Mark Lawrence's Blog, page 25
March 15, 2012
#Jorgisms
Even though I'm not writing Jorg any more I still get bubbling into my head lines that he might say. I call these 'Jorg-isms' and I've started to collect them. Maybe they'd look good on a T-shirt :)
Here are 3:
You're either part of the solution or small bloody chunks of the problem. #Jorgism
There's my way or the h... wait, no... there's just my way. #Jorgism
Two head-carts are better than one. #Jorgism
Here are 3:
You're either part of the solution or small bloody chunks of the problem. #Jorgism
There's my way or the h... wait, no... there's just my way. #Jorgism
Two head-carts are better than one. #Jorgism
March 4, 2012
King of Thorns stuff (iv)
Brother Makin has high ideals. If he kept to them, we would be enemies. If he nursed his failure, we would not be friends.
March 2, 2012
Greeks bearing gifts!
Cryssalis Books will be publishing Prince of Thorns in Greece. Also in Greek. Which will be the 13th language the book appears in. That's a lot more than I ever thought it would get published in (13 more).
Also - if you happen to be the owner of a fantasy book blog in Spanish (slim odds I will admit) and you contact me before the hordes of other Spanish language fantasy book bloggers with a link to your site and contact details... I'll send you one of my four signed copies of Principe del Mal to consider.
Also - if you happen to be the owner of a fantasy book blog in Spanish (slim odds I will admit) and you contact me before the hordes of other Spanish language fantasy book bloggers with a link to your site and contact details... I'll send you one of my four signed copies of Principe del Mal to consider.
February 29, 2012
Ooo la & la!
Prince of Thorns is out in Spanish today
http://www.amazon.es/Pr%C3%ADncipe-de...
And I've done an interview for the upcoming French release which you can read here in English. We discuss cats, pigeons and the clear message behind Prince of Thorns!
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2...
http://www.amazon.es/Pr%C3%ADncipe-de...
And I've done an interview for the upcoming French release which you can read here in English. We discuss cats, pigeons and the clear message behind Prince of Thorns!
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2...
February 20, 2012
King of Thorns stuff (iii)
Brother Grumlow
In the long ago, in the gentle days, Brother Grumlow carved wood, worked with saw and chisel. When hard times come carpenters are apt to get nailed to crosses. Grumlow took up the knife and learned to carve men. He looks soft, my brother of the blade, slight in build, light in colour, weak chin, sad eyes, all of him drooping like the moustache that hangs off his lip. Yet he has fast hands and no fear of a sharp edge. Come against him with just a dagger for company and he will cut you a new opinion.
& a non-blurb I wrote for Independent Thinking, a publication that seeks to inform and attract the buyers at independent book shops across the UK and who are already bored of your actual book-blurb:
Readers and reviewers repeatedly identify three things about Prince of Thorns – firstly the power and beauty of its prose, secondly the shocking violence and amoral nature of its protagonist, and thirdly the surprising youth of Prince Jorg. King of Thorns is a progression rather than a formulaic repeat. Prince Jorg is older, his world view develops, and whilst he neither seeks nor attains redemption, he does grow.
King of Thorns is in many ways a more sophisticated book than its predecessor but, whatever its literary merits, it maintains the trilogy’s high energy and murderous pace. As Jorg says, all paths to the throne require that you walk on bodies. Like Prince of Thorns this book is an ungentle one, shot through with blackest humour, and if the reader doesn’t laugh then cry, I’ve not done my job.
This book was not written for a demographic or aimed at meeting any common set of fantasy elements – it’s the story I needed to tell. For me the writing page by page and line by line is as important as the story chapter to chapter. I hope what marks it out is a level of passion and honesty uncommon in the genre.
In the long ago, in the gentle days, Brother Grumlow carved wood, worked with saw and chisel. When hard times come carpenters are apt to get nailed to crosses. Grumlow took up the knife and learned to carve men. He looks soft, my brother of the blade, slight in build, light in colour, weak chin, sad eyes, all of him drooping like the moustache that hangs off his lip. Yet he has fast hands and no fear of a sharp edge. Come against him with just a dagger for company and he will cut you a new opinion.
& a non-blurb I wrote for Independent Thinking, a publication that seeks to inform and attract the buyers at independent book shops across the UK and who are already bored of your actual book-blurb:
Readers and reviewers repeatedly identify three things about Prince of Thorns – firstly the power and beauty of its prose, secondly the shocking violence and amoral nature of its protagonist, and thirdly the surprising youth of Prince Jorg. King of Thorns is a progression rather than a formulaic repeat. Prince Jorg is older, his world view develops, and whilst he neither seeks nor attains redemption, he does grow.
King of Thorns is in many ways a more sophisticated book than its predecessor but, whatever its literary merits, it maintains the trilogy’s high energy and murderous pace. As Jorg says, all paths to the throne require that you walk on bodies. Like Prince of Thorns this book is an ungentle one, shot through with blackest humour, and if the reader doesn’t laugh then cry, I’ve not done my job.
This book was not written for a demographic or aimed at meeting any common set of fantasy elements – it’s the story I needed to tell. For me the writing page by page and line by line is as important as the story chapter to chapter. I hope what marks it out is a level of passion and honesty uncommon in the genre.
February 7, 2012
King of Thorns stuff (ii)
King of Thorns - fragments, part (ii)
Almost nothing was cut from King of Thorns in editing (quite a few additions). The only real casualties were small fragments from the view points of people in the background/scenery of the story. These were to nestle between chapters and put a human face on a grand conflict. In the end it was felt they distracted from / diluted the main thrust of storytelling. These cuts are among the bits & piece...s I'm releasing as we... hurtle... toward August.
