of the word. He will wound you, physically and emotionally.
You will want to run away. You hate him. You despise his actions. You can't believe that you could ever love someone like that.
Enough is enough. It's time to stop the cycle of abuse. It's time to be decisive. It's time to leave him, forever.
There's no forgiving someone this despicable.
And then out of the blue, his vulnerability surfaces. He begs for redemption. He does something so kind, so selfless that it breaks your heart. You get a glimpse of his inner hurt. His inner demons.
You weep for what made him into a monster. He is, after all, just a wounded, hurt little boy who needs to be loved.
And just like that, you come back to him.
And the cycle of abuse repeats itself.
Jorg, you little fuck. I love you. You dumb little piece of shit. I hope you die.
Don't leave me.
My feelings towards Jorg and this book can be best described as the epitome of an abusive relationship.
Jorg is not a nice man. Actually, for most of the book, he's 14 years old, so fuck the "nice man" part because he's not even a man yet. But he'll rip your head off, quite literally, if you say that to his face.
He is a rapist. A murderer. He tortures. He kills haphazardly. He is destructive, capricious. A madman in every sense of the word. He will wound you, physically and emotionally.
You will want to run away. You hate him. You despise his actions. You can't believe that you could ever love someone like that.
Enough is enough. It's time to stop the cycle of abuse. It's time to be decisive. It's time to leave him, forever.
There's no forgiving someone this despicable.
And then out of the blue, his vulnerability surfaces. He begs for redemption. He does something so kind, so selfless that it breaks your heart. You get a glimpse of his inner hurt. His inner demons.
You weep for what made him into a monster. He is, after all, just a wounded, hurt little boy who needs to be loved.
And just like that, you come back to him.
And the cycle of abuse repeats itself.
Jorg, you little fuck. I love you. You dumb little piece of shit. I hope you die.
Don't leave me.
Read
November 5, 2023You can now buy the US-based 10th anniversary edition, leather-bound, illustrated, signed, numbered...
https://grimoakpress.com/collections/...
Or the cheaper UK based Broken Binding 10th anniversary edition, signed and numbered) with sprayed edges:
https://thebrokenbindingsub.com/produ...
Six death scenes cut from the book:
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...
++++++++++++++++++++++
King of Thorns was a gamble on the intelligence of my readers - I bet on it being pretty high - I appear to have won.
Some readers struggle with the non-linear progression through two time-lines and various memories. It is, I'll agree, not the standard way to write a fantasy book, though those who read literary fiction will be more used to seeing a narrative flex its muscles in more imaginative ways.
The fantasy genre tends to reserve its imagination for the content (dragons, wizards) rather than the form, and I'm afraid I rode over that rather rough-shod. I'm very glad that so many of my readers were able to stick along for the ride though.
When I handed the book in the first batch of editor's notes to come back included the line:
...it is shaping up to be the most extraordinary work of fantasy I have ever read: because you take such risks...
Well I wasn't aware I was taking risks as I wrote it but I've come to understand that she was talking about the structure/style of the thing. I guess if I were a planner I would have looked at the diagram of times/places/events and shaken my head, crumpling the page to toss at the bin. But I write stories as they roll out of my head, so I never saw the whole 'mess' of it until I looked back behind me at the end.
Check out Road Brothers if you want background stories on Jorg and his companions.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
..
https://grimoakpress.com/collections/...
Or the cheaper UK based Broken Binding 10th anniversary edition, signed and numbered) with sprayed edges:
https://thebrokenbindingsub.com/produ...
Six death scenes cut from the book:
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.co.uk...
++++++++++++++++++++++
King of Thorns was a gamble on the intelligence of my readers - I bet on it being pretty high - I appear to have won.
Some readers struggle with the non-linear progression through two time-lines and various memories. It is, I'll agree, not the standard way to write a fantasy book, though those who read literary fiction will be more used to seeing a narrative flex its muscles in more imaginative ways.
The fantasy genre tends to reserve its imagination for the content (dragons, wizards) rather than the form, and I'm afraid I rode over that rather rough-shod. I'm very glad that so many of my readers were able to stick along for the ride though.
When I handed the book in the first batch of editor's notes to come back included the line:
...it is shaping up to be the most extraordinary work of fantasy I have ever read: because you take such risks...
Well I wasn't aware I was taking risks as I wrote it but I've come to understand that she was talking about the structure/style of the thing. I guess if I were a planner I would have looked at the diagram of times/places/events and shaken my head, crumpling the page to toss at the bin. But I write stories as they roll out of my head, so I never saw the whole 'mess' of it until I looked back behind me at the end.
Check out Road Brothers if you want background stories on Jorg and his companions.
Join my Patreon
Join my 3-emails-a-year newsletter #prizes
..
July 21, 2024
My complete review is published at Grimdark Magazine.
King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is one of the greatest masterpieces of grimdark fantasy, a towering literary achievement that takes us into the darkened mind and heart of Jorg Ancrath as he comes to terms with several of the most tragic events of his young life. In this second volume of the Broken Empire trilogy, Jorg has matured compared to the impulsive, rage-driven youth of Prince of Thorns. In King of Thorns, Jorg’s unbridled anger is balanced by an unshakeable sorrow, a deep sadness which only grows throughout the novel.
With Jorg’s newfound role as the self-declared King of Renar, we see much more of the Broken Empire compared to Prince of Thorns. The world of the Broken Empire is a post-apocalyptic Europe devastated by nuclear war and living in the aftermath of global warming. From the map at the beginning of King of Thorns, all the European lowlands have been flooded, distorting the geography compared to our present world. For example, the rising sea level has caused the northwestern French province of Brittany to separate from the European continent, becoming the island of Brit, and Italy has narrowed so much that Roma is now on the coast. The map also reveals a drastically different political order in the Broken Empire. Our modern country boundaries are gone, as Europe has returned to the days of feudalism with each region under control of a local king or prince.
Jorg’s main competitor in King of Thorns is Prince Orrin of Arrow, a traditional Prince Charming-type good guy. Orrin is blond, handsome, and courting Jorg’s beloved aunt Katherine. The Prince of Arrow is prophesied to unite the kingdoms of the Broken Empire and bring an era of peace and prosperity through mutual understanding and dialogue. Orrin is everything that Jorg is not. He has the love of his people and an army that vastly outnumbers Jorg’s.
King of Thorns is a brilliantly constructed novel told on four different timelines/perspectives. The two main timelines follow (1) Jorg in the present day during his battle with the Prince of Arrow and (2) four years prior, immediately following the events of Prince of Thorns. There are also (3) flashbacks of Jorg’s suppressed memories and (4) the perspective of Katherine from her journal. All four of these timelines/perspectives are cleverly interwoven by Mark Lawrence in the telling of the story.
The epic battle with the Prince of Arrow also coincides with Jorg’s wedding day to the precocious Queen Miana. Miana is one of my favorite characters in the novel, an intellectual equal to Jorg who has a couple of surprises up her sleeves.
The timeline immediately following Prince of Thorns largely focuses on Jorg’s quest to help Gog, the leucrota child adopted by Jorg who possesses powerful but uncontrolled abilities in fire-magic. Although Jorg is advised that Gog is too dangerous to keep alive, he is committed to helping Gog master his incredible powers. Gog is another one of my favorite characters in the book. Although he appears monstrous on the outside, Gog is just a little boy and brings out the humanity in Jorg.
Jorg is literally haunted by his dark past, including a dead child that is always there, watching him. To gain some respite from his unmitigated sorrow, Jorg’s memories are stored in a memory box, one of the sci-fi elements of the book, which also connects to Mark Lawrence’s excellent Impossible Times trilogy. Flashbacks occur throughout King of Thorns as Jorg cannot resist the urge to open the memory box and understand his past. The flashbacks are supplemented by what we learn from Katherine’s journal. There are a number of surprising revelations throughout King of Thorns that will leave the reader’s heart as broken as this post-apocalyptic world.
Fortunately, Jorg’s dark humor is also in peak form throughout the novel. There are plenty of clever Easter eggs and witticisms throughout the book, including references to Star Trek, American Pie, and various aspects of our modern technology. The technological understanding of our age is long gone. The people of the Broken Empire refer to us as Builders based on our impressive but now-decayed architecture left behind. I'm convinced that the Tall Castle of Ancrath is simply the remains of an old Parisian skyscraper.
King of Thorns also marks the first appearance of Dr. Elias Taproot, who provides a unifying thread throughout Mark Lawrence’s five trilogies, giving the sci-fi backbone to books that may seem at first like pure fantasy. Here we also meet Fexler Brews, a data echo who provides another key element of worldbuilding in the Broken Empire.
As always, Mark Lawrence is precise and methodical with his writing, giving his readers clues to build the greater picture of his universe. We are hearing the story from a possibly unreliable narrator who has limited knowledge about the world in which he is living and a lot of suppressed memories. Although the story is infused with magic, much of this is simply remnants of our modern science that people in the post-apocalyptic future no longer understand.
Jorg is still an evil anti-hero driven by revenge, but he grows so much in this book. He deals with the ghosts of his past, both literal and figurative, and he grows to care more deeply about other people, especially his Road Brothers, his aunt Katherine, and his wife Miana. Jorg is still a brutally violent psychopath. But he’s a brutally violent psychopath who cares.
Mark Lawrence is the Fyodor Dostoevsky of grimdark fantasy, eloquently combining an in-depth character study of a psychologically disturbed protagonist (Crime and Punishment) with layers of political intrigue (Demons) and complicated family dynamics (The Brothers Karamazov). Like Dostoevsky, Mark Lawrence’s writing is beautiful and poetic, especially as Jorg has grown as a narrator since Prince of Thorns. There are so many quotable lines in King of Thorns, some heart-wrenching and others laugh-out-loud hilarious. As a reader, I wanted to savor every word.
Mark Lawrence is known for the iconic opening lines of his novels, lines that will stick with you long after you’ve finished the book. But the most iconic lines in King of Thorns are at the very end, words that will haunt you for years to come. King of Thorns is one of Mark Lawrence’s finest achievements in a career marked by consistent excellence. If you haven’t already explored the world of the Broken Empire, Jorg is waiting for you.
King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is one of the greatest masterpieces of grimdark fantasy, a towering literary achievement that takes us into the darkened mind and heart of Jorg Ancrath as he comes to terms with several of the most tragic events of his young life. In this second volume of the Broken Empire trilogy, Jorg has matured compared to the impulsive, rage-driven youth of Prince of Thorns. In King of Thorns, Jorg’s unbridled anger is balanced by an unshakeable sorrow, a deep sadness which only grows throughout the novel.
With Jorg’s newfound role as the self-declared King of Renar, we see much more of the Broken Empire compared to Prince of Thorns. The world of the Broken Empire is a post-apocalyptic Europe devastated by nuclear war and living in the aftermath of global warming. From the map at the beginning of King of Thorns, all the European lowlands have been flooded, distorting the geography compared to our present world. For example, the rising sea level has caused the northwestern French province of Brittany to separate from the European continent, becoming the island of Brit, and Italy has narrowed so much that Roma is now on the coast. The map also reveals a drastically different political order in the Broken Empire. Our modern country boundaries are gone, as Europe has returned to the days of feudalism with each region under control of a local king or prince.
Jorg’s main competitor in King of Thorns is Prince Orrin of Arrow, a traditional Prince Charming-type good guy. Orrin is blond, handsome, and courting Jorg’s beloved aunt Katherine. The Prince of Arrow is prophesied to unite the kingdoms of the Broken Empire and bring an era of peace and prosperity through mutual understanding and dialogue. Orrin is everything that Jorg is not. He has the love of his people and an army that vastly outnumbers Jorg’s.
King of Thorns is a brilliantly constructed novel told on four different timelines/perspectives. The two main timelines follow (1) Jorg in the present day during his battle with the Prince of Arrow and (2) four years prior, immediately following the events of Prince of Thorns. There are also (3) flashbacks of Jorg’s suppressed memories and (4) the perspective of Katherine from her journal. All four of these timelines/perspectives are cleverly interwoven by Mark Lawrence in the telling of the story.
The epic battle with the Prince of Arrow also coincides with Jorg’s wedding day to the precocious Queen Miana. Miana is one of my favorite characters in the novel, an intellectual equal to Jorg who has a couple of surprises up her sleeves.
The timeline immediately following Prince of Thorns largely focuses on Jorg’s quest to help Gog, the leucrota child adopted by Jorg who possesses powerful but uncontrolled abilities in fire-magic. Although Jorg is advised that Gog is too dangerous to keep alive, he is committed to helping Gog master his incredible powers. Gog is another one of my favorite characters in the book. Although he appears monstrous on the outside, Gog is just a little boy and brings out the humanity in Jorg.
Jorg is literally haunted by his dark past, including a dead child that is always there, watching him. To gain some respite from his unmitigated sorrow, Jorg’s memories are stored in a memory box, one of the sci-fi elements of the book, which also connects to Mark Lawrence’s excellent Impossible Times trilogy. Flashbacks occur throughout King of Thorns as Jorg cannot resist the urge to open the memory box and understand his past. The flashbacks are supplemented by what we learn from Katherine’s journal. There are a number of surprising revelations throughout King of Thorns that will leave the reader’s heart as broken as this post-apocalyptic world.
Fortunately, Jorg’s dark humor is also in peak form throughout the novel. There are plenty of clever Easter eggs and witticisms throughout the book, including references to Star Trek, American Pie, and various aspects of our modern technology. The technological understanding of our age is long gone. The people of the Broken Empire refer to us as Builders based on our impressive but now-decayed architecture left behind. I'm convinced that the Tall Castle of Ancrath is simply the remains of an old Parisian skyscraper.
King of Thorns also marks the first appearance of Dr. Elias Taproot, who provides a unifying thread throughout Mark Lawrence’s five trilogies, giving the sci-fi backbone to books that may seem at first like pure fantasy. Here we also meet Fexler Brews, a data echo who provides another key element of worldbuilding in the Broken Empire.
As always, Mark Lawrence is precise and methodical with his writing, giving his readers clues to build the greater picture of his universe. We are hearing the story from a possibly unreliable narrator who has limited knowledge about the world in which he is living and a lot of suppressed memories. Although the story is infused with magic, much of this is simply remnants of our modern science that people in the post-apocalyptic future no longer understand.
Jorg is still an evil anti-hero driven by revenge, but he grows so much in this book. He deals with the ghosts of his past, both literal and figurative, and he grows to care more deeply about other people, especially his Road Brothers, his aunt Katherine, and his wife Miana. Jorg is still a brutally violent psychopath. But he’s a brutally violent psychopath who cares.
Mark Lawrence is the Fyodor Dostoevsky of grimdark fantasy, eloquently combining an in-depth character study of a psychologically disturbed protagonist (Crime and Punishment) with layers of political intrigue (Demons) and complicated family dynamics (The Brothers Karamazov). Like Dostoevsky, Mark Lawrence’s writing is beautiful and poetic, especially as Jorg has grown as a narrator since Prince of Thorns. There are so many quotable lines in King of Thorns, some heart-wrenching and others laugh-out-loud hilarious. As a reader, I wanted to savor every word.
Mark Lawrence is known for the iconic opening lines of his novels, lines that will stick with you long after you’ve finished the book. But the most iconic lines in King of Thorns are at the very end, words that will haunt you for years to come. King of Thorns is one of Mark Lawrence’s finest achievements in a career marked by consistent excellence. If you haven’t already explored the world of the Broken Empire, Jorg is waiting for you.
August 5, 2018
"I read the small forgotten books. The ones found behind the rows on the shelves. In locked chests. In pieces to be assembled. They look old. Some are--a hundred years, three hundred, maybe five, but Orrin's are most ancient. Mine though, they look older, as if what is written in them takes its toll, even on parchment and leather. Mine were set down after the Burning, after the Builders ignited their many suns."
I first met Jorg Ancrath in the first book of The Broken Empire called Prince of Thorns. I must insist that anyone interested in reading this series start with book one. Jorg evolves a bit in book two and it would be best...if you wish to keep your head attached to your shoulders...that you know as much about the young whelp as possible before you actually start to like him.
Now Jorg is a complicated guy. He is a prince. In book one he is 14 years old and swings a sword as well as most grown men. He is brutal, angry, unsympathetic, and consumed by revenge. His mother and brother are killed brutally and he is flung during the melee into a thicket of thorns. Now these are not ordinary thorns, but spiny plants with hooks that once beneath the skin can kill a person. Jorg is found hanging in the thorn thicket bleeding from the numerous barbs that hold him suspended above the ground. It turns out to be really inconvenient for a lot of people that Jorg lives. His father moves on quickly marrying again and siring another heir. He doesn't like his son (an asshole in his own right who seems to recognize those tendencies in his son) very much from his first wife and the writing is on the wall that the new heir will inherit. Jorg goes on the road accumulating a band of misfit brothers that he wanders about creating mayhem while he contemplates what to do about the killer of his mother and brother. He resolves the issue in spectacular fashion.
Book one was so gritty, so pleasurably wicked that I didn't even know quite what to say about recommending it to other people. I winced, laughed, felt guilty for really liking the book, felt my own buried hormonal rages stir with delight, and came away from the experience realizing I'd never read anything quite like it before. My 16 year old son asked me about reading the book and I replied that maybe when he got older...somewhere around 30.
