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Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire, Book 1) (Broken Empire 1) [Hardcover]

Mark Lawrence
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (167 customer reviews)

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Book Description

4 Aug 2011 Broken Empire 1 (Book 1)

Prince of Thorns is the first volume in a powerful new epic fantasy trilogy, original, absorbing and challenging.

Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that's true enough, but there's something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse.

From being a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg has the ability to master the living and the dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father's castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.

Mark Lawrence's debut novel tells a tale of blood and treachery, magic and brotherhood and paints a compelling and brutal, and sometimes beautiful, picture of an exceptional boy on his journey toward manhood and the throne.



Product details

  • Hardcover: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Voyager (4 Aug 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0007423292
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007423293
  • Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 14.6 x 3.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (167 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 204,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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Product Description

Review

‘Dark and relentless, Prince of Thorns will pull you under and drown you in story. A two in the morning page turner. Jaw-dropping’
Robin Hobb

‘This is a lean, cold knife-thrust of a novel, a revenge fantasy anchored on the compelling voice and savage purpose of its titular Prince. There is never a safe moment in Lawrence’s debut’
Robert Redick, author of The Red-Wolf Conspiracy

'Prince of Thorns got hold of me from page one and didn’t let go until I finished it on my second reading session on the second day. There’s humour here, gut-wrenching realism, high adventure, something that might be magic in the story, and certainly is in the telling of it. It was almost as if the shade of David Gemmell had returned, somewhat nastier for the experience. Thoroughly recommended. Thanks Mr Lawrence'
Neal Asher

'Prince of Thorns is one of this year’s most anticipated fantasy debuts; and now I know why! It's incredible'
civilian-reader.blogspot.com

About the Author

Mark Lawrence is married with four children, one of whom is severely disabled. His day job is 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'.
Between work and caring for his disabled child, Mark spends his time writing, playing computer games, tending an allotment, brewing beer, and avoiding DIY.


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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
74 of 78 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A dark, amoral but compelling story 29 July 2011
By A. Whitehead TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
A hundred petty warlords are struggling to carve their own pieces out of the Broken Empire, the divided remnants of a glorious, high-technology society obliterated in a monstrous war. Little has survived from before that time aside from a few books of philosophy and war, and religion.

Prince Jorg, the son of King Olidan of Ancrath, is a boy of nine when he sees his mother and brother brutally murdered by agents of Count Renar. When Olidan makes peace with Renar in return for a few paltry treaties and goods, Jorg runs away from home in the company of a band of mercenaries. As the years pass, Jorg becomes cruel, merciless and ruthless. He sees his destiny is to reunite the Broken Empire and rule as the first Emperor in a thousand years, and nothing and no-one will deny him this destiny.

Prince of Thorns is the first novel in The Broken Empire, a trilogy which was fiercely bidded over by several publishers before HarperCollins Voyager won the publishing rights in the UK. It's being touted by Voyager as 'the big new thing' for 2011, to the extent where they are even giving away copies to people who have pre-ordered A Dance with Dragons from certain UK bookstores.

This faith is mostly justified. Prince of Thorns is a remarkable read. Well-written and compelling, it is also disturbing. Anyone who's ever bailed on reading Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books because of a horrific thing the main character does a couple of chapters in will probably not enjoy this book either. Jorg is a protagonist with the quick wits of Locke Lamora, the charm and resourcefulness of Kvothe but the moral compass of Gregor Clegane.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating and best read since Game of Thrones 20 July 2012
By Cam
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this book not really expecting much, the reviews seemed good so I thought I'd give it a go. I do most of my reading on the commute back and forth to London. I picked it up on the way to work, and to be honest I was instantly captivated and don't really remember anything else happening in the days between the act of picking it up and finishing I didn't put it down. The only disapointment I found with Prince of Thorns was that it had to end. A truely great read for the fantastists among us. The best book I've read since Game of Thrones, Can't wait for the next in the next in the series!
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21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
By Fantasy Lore TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)
One trend in the fantasy genre, which waxes and wanes through the years is the device of the cruel, murderous and/or insane protagonist. I don't mean protagonists who can be cruel, who have murdered and whose experiences have unhinged them (because you'd be hard-pushed to name a protagonist in fantasy who didn't boast one or all of those qualities). I refer to protagonists who maim, rape, torture and murder, because they're psychotic. This trend isn't one I'm particularly fond of, if only because it so often means sacrificing a depth of human feeling that is for me the epitome of the very best fantasy tales. But being that `Prince of Thorns' falls into this category and given its hype I decided to begin reading with as much of an open-mind as possible.