This is the first:
Sorren Hammerson, seventeen, arrow shot. Tellan slopes, below the Haunt.
Son of William and Sereh, raised in Northdean, Renar.
The arrow pinned him to the moment, and Sorren fell, knowing that for all his life he and the arrow had been racing toward each other.
He fell. His head bounced once and his helm clattered away. A last breath left in a crimson spray of surprise. Sound faded, bowstrings thrummed into silence, the sky bright and wide, filled everything. He had wanted to be a farmer. He had wanted Milly Turner. The sky narrowed to the gleam of her hair. Narrowed again. Gone.
Almost nothing was cut from King of Thorns in editing (quite a few additions). The only real casualties were small fragments from the view points of people in the background/scenery of the story. These were to nestle between chapters and put a human face on a grand conflict. In the end it was felt they distracted from / diluted the main thrust of storytelling. These cuts are among the bits & piece...s I'm releasing as we... hurtle... toward August.
This is the first:
Sorren Hammerson, seventeen, arrow shot. Tellan slopes, below the Haunt.
Son of William and Sereh, raised in Northdean, Renar.
The arrow pinned him to the moment, and Sorren fell, knowing that for all his life he and the arrow had been racing toward each other.
He fell. His head bounced once and his helm clattered away. A last breath left in a crimson spray of surprise. Sound faded, bowstrings thrummed into silence, the sky bright and wide, filled everything. He had wanted to be a farmer. He had wanted Milly Turner. The sky narrowed to the gleam of her hair. Narrowed again. Gone.
January 25, 2012
King of Thorns stuff (i)
Brother Kent
In the red ruin of battle Brother Kent oft looks to have stepped from hell. Though in another life he would have tilled his fields and died abed, mourned by grandchildren. In combat Red Kent possesses a clarity that terrifies and lays waste. In all else he is a man confused by his own contradictions – a killer’s instincts married to a farmer’s soul. Not tall, not broad, but packed solid and quick, wide cheekbones, dark eyes flat with murder, bitten lips, scarred hands, thick-fingered, loyalty and the need to be loyal written through him.
( part (i) in a series of bits & pieces from King of Thorns including 'Brother snippets' and some deleted inserts. To be released with increasing tempo as we head toward August. )
In the red ruin of battle Brother Kent oft looks to have stepped from hell. Though in another life he would have tilled his fields and died abed, mourned by grandchildren. In combat Red Kent possesses a clarity that terrifies and lays waste. In all else he is a man confused by his own contradictions – a killer’s instincts married to a farmer’s soul. Not tall, not broad, but packed solid and quick, wide cheekbones, dark eyes flat with murder, bitten lips, scarred hands, thick-fingered, loyalty and the need to be loyal written through him.
( part (i) in a series of bits & pieces from King of Thorns including 'Brother snippets' and some deleted inserts. To be released with increasing tempo as we head toward August. )
January 24, 2012
MGFS - the only rating system that counts!
Goodreads handily tells me what my Goodreads friends thought about any book I click on, and what average rating they gave it.
I now have 141 friends on goodreads, a stalwart body of readers self-selected by virtue of having the good taste to send me a friends request.
So I can now generate, on request, the MGFS (Mark's Goodreads Friends' Score) for any book you care to mention. The collective judgment of what must clearly be the best readers on Earth :)
Prince of Thorns for example has a MGFS of 4.62 (from 115 friends).
Go on, ask me one :)
I now have 141 friends on goodreads, a stalwart body of readers self-selected by virtue of having the good taste to send me a friends request.
So I can now generate, on request, the MGFS (Mark's Goodreads Friends' Score) for any book you care to mention. The collective judgment of what must clearly be the best readers on Earth :)
Prince of Thorns for example has a MGFS of 4.62 (from 115 friends).
Go on, ask me one :)
January 6, 2012
David Gemmell Awards
The David Gemmell Awards are now open for votes! And Prince of Thorns finds itself in august company in the best debut category! To vote all you need to do is click on the link then click on the book you like best.
Morningstar Award - Best Debut Novel 2011
Legend Award - Best Novel 2011
Ravenheart Award - Best Cover 2011
There are multiple awards coming up, and many of them (like the Hugos) are more prestigious (currently) but this one is close to my heart. You don't need to be a paid up $50 member of something literary, you just need to be able to mouse-click. And while I'm sure Mr Campbell was a great person (I learned about the Campbell award today) ... I've _read_ David Gemmell, many times, and loved his work. He died too soon and this award is a great tribute to him and I'd love to see it go from strength to strength. So this is the one I'm going to talk about and the rest can go hang :)
Morningstar Award - Best Debut Novel 2011
Legend Award - Best Novel 2011
Ravenheart Award - Best Cover 2011
There are multiple awards coming up, and many of them (like the Hugos) are more prestigious (currently) but this one is close to my heart. You don't need to be a paid up $50 member of something literary, you just need to be able to mouse-click. And while I'm sure Mr Campbell was a great person (I learned about the Campbell award today) ... I've _read_ David Gemmell, many times, and loved his work. He died too soon and this award is a great tribute to him and I'd love to see it go from strength to strength. So this is the one I'm going to talk about and the rest can go hang :)
December 18, 2011
A year in numbers
Ever wanted to see what info you get on the Goodreads Author Dashboard for your book?
It's all here in a collage of Prince of Thorns book stats from other sources:
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2...
It's all here in a collage of Prince of Thorns book stats from other sources:
http://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2...