So there has not been a more anticipated book for me in a long time than the King of Thorns. At first I was thinking WTF? Did Mark Lawrence grow up between book one and book two. Has he stepped back from the gore and the random violence and the whoring and wrote...what...a more philosophical book? I gnashed my teeth and clipped my fingernails with snippy disdain. I intended to set the book aside for a while, but after reconsidering I thought to myself maybe the fact that I've read 80 pages and no one has been impaled or eviscerated or a village consumed by fire or a priest beheaded is because Lawrence plans to have me in blood up to my elbows for the rest of the book. It is rather disturbing that I found myself feeling this way. I don't as a rule like excessively violent books. I blame Lawrence, somehow the way he writes it makes me want more.
Now the thing of it is Jorg is in love with Katherine Ap Scorron. Their previous meetings have not gone well. The last contact he had with her in person involved crushing her mother's vase over her head. In Jorg's defense she was trying to stab him at the time. The opening quote in this review is from Katherine's journal which are sprinkled through out the book between chapters. The further I read in the book the more I loved finding those little gems seen through the eyes of Katherine. Now if you have any doubt about how Jorg feels about Katherine and believe me you will have doubts that the young man feels anything for anyone you might be reassured by a few of Jorg's thoughts on the matter.
"In memory I study the light on her face, beneath the glow-bulbs of the Tall Castle, beneath the cemetery trees. I envy those patches of sunlight, sliding over her hair, moving unopposed the length of her body, across her cheekbones. I remember everything. I recall the pattern of her breath. In the heat of Drane's kitchen I remember a single bead of sweat and the slow roll of it, down her neck, along the tendon, across her throat. I've killed men and forgotten them. Mislaid the act of taking a life. But that drop of sweat is a diamond in my mind's eye."
Jorg's main rival for control of the empire and for Katherine's hand in marriage is Orrin of Arrow. He is charming ,intelligent, and brilliant swordsman. Even Jorg can't help but like him and there is nothing more annoying than liking your rival. The Prince of Arrow intends to rule the empire and King Jorg is as worrisome to him as a pimple on his chin. Now Orrin has decided that he is god's gift to the people and that everyone would be better off with him commanding the empire. So for their own good he is conquering all the fiefdoms that exist across the Broken Empire and of course eventually he arrives at the gates of Jorg's castle.
Map of the Broken Empire
Now the castle's are left over structures from the Builders. Skycrapers or parking garages that have been fortified and turned into defensive structures. One structure even has a working generator that continues to supply power to dull glowing light bulbs. The builders when they released their suns shattered the structure of civilization and left the world a land of sword wielding soldiers and goat herders. The residual computer image of a builder named Fexler Brews, existing only because that generator continues to function, explained what happened when those thousand suns were unleashed. "We weakened the barriers between thought and matter." "They did not bring magic into the world, but strengthened the link between want and what is."
Humans are like cockroaches no matter what we do to this world a few will always survive. Some might say we display a lot of pluck, a resiliency to be admired, but ultimately what we do best is adapt.
Voodoo was once explained to me. Voodoo only exists because people believe it exists. If you don't believe in Voodoo it can't hurt you. The magic that exists in this world may be real or may just be a dream, but the dreams to Jorg are very real. "We're not memories, Katherine, we're dreams. All of us. Each part of us a dream, a nightmare of blood and vomit and boredom and fear. And when we wake up--we die."
There is magic in this world, dream travel, and necromancy.
Okay so even though Mark Lawrence didn't give me what I expected with Book Two I have to admit he wrote a better book, a more mature book. We find Jorg beset with new worries, kindness creeps into his soul, and he ponders his own desires and wonders if they are his own or some powerful entity trying to control him. It was written that he should have died on the road with his mother and brother. It is written that the Prince of Arrow is supposed to rule the kingdom. As we know what is written is rarely completely true. Jorg by some miracle has lived to see 18 you'll have to read the book to figure out how that is possible.
I do intend to find Mark Lawrence. He has dual citizenship with Great Britain and the United States. He has security clearance in both countries so he knows a little about playing two ends against the middle. I'm sure he can disappear like a man out of a
John LeCarré novel and maybe he has a bit of magic in his fingertips, but since I am a collector and I don't have his signature I do need to pin him down and put a pen in his hand.
WANTED!!!
If you see this man please contact me.
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I first met Jorg Ancrath in the first book of The Broken Empire called Prince of Thorns. I must insist that anyone interested in reading this series start with book one. Jorg evolves a bit in book two and it would be best...if you wish to keep your head attached to your shoulders...that you know as much about the young whelp as possible before you actually start to like him.
Now Jorg is a complicated guy. He is a prince. In book one he is 14 years old and swings a sword as well as most grown men. He is brutal, angry, unsympathetic, and consumed by revenge. His mother and brother are killed brutally and he is flung during the melee into a thicket of thorns. Now these are not ordinary thorns, but spiny plants with hooks that once beneath the skin can kill a person. Jorg is found hanging in the thorn thicket bleeding from the numerous barbs that hold him suspended above the ground. It turns out to be really inconvenient for a lot of people that Jorg lives. His father moves on quickly marrying again and siring another heir. He doesn't like his son (an asshole in his own right who seems to recognize those tendencies in his son) very much from his first wife and the writing is on the wall that the new heir will inherit. Jorg goes on the road accumulating a band of misfit brothers that he wanders about creating mayhem while he contemplates what to do about the killer of his mother and brother. He resolves the issue in spectacular fashion.
Book one was so gritty, so pleasurably wicked that I didn't even know quite what to say about recommending it to other people. I winced, laughed, felt guilty for really liking the book, felt my own buried hormonal rages stir with delight, and came away from the experience realizing I'd never read anything quite like it before. My 16 year old son asked me about reading the book and I replied that maybe when he got older...somewhere around 30.
So there has not been a more anticipated book for me in a long time than the King of Thorns. At first I was thinking WTF? Did Mark Lawrence grow up between book one and book two. Has he stepped back from the gore and the random violence and the whoring and wrote...what...a more philosophical book? I gnashed my teeth and clipped my fingernails with snippy disdain. I intended to set the book aside for a while, but after reconsidering I thought to myself maybe the fact that I've read 80 pages and no one has been impaled or eviscerated or a village consumed by fire or a priest beheaded is because Lawrence plans to have me in blood up to my elbows for the rest of the book. It is rather disturbing that I found myself feeling this way. I don't as a rule like excessively violent books. I blame Lawrence, somehow the way he writes it makes me want more.
"You can cut seven shades from a man. Scarlet arterial blood, purple from the veins, bile like fresh-cut grass, browns from the gut, but it all dries to somewhere between rust and tar."
Now the thing of it is Jorg is in love with Katherine Ap Scorron. Their previous meetings have not gone well. The last contact he had with her in person involved crushing her mother's vase over her head. In Jorg's defense she was trying to stab him at the time. The opening quote in this review is from Katherine's journal which are sprinkled through out the book between chapters. The further I read in the book the more I loved finding those little gems seen through the eyes of Katherine. Now if you have any doubt about how Jorg feels about Katherine and believe me you will have doubts that the young man feels anything for anyone you might be reassured by a few of Jorg's thoughts on the matter.
"In memory I study the light on her face, beneath the glow-bulbs of the Tall Castle, beneath the cemetery trees. I envy those patches of sunlight, sliding over her hair, moving unopposed the length of her body, across her cheekbones. I remember everything. I recall the pattern of her breath. In the heat of Drane's kitchen I remember a single bead of sweat and the slow roll of it, down her neck, along the tendon, across her throat. I've killed men and forgotten them. Mislaid the act of taking a life. But that drop of sweat is a diamond in my mind's eye."
Jorg's main rival for control of the empire and for Katherine's hand in marriage is Orrin of Arrow. He is charming ,intelligent, and brilliant swordsman. Even Jorg can't help but like him and there is nothing more annoying than liking your rival. The Prince of Arrow intends to rule the empire and King Jorg is as worrisome to him as a pimple on his chin. Now Orrin has decided that he is god's gift to the people and that everyone would be better off with him commanding the empire. So for their own good he is conquering all the fiefdoms that exist across the Broken Empire and of course eventually he arrives at the gates of Jorg's castle.
Map of the Broken Empire
Now the castle's are left over structures from the Builders. Skycrapers or parking garages that have been fortified and turned into defensive structures. One structure even has a working generator that continues to supply power to dull glowing light bulbs. The builders when they released their suns shattered the structure of civilization and left the world a land of sword wielding soldiers and goat herders. The residual computer image of a builder named Fexler Brews, existing only because that generator continues to function, explained what happened when those thousand suns were unleashed. "We weakened the barriers between thought and matter." "They did not bring magic into the world, but strengthened the link between want and what is."
Humans are like cockroaches no matter what we do to this world a few will always survive. Some might say we display a lot of pluck, a resiliency to be admired, but ultimately what we do best is adapt.
Voodoo was once explained to me. Voodoo only exists because people believe it exists. If you don't believe in Voodoo it can't hurt you. The magic that exists in this world may be real or may just be a dream, but the dreams to Jorg are very real. "We're not memories, Katherine, we're dreams. All of us. Each part of us a dream, a nightmare of blood and vomit and boredom and fear. And when we wake up--we die."
There is magic in this world, dream travel, and necromancy.
Okay so even though Mark Lawrence didn't give me what I expected with Book Two I have to admit he wrote a better book, a more mature book. We find Jorg beset with new worries, kindness creeps into his soul, and he ponders his own desires and wonders if they are his own or some powerful entity trying to control him. It was written that he should have died on the road with his mother and brother. It is written that the Prince of Arrow is supposed to rule the kingdom. As we know what is written is rarely completely true. Jorg by some miracle has lived to see 18 you'll have to read the book to figure out how that is possible.
I do intend to find Mark Lawrence. He has dual citizenship with Great Britain and the United States. He has security clearance in both countries so he knows a little about playing two ends against the middle. I'm sure he can disappear like a man out of a
John LeCarré novel and maybe he has a bit of magic in his fingertips, but since I am a collector and I don't have his signature I do need to pin him down and put a pen in his hand.
WANTED!!!
If you see this man please contact me.
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June 27, 2022
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It pains me to say this, but virtually nothing about this book fits with what I want out of a fantasy book
I quite enjoyed the first book in this series, and while I thought there were some major decisions made about character development and writing style that I thoroughly disliked, I thought the plot was wonderful and carried the book into something that showed a lot of promise for the series. Unfortunately, this book dialed up the thinks I disliked about the previous book up several notches, and the plot was significantly weaker and more convoluted for me - and it left me regretting reading this book each time I picked it up.
Story: 2/5
The story itself continually kept me wanting more from it. I don't want to spoil anything for the many, many thousands of people who are yet to read this immensely popular book - but the story feels both predicable and a bit of a bore. Just the names of these books tell you everything that is going to happen in them, and it takes away so much tension. The first book was Prince of Thorns, and with the second book being called King of Thorns, was it any doubt that he would be successful in winning a kingdom? And with the third book being called Emperor of Thorns - it's pretty clear what happens at the end of this book.
The plot also jumps around in extremely frenetic fashion, and ends up causing unneeded confusion to what would otherwise likely be a cohesive plot.
World Building: 2/5
The world here feels unimaginative, as it's just Earth in the future. The locations that the characters venture to do not get great descriptions, and everything felt the same. It didn't give me that sense of wonder that fantasy books so often set out to achieve, and while some aspects to it were mildly interesting, it feel flat for me.
Fantasy Elements: 2/5
There are some fantasy elements to this book, but none of them felt very imaginative to me and just felt rather dull. The ones that were employed ended up just feeling more confusing than interesting, and it just ultimately felt uninspiring to read about. The main character seems to get superpowers without any explanation or limitation, and they save him every time at a critical moment. They don't feel earned, and just make me end up giving a groan when they are used.
Characters: 1/5
The characters in this book are the weakest part of this book for me. The main character is unlikeable in virtually every way. He's a horrible person and a sociopath, and at no point do I actively want him to succeed. The cast that is assembled around him do not get compelling backstories and they have a severe lack of character development. They were thrown in together mostly at the same time in the first book, so the characters mostly just blend into the same person to me and leave me wondering what this person actually thinks about different things.
Writing Style: 2/5
There are some things that I liked about the way this book was written, but the idea that there are now 4 timelines going on at the same time, with 3 of them being from the same POV - it's just confusing for seemingly no benefit to the story. It feels like the author decided to do this to be different, but it doesn't help and I feel that if this story was written in the traditional way it would have massively helped out the story. I don't mind a confusing story - heck, my favorite series of all time is Malazan which is known for this, but the confusion here doesn't feel needed.
Enjoyment: 2/5
This book ended up being a massive frustration for me to read, and I may have given this book a 1 star rating but I only give that to books I do not finish, and I did power through this. I ultimately feel like this book is arguably the most overrated book I have ever read, and I sadly am not going to continue finishing this series.
It pains me to say this, but virtually nothing about this book fits with what I want out of a fantasy book
I quite enjoyed the first book in this series, and while I thought there were some major decisions made about character development and writing style that I thoroughly disliked, I thought the plot was wonderful and carried the book into something that showed a lot of promise for the series. Unfortunately, this book dialed up the thinks I disliked about the previous book up several notches, and the plot was significantly weaker and more convoluted for me - and it left me regretting reading this book each time I picked it up.
Story: 2/5
The story itself continually kept me wanting more from it. I don't want to spoil anything for the many, many thousands of people who are yet to read this immensely popular book - but the story feels both predicable and a bit of a bore. Just the names of these books tell you everything that is going to happen in them, and it takes away so much tension. The first book was Prince of Thorns, and with the second book being called King of Thorns, was it any doubt that he would be successful in winning a kingdom? And with the third book being called Emperor of Thorns - it's pretty clear what happens at the end of this book.
The plot also jumps around in extremely frenetic fashion, and ends up causing unneeded confusion to what would otherwise likely be a cohesive plot.
World Building: 2/5
The world here feels unimaginative, as it's just Earth in the future. The locations that the characters venture to do not get great descriptions, and everything felt the same. It didn't give me that sense of wonder that fantasy books so often set out to achieve, and while some aspects to it were mildly interesting, it feel flat for me.
Fantasy Elements: 2/5
There are some fantasy elements to this book, but none of them felt very imaginative to me and just felt rather dull. The ones that were employed ended up just feeling more confusing than interesting, and it just ultimately felt uninspiring to read about. The main character seems to get superpowers without any explanation or limitation, and they save him every time at a critical moment. They don't feel earned, and just make me end up giving a groan when they are used.
Characters: 1/5
The characters in this book are the weakest part of this book for me. The main character is unlikeable in virtually every way. He's a horrible person and a sociopath, and at no point do I actively want him to succeed. The cast that is assembled around him do not get compelling backstories and they have a severe lack of character development. They were thrown in together mostly at the same time in the first book, so the characters mostly just blend into the same person to me and leave me wondering what this person actually thinks about different things.
Writing Style: 2/5
There are some things that I liked about the way this book was written, but the idea that there are now 4 timelines going on at the same time, with 3 of them being from the same POV - it's just confusing for seemingly no benefit to the story. It feels like the author decided to do this to be different, but it doesn't help and I feel that if this story was written in the traditional way it would have massively helped out the story. I don't mind a confusing story - heck, my favorite series of all time is Malazan which is known for this, but the confusion here doesn't feel needed.
Enjoyment: 2/5
This book ended up being a massive frustration for me to read, and I may have given this book a 1 star rating but I only give that to books I do not finish, and I did power through this. I ultimately feel like this book is arguably the most overrated book I have ever read, and I sadly am not going to continue finishing this series.
April 27, 2017
2.5/5 Stars
A lot of reader and fans claimed King of Thorns to be the best out of the Broken Empire trilogy, it pained me to do so but I can’t agree with that notion.
I’m going to inform you right from the beginning of my review, there's an innocent dog torture scene in this book and I’ll admit that part was quite tough to read. However, this doesn’t mean that the scene itself isn’t important to the overarching story, there’s a reason behind this scene. It’s really well written and in my opinion, the most emotional and powerful part of the book. The plot actually started going downhill right after this particular scene for me.
Picture: Chibi King Jorg by peastri
The storytelling method in King of Thorns is told in an unconventional way, there’s two timeline like the previous book, ‘Wedding Day (Present)’ which informs the reader of a day in Jorg’s 18 years old life and ‘4 Years Earlier (Past)’ which continue the story straight after the end of the previous book. However, there’s two more timeline to follow, one of Katherine’s diary that Jorg found and another, a hidden timeline that appears in both present and past frame. The narrative juggles continuously between these four frames that it requires only maximum focus to read or believe me, you’ll have a hard time understanding what’s going on.
Although I find this narrative a unique experience, personally it's also quite tiring to juggle continuously between four timeline in a single book. Katherine’s diary aside, all the other three are told in Jorg’s voice which made it tedious to read. Plus, the huge amount of amnesia, illusions and dream sequence in the book made the story even harder to digest. However, my main gripes with book lies not in its unconventional narrative but in the same problems I found with the first book except that it only grew worse for me here.
