Prince of Thorns (Broken Empire, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Dec 12, 2022 Cassandra Stirling rated it it was amazing

TL;DR: The darkest book I’ve read with an anti-hero that appears irredeemable, Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is a disturbing look at motivations, rage, and manipulation wrapped in fantasy.

Full disclosure, I am not someone who likes grim dark fantasy, horror, books with a lot of fighting and gore, and sociopath main characters. However, this book was well-written and the author did a great job giving you glimspes of what could be a redemption for Jorg’s behavior. Does it happen? Well, you’ll TL;DR: The darkest book I’ve read with an anti-hero that appears irredeemable, Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is a disturbing look at motivations, rage, and manipulation wrapped in fantasy.

Full disclosure, I am not someone who likes grim dark fantasy, horror, books with a lot of fighting and gore, and sociopath main characters. However, this book was well-written and the author did a great job giving you glimspes of what could be a redemption for Jorg’s behavior. Does it happen? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out. But I will say this was a fascinating read, and not just because the book was good, but because it also became an introspection of me to figure out why I continued on past chapter one and read the book in two sittings.

For all these reasons and more, I gave it 4.75 stars.

What I liked & liked less
If you can get past the first chapter, then you’ll most likely be able to finish this book. Yes, that’s where I want to start this part of the review. I almost didn’t get past the first chapter. The only reason I did was because while there was talk of rape, there wasn’t any showing of rape.

I hated this character. And then he fascinated me. And then I understood some of what drove him and why he would sacrifice anyone to achieve his goals. And then I saw glimmers of deeper connections to people still alive – guilt, regret – that he stamped out to do what was necessary.

He’s also incredibly smart and has an agenda. I wanted to see where his agenda took him and just how far he’d go to get it. And believe me, it goes far beyond what I ever expected. But then I didn’t expect a fourteen year old (he turns fourteen in the first few chapters) to be a sociopath.

I thought the world building was good, although not as well-developed as it could’ve been. There are moments where I was a little lost, but the story was good enough to keep me reading. I also wanted to know more about some of the people he traveled with, which kept me reading.

But the biggest reason was I wanted to see where the book would go and if I’d be able to finish it. And I did, because the writing is good. Mark Lawrence starts this book out in a brutal fashion, so you know exactly what you’re getting if you decide to continue.

Some can’t finish. Some do and hate it anyway. Some, like me, found it fascinating that I could read a book in a tone and genre that I don’t tend to read and wondered why it appealed to me.

To Sum Up (Too Late!)
If you like grim dark fantasy, you’ll like this book. If you like an anti-hero that you can’t cheer for, but are interested to see where his story leads, you’ll like this book. If you’re fascinated by a sociopath and can stomach the first person narrative of that sociopath, you’ll like this book. If you like wondering why something like this could be interesting and don’t mind facing a few hard truths about yourself, you’ll also like this book. ...more

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