My impression of the first few chapters of the book was that the characters and settings were a little bit bland and two-dimensional. So I was disappointed not to be struck by the rich, complex and mesmerizing fantasy epic I'd been lead to believe lay in these pages. Despite this, in the beginning something keeps you turning each page and it isn't just the intelligence of the writing, it's the audacity of its anti-hero Prince Jorg, who is the most despicable protagonist since Thomas Covenant.

`Prince of Thorns' can't be described as high fantasy; there just isn't the depth to the characters or the world building. There are prolonged periods in the book of quite cliched battles and quests (of the tired 1980's swords & sorcery fantasy sort) that are entirely pedestrian, but these periods are punctuated by momentous scenes that offer pure enjoyment, and the capricious nature of the main character is usually the catalyst for these scenes.
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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Expected more 27 Aug 2011
Format:Hardcover
There has been much made of the fact that Prince of Thorns features a rapist as the main character, that it is far too dark and bloodthirsty, that it bears great similarity to Joe Abercrombie, that it objectifies women. I would dispute every one of these points. Every single one.

Prince of Thorns features a young boy as the protagonist, someone who offers his band of brothers "a different sort of treasure" to keep them sweet, someone who has raped women but only ever off screen. I've seen far, far worse occurrences of rape in novels - for heavens' sake, Steven Erikson has women raping the bodies of dead soldiers in Memories of Ice. Yes, there is rape - but nothing worse than presented in historical novels that I have read. When you have a marauding band of criminals, there will be raping and pillaging.

It is a dark and bloodthirsty novel, I would agree - but, once again, nothing that hasn't been done far worse before. It is grim at times for sure. However, I would argue that grimy fantasy is still flavour of the month, so Prince of Thorns should prove popular on this point.

Prince of Thorns bears very little similarity to Joe Abercrombie and absolutely none to George R R Martin - I'm surprised it was marketed in the slipstream of A Dance With Dragons. For me, Prince of Thorns shares more with Wolfsangel by M D Lachlan. It is basically the novel that Paul Hoffman of "The Left Hand of God" fame wishes that he had written. There are dreamlike sequences of necromancers (rather than witches, as with Wolfsangel), and there is a relativity with our world (as with The Left Hand of God).

And the woman thing. There ARE female characters in this novel. And they act independently of men. Men do not drive their story. In this respect, it was perfectly satisfactory.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars Prince of thorns (the broken empire, book1
Very good story to start really looking forward to the next book
Jorg is great new hero in an evil way
Published 5 days ago by mr lee wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars The best fantasy series out there
Thoroughly enjoyed this. You hate the main character throughout but ridiculously well written. If you are reading trying to gauge whether or not to buy this, just buy it. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Chokosabe
2.0 out of 5 stars No characterisation
I actually borrowed this book from my local library, and am glad I didn't buy it.

The secondary characters (by which I mean every single character except the... Read more
Published 10 days ago by Mr. A. Hill
4.0 out of 5 stars Prince of Thorns
There is no doubt that Lawrence is a great writer. His style is wonderfully descriptive and incredibly readable. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Jen B.
4.0 out of 5 stars Actually enjoyed it
I normally don't like first person novels however this has changed my mind.although rather jumpy at times I have enjoyed and would recommend this book
Published 11 days ago by Paul Buckler
5.0 out of 5 stars Familiar and Fantastic at once.
Mark Lawrence writes beautifully and he seasons his words with insight. His protagonist, Jorg Ancrath, is damaged, merciless and prepared to sacrifice far better men to further his... Read more
Published 17 days ago by MR
5.0 out of 5 stars Dark evil and bloody
Those of you who refer ore adult, dark fantasy will love this. The central character is an anti hero and his companions filthy murderous scum. Original and compelling.
Published 20 days ago by I CLARK
4.0 out of 5 stars A good start
A great read, just not exceptional. Definitely looking forward to reading the next books in the trilogy, it has the makings of something great but this first book lacked a little... Read more
Published 20 days ago by Dan Mennell
3.0 out of 5 stars easy reading
Another fantasy similar to others. Bit far fetched with a 12 year old fighting grown men, but hey ho it is in the fantasy genre. Read more
Published 25 days ago by mick leaf
4.0 out of 5 stars Interestingly violent
Good read, enough twists and turn to keep you turning the pages quickly. Will be being the sequel as soon as possible.
Published 29 days ago by Mrs M A Johnstone
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Personally, I think it is amateurish drivel 6 24 Nov 2011
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