Jorg, whether you love or hate him is an insanely fascinating character to read. In fact, Jorg sociopathic behavior is the major factor that drove me to finish this book or the trilogy itself. I’m intrigued to find out what he’s going to do next and I love how his character develops. Unlike the first book, there is more color to him now rather than only his endless thirst for vengeance and “I don’t give a fuck” attitudes, I love reading his growth and complex personality, which at the same time brought me to one of my main problems with the book, no other compelling characters.
Picture: Red Jorg (Interior Artwork from Broken Empire Omnibus edition by Jason Chan)
There’s just not enough development for all the other characters in the book, not even those who’s been there since the first book. I can’t give my empathy to all the side character’s fate and from what I’ve read until now, seems like this peeves of mine will continue until the last book. Another part that I dislike is again, its world-building.
I’m more or less okay with the fact that the world being in the same world with us already but seriously, it’s the end of the second book and there’s still no proper explanation to why the world became this way other than some really vague explanation. The book would definitely grab my attention more if there’s more information to why the world became this way but my biggest con of the book is in how things always worked perfectly for Jorg despite how impossible the situation looked like.
Jorg saved himself all the time by conjuring these special superpowers and tools without any limitation, explanation and they’re always there for him at the right moment and the right place conveniently. I won’t bother you with the details but I’ll let you know that these superpowers and tools that he used is uber powerful and there’s no repercussion from using them. As of now I still have no idea if these ‘Gary Stu’ characteristic of him will be redeemed later on but like the first book, Jorg escaped all his problems way too EASY with his miraculous circumstances and if it does get redeemed, I won’t change my rating for this book as this is how I feel about this one. I can’t have the explanation to these miraculous superpower outbursts withhold until the last book. I kept on saying “Not again…..” every time he got out of these trouble with ease (which is every time, literally), Kira could write Jorg’s name in Death Note and with his maximum level of luck, Kira would probably misspelled his name or something.
I won’t assume to know Mark’s decision behind this plot device and whether it’s truly his intention to make Jorg immensely lucky or not, whatever his intention was, there’s nothing wrong with it objectively and I know Jorg will survive the ordeals he faced, otherwise, you know… the story will end already and there won’t be a book 3 but still, I always prefer the story I read to have the main characters struggle to win/lose rather than have everything handed to him on a silver platter.
In terms of prose, Mark’s prose is beautiful and philosophical but at the same time it could be quite tedious to read when there’s way too much unnecessary explanation. Sometimes, it felt like reading a philosophical essay during Jorg’s endless inner monologue. However, there’s no denying the fact that there are a lot of high quality philosophical prose such as:
There’s still tons of this high quality prose in the book, I’ll let you find out for yourself.
King of Thorns for me was slightly weaker compared to Prince of Thorns and it may be one of the most overrated books I ever read. Some elements work better, some are worse. It’s definitely not an easy book to read, Mark’s prose combined with the unconventional storytelling and plot will require only the highest of your attention to read. This book is all about Jorg Jorg Jorg Jorg Jorg, if you love and became a fanboy/girl of him since book 1, the high chance is that you’ll love the hell out of this book. In fact, the majority of readers and my friends love this book so this is definitely an unpopular opinion. Sadly, my affection for Jorg isn’t enough to make me overlook the other problems I experienced with it. I do however will continue with this trilogy and hopefully enjoy the last book.
You can find this and the rest of my Adult Epic/High Fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at Booknest
A lot of reader and fans claimed King of Thorns to be the best out of the Broken Empire trilogy, it pained me to do so but I can’t agree with that notion.
I’m going to inform you right from the beginning of my review, there's an innocent dog torture scene in this book and I’ll admit that part was quite tough to read. However, this doesn’t mean that the scene itself isn’t important to the overarching story, there’s a reason behind this scene. It’s really well written and in my opinion, the most emotional and powerful part of the book. The plot actually started going downhill right after this particular scene for me.
Picture: Chibi King Jorg by peastri
The storytelling method in King of Thorns is told in an unconventional way, there’s two timeline like the previous book, ‘Wedding Day (Present)’ which informs the reader of a day in Jorg’s 18 years old life and ‘4 Years Earlier (Past)’ which continue the story straight after the end of the previous book. However, there’s two more timeline to follow, one of Katherine’s diary that Jorg found and another, a hidden timeline that appears in both present and past frame. The narrative juggles continuously between these four frames that it requires only maximum focus to read or believe me, you’ll have a hard time understanding what’s going on.
Although I find this narrative a unique experience, personally it's also quite tiring to juggle continuously between four timeline in a single book. Katherine’s diary aside, all the other three are told in Jorg’s voice which made it tedious to read. Plus, the huge amount of amnesia, illusions and dream sequence in the book made the story even harder to digest. However, my main gripes with book lies not in its unconventional narrative but in the same problems I found with the first book except that it only grew worse for me here.
Jorg, whether you love or hate him is an insanely fascinating character to read. In fact, Jorg sociopathic behavior is the major factor that drove me to finish this book or the trilogy itself. I’m intrigued to find out what he’s going to do next and I love how his character develops. Unlike the first book, there is more color to him now rather than only his endless thirst for vengeance and “I don’t give a fuck” attitudes, I love reading his growth and complex personality, which at the same time brought me to one of my main problems with the book, no other compelling characters.
Picture: Red Jorg (Interior Artwork from Broken Empire Omnibus edition by Jason Chan)
There’s just not enough development for all the other characters in the book, not even those who’s been there since the first book. I can’t give my empathy to all the side character’s fate and from what I’ve read until now, seems like this peeves of mine will continue until the last book. Another part that I dislike is again, its world-building.
I’m more or less okay with the fact that the world being in the same world with us already but seriously, it’s the end of the second book and there’s still no proper explanation to why the world became this way other than some really vague explanation. The book would definitely grab my attention more if there’s more information to why the world became this way but my biggest con of the book is in how things always worked perfectly for Jorg despite how impossible the situation looked like.
Jorg saved himself all the time by conjuring these special superpowers and tools without any limitation, explanation and they’re always there for him at the right moment and the right place conveniently. I won’t bother you with the details but I’ll let you know that these superpowers and tools that he used is uber powerful and there’s no repercussion from using them. As of now I still have no idea if these ‘Gary Stu’ characteristic of him will be redeemed later on but like the first book, Jorg escaped all his problems way too EASY with his miraculous circumstances and if it does get redeemed, I won’t change my rating for this book as this is how I feel about this one. I can’t have the explanation to these miraculous superpower outbursts withhold until the last book. I kept on saying “Not again…..” every time he got out of these trouble with ease (which is every time, literally), Kira could write Jorg’s name in Death Note and with his maximum level of luck, Kira would probably misspelled his name or something.
I won’t assume to know Mark’s decision behind this plot device and whether it’s truly his intention to make Jorg immensely lucky or not, whatever his intention was, there’s nothing wrong with it objectively and I know Jorg will survive the ordeals he faced, otherwise, you know… the story will end already and there won’t be a book 3 but still, I always prefer the story I read to have the main characters struggle to win/lose rather than have everything handed to him on a silver platter.
In terms of prose, Mark’s prose is beautiful and philosophical but at the same time it could be quite tedious to read when there’s way too much unnecessary explanation. Sometimes, it felt like reading a philosophical essay during Jorg’s endless inner monologue. However, there’s no denying the fact that there are a lot of high quality philosophical prose such as:
“There is no sound more annoying than the chatter of a child, and none more sad than the silence they leave when they are gone.”
There’s still tons of this high quality prose in the book, I’ll let you find out for yourself.
King of Thorns for me was slightly weaker compared to Prince of Thorns and it may be one of the most overrated books I ever read. Some elements work better, some are worse. It’s definitely not an easy book to read, Mark’s prose combined with the unconventional storytelling and plot will require only the highest of your attention to read. This book is all about Jorg Jorg Jorg Jorg Jorg, if you love and became a fanboy/girl of him since book 1, the high chance is that you’ll love the hell out of this book. In fact, the majority of readers and my friends love this book so this is definitely an unpopular opinion. Sadly, my affection for Jorg isn’t enough to make me overlook the other problems I experienced with it. I do however will continue with this trilogy and hopefully enjoy the last book.
You can find this and the rest of my Adult Epic/High Fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at Booknest
February 19, 2014
I think this is my favorite book in an excellent trilogy, because the odds are so severely against our anti-hero Jorg. The stakes are high and the plot twists are perfect. Having killed his uncle and secured a small kingdom in the mountains, young Jorg now faces a powerful, charismatic enemy – the Prince of Arrow – who seems destined to unite the Broken Empire. The action jumps back in forth in time, from the siege of Jorg’s capital to several years before, showing us how Jorg traveled the empire and gathered his resources to fight a seemingly impossible battle. We also see part of the story from the viewpoint of Katherine, the woman Jorg wants more than anyone, and the woman he is destined not to have. Though Jorg continues to be the most Machiavellian of protagonists, not hesitating to kill, maim or destroy if it serves his goals, we come to understand him more in this book, and it is impossible not to cheer for him. He is a refreshing, brutal wind, blowing away all the romantic trappings of high fantasy – chivalry, honor, good versus evil, and faith in a higher cause. Sometimes, when you see that white knight riding by with his armor gleaming and his smile flashing, you just want to pull him off his horse and punch him in the face for being too perfect. If you’ve ever had that feeling, Jorg is your man.
November 27, 2018
Unpopular opinion time!
There are some brilliant anti-heroes in the realms of fiction. Anthony Burgress’ Alex from A Clockwork Orange and Byron’s Don Juan immediately spring to mind. In both cases, the characters are undeniably flawed and twisted; they exploit the world, and other people, to meet their own ends: they are egotistical bastards with little (to no) scruples.
Mark Lawrence’s Jorg Ancrath is no different; he is a nasty piece of work who lives simply for himself. There’s nothing wrong with such heroes in fiction, sometimes it works amazingly well. Despite how horrible Byron and Burgress’ characters are, I still secretly rooted for them. Whist reading I had a flicker of hope that they would see the error of their ways. Underneath their despicableness they are still inherently human: they can become something better if they put their energies into self-improvement. However, Jorg is beyond help.
Why won't he die?
Unfortunately, whist reading an King of Thorns I so ardently wished for Jorg’s death. Such a thing is slightly problematic. If the central character is so despicably evil, and so far beyond help with his psychotic ways, that I want him dead, I may as well give up reading because it is so clear that Lawrence would not kill of his main character. Nothing short of seeing him in a pool of his own blood would redeem the story for me. He is a murderer and a rapist. I wanted to hear no more of his words. There’s not even a glimmer of potential character development.
Moreover, he’s totally invincible. Whenever he comes close to death or an enemy overwhelms him, he suddenly discovers a secret ability he didn’t know he possessed. It’s so annoying, whenever he was on the cusp of defeat; he bounced back with some ridiculous luck. What makes him so especial and effective? Nothing. The new found abilities were never explained; there was no real reason for him to have them and all they did was keep him stationary in the plot. He never grows or learns but instead just portrays the same dark personality.
To make matters even worse the book is split into two time frames, one four years earlier that narrated past events and one in the present. Yay. So basically it was more of the same. This book seems to be very popular amongst fantasy fans and, I must admit, Lawrence did identify (whether purposeful or indirectly) a major gap within the market. His anti-hero is exceedingly dark, but is that really a good thing? Food for thought.
I did read the third book after this, my rating of this is also in consideration of how it all ended, which is something I’ll address in my eventual review of Emperor of Thorns. But for now though, I'll end by saying I really hated this book: it was dreadful.
The Broken Empire Trilogy
1. Prince of Thorns- A heartless 2.5 stars
2. King of Thorns- A dreadful 1 star
3. The Emperor of Thorns - A Hateful 1 star
There are some brilliant anti-heroes in the realms of fiction. Anthony Burgress’ Alex from A Clockwork Orange and Byron’s Don Juan immediately spring to mind. In both cases, the characters are undeniably flawed and twisted; they exploit the world, and other people, to meet their own ends: they are egotistical bastards with little (to no) scruples.
Mark Lawrence’s Jorg Ancrath is no different; he is a nasty piece of work who lives simply for himself. There’s nothing wrong with such heroes in fiction, sometimes it works amazingly well. Despite how horrible Byron and Burgress’ characters are, I still secretly rooted for them. Whist reading I had a flicker of hope that they would see the error of their ways. Underneath their despicableness they are still inherently human: they can become something better if they put their energies into self-improvement. However, Jorg is beyond help.
Why won't he die?
Unfortunately, whist reading an King of Thorns I so ardently wished for Jorg’s death. Such a thing is slightly problematic. If the central character is so despicably evil, and so far beyond help with his psychotic ways, that I want him dead, I may as well give up reading because it is so clear that Lawrence would not kill of his main character. Nothing short of seeing him in a pool of his own blood would redeem the story for me. He is a murderer and a rapist. I wanted to hear no more of his words. There’s not even a glimmer of potential character development.
Moreover, he’s totally invincible. Whenever he comes close to death or an enemy overwhelms him, he suddenly discovers a secret ability he didn’t know he possessed. It’s so annoying, whenever he was on the cusp of defeat; he bounced back with some ridiculous luck. What makes him so especial and effective? Nothing. The new found abilities were never explained; there was no real reason for him to have them and all they did was keep him stationary in the plot. He never grows or learns but instead just portrays the same dark personality.
To make matters even worse the book is split into two time frames, one four years earlier that narrated past events and one in the present. Yay. So basically it was more of the same. This book seems to be very popular amongst fantasy fans and, I must admit, Lawrence did identify (whether purposeful or indirectly) a major gap within the market. His anti-hero is exceedingly dark, but is that really a good thing? Food for thought.
I did read the third book after this, my rating of this is also in consideration of how it all ended, which is something I’ll address in my eventual review of Emperor of Thorns. But for now though, I'll end by saying I really hated this book: it was dreadful.
The Broken Empire Trilogy
1. Prince of Thorns- A heartless 2.5 stars
2. King of Thorns- A dreadful 1 star
3. The Emperor of Thorns - A Hateful 1 star
October 6, 2016
Sometimes the world slows and you notice every small thing, as if you stood between two beats of eternity’s heart.(...) The air hung heavy with the metallic scent of rain. I wondered: if I stood out there, in the flood, would the rain wrap a grey life and make it shine? Should I stand, arms spread, and raise my face? Let it wash me clean. Or did my stains run too deep?
Err… * picks up the jaw from the floor* Wow!
This book is in an entirely different league than Prince of Thorns. So many layers, so many meanings… Pandora's box of lost memory, Schrödinger's cat in a box, the notes trickling one by one into an all encompassing melody that hits you like trainwreck with the new meaning. I don’t think my review can do it justice.
I did not expect that, but it blew my mind.
I'm not sure if the last book can live up to it.
“The world isn’t shaped by reasonable men,” I say. “The world is a thief, a cheat, a murderer. Set a thief to catch a thief they say.”
sometimes it’s easier to love someone who has flaws you can forgive in return for their forgiving yours.
There is no sound more annoying than the chatter of a child, and none more sad than the silence they leave when they are gone.
They say God watches us in every moment. But I think, in some moments, when some deeds are done, he turns his face away.
A time of terror comes. A dark time. The graves continue to open and the Dead King prepares to sail. But the world holds worse things than dead men. A dark time comes.
My time.
If it offends you.
Stop me.
Err… * picks up the jaw from the floor* Wow!
This book is in an entirely different league than Prince of Thorns. So many layers, so many meanings… Pandora's box of lost memory, Schrödinger's cat in a box, the notes trickling one by one into an all encompassing melody that hits you like trainwreck with the new meaning. I don’t think my review can do it justice.
I did not expect that, but it blew my mind.
I'm not sure if the last book can live up to it.
“The world isn’t shaped by reasonable men,” I say. “The world is a thief, a cheat, a murderer. Set a thief to catch a thief they say.”
sometimes it’s easier to love someone who has flaws you can forgive in return for their forgiving yours.
There is no sound more annoying than the chatter of a child, and none more sad than the silence they leave when they are gone.
They say God watches us in every moment. But I think, in some moments, when some deeds are done, he turns his face away.
A time of terror comes. A dark time. The graves continue to open and the Dead King prepares to sail. But the world holds worse things than dead men. A dark time comes.
My time.
If it offends you.
Stop me.
October 11, 2015
Originally reviewed at Bookwraiths Reviews
__________________________________________
2015 UPDATE AFTER FINISHING THE TRILOGY
In the below review, I had many criticisms about the story, specifically how Jorg seemingly produced "super-powers" out of thin air to save himself. While that is exactly how I felt after closing King, Emperor of Thorns satisfactorily explained those aspects of the story, so when reading this review, please understand many of my criticisms were later made moot by Mr. Lawrence.
__________________________________________
THE SOCIOPATH IS AT IT AGAIN!
While I despised Jorg in Prince of Thorns , the story itself was highly entertaining and kept me turning pages as quickly as I could read them. However, I did not find this novel as engrossing, perhaps because I’ve grown somewhat use to the main character’s sociopathic behavior.
In any event, since the “shock” value of Jorg didn’t overwhelm me this go round, I found myself focusing a great deal on the story itself, which quite honestly was a bit underwhelming. I could write a multi page review about everything I disliked about this book, but in short, the storytelling was lacking, the character growth was non-existent, the plot had glaring holes, and Mr. Lawrence continued his trend of what I like to call: the superpower of the day solution to problems.
Please allow me to explain.
In the first book and now the second, Mr. Lawrence writes our favorite sociopath into situations where no reasonable person can expect success. Things look really grim for Jorg many times. However, whenever he needs it, Jorg miraculously discovers some new superpower (magic, science, math, or whatever) to save his ass. To be specific, in Prince of Thorns, Jorg was given necromancer power that kept him alive when a normal man would have died. In King of Thorns, Jorg gets new, updated necromancer powers, fire-magic skill and Builder tools exactly when he needs them to SAVE HIS ASS YET AGAIN!
Of course, the negative issues with those powers – as shown clearly by their affect on other characters in the novels – miraculously leave Jorg unaffected. And don’t even bother to ask how he actually gets a thousand year old Builder’s tool in book two, or how a thousand year old tool would still even work. Who knows, because Mr. Lawrence never tells the reader either of those things. Just poof, Jorg has this thousand year old tool, and it works and SAVES HIS ASS AGAIN!
Damn, it is good to be Superman in a Superman comic, isn’t it?
But I digress.
Like I stated earlier, I felt this story had glaring holes in the plot. They ranged from unexplained entities controlling everyone to Jorg traveling to seek a fire-mage for no apparent reason to the sheer unbelievability of the battle for Renar and finally the impossible ending. Honestly, I cannot thing of a single thing in the novel which did not just leap out at me as unbelievable and obviously yet another way for Jorg to be provided with a new “superpower.”
Now, Mr. Lawrence attempted to minimize these problems, glossed over them as much as possible, and his usual method appeared to be mayhem or gore whenever the story was not really working. However, this time around all the blood and brains Mr. Lawrence splatters across your reading eyes doesn’t conceal that this story is not making any sense at this point. Because, unfortunately, too much of King of Thorns is isolated incidents of horrendous gore or ghostly undead or sociopathic musings without any of it coalescing into a coherent story.
Another major issue in this novel was the format, specifically the flashback chapters. I loved the whole flashback concept in Prince of Thorns, as I experienced Jorg’s sociopathic behavior played out in present day yet was able to slowly understand how he reached this depraved state when younger, but the “Four Years Earlier” chapters in this book did not work at all. Indeed, the flashbacks in King of Thorns merely interrupted the flow of the story when there was no need to do so, because – other than the one detail contained in the box about Jorq’s new, baby brother (which honestly didn’t amount to much) – nothing in the back story would have prohibited Mr. Lawrence from beginning at the end of Prince of Thorns and detailing this next four years of Jorg’s life in a linear fashion.
And before anyone mentions it, I do not want to hear about Sageous, because he is only trotted out a couple times in the book and is basically a non-entity – except when Mr. Lawrence wants to somehow blame him for every horrendous thing Jorg has ever done in his life. This one, minor character is not a reason for a flashback story.
As for the Katherine diary chapters, they can be summed up as boring and not relevant to Jorg’s tale at all. Sorry, they did do one thing: give Jorg unexpected help of exactly the right sort at exactly the right time to SAVE HIS SOCIOPATHIC ASS YET AGAIN!
Did I mention it is good to be Superman in a Superman comic?
Oh, I did, didn’t I. Sorry.
I realize most fantasy fans absolutely adore this book. It is hailed as the best thing since sliced bread or the internet or whatever. But, honestly, just like the Emperor didn’t have on any clothes, King of Thorns is just an okay novel. Sure, it is entertaining, but it really isn’t more than that.
I suppose if you idolize Jorg, it’s great fun to see him overcome impossible odds to gain his desired goal. (Of course, you have to overlook the superpower of the day problem, but fanboys don’t really care about that anyway.) But even in fanboy land, it is obvious that this novel does not rise to the shocking brilliance of Prince of Thorns, which – even with its obvious weaknesses – grabbed hold of your throat on the first page and pulled you through its gore coated world whether you wished to follow or not.
And, you know, maybe it was wrong of me to expect Mr. Lawrence to write that sort of book again, because there is only so much raping/killing and other sociopathic behavior one can throw at a reader before he or she grows numb to it. Though the sadistic torture of the innocent dog in this novel was a great try.
However, what I had truly hoped for in King of Thorns was some growth in Jorg’s character, and for a while there, I truly believed Mr. Lawrence was providing us that. The encounter with the ghosts of Gelleth and the trip to find his mother’s family along the Horse Coast – while out of character for the Jorg portrayed in book one – seemed to hold out the promise of a maturing sociopath. But alas, I was mistaken, because by the end we discover that Jorg’s touch of humanity was all an illusion caused by a “magic” box, and now we are back to the same Superman Jorg who knows all, has all the luck, and has all the powers at just the right time with the same old, sociopathic outlook on everything. Zero growth. Same old same old.
And that stupendous post-apocalyptic setting that Mr. Lawrence teased us with in the first book. Great idea. Very intriguing. Not developed at all in this novel. There is a short bit about a holographic projection of a long dead “Builder,” but even that doesn’t really add anything except a vague explanation of where magic came from. In fact, the main role of this mysterious “Builder” hologram in the story is to give Mr. Lawrence an excuse as to how Jorg finds two Builder toys to (drumroll please) SAVE HIS ASS YET AGAIN!
Quite frankly, this great post-apocalyptic setting is going to waste, used more as a grab bag for weapons for Jorg than anything else. And since we are talking about this, why don’t we the reader know anything about the history of this place?
This series is called “The Broken Empire,” right?
Jorg Ancrath is trying to reunite it as emperor?
Wouldn’t it be useful for a reader to actually know what Empire we are talking about, or maybe why it split apart? Perhaps some history about the last thousand years of human existence since the big apocalypse. I mean, we get lots of talk about ancient Greek legends or ancient philosophy but nothing about this world’s history at all.
Are there no legends or stories about the last thousand years?
Guess none of that is as important as watching a sociopath murder or maim someone else.
I realize that as I published this criticism of the beloved sociopath Jorg that I will have offended the pride many of you have in this character. I’ll most likely get so much negative feedback that I could drown in it all and that my pride might suffer immensely.
A time of negative comments might come. Bad times for me. The fanboy universe opens up and all the haters come out to get me. But the world holds worse things than pissed off fans, because I’m a hater too. So, the time of haters can come.
It will be my time.
If it – and my dislike of Jorg – offends you.
STOP ME!
Damn, I do love me some Jorg quotes though. :P
__________________________________________
2015 UPDATE AFTER FINISHING THE TRILOGY
In the below review, I had many criticisms about the story, specifically how Jorg seemingly produced "super-powers" out of thin air to save himself. While that is exactly how I felt after closing King, Emperor of Thorns satisfactorily explained those aspects of the story, so when reading this review, please understand many of my criticisms were later made moot by Mr. Lawrence.
__________________________________________
THE SOCIOPATH IS AT IT AGAIN!
While I despised Jorg in Prince of Thorns , the story itself was highly entertaining and kept me turning pages as quickly as I could read them. However, I did not find this novel as engrossing, perhaps because I’ve grown somewhat use to the main character’s sociopathic behavior.
In any event, since the “shock” value of Jorg didn’t overwhelm me this go round, I found myself focusing a great deal on the story itself, which quite honestly was a bit underwhelming. I could write a multi page review about everything I disliked about this book, but in short, the storytelling was lacking, the character growth was non-existent, the plot had glaring holes, and Mr. Lawrence continued his trend of what I like to call: the superpower of the day solution to problems.
Please allow me to explain.
In the first book and now the second, Mr. Lawrence writes our favorite sociopath into situations where no reasonable person can expect success. Things look really grim for Jorg many times. However, whenever he needs it, Jorg miraculously discovers some new superpower (magic, science, math, or whatever) to save his ass. To be specific, in Prince of Thorns, Jorg was given necromancer power that kept him alive when a normal man would have died. In King of Thorns, Jorg gets new, updated necromancer powers, fire-magic skill and Builder tools exactly when he needs them to SAVE HIS ASS YET AGAIN!
Of course, the negative issues with those powers – as shown clearly by their affect on other characters in the novels – miraculously leave Jorg unaffected. And don’t even bother to ask how he actually gets a thousand year old Builder’s tool in book two, or how a thousand year old tool would still even work. Who knows, because Mr. Lawrence never tells the reader either of those things. Just poof, Jorg has this thousand year old tool, and it works and SAVES HIS ASS AGAIN!
Damn, it is good to be Superman in a Superman comic, isn’t it?
But I digress.
Like I stated earlier, I felt this story had glaring holes in the plot. They ranged from unexplained entities controlling everyone to Jorg traveling to seek a fire-mage for no apparent reason to the sheer unbelievability of the battle for Renar and finally the impossible ending. Honestly, I cannot thing of a single thing in the novel which did not just leap out at me as unbelievable and obviously yet another way for Jorg to be provided with a new “superpower.”
Now, Mr. Lawrence attempted to minimize these problems, glossed over them as much as possible, and his usual method appeared to be mayhem or gore whenever the story was not really working. However, this time around all the blood and brains Mr. Lawrence splatters across your reading eyes doesn’t conceal that this story is not making any sense at this point. Because, unfortunately, too much of King of Thorns is isolated incidents of horrendous gore or ghostly undead or sociopathic musings without any of it coalescing into a coherent story.
Another major issue in this novel was the format, specifically the flashback chapters. I loved the whole flashback concept in Prince of Thorns, as I experienced Jorg’s sociopathic behavior played out in present day yet was able to slowly understand how he reached this depraved state when younger, but the “Four Years Earlier” chapters in this book did not work at all. Indeed, the flashbacks in King of Thorns merely interrupted the flow of the story when there was no need to do so, because – other than the one detail contained in the box about Jorq’s new, baby brother (which honestly didn’t amount to much) – nothing in the back story would have prohibited Mr. Lawrence from beginning at the end of Prince of Thorns and detailing this next four years of Jorg’s life in a linear fashion.
And before anyone mentions it, I do not want to hear about Sageous, because he is only trotted out a couple times in the book and is basically a non-entity – except when Mr. Lawrence wants to somehow blame him for every horrendous thing Jorg has ever done in his life. This one, minor character is not a reason for a flashback story.
As for the Katherine diary chapters, they can be summed up as boring and not relevant to Jorg’s tale at all. Sorry, they did do one thing: give Jorg unexpected help of exactly the right sort at exactly the right time to SAVE HIS SOCIOPATHIC ASS YET AGAIN!
Did I mention it is good to be Superman in a Superman comic?
Oh, I did, didn’t I. Sorry.
I realize most fantasy fans absolutely adore this book. It is hailed as the best thing since sliced bread or the internet or whatever. But, honestly, just like the Emperor didn’t have on any clothes, King of Thorns is just an okay novel. Sure, it is entertaining, but it really isn’t more than that.
I suppose if you idolize Jorg, it’s great fun to see him overcome impossible odds to gain his desired goal. (Of course, you have to overlook the superpower of the day problem, but fanboys don’t really care about that anyway.) But even in fanboy land, it is obvious that this novel does not rise to the shocking brilliance of Prince of Thorns, which – even with its obvious weaknesses – grabbed hold of your throat on the first page and pulled you through its gore coated world whether you wished to follow or not.
And, you know, maybe it was wrong of me to expect Mr. Lawrence to write that sort of book again, because there is only so much raping/killing and other sociopathic behavior one can throw at a reader before he or she grows numb to it. Though the sadistic torture of the innocent dog in this novel was a great try.
However, what I had truly hoped for in King of Thorns was some growth in Jorg’s character, and for a while there, I truly believed Mr. Lawrence was providing us that. The encounter with the ghosts of Gelleth and the trip to find his mother’s family along the Horse Coast – while out of character for the Jorg portrayed in book one – seemed to hold out the promise of a maturing sociopath. But alas, I was mistaken, because by the end we discover that Jorg’s touch of humanity was all an illusion caused by a “magic” box, and now we are back to the same Superman Jorg who knows all, has all the luck, and has all the powers at just the right time with the same old, sociopathic outlook on everything. Zero growth. Same old same old.
And that stupendous post-apocalyptic setting that Mr. Lawrence teased us with in the first book. Great idea. Very intriguing. Not developed at all in this novel. There is a short bit about a holographic projection of a long dead “Builder,” but even that doesn’t really add anything except a vague explanation of where magic came from. In fact, the main role of this mysterious “Builder” hologram in the story is to give Mr. Lawrence an excuse as to how Jorg finds two Builder toys to (drumroll please) SAVE HIS ASS YET AGAIN!
Quite frankly, this great post-apocalyptic setting is going to waste, used more as a grab bag for weapons for Jorg than anything else. And since we are talking about this, why don’t we the reader know anything about the history of this place?
This series is called “The Broken Empire,” right?
Jorg Ancrath is trying to reunite it as emperor?
Wouldn’t it be useful for a reader to actually know what Empire we are talking about, or maybe why it split apart? Perhaps some history about the last thousand years of human existence since the big apocalypse. I mean, we get lots of talk about ancient Greek legends or ancient philosophy but nothing about this world’s history at all.
Are there no legends or stories about the last thousand years?
Guess none of that is as important as watching a sociopath murder or maim someone else.
I realize that as I published this criticism of the beloved sociopath Jorg that I will have offended the pride many of you have in this character. I’ll most likely get so much negative feedback that I could drown in it all and that my pride might suffer immensely.
A time of negative comments might come. Bad times for me. The fanboy universe opens up and all the haters come out to get me. But the world holds worse things than pissed off fans, because I’m a hater too. So, the time of haters can come.
It will be my time.
If it – and my dislike of Jorg – offends you.
STOP ME!
Damn, I do love me some Jorg quotes though. :P
February 28, 2017
If you regularly follow my reviews, you must have already noticed that nice out of ten times I don't get to enjoy the next installments in a series as much as the first one (probably due to the fact that I'm already acquainted with the world & character building, as well as the magic system, so i am less impressed by the rest of the story). King of Thorns is the exception to the "rule". The one out of ten.
"Fifteen! I'd hardly be fifteen and rousting villages. By the time fifteen came around, I'd be King!"
Prince Jorg of Ancrath succeeded in defeating his uncle's forces, claiming his kingdom and crowning himself King. But, perhaps it was not meant to last... King of Thorns has three different POV's. The first is featuring Jorg sometime in the past, trying to locate the origins of a mysterious box. The second POV is some journal entries of Katherine Ap Scorron. The third and final POV is featuring Jorg in the present, following his desperate efforts to defend his Kingdom from a massive army set to conquer the entire Broken Empire.
“Memory is all we are. Moments and feelings, captured in amber, strung on filaments of reason. Take a man’s memories and you take all of him. Chip away a memory at a time and you destroy him as surely as if you hammered nail after nail through his skull.”
Lawrence manages once more to deliver a grimdark masterpiece, combining old school fantasy with modern elements. The pace is slow at first, offering an enjoyable and relaxing read, while building momentum for the finale. The world building is exceptional and ever-expanding, and the magic is beautifully structured and well balanced. The rest of the characters are further developed, making the reader to identify with their feelings and actions. Finally, the excellent use of archetypes, didacticism and euphemism, as well as the philosophical and existential dilemmas raised by the author, are placing King of Thorns as one of the best fantasy fiction books of our time.
You can find more of my reviews over at http://BookNest.eu/
"Fifteen! I'd hardly be fifteen and rousting villages. By the time fifteen came around, I'd be King!"
Prince Jorg of Ancrath succeeded in defeating his uncle's forces, claiming his kingdom and crowning himself King. But, perhaps it was not meant to last... King of Thorns has three different POV's. The first is featuring Jorg sometime in the past, trying to locate the origins of a mysterious box. The second POV is some journal entries of Katherine Ap Scorron. The third and final POV is featuring Jorg in the present, following his desperate efforts to defend his Kingdom from a massive army set to conquer the entire Broken Empire.
“Memory is all we are. Moments and feelings, captured in amber, strung on filaments of reason. Take a man’s memories and you take all of him. Chip away a memory at a time and you destroy him as surely as if you hammered nail after nail through his skull.”
Lawrence manages once more to deliver a grimdark masterpiece, combining old school fantasy with modern elements. The pace is slow at first, offering an enjoyable and relaxing read, while building momentum for the finale. The world building is exceptional and ever-expanding, and the magic is beautifully structured and well balanced. The rest of the characters are further developed, making the reader to identify with their feelings and actions. Finally, the excellent use of archetypes, didacticism and euphemism, as well as the philosophical and existential dilemmas raised by the author, are placing King of Thorns as one of the best fantasy fiction books of our time.
You can find more of my reviews over at http://BookNest.eu/
December 30, 2012
With my reading time becoming increasingly precious, only the very best authors make it to my reading pile at all, and of those, I went with Lawrence to read after finally finishing edits to The Daylight War. Lawrence's poetic prose is amazing, far and away the best of the modern fantasy authors. The prose can get a little hard to follow if you're sleepy or your brain is fried after a long day, but this is hardly a quibble.
First person narrative is arguably the most difficult POV style, and Lawrence pulls it off brilliantly, putting you in the mind of a thoroughly despicable character and somehow making you root for him to succeed. The limited scope, however, forces Lawrence to jump around in time a bit and use some plot devices to feed information to the reader at an even pace that keeps ratcheting tension. At times this can be a bit confusing, but for the most part the frustration only invests you further.
And let's face it, I can hardly point fingers at people who jump around in time to tell a story.
As with many fantasy serie,s there is more magic in book two than the first, sometimes in ways that are convenient for the protagonist, though it is largely window dressing. Almost everything that happens in the book plays second fiddle to Jorg's inner struggle as he attempts to find himself and unravel his own thoughts and desires from the influence of others. This is the REAL story, and it is a very satisfying one.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mark when I was in London last summer, and he is a great guy in real life in addition to being one of my top ten favorite authors.
We share publishers in the UK (and thanks to the Penguin Random House merger, soon the US), and you can bet I will be pulling strings to get an early review copy of the third and final book in the series.
First person narrative is arguably the most difficult POV style, and Lawrence pulls it off brilliantly, putting you in the mind of a thoroughly despicable character and somehow making you root for him to succeed. The limited scope, however, forces Lawrence to jump around in time a bit and use some plot devices to feed information to the reader at an even pace that keeps ratcheting tension. At times this can be a bit confusing, but for the most part the frustration only invests you further.
And let's face it, I can hardly point fingers at people who jump around in time to tell a story.
As with many fantasy serie,s there is more magic in book two than the first, sometimes in ways that are convenient for the protagonist, though it is largely window dressing. Almost everything that happens in the book plays second fiddle to Jorg's inner struggle as he attempts to find himself and unravel his own thoughts and desires from the influence of others. This is the REAL story, and it is a very satisfying one.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mark when I was in London last summer, and he is a great guy in real life in addition to being one of my top ten favorite authors.
We share publishers in the UK (and thanks to the Penguin Random House merger, soon the US), and you can bet I will be pulling strings to get an early review copy of the third and final book in the series.
June 4, 2016
As good as the first? Not quite but I still really liked it.
The story is told from three points of view, Jorg's present as he faces a massive army set to destroy him, flash back four years as Jorg tries to discover the origins of a mysterious copper box that seems to have stolen some of his memories, and finally the journal entries of Katherine Jorg's love interest.
At times I found this bouncing back and forth confusing but I'm pretty sure it was only because of how slowly I was forced to read the book.
The world created by the author is rich and fascinating. The characters are real and I definitely started to care about what happened to them. Although Jorg is not the typical hero I'd relate to in a novel, I still find myself relating to his circumstances and wanting him to overcome the obstacles put in his way.
I can't wait to pick up the next book in the series and read more.
September 15, 2013
Mark Lawrence stormed onto the scene (well, as much as you can in the publishing world) last year with his debut, Prince of Thorns, book one in The Broken Empire. This divisive book found a fan in me, despite this particular first person point of view that all notions of good and virtue tells you to hate.
I found a lot of things that I liked about Jorg even though I didn't love everything about him. Lawrence's captivating writing and smooth prose keep the pages flying and have not a little to do with making this work genius in its own ways.
King of Thorns is quite the experience to say the least. Jorg really resonated with me in this sequel, he's growing up a bit, still self-obsessed, but seeing things a little differently than his kill everything/everyone past. I like his whole, "I'm going to make this happen no matter the odds" philosophy, but at times he really is hard to read.
While his disposition on let's say kicking severed heads was enlightening, clever, and funny, it's also terribly creepy. And that's not the only one. I've heard it compared to "staring at a fire," you just can't stop, but how much are you really enjoying it? The more I think about it, the more this describes my reading experience. I don't really know how much I actually enjoyed the reading experience especially with the amount of cringe-worthy moments.
This being said, I am vastly impressed by Lawrence's talent to not only keep you reading despite these moments, but to keep you rooting for a character who can be so deplorable. I say "can be" because he does have his moments of goodness, they're just peppered with moments that make you a little sick or shocked even.
Along with the character of Jorg, Lawrence employs a plot device throughout King of Thorns that I thought was incredibly interesting and worked extremely well. The book takes place four years after Prince of Thorns and consists of the present day and then lengthy flashbacks to four years earlier, when Jorg was newly "crowned" king of Renar. The present is actually his Wedding Day, but at the same time the Prince of Arrow has marched on the highlands of Renar with his countless soldiers. By flashing between these two time frames, we begin to find out that Jorg has not only grown, but has had dealings with the Prince of Arrow in the past.
In the present, we see Jorg is going through some, let's call them mental experiences. He sees a dead child everywhere he goes, which is obviously a hallucination, and he holds some mysterious box. The box is not only an interesting addition to the story, but works as an impressive plot device, but I'm wary of revealing too much. Let's just say there is an addition means of keeping information from the reader.
As well as using clever plot devices, I found Lawrence's human to be clever in the extreme, with little gems like this strewn throughout:
"They call it a gate but it is a door, five yards high, three yards wide, black oak with iron banding, a smaller door set into the middle of it for when it is simply men seeking entrance rather than giants."
For many instances of humor, I had to reread, almost missing the joke entirely. This is definitely the kind of humor I prefer and Mark has a subtlety that just worked for me.
Lawrence has created a series that challenges your perceptions and manages to be compulsively readable. The Broken Empire trilogy is an experience to say the least. I couldn't put it down and that's partly because I just couldn't look away. King of Thorns takes the anti-hero to a whole new level, one who might even give Logan Ninefingers of Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy a run for his money.
4 out of 5 Stars (Highly Recommended!)
I found a lot of things that I liked about Jorg even though I didn't love everything about him. Lawrence's captivating writing and smooth prose keep the pages flying and have not a little to do with making this work genius in its own ways.
King of Thorns is quite the experience to say the least. Jorg really resonated with me in this sequel, he's growing up a bit, still self-obsessed, but seeing things a little differently than his kill everything/everyone past. I like his whole, "I'm going to make this happen no matter the odds" philosophy, but at times he really is hard to read.
While his disposition on let's say kicking severed heads was enlightening, clever, and funny, it's also terribly creepy. And that's not the only one. I've heard it compared to "staring at a fire," you just can't stop, but how much are you really enjoying it? The more I think about it, the more this describes my reading experience. I don't really know how much I actually enjoyed the reading experience especially with the amount of cringe-worthy moments.
This being said, I am vastly impressed by Lawrence's talent to not only keep you reading despite these moments, but to keep you rooting for a character who can be so deplorable. I say "can be" because he does have his moments of goodness, they're just peppered with moments that make you a little sick or shocked even.
Along with the character of Jorg, Lawrence employs a plot device throughout King of Thorns that I thought was incredibly interesting and worked extremely well. The book takes place four years after Prince of Thorns and consists of the present day and then lengthy flashbacks to four years earlier, when Jorg was newly "crowned" king of Renar. The present is actually his Wedding Day, but at the same time the Prince of Arrow has marched on the highlands of Renar with his countless soldiers. By flashing between these two time frames, we begin to find out that Jorg has not only grown, but has had dealings with the Prince of Arrow in the past.
In the present, we see Jorg is going through some, let's call them mental experiences. He sees a dead child everywhere he goes, which is obviously a hallucination, and he holds some mysterious box. The box is not only an interesting addition to the story, but works as an impressive plot device, but I'm wary of revealing too much. Let's just say there is an addition means of keeping information from the reader.
As well as using clever plot devices, I found Lawrence's human to be clever in the extreme, with little gems like this strewn throughout:
"They call it a gate but it is a door, five yards high, three yards wide, black oak with iron banding, a smaller door set into the middle of it for when it is simply men seeking entrance rather than giants."
For many instances of humor, I had to reread, almost missing the joke entirely. This is definitely the kind of humor I prefer and Mark has a subtlety that just worked for me.
Lawrence has created a series that challenges your perceptions and manages to be compulsively readable. The Broken Empire trilogy is an experience to say the least. I couldn't put it down and that's partly because I just couldn't look away. King of Thorns takes the anti-hero to a whole new level, one who might even give Logan Ninefingers of Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy a run for his money.
4 out of 5 Stars (Highly Recommended!)
August 17, 2021
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Prince of Thorns ★★★
King of Thorns ★★ 1/2
I usually read book series one book per month, that way I don’t forget all the details and it also prevents me from getting bored of the book series. I am saying this because I read Prince of Thorns back in November last year but I could not find it in me to pick the second book in December. I just felt that I did not care enough about the story and I think I should have followed my gut. Simply put, I think this series is not just for me!
If I hadn’t read the Impossible Times trilogy I would have thought that maybe Lawrence’s style is not for me but I did read it and I loved it so I know the problem it not with the prose despite the fact that the Impossible times trilogy is a newer series and is certainly more polished in my humble opinion! But I think my problem with this one is multifold starting with the way it is told! The story has a “4 years earlier” timeline which is a continuation of book 1 and the current day which is 4 years later but both are a continuation of the story in book 1. In addition to that there are journal entries, dreams and hallucinations…etc and all of this made the book unnecessarily complex! I felt that if I blinked my eyes and lost focus for a second then I would be reading gibberish till I re-oriented myself again!
My main problem is that I don’t care about Jorg, I find myself caring a little bit about some of the secondary characters before that care dissipates or they are killed. I just don’t think someone aged 14 or 18 can be this intimidating and he does have his Deus Ex Machina moments whenever it is necessary! Also why is he so obsessed with his aunt and why do they want him to marry a 12 year old girl?
This makes me question the grimadark part of the series, I read books with milder elements yet I thought that they belong to this genre more just because I felt they had a purpose, King of thorns had these elements but I failed to see the purpose of them here other than being a shock factor! I don’t know what rape and pedophilia and animal abuse added to the story and if they were a way to redeem the characters it certainly did not work for me!
The plot is not bad but at this point I don’t think it is a good enough reason to make me continue the series! I think I will try to find a summary and see what happens in the last book but I don’t wanna read it as their are very few chances that I would like it.
Summary: Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book as much as I wanted to, It started good and I thought it would be better than book 1 but then the second half I was reading just to finish the book. The writing is good and so is the plot but they do not compensate for the confusion I had and for the dark elements that did not work for me. I will not continue this series but I am very excited for Red Sister which will be my next book by the author!
“They say that time is a great teacher but unfortunately it kills all its pupils.”
Prince of Thorns ★★★
King of Thorns ★★ 1/2
I usually read book series one book per month, that way I don’t forget all the details and it also prevents me from getting bored of the book series. I am saying this because I read Prince of Thorns back in November last year but I could not find it in me to pick the second book in December. I just felt that I did not care enough about the story and I think I should have followed my gut. Simply put, I think this series is not just for me!
If I hadn’t read the Impossible Times trilogy I would have thought that maybe Lawrence’s style is not for me but I did read it and I loved it so I know the problem it not with the prose despite the fact that the Impossible times trilogy is a newer series and is certainly more polished in my humble opinion! But I think my problem with this one is multifold starting with the way it is told! The story has a “4 years earlier” timeline which is a continuation of book 1 and the current day which is 4 years later but both are a continuation of the story in book 1. In addition to that there are journal entries, dreams and hallucinations…etc and all of this made the book unnecessarily complex! I felt that if I blinked my eyes and lost focus for a second then I would be reading gibberish till I re-oriented myself again!
“Some pain you can distance yourself from, but a headache sits right where you live.”
My main problem is that I don’t care about Jorg, I find myself caring a little bit about some of the secondary characters before that care dissipates or they are killed. I just don’t think someone aged 14 or 18 can be this intimidating and he does have his Deus Ex Machina moments whenever it is necessary! Also why is he so obsessed with his aunt and why do they want him to marry a 12 year old girl?
This makes me question the grimadark part of the series, I read books with milder elements yet I thought that they belong to this genre more just because I felt they had a purpose, King of thorns had these elements but I failed to see the purpose of them here other than being a shock factor! I don’t know what rape and pedophilia and animal abuse added to the story and if they were a way to redeem the characters it certainly did not work for me!
The plot is not bad but at this point I don’t think it is a good enough reason to make me continue the series! I think I will try to find a summary and see what happens in the last book but I don’t wanna read it as their are very few chances that I would like it.
“We die a little every day and by degrees we’re reborn into different men, older men in the same clothes, with the same scars.”
Summary: Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book as much as I wanted to, It started good and I thought it would be better than book 1 but then the second half I was reading just to finish the book. The writing is good and so is the plot but they do not compensate for the confusion I had and for the dark elements that did not work for me. I will not continue this series but I am very excited for Red Sister which will be my next book by the author!
April 22, 2013
This month I am recommending both PRINCE OF THORNS and KING OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence. They are two of three, with the third not yet published. I have read the first and am halfway through the second. As a fantasy tale, Prince Jorg Ancraft's story is quite extraordinary. It begins when he is 13 and already a stone cold killer with a horrific past. This is a dangerous and risky protagonist for any author to put forth, but Lawrence does it with verve and confidence. It is like a train wreck from which you cannot look away. This is a story that you cannot put down. Every time I said to myself - and it was often - "Oh, he's not going to go there" or "he's not really going to do that," he did. A hard-edge tale of survival and conquest in a brutal medieval world well told and very compelling, it is different than anything I have ever read.
December 30, 2014
"The warrior rides a black stallion. Smoke shrouds the castle ruins behind him and the wind gives only glimpses of the corpse-choked gap between high and broken walls. That same wind streams long dark hair across his shoulders, like a pennant, and flutters the remnants of his cloak. To his left and right more riders emerge from the fog of war, warriors all, their armour dented, torn, smeared with soot and blood."
Honourous Jorg Ancrath, the Prince of Thorns, has become a king in his own right, and from the fortress of the Haunt, he rules the Renar highlands. But the crown is a heavy weight to bear for the eighteen-year old king.
His life at the Haunt is plagued by nightmares of the atrocities he has committed, he finds the diaries of Katherine of Scorron, the only woman he truly wants, and the raging pain of his dark past is almost overwhelming. At the same time, young king Jorg faces his greatest adversary yet; Orrin, the Prince of Arrow, who has united six kingdoms beneath his dragon banner and who is preparing to make a bid for the throne of the Broken Empire itself...
Originally, I was going to give this book three stars, as it started out really slowly. Jorg had apparently become full of doubt and regrets, and didn't seem like the brutal, care-free antihero of the first book. The story also lacked a lot of the drive, and I began to think that the magic Mark Lawrence worked in Prince of Thorns was ebbing out of the story. I'm happy to say I was wrong.
The longer I got into the book, the better it turned out to be. The story was constantly improving, the supporting characters were way better than in the first book, and even though the story of King of Thorns is told in three different periods of time (making parts of it a bit confusing), the narrative is still remarkably well written. Then there is the ending, full of shocking twists and surprises, and the best part of the series so far. Ultimately, this is a solid sequel that truly lives up to the high standards set by Prince of Thorns, and skilfully sets the scene for the conclusion of the story.
Honourous Jorg Ancrath, the Prince of Thorns, has become a king in his own right, and from the fortress of the Haunt, he rules the Renar highlands. But the crown is a heavy weight to bear for the eighteen-year old king.
His life at the Haunt is plagued by nightmares of the atrocities he has committed, he finds the diaries of Katherine of Scorron, the only woman he truly wants, and the raging pain of his dark past is almost overwhelming. At the same time, young king Jorg faces his greatest adversary yet; Orrin, the Prince of Arrow, who has united six kingdoms beneath his dragon banner and who is preparing to make a bid for the throne of the Broken Empire itself...
Originally, I was going to give this book three stars, as it started out really slowly. Jorg had apparently become full of doubt and regrets, and didn't seem like the brutal, care-free antihero of the first book. The story also lacked a lot of the drive, and I began to think that the magic Mark Lawrence worked in Prince of Thorns was ebbing out of the story. I'm happy to say I was wrong.
The longer I got into the book, the better it turned out to be. The story was constantly improving, the supporting characters were way better than in the first book, and even though the story of King of Thorns is told in three different periods of time (making parts of it a bit confusing), the narrative is still remarkably well written. Then there is the ending, full of shocking twists and surprises, and the best part of the series so far. Ultimately, this is a solid sequel that truly lives up to the high standards set by Prince of Thorns, and skilfully sets the scene for the conclusion of the story.
November 6, 2019
OH MY GOD
This book wrecked me. It was sad, hilarious and gory at the same time.
Granted, I thought this would be a boring middle book by the first 250 pages. Oh Boi was I wrong. Jorg is the same bloody bastard he was in book one, I'd say he's even scarier at this point. I'm truly terrified for book 3 and can't wait to finish the series. Also I can't believe I've DNF'ed book 1 two times. I'm so glad I gave it another chance, it's my favorite series now!
This book wrecked me. It was sad, hilarious and gory at the same time.
Granted, I thought this would be a boring middle book by the first 250 pages. Oh Boi was I wrong. Jorg is the same bloody bastard he was in book one, I'd say he's even scarier at this point. I'm truly terrified for book 3 and can't wait to finish the series. Also I can't believe I've DNF'ed book 1 two times. I'm so glad I gave it another chance, it's my favorite series now!
May 12, 2016
The most interesting thing I took away from this book was that I started to like Jorg, albeit just a bit, more. He still does reprehensible things, don't get me wrong, but he's older and wiser and not so eager to jump in and kill people without asking questions first. He strategizes a great deal more as well and really tries to think many steps ahead of his opponents. Jorg actually seems to be bothered when certain people are hurt or die, instead of just forgetting them and moving on. He thinks of others instead of just himself and his endgame. This book really showed a ton of growth and it felt wholly organic; it's sneaky how he makes you start to care for him.
I made an update about Jorg's child-bride and honestly, their whole relationship couldn't have gone a better way. I'm really intrigued with Miana, the twelve-year-old with more brains than many of Jorg's older Brothers. There's no need to worry about her or how the marriage is handled because she can take care of herself. Sort of related, throughout most of the book interspersed here and there are pages from Katherine's journals. It was nice to have a different point of view and see what was going on with her and her family while Jorg was out conquering.
Lots and lots of questions were answered, and this entry into the series felt a bit stuffed at times, though not to the point where I thought I was being info-dumped upon. We learn a lot of new things and meet more people that join up with Jorg, but thankfully many of my favorites from the first book appear here as well.
I was kind of surprised by what happened to ... I want to say "villains" or "antagonists" but it's difficult when you've got Jorg as a main character ... so two of the men fighting against Jorg (I suppose that works) met ends I didn't see coming. It was weird but also kind of nice to not have a long drawn-out fight. And this helps me segue into my next point ...
For any gamers, I've been describing this series as Dragon Age: Inquisition if your companions were assholes (tell me Sageous doesn't give you Corypheus feels with his need to mold the world to his liking, thinking he's above humanity), mixed with The Witcher 3 if Geralt was an asshole. There are a few exceptions, but that's the gist of it. In The Witcher 3 there are many times you'll do some sort of sidequest and it'll seem like it matters but it just ... doesn't. The people you meet aren't always important even though you just spent an hour or so with them. A really great article about this is: Let's talk about Rosa Var Attre, the impossible romance of The Witcher 3.
The two brothers that face off with Jorg don't get their time to shine, not really, and that's what made this series really come alive for me. Not every encounter or fight will end up being important or meaningful or splashy with sword fights to the death. Sometimes good people die and bad people win, but a lot of the time it's just not that black and white.
This series is dark and gritty but also one of the most unique fantasy worlds I've visited in a long time. If you got through Prince of Thorns, I suggest you keep going (especially since it's only a trilogy!) because trust me, this book is a lot easier to digest.
My review of the first book, Prince of Thorns
Side-note: I know the trolls were described one way, but because of The Witcher 3 again I have a difficult time not thinking of Trollolo or Wham-a-Wham or any of the other hilarious trolls you encounter.
I made an update about Jorg's child-bride and honestly, their whole relationship couldn't have gone a better way. I'm really intrigued with Miana, the twelve-year-old with more brains than many of Jorg's older Brothers. There's no need to worry about her or how the marriage is handled because she can take care of herself. Sort of related, throughout most of the book interspersed here and there are pages from Katherine's journals. It was nice to have a different point of view and see what was going on with her and her family while Jorg was out conquering.
Lots and lots of questions were answered, and this entry into the series felt a bit stuffed at times, though not to the point where I thought I was being info-dumped upon. We learn a lot of new things and meet more people that join up with Jorg, but thankfully many of my favorites from the first book appear here as well.
I was kind of surprised by what happened to ... I want to say "villains" or "antagonists" but it's difficult when you've got Jorg as a main character ... so two of the men fighting against Jorg (I suppose that works) met ends I didn't see coming. It was weird but also kind of nice to not have a long drawn-out fight. And this helps me segue into my next point ...
For any gamers, I've been describing this series as Dragon Age: Inquisition if your companions were assholes (tell me Sageous doesn't give you Corypheus feels with his need to mold the world to his liking, thinking he's above humanity), mixed with The Witcher 3 if Geralt was an asshole. There are a few exceptions, but that's the gist of it. In The Witcher 3 there are many times you'll do some sort of sidequest and it'll seem like it matters but it just ... doesn't. The people you meet aren't always important even though you just spent an hour or so with them. A really great article about this is: Let's talk about Rosa Var Attre, the impossible romance of The Witcher 3.
The two brothers that face off with Jorg don't get their time to shine, not really, and that's what made this series really come alive for me. Not every encounter or fight will end up being important or meaningful or splashy with sword fights to the death. Sometimes good people die and bad people win, but a lot of the time it's just not that black and white.
This series is dark and gritty but also one of the most unique fantasy worlds I've visited in a long time. If you got through Prince of Thorns, I suggest you keep going (especially since it's only a trilogy!) because trust me, this book is a lot easier to digest.
My review of the first book, Prince of Thorns
Side-note: I know the trolls were described one way, but because of The Witcher 3 again I have a difficult time not thinking of Trollolo or Wham-a-Wham or any of the other hilarious trolls you encounter.
September 14, 2012
King of Thorns (#2 Broken Empire) by Mark Lawrence.
Hmm, What to say about this Author and this series, without spoiling any of the twists or surprises. Book one, Prince of Thorns was one of the surprises of 2011. If you didn't get it on your to do list you should add it now. I'll wait while you do.
Ok? Done?
At it's essence, this series is a VERY dark and violent tale, told first person, from the point of view of Jorg the young and disturbed ringleader of a brutal band of wandering misfits (Brothers), that, for want of a better description, go round raping and pillaging and murdering whomever they like, and unashamedly, loving every minute of it.
I did say it was dark.
It's not grotesquely violent. It's not horror, but it does not 'Hollywoodize' the violence. Its real and raw. It's the Tarantino of Fantasy. The violence is somewhat confronting because Jorg is so calm about it. It's not an angry reacting to an insult. It's not vicious self defence. It’s not heroic winning after an honourable sword-fight. If that guy is annoying, or smiles oddly, and needs a dagger pushed gently into his eye, then that’s what he gets.
It’s not all violence though. I’m just giving you fair warning that there’s some moments in there that may turn your nails black (in a good way).
It is, in a way, the journey, both physical and mental, of Jorg, as he discovers where he came from and remembers what made him as he is. It’s actually pretty insightful.
It could be the journey of a boy becoming a man. A man learning to control the primitive angry beast that wriggles in the shadow of many of us.
There’s some superb humour stirred into the mix as well. I do get a big kick out of black humour.
Mark Lawrence has a wonderful writing style, that suits this tale.
It’s sparse and bleak. It almost misleading in it’s apparent simplicity, but then you realise he’s painting a very clear scene.
It’s a naked grey sketch, stepping quietly along without heavy description but then he will slip in a line so masterfully crafted, so beautifully colourfully detailed, that it’s like a punch in the face with a bunch of flowers.
The beauty stands-out all the clearer against the bleakness. The good in people stands out against all the bad that can happen.
Maybe it’s a look at what is evil?
Maybe it’s just Lawrence testing what we are allowed to write?
Many good books have tested boundaries in the past.
Maybe Jorg is just a broken, disturbed, detached young man.
Maybe he’s just a cool character to write and that’s it?
Lawrence makes you feel like a child discovering a frozen puddle on the way to school. The pure pleasure of breaking something perfect. The natural joy of not being burdened by consequence.
Either way.
This is a great writer and an engrossing series with a difference, not just because of its dark moments, but because of its surprising twists and revelations.
This is a series well worth a look by fans of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Alternate History and Post Apocalyptic, or just damn good writing.
Hmm, What to say about this Author and this series, without spoiling any of the twists or surprises. Book one, Prince of Thorns was one of the surprises of 2011. If you didn't get it on your to do list you should add it now. I'll wait while you do.
Ok? Done?
At it's essence, this series is a VERY dark and violent tale, told first person, from the point of view of Jorg the young and disturbed ringleader of a brutal band of wandering misfits (Brothers), that, for want of a better description, go round raping and pillaging and murdering whomever they like, and unashamedly, loving every minute of it.
I did say it was dark.
It's not grotesquely violent. It's not horror, but it does not 'Hollywoodize' the violence. Its real and raw. It's the Tarantino of Fantasy. The violence is somewhat confronting because Jorg is so calm about it. It's not an angry reacting to an insult. It's not vicious self defence. It’s not heroic winning after an honourable sword-fight. If that guy is annoying, or smiles oddly, and needs a dagger pushed gently into his eye, then that’s what he gets.
It’s not all violence though. I’m just giving you fair warning that there’s some moments in there that may turn your nails black (in a good way).
It is, in a way, the journey, both physical and mental, of Jorg, as he discovers where he came from and remembers what made him as he is. It’s actually pretty insightful.
It could be the journey of a boy becoming a man. A man learning to control the primitive angry beast that wriggles in the shadow of many of us.
There’s some superb humour stirred into the mix as well. I do get a big kick out of black humour.
Mark Lawrence has a wonderful writing style, that suits this tale.
It’s sparse and bleak. It almost misleading in it’s apparent simplicity, but then you realise he’s painting a very clear scene.
It’s a naked grey sketch, stepping quietly along without heavy description but then he will slip in a line so masterfully crafted, so beautifully colourfully detailed, that it’s like a punch in the face with a bunch of flowers.
The beauty stands-out all the clearer against the bleakness. The good in people stands out against all the bad that can happen.
Maybe it’s a look at what is evil?
Maybe it’s just Lawrence testing what we are allowed to write?
Many good books have tested boundaries in the past.
Maybe Jorg is just a broken, disturbed, detached young man.
Maybe he’s just a cool character to write and that’s it?
Lawrence makes you feel like a child discovering a frozen puddle on the way to school. The pure pleasure of breaking something perfect. The natural joy of not being burdened by consequence.
Either way.
This is a great writer and an engrossing series with a difference, not just because of its dark moments, but because of its surprising twists and revelations.
This is a series well worth a look by fans of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Alternate History and Post Apocalyptic, or just damn good writing.
November 23, 2014
I don't want to be harsh and all, but all I can say of King of Thorns would be that it was fucking boring. It's a shame compared to Prince of Thorns.
The plot's utterly full of useless shit. This novel could've been way shorter. It has 500+ pages (on my iPad) and most of the novel was full of useless conversations. It also has too much adjectives, and tends to describe things longer than it should. And where the fuck is the action? I really liked the first book because it was full of violence and character building. This is probably the most disappointing book I've read for 2014. There are some actions in the latter part, but they aren't as exciting as the ones in the first book.
The reason why I didn't give this the unforgiving one? Jorg. Despite the terrible plot, he's still one of my favorite characters in the fantasy genre. I might've been bored, but I still wanted to know what would happen to him. Katherine was equally as interesting as Jorg in this novel, but aside from the two, I have nothing good to say about this novel. The two got me to continue reading, but the ending's just bad.
I didn't like the dual timelines going on. He could've just written all the events of four years earlier and then introduced Wedding Day . This is probably a personal preference of mine though. It's clearly opinionated but it really contributed to me disliking this novel by a great extent.
One more thing I fucking hated would be the word fecking. It's so fucking annoying. It's not something people would want to fucking use and hear. Just stick with fucking cause you're fucking cursing anyway. A fucking child would know that fecking is just an alternative for fucking . I just hate that fucking word so much.
I'm aware that almost all of my friends liked this a lot, but it just wasn't for me. I didn't like the story, and I'm not planning on reading the third book. It might be just me though, because I was really looking for great action. Although I also can't blame myself, because the first novel was amazingly action-packed. I'm just terribly disappointed. I wasted my time finishing this, because the ending was not even good. It was horrible.
2/5 stars, because the plot is just unforgivable. Boring to a great extent, and I don't think I'll be reading the sequel to this. I just don't see any reason to do so, because I didn't like this book one bit. I fucking hated it.
The plot's utterly full of useless shit. This novel could've been way shorter. It has 500+ pages (on my iPad) and most of the novel was full of useless conversations. It also has too much adjectives, and tends to describe things longer than it should. And where the fuck is the action? I really liked the first book because it was full of violence and character building. This is probably the most disappointing book I've read for 2014. There are some actions in the latter part, but they aren't as exciting as the ones in the first book.
The reason why I didn't give this the unforgiving one? Jorg. Despite the terrible plot, he's still one of my favorite characters in the fantasy genre. I might've been bored, but I still wanted to know what would happen to him. Katherine was equally as interesting as Jorg in this novel, but aside from the two, I have nothing good to say about this novel. The two got me to continue reading, but the ending's just bad.
I didn't like the dual timelines going on. He could've just written all the events of four years earlier and then introduced Wedding Day . This is probably a personal preference of mine though. It's clearly opinionated but it really contributed to me disliking this novel by a great extent.
One more thing I fucking hated would be the word fecking. It's so fucking annoying. It's not something people would want to fucking use and hear. Just stick with fucking cause you're fucking cursing anyway. A fucking child would know that fecking is just an alternative for fucking . I just hate that fucking word so much.
I'm aware that almost all of my friends liked this a lot, but it just wasn't for me. I didn't like the story, and I'm not planning on reading the third book. It might be just me though, because I was really looking for great action. Although I also can't blame myself, because the first novel was amazingly action-packed. I'm just terribly disappointed. I wasted my time finishing this, because the ending was not even good. It was horrible.
2/5 stars, because the plot is just unforgivable. Boring to a great extent, and I don't think I'll be reading the sequel to this. I just don't see any reason to do so, because I didn't like this book one bit. I fucking hated it.
November 2, 2022
Marky Mark strikes again. Not you Wahlberg, outta here with your nonsense.
I recently read a wonderful little blog post by Mark Lawrence where he succinctly summed up my thoughts on "good writing" and the many facets we readers look for in books, whether subconsciously or not.
Beautiful prose, strong page-turny storytelling, a unique narrative voice, strong themes, vivid descriptions, perhaps a tone or a setting that is simply to your taste, or even a blending of your favourite "genre" elements.
King of Thorns had everything that tickles my pickle. With the best prose I've read from Mark Lawrence yet. I'm going to paste some quotes in here to make this review seem more important.
"Sometimes I wished I could cut away old memories and let the wind take them. If a sharp knife could pare away the weakness of those days, I would slice until nothing but the hard lessons remained."
Much like I said when I read Prince of Thorns - another great little book - I don't quite understand some of the discourse around these books. Well, I understand it, but I just don't get it, y'know?
I understand not liking a main character, absolutely, and the book not being to your taste. But Jorg is not a one-note edgelord psychopath written by a moody teenager... He's quite a fascinating and complex piece of shit written by a super talented author at the top of his game. And I loved reading about his journey. It takes some real skill to subtly show a character like this maturing and maybe growing a conscience as he ages. I'm not sure what it says about me, but I think I like the character. PoT feels like an intentional depiction of a horrible little prick, just being who he is. This book very intentionally (or so it feels) expands on who this person is and why. And whether he is justified or not in some of his actions, you're forced to examine your own reaction to him. But even though you can't condone most of what he does, there are still things that anyone can relate to, just about life, trauma and abuse.
There aren't many fantasy stories that are this intensely character-driven (another descriptive often thrown around incorrectly to certain SFF books) so maybe the lack of focus on plot is something that's outside of the comfort zone of fantasy readers. I'd urge people to try other genres, even other mediums, and you'll find equally disturbing characters everywhere with not many people taking umbrage with those authors/creators. Read any Scandinavian noir or a Karin Slaughter book and you'll find yourself crawling out of your own skin with disgust. I just don't think Jorg is quite as shocking as some of these other things... Anywho... Back to the book.
"That terrible two-edged sword called experience, cutting away at the cruel child I was, carving out whatever man might be yet to come. I promised a better one. Though I have been known to lie."
I loved everything. I loved the mood that Lawrence sets. The dark fantasy, gothic horror atmosphere blended with an intriguing unraveling mystery, a fractured weaving timeline and a little splash of sci-fi sprinkled on top really hit the mark for me as a reader. Not to mention this gritty, oppressive tone is just exactly my brand of whiskey. I can't read it all the time, but if I had to write a fantasy, it'd be something like this. As an aspiring writer, the highest praise I can give anything is "fuck, I wish I'd written this." It's also important to note that the book can be pretty fucking hilarious! I laughed my ass so many times, the delivery and "comedic timing" in the writing was just perfect sometimes. A kinship between the UK and us Irish folk is black humour in the face of doom. (I'm also half Spanish, specifically Galician, so I appreciated the matter of fact ironic humour too)
"The way I’d put it,” said Makin, “is that Rike can’t make an omelet without wading thigh deep in the blood of chickens and wearing their entrails as a necklace."
Please bear with me as I whip out the university words, but I loved the juxtaposition of stunning, evocative prose amidst some of the ugliest scenes. It's really something when you read a line that is both beautiful and fucking twisted at the same time.
"Memory is all we are. Moments and feelings, captured in amber, strung on filaments of reason. Take a man’s memories and you take all of him. Chip away a memory at a time and you destroy him as surely as if you hammered nail after nail through his skull."
And some of the themes at play are really thought-provoking and subtly examined across a very deliberate pacing. Jorg's wrestling with his own suppressed empathy was really fascinating, as was the examination of nature vs nurture. Jorg being confronted by Makin, Katherine or even his grandmother in some really brilliant scenes were some of my favourite moments.
"'I was consumed by me, by what I wanted. Nothing else mattered. Not my life, not anyone's life. All of it was a price worth paying. All of it was worth staking on long odds just for the chance to win.'
Makin snorted. 'That's a place everyone visits on their way from child to man. You just went native'"
Lawrence presents us with uncomfortable questions like the nature of evil. Are people really just monsters, psychopaths, sociopaths any time they do something horrendous? Usually no, they might just be people like any of us. The circumstances can be more complex than we care to consider most of the time. So I understand not "enjoying" these books in that sense. But I absolutely loved it. I love when authors can really challenge me, make me uncomfortable, ask me questions and push the boundaries of my empathy.
There's a difference between liking a person, understanding a person and empathising with that person.
"All of us fractured, awkward collages of experience wrapped tight to present a defensible face to the world. And what makes us human is that sometimes we snap."
One of the best fantasy books I've ever read, maybe one of the best books! If it were marketed as a straight up post-apocalyptic horror, I'm sure the discourse around it would be much different.
If you happen to read this Mr. Lawrence, thanks very much! I found a lot of inspiration here for my own writing.
I recently read a wonderful little blog post by Mark Lawrence where he succinctly summed up my thoughts on "good writing" and the many facets we readers look for in books, whether subconsciously or not.
Beautiful prose, strong page-turny storytelling, a unique narrative voice, strong themes, vivid descriptions, perhaps a tone or a setting that is simply to your taste, or even a blending of your favourite "genre" elements.
King of Thorns had everything that tickles my pickle. With the best prose I've read from Mark Lawrence yet. I'm going to paste some quotes in here to make this review seem more important.
"Sometimes I wished I could cut away old memories and let the wind take them. If a sharp knife could pare away the weakness of those days, I would slice until nothing but the hard lessons remained."
Much like I said when I read Prince of Thorns - another great little book - I don't quite understand some of the discourse around these books. Well, I understand it, but I just don't get it, y'know?
I understand not liking a main character, absolutely, and the book not being to your taste. But Jorg is not a one-note edgelord psychopath written by a moody teenager... He's quite a fascinating and complex piece of shit written by a super talented author at the top of his game. And I loved reading about his journey. It takes some real skill to subtly show a character like this maturing and maybe growing a conscience as he ages. I'm not sure what it says about me, but I think I like the character. PoT feels like an intentional depiction of a horrible little prick, just being who he is. This book very intentionally (or so it feels) expands on who this person is and why. And whether he is justified or not in some of his actions, you're forced to examine your own reaction to him. But even though you can't condone most of what he does, there are still things that anyone can relate to, just about life, trauma and abuse.
There aren't many fantasy stories that are this intensely character-driven (another descriptive often thrown around incorrectly to certain SFF books) so maybe the lack of focus on plot is something that's outside of the comfort zone of fantasy readers. I'd urge people to try other genres, even other mediums, and you'll find equally disturbing characters everywhere with not many people taking umbrage with those authors/creators. Read any Scandinavian noir or a Karin Slaughter book and you'll find yourself crawling out of your own skin with disgust. I just don't think Jorg is quite as shocking as some of these other things... Anywho... Back to the book.
"That terrible two-edged sword called experience, cutting away at the cruel child I was, carving out whatever man might be yet to come. I promised a better one. Though I have been known to lie."
I loved everything. I loved the mood that Lawrence sets. The dark fantasy, gothic horror atmosphere blended with an intriguing unraveling mystery, a fractured weaving timeline and a little splash of sci-fi sprinkled on top really hit the mark for me as a reader. Not to mention this gritty, oppressive tone is just exactly my brand of whiskey. I can't read it all the time, but if I had to write a fantasy, it'd be something like this. As an aspiring writer, the highest praise I can give anything is "fuck, I wish I'd written this." It's also important to note that the book can be pretty fucking hilarious! I laughed my ass so many times, the delivery and "comedic timing" in the writing was just perfect sometimes. A kinship between the UK and us Irish folk is black humour in the face of doom. (I'm also half Spanish, specifically Galician, so I appreciated the matter of fact ironic humour too)
"The way I’d put it,” said Makin, “is that Rike can’t make an omelet without wading thigh deep in the blood of chickens and wearing their entrails as a necklace."
Please bear with me as I whip out the university words, but I loved the juxtaposition of stunning, evocative prose amidst some of the ugliest scenes. It's really something when you read a line that is both beautiful and fucking twisted at the same time.
"Memory is all we are. Moments and feelings, captured in amber, strung on filaments of reason. Take a man’s memories and you take all of him. Chip away a memory at a time and you destroy him as surely as if you hammered nail after nail through his skull."
And some of the themes at play are really thought-provoking and subtly examined across a very deliberate pacing. Jorg's wrestling with his own suppressed empathy was really fascinating, as was the examination of nature vs nurture. Jorg being confronted by Makin, Katherine or even his grandmother in some really brilliant scenes were some of my favourite moments.
"'I was consumed by me, by what I wanted. Nothing else mattered. Not my life, not anyone's life. All of it was a price worth paying. All of it was worth staking on long odds just for the chance to win.'
Makin snorted. 'That's a place everyone visits on their way from child to man. You just went native'"
Lawrence presents us with uncomfortable questions like the nature of evil. Are people really just monsters, psychopaths, sociopaths any time they do something horrendous? Usually no, they might just be people like any of us. The circumstances can be more complex than we care to consider most of the time. So I understand not "enjoying" these books in that sense. But I absolutely loved it. I love when authors can really challenge me, make me uncomfortable, ask me questions and push the boundaries of my empathy.
There's a difference between liking a person, understanding a person and empathising with that person.
"All of us fractured, awkward collages of experience wrapped tight to present a defensible face to the world. And what makes us human is that sometimes we snap."
One of the best fantasy books I've ever read, maybe one of the best books! If it were marketed as a straight up post-apocalyptic horror, I'm sure the discourse around it would be much different.
If you happen to read this Mr. Lawrence, thanks very much! I found a lot of inspiration here for my own writing.
May 15, 2015
This second book in the Broken Empire series was of a similar quality to the first. Which means it was pretty good!
The Story
This story picks up 4 years after the end of the first book. An 18 year old Jorg now sits on the throne of Renar, but still dreams of being Emperor. His main competition for the role, the beloved Prince of Arrow, marches on Jorg's kingdom with an army many times that of Renar. In a fair fight there would only be one winner. Fighting fair has never been part of Honorous Jorg Ancrath's make up. He is a guy who will stop at nothing to achieve his ambitions!
Like the first book this story bounced between the present and the past. In the present Jorg is gearing up for a battle with the forces of Arrow. In the flashbacks we learn of his early time learning to rule in Renar and of his journeys to seek allies and help in his bid for the empire throne.
Thoughts
I liked a number of things about this second installment. The thing I liked most was the fact that Jorg showed real growth as a character over the course of the story. He is still the same old Jorg in many ways, but he is no longer driven simply by an all consuming need for vengeance. He continues to to be a compelling narrator despite his ruthless and murderous ways mainly because he can be so witty and charming.
I enjoyed the time spent in Renar and was equally as interested in the tales from Jorg's travels. The highlight being his trip to meet with his mothers family. Jorg is twisted, but never dull. As an added bonus we also got a glimpse of things through Kathrine's eyes as Jorg discovered her diary.
The fantasy world of The Broken Empire is a fascinating one and I was delighted we learned a few more of its secrets. I love the mix of magic and old Builder technology.
The time jumping was not quite as smooth as it was in the first book and a few times it lead to a bit of confusion. I would have been quite annoyed if it had not turned out to be an interesting plot device of Mark Lawrence's own making.
The story was compelling and every bit as dark as the first book. I'm fast becoming quite attached to this series.
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Audio Note: James Clamp was the narrator, as he was for the first book, and on the whole he did a good job. My main criticism is that he read this one a bit too fast.
The Story
This story picks up 4 years after the end of the first book. An 18 year old Jorg now sits on the throne of Renar, but still dreams of being Emperor. His main competition for the role, the beloved Prince of Arrow, marches on Jorg's kingdom with an army many times that of Renar. In a fair fight there would only be one winner. Fighting fair has never been part of Honorous Jorg Ancrath's make up. He is a guy who will stop at nothing to achieve his ambitions!
Like the first book this story bounced between the present and the past. In the present Jorg is gearing up for a battle with the forces of Arrow. In the flashbacks we learn of his early time learning to rule in Renar and of his journeys to seek allies and help in his bid for the empire throne.
Thoughts
I liked a number of things about this second installment. The thing I liked most was the fact that Jorg showed real growth as a character over the course of the story. He is still the same old Jorg in many ways, but he is no longer driven simply by an all consuming need for vengeance. He continues to to be a compelling narrator despite his ruthless and murderous ways mainly because he can be so witty and charming.
I enjoyed the time spent in Renar and was equally as interested in the tales from Jorg's travels. The highlight being his trip to meet with his mothers family. Jorg is twisted, but never dull. As an added bonus we also got a glimpse of things through Kathrine's eyes as Jorg discovered her diary.
The fantasy world of The Broken Empire is a fascinating one and I was delighted we learned a few more of its secrets. I love the mix of magic and old Builder technology.
The time jumping was not quite as smooth as it was in the first book and a few times it lead to a bit of confusion. I would have been quite annoyed if it had not turned out to be an interesting plot device of Mark Lawrence's own making.
The story was compelling and every bit as dark as the first book. I'm fast becoming quite attached to this series.
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Audio Note: James Clamp was the narrator, as he was for the first book, and on the whole he did a good job. My main criticism is that he read this one a bit too fast.
February 28, 2016
Le cambio la puntuación a cinco estrellas porque se lo merece. Tiene sus errores, cosas que no me convencen, pero este libro es fascinante.
¡Arrodíllense ante Jorg Ancrath o verán perder todo lo que aman!
¡Arrodíllense ante Jorg Ancrath o verán perder todo lo que aman!
November 25, 2015
THE SOCIOPATH IS AT IT AGAIN While I despised Jorg in Prince of Thorns, the story itself was highly entertaining and kept me turning pages as quickly as I could read them. However, I did not find this novel as engrossing, perhaps because I've grown somewhat use to the main character's sociopathic behavior.
In any event, since the "shock" value of Jorg didn't overwhelm me this go round, I found myself focusing a great deal on the story itself, which quite honestly was a bit underwhelming. I could write a multi page review about everything I disliked about this book, but in short, the storytelling was lacking, the character growth was non-existent, the plot had glaring holes, and Mr. Lawrence continued his trend of what I like to call: the superpower of the day solution to problems.
Please allow me to explain.
In the first book and now the second, Mr. Lawrence writes our favorite sociopath into situations where no reasonable person can expect success. Things look really grim for Jorg many times. However, whenever he needs it, Jorg miraculously discovers some new superpower (magic, science, math, or whatever) to save his ass. To be specific, in Prince of Thorns, Jorg was given necromancer power that kept him alive when a normal man would have died. In King of Thorns, Jorg gets new, updated necromancer powers, fire-magic skill and Builder tools exactly when he needs them to SAVE HIS ASS YET AGAIN!
Of course, the negative issues with those powers - as shown clearly by their affect on other characters in the novels - miraculously leave Jorg unaffected. And don't even bother to ask how he actually gets a thousand year old Builder's tool in book two, or how a thousand year old tool would still even work. Who knows, because Mr. Lawrence never tells the reader either of those things. Just poof, Jorg has this thousand year old tool, and it works and SAVES HIS ASS AGAIN!
Damn, it is good to be Superman in a Superman comic, isn't it?
But I digress.
Like I stated earlier, I felt this story had glaring holes in the plot. They ranged from unexplained entities controlling everyone to Jorg traveling to seek a fire-mage for no apparent reason to the sheer unbelievability of the battle for Renar and finally the impossible ending. Honestly, I cannot thing of a single thing in the novel which did not just leap out at me as unbelievable and obviously yet another way for Jorg to be provided with a new "superpower."
Now, Mr. Lawrence attempted to minimize these problems, glossed over them as much as possible, and his usual method appearred to be mayhem or gore whenever the story was not really working. However, this time around all the blood and brains Mr. Lawrence splatters across your reading eyes doesn't conceal that this story is not making any sense at this point. Because, unfortunately, too much of King of Thorns is isolated incidents of horrendous gore or ghostly undead or sociopathic musings without any of it coalescing into a coherent story.
Another major issue in this novel was the format, specifically the flashback chapters. I loved the whole flashback concept in Prince of Thorns, as I experienced Jorg's sociopathic behavior played out in present day yet was able to slowly understand how he reached this depraved state when younger, but the "Four Years Earlier" chapters in this book did not work at all. Indeed, the flashbacks in King of Thorns merely interrupted the flow of the story when there was no need to do so, because - other than the one detail contained in the box about Jorq's new, baby brother (which honestly didn't amount to much) - nothing in the back story would have prohibited Mr. Lawrence from beginning at the end of Prince of Thorns and detailing this next four years of Jorg's life in a linear fashion.
And before anyone mentions it, I do not want to hear about Sageous, because he is only trotted out a couple times in the book and is basically a non-entity - except when Mr. Lawrence wants to somehow blame him for every horrendous thing Jorg has ever done in his life. This one, minor character is not a reason for a flashback story.
As for the Katherine diary chapters, they can be summed up as boring and not relevant to Jorg's tale at all. Sorry, they did do one thing: give Jorg unexpected help of exactly the right sort at exactly the right time to SAVE HIS SOCIOPATHIC ASS YET AGAIN!
Did I mention it is good to be Superman in a Superman comic?
Oh, I did, didn't I. Sorry.
I realize most fantasy fans absolutely adore this book. It is hailed as the best thing since sliced bread or the internet or whatever. But, honestly, just like the Emperor didn't have on any clothes, King of Thorns is just an okay novel. Sure, it is entertaining, but it really isn't more than that.
I suppose if you idolize Jorg, it's great fun to see him rise above impossible odds to gain his desired goal. (Of course, you have to overlook the superpower of the day problem, but fanboys don't really care about that anyway.) But even in fanboy land, it is obvious that this novel does not rise to the shocking brilliance of Prince of Thorns, which - even with its obvious weaknesses - grabbed hold of your throat on the first page and pulled you through its gore coated world whether you wished to follow or not.
And, you know, maybe it was wrong of me to expect Mr. Lawrence to write that sort of book again, because there is only so much raping/killing and other sociopathic behavior one can throw at a reader before he or she grows numb to it. Though the sadistic torture of the innocent dog in this novel was a great try.
However, what I had truly hoped for in King of Thorns was some growth in Jorg's character, and for a while there, I truly believed Mr. Lawrence was providing us that. The encounter with the ghosts of Gelleth and the trip to find his mother's family along the Horse Coast - while out of character for the Jorg portrayed in book one - seemed to hold out the promise of a maturing sociopath. But alas, I was mistaken, because by the end we discover that Jorg's touch of humanity was all an illusion caused by a "magic" box, and now we are back to the same Superman Jorg who knows all, has all the luck, and has all the powers at just the right time with the same old, sociopathic outlook on everything. Zero growth. Same old same old.
And that stupenous post-apocylaptic setting that Mr. Lawrence teased us with in the first book. Great idea. Very intriguing. Not developed at all in this novel. There is a short bit about a holographic projection of a long dead "Builder," but even that doesn't really add anything except a vague explanation of where magic came from. In fact, the main role of this mysterious "Builder" hologram in the story is to give Mr. Lawrence an excuse as to how Jorg finds two Builder toys to (drumroll please) SAVE HIS ASS YET AGAIN!
Quite frankly, this great post-apocalyptic setting is going to waste, used more as a grab bag for weapons for Jorg than anything else. And since we are talking about this, why don't we the reader know anything about the history of this place?
This series is called "The Broken Empire," right?
Jorg Ancrath is trying to reunite it as emperor?
Wouldn't it be useful for a reader to actually know what Empire we are talking about, or maybe why it split apart? Perhaps some history about the last thousand years of human existence since the big apocalypse. I mean, we get lots of talk about ancient Greek legends or ancient philosophy but nothing about this world's history at all.
Are there no legends or stories about the last thousand years?
Guess none of that is as important as watching a sociopath murder or maim someone else. Not nearly as entertaining I suppose.
I realize that as I published this criticism of the beloved sociopath Jorg that I will have offended the pride many of you have in this character. I'll most likely get so much negative feedback that I could drown in it all and that my pride might suffer immensely.
A time of negative comments might come. Bad times for me. The fanboy universe opens up and all the haters come out to get me. But the world holds worse things than pissed off fans, because I'm a hater too. So, the time of haters can come.
It will be my time.
If it - and my dislike of Jorg - offends you.
STOP ME!
Damn, I do love me some Jorg quotes though. :P
In any event, since the "shock" value of Jorg didn't overwhelm me this go round, I found myself focusing a great deal on the story itself, which quite honestly was a bit underwhelming. I could write a multi page review about everything I disliked about this book, but in short, the storytelling was lacking, the character growth was non-existent, the plot had glaring holes, and Mr. Lawrence continued his trend of what I like to call: the superpower of the day solution to problems.
Please allow me to explain.
In the first book and now the second, Mr. Lawrence writes our favorite sociopath into situations where no reasonable person can expect success. Things look really grim for Jorg many times. However, whenever he needs it, Jorg miraculously discovers some new superpower (magic, science, math, or whatever) to save his ass. To be specific, in Prince of Thorns, Jorg was given necromancer power that kept him alive when a normal man would have died. In King of Thorns, Jorg gets new, updated necromancer powers, fire-magic skill and Builder tools exactly when he needs them to SAVE HIS ASS YET AGAIN!
Of course, the negative issues with those powers - as shown clearly by their affect on other characters in the novels - miraculously leave Jorg unaffected. And don't even bother to ask how he actually gets a thousand year old Builder's tool in book two, or how a thousand year old tool would still even work. Who knows, because Mr. Lawrence never tells the reader either of those things. Just poof, Jorg has this thousand year old tool, and it works and SAVES HIS ASS AGAIN!
Damn, it is good to be Superman in a Superman comic, isn't it?
But I digress.
Like I stated earlier, I felt this story had glaring holes in the plot. They ranged from unexplained entities controlling everyone to Jorg traveling to seek a fire-mage for no apparent reason to the sheer unbelievability of the battle for Renar and finally the impossible ending. Honestly, I cannot thing of a single thing in the novel which did not just leap out at me as unbelievable and obviously yet another way for Jorg to be provided with a new "superpower."
Now, Mr. Lawrence attempted to minimize these problems, glossed over them as much as possible, and his usual method appearred to be mayhem or gore whenever the story was not really working. However, this time around all the blood and brains Mr. Lawrence splatters across your reading eyes doesn't conceal that this story is not making any sense at this point. Because, unfortunately, too much of King of Thorns is isolated incidents of horrendous gore or ghostly undead or sociopathic musings without any of it coalescing into a coherent story.
Another major issue in this novel was the format, specifically the flashback chapters. I loved the whole flashback concept in Prince of Thorns, as I experienced Jorg's sociopathic behavior played out in present day yet was able to slowly understand how he reached this depraved state when younger, but the "Four Years Earlier" chapters in this book did not work at all. Indeed, the flashbacks in King of Thorns merely interrupted the flow of the story when there was no need to do so, because - other than the one detail contained in the box about Jorq's new, baby brother (which honestly didn't amount to much) - nothing in the back story would have prohibited Mr. Lawrence from beginning at the end of Prince of Thorns and detailing this next four years of Jorg's life in a linear fashion.
And before anyone mentions it, I do not want to hear about Sageous, because he is only trotted out a couple times in the book and is basically a non-entity - except when Mr. Lawrence wants to somehow blame him for every horrendous thing Jorg has ever done in his life. This one, minor character is not a reason for a flashback story.
As for the Katherine diary chapters, they can be summed up as boring and not relevant to Jorg's tale at all. Sorry, they did do one thing: give Jorg unexpected help of exactly the right sort at exactly the right time to SAVE HIS SOCIOPATHIC ASS YET AGAIN!
Did I mention it is good to be Superman in a Superman comic?
Oh, I did, didn't I. Sorry.
I realize most fantasy fans absolutely adore this book. It is hailed as the best thing since sliced bread or the internet or whatever. But, honestly, just like the Emperor didn't have on any clothes, King of Thorns is just an okay novel. Sure, it is entertaining, but it really isn't more than that.
I suppose if you idolize Jorg, it's great fun to see him rise above impossible odds to gain his desired goal. (Of course, you have to overlook the superpower of the day problem, but fanboys don't really care about that anyway.) But even in fanboy land, it is obvious that this novel does not rise to the shocking brilliance of Prince of Thorns, which - even with its obvious weaknesses - grabbed hold of your throat on the first page and pulled you through its gore coated world whether you wished to follow or not.
And, you know, maybe it was wrong of me to expect Mr. Lawrence to write that sort of book again, because there is only so much raping/killing and other sociopathic behavior one can throw at a reader before he or she grows numb to it. Though the sadistic torture of the innocent dog in this novel was a great try.
However, what I had truly hoped for in King of Thorns was some growth in Jorg's character, and for a while there, I truly believed Mr. Lawrence was providing us that. The encounter with the ghosts of Gelleth and the trip to find his mother's family along the Horse Coast - while out of character for the Jorg portrayed in book one - seemed to hold out the promise of a maturing sociopath. But alas, I was mistaken, because by the end we discover that Jorg's touch of humanity was all an illusion caused by a "magic" box, and now we are back to the same Superman Jorg who knows all, has all the luck, and has all the powers at just the right time with the same old, sociopathic outlook on everything. Zero growth. Same old same old.
And that stupenous post-apocylaptic setting that Mr. Lawrence teased us with in the first book. Great idea. Very intriguing. Not developed at all in this novel. There is a short bit about a holographic projection of a long dead "Builder," but even that doesn't really add anything except a vague explanation of where magic came from. In fact, the main role of this mysterious "Builder" hologram in the story is to give Mr. Lawrence an excuse as to how Jorg finds two Builder toys to (drumroll please) SAVE HIS ASS YET AGAIN!
Quite frankly, this great post-apocalyptic setting is going to waste, used more as a grab bag for weapons for Jorg than anything else. And since we are talking about this, why don't we the reader know anything about the history of this place?
This series is called "The Broken Empire," right?
Jorg Ancrath is trying to reunite it as emperor?
Wouldn't it be useful for a reader to actually know what Empire we are talking about, or maybe why it split apart? Perhaps some history about the last thousand years of human existence since the big apocalypse. I mean, we get lots of talk about ancient Greek legends or ancient philosophy but nothing about this world's history at all.
Are there no legends or stories about the last thousand years?
Guess none of that is as important as watching a sociopath murder or maim someone else. Not nearly as entertaining I suppose.
I realize that as I published this criticism of the beloved sociopath Jorg that I will have offended the pride many of you have in this character. I'll most likely get so much negative feedback that I could drown in it all and that my pride might suffer immensely.
A time of negative comments might come. Bad times for me. The fanboy universe opens up and all the haters come out to get me. But the world holds worse things than pissed off fans, because I'm a hater too. So, the time of haters can come.
It will be my time.
If it - and my dislike of Jorg - offends you.
STOP ME!
Damn, I do love me some Jorg quotes though. :P
Shelved as 'dnf'
June 15, 2021DNF on page 280.
Just not my thing. I really enjoyed The Girl and the Stars and I want to try the Red Sister trilogy. But I’m not really finding this one that exciting and I’m trying to be stricter with books. If I don’t like something, time to move on.
Just not my thing. I really enjoyed The Girl and the Stars and I want to try the Red Sister trilogy. But I’m not really finding this one that exciting and I’m trying to be stricter with books. If I don’t like something, time to move on.
February 7, 2017
King Jorg somehow finds a way to make you root for him as a reader despite his brutality. He is bold, rash, relentless, ruthless and shameless in pursuit of power and vengeance. I love falling in love with the characters and King Jorg Ancrath. I have to say it only got better in the second installment. and now on to the next book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 2, 2020
Still a nasty piece of grimdark, but I have to be honest: there are a FEW more redeeming features to our young little psychopath in this book than there were in one that came before.
I probably sound like that's a bad thing... right? Well... yeah. I was USED to loving to hate the little murderous sociopathic little punk. I don't want him humanized. I want him to plow over all his enemies and random bystanders who might have been within spitting distance of him. I want him to burn the world.
Or rather, since he ate the heart of a necromancer on a freaking whim and now he has a lich inside of him as well as a warring freaking incarnation of fire, I fully expected him to raise armies of the dead and have all the bones run around on fire, destroying all the warring kingdoms and his subjects and laugh uproariously about it.
Seriously. I'm not even joking.
But NOOOOOO he's sinned against almost as much as he sins and that little memory trick is really kicking my conception of him around like nobody's business.
Suffice to say, I still love the book. Maybe I'm not quite as thrilled with the sheer, utter darkness of it, but it is definitely full of some really great moments.
Grimdark for the win!
I probably sound like that's a bad thing... right? Well... yeah. I was USED to loving to hate the little murderous sociopathic little punk. I don't want him humanized. I want him to plow over all his enemies and random bystanders who might have been within spitting distance of him. I want him to burn the world.
Or rather, since he ate the heart of a necromancer on a freaking whim and now he has a lich inside of him as well as a warring freaking incarnation of fire, I fully expected him to raise armies of the dead and have all the bones run around on fire, destroying all the warring kingdoms and his subjects and laugh uproariously about it.
Seriously. I'm not even joking.
But NOOOOOO he's sinned against almost as much as he sins and that little memory trick is really kicking my conception of him around like nobody's business.
Suffice to say, I still love the book. Maybe I'm not quite as thrilled with the sheer, utter darkness of it, but it is definitely full of some really great moments.
Grimdark for the win!
Read
February 27, 2017Argh this review got deleted ! Sorry to repost guys.
3.5/5
Oopsy another unpopular opinion from me *evil cackle*.
Firstly I must start this review by saying this book was extremely overhyped imo. Everyone raves on about how great this book is, but to be honest it was just okay for me. I once again went into this book with high expectations as I did with Prince of Thorns and once again I've been left wondering what all the hype was about. Hype is a very bad thing. Seriously like FUCK THE HYPE (it's misleading & terrible). I don't know if it's just me but everytime I read something by Mark Lawrence, I feel the book is missing something. Please don't get me wrong Mark Lawrence is a brilliant writer and very talented, I love his no bullshit style and I think Jorg is an extremely quotable character, however some things in his books just didn't add up or were left unexplained. I won't go into details because of spoilers but that ending was fucking shit. Sorry. Why wasn't anything explained? Why does Jorg always get out of ridiculous situations? Why is it so unrealistic? Honestly I have no answers to my own questions and it's bothering me. Yep I want to swallow glass and die after this book BECAUSE IT ANNOYED ME. Some random ass shit happened and everything is left unexplained so I'm really confused about everything, I also hate magic systems that don't have repercussions, it's just so unrealistic. For me this book has more cons then pros, but I did enjoy it. The story itself lacked a lot of gore and action which the first book possessed and I found the plot kinda boring, it's basically about Jorg trying to take over an empire and anyone who stands in his way will die. Sounds awesome ? Yeah I no. But it was very mellow basically this book was Jorg looking for artefacts. ZZzzzz. However I did enjoy some components of this story, Jorg is my demented hero that I love with every inch of my black heart, seriously I feel guilty for loving him so much.
"A Dark time comes.
My time.
If it offends you.
Stop Me.”
Back to the bad stuff, another major issue I had in this book, I feel this isn't a spoiler more a warning but this book did have an animal torture scene.
Yep I got the beef about it... Hollywood say "don't shoot a puppy" for a reason. I felt offended by the torture scene it was so unnecessarily disgustingly descriptive and disturbing, I felt it went abit too far, but hey when reading grimdark you want to be shocked and disgusted I just didn't imagine that type of scene and kinda really wish I didn't read it, seriously where the fuck is the eye bleach at ? this book is very unique and definitely left a huge impression on me which wasn't very good. However it wasn't enough to stop me from reading this. I read grim dark for a reason and that's to be shocked and to be offended. So if you don't have a hardened heart this book is definitely not for you. The plot is so intriguing, I couldn't get enough. The story is very dark and when I say dark I honestly mean it, it has basically no relief definitely lacking humour and the romance is actually FUCKED UP. This book is actually kinda scary but in an awesome way. I love having goosebumps and feeling creeped out, I think Mark Lawrence does a wonderful job of weaving together interesting and compelling ideas that have you on the edge of your seat, it has the right amount of everything (except of course animal torture, I could do without). It is pretty much the bible of badassery if it was better explained but most importantly it's realistic with grey characters and Jorg defines the word 'anti-hero'.
The plot is extremely complex, I must admit I was really confused at times due to the POV switching back and forth from four years earlier to present. I hate first person POV, it's a peeve. I want to secretly burn all first person POV books because i hate it. I don't know how to rate or review this book because I loved and hated it at the same time so I'm just gonna say it's average. I love Mark Lawrence's writing style, I love his beautiful sentences, I love his complex characters. I'm so taken by the interesting main character Jorg Ancarth. Seriously, I can't even cope with myself when I read about him. Some of the background characters especially Sir Makin stole my heart. He is definitely a genius when it comes to writing characters. Most of the plot was interesting, a lot of parts ending up being flat for me but it was intriguing and different.
If you have read this book I recommend going to google and looking at the beautiful fan art, it is all so beautiful. The covers also give me heart eyes, I LOVE THEM.
I recommend this book to lovers of grimdark and anti-heroes. All you vegetarians and animal activist should stay away. Definitely will continue with this series but I'm not in a rush.
Ratings;
Prince of Thorns - 3.5/5
King of Thorns - 3.5/5
Total rating for the series so far - 7/10
3.5/5
“We die a little every day and by degrees we’re reborn into different men, older men in the same clothes, with the same scars.”
Oopsy another unpopular opinion from me *evil cackle*.
Firstly I must start this review by saying this book was extremely overhyped imo. Everyone raves on about how great this book is, but to be honest it was just okay for me. I once again went into this book with high expectations as I did with Prince of Thorns and once again I've been left wondering what all the hype was about. Hype is a very bad thing. Seriously like FUCK THE HYPE (it's misleading & terrible). I don't know if it's just me but everytime I read something by Mark Lawrence, I feel the book is missing something. Please don't get me wrong Mark Lawrence is a brilliant writer and very talented, I love his no bullshit style and I think Jorg is an extremely quotable character, however some things in his books just didn't add up or were left unexplained. I won't go into details because of spoilers but that ending was fucking shit. Sorry. Why wasn't anything explained? Why does Jorg always get out of ridiculous situations? Why is it so unrealistic? Honestly I have no answers to my own questions and it's bothering me. Yep I want to swallow glass and die after this book BECAUSE IT ANNOYED ME. Some random ass shit happened and everything is left unexplained so I'm really confused about everything, I also hate magic systems that don't have repercussions, it's just so unrealistic. For me this book has more cons then pros, but I did enjoy it. The story itself lacked a lot of gore and action which the first book possessed and I found the plot kinda boring, it's basically about Jorg trying to take over an empire and anyone who stands in his way will die. Sounds awesome ? Yeah I no. But it was very mellow basically this book was Jorg looking for artefacts. ZZzzzz. However I did enjoy some components of this story, Jorg is my demented hero that I love with every inch of my black heart, seriously I feel guilty for loving him so much.
"A Dark time comes.
My time.
If it offends you.
Stop Me.”
Back to the bad stuff, another major issue I had in this book, I feel this isn't a spoiler more a warning but this book did have an animal torture scene.
Yep I got the beef about it... Hollywood say "don't shoot a puppy" for a reason. I felt offended by the torture scene it was so unnecessarily disgustingly descriptive and disturbing, I felt it went abit too far, but hey when reading grimdark you want to be shocked and disgusted I just didn't imagine that type of scene and kinda really wish I didn't read it, seriously where the fuck is the eye bleach at ? this book is very unique and definitely left a huge impression on me which wasn't very good. However it wasn't enough to stop me from reading this. I read grim dark for a reason and that's to be shocked and to be offended. So if you don't have a hardened heart this book is definitely not for you. The plot is so intriguing, I couldn't get enough. The story is very dark and when I say dark I honestly mean it, it has basically no relief definitely lacking humour and the romance is actually FUCKED UP. This book is actually kinda scary but in an awesome way. I love having goosebumps and feeling creeped out, I think Mark Lawrence does a wonderful job of weaving together interesting and compelling ideas that have you on the edge of your seat, it has the right amount of everything (except of course animal torture, I could do without). It is pretty much the bible of badassery if it was better explained but most importantly it's realistic with grey characters and Jorg defines the word 'anti-hero'.
The plot is extremely complex, I must admit I was really confused at times due to the POV switching back and forth from four years earlier to present. I hate first person POV, it's a peeve. I want to secretly burn all first person POV books because i hate it. I don't know how to rate or review this book because I loved and hated it at the same time so I'm just gonna say it's average. I love Mark Lawrence's writing style, I love his beautiful sentences, I love his complex characters. I'm so taken by the interesting main character Jorg Ancarth. Seriously, I can't even cope with myself when I read about him. Some of the background characters especially Sir Makin stole my heart. He is definitely a genius when it comes to writing characters. Most of the plot was interesting, a lot of parts ending up being flat for me but it was intriguing and different.
If you have read this book I recommend going to google and looking at the beautiful fan art, it is all so beautiful. The covers also give me heart eyes, I LOVE THEM.
I recommend this book to lovers of grimdark and anti-heroes. All you vegetarians and animal activist should stay away. Definitely will continue with this series but I'm not in a rush.
Ratings;
Prince of Thorns - 3.5/5
King of Thorns - 3.5/5
Total rating for the series so far - 7/10
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