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

Mark Lawrence (Author)

4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (168 customer reviews)

Print List Price:	�7.99
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Length: 384 pages
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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

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

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Product details

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 546 KB
Print Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager (4 Aug 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.� r.l.
Language: English
ASIN: B005918WU0
Text-to-Speech: Enabled

X-Ray: Not Enabled

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (168 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,023 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #20 in Kindle Store > Books > Fiction > Fantasy > Epic
- #27 in Books > Fantasy > Epic

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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.... The book has the protagonists (the word 'hero' is completely incompatible with Jorg or his merry band of psychopaths and lunatics) doing things that even the bad guys in most fantasy novels would balk at, and for this reason it is going to be a challenging sell to some readers.

Lawrence writes vividly and well. The dark and horrible things that Jorg and his crew get up to are mostly inferred rather than outright-described, which is just as well. Lawrence also avoids dwelling on Jorg's physical actions too much in favour of delving into his psyche, working out what makes him tick, presenting these ideas to the reader, and then subverting them. As the book unfolds and we learn more about Jorg's hideous experiences, we realise why he is the way he is, though at almost every turn Jorg also chides the reader for thinking he is trying to excuse himself or beg for forgiveness. He is simply presenting the facts and the context and leaves them to decide whether he is the logical result of circumstance or someone who could have saved himself from this dark path if he had chosen to do so. Lawrence's aptitude with the other characters is no less accomplished, with deft strokes used to create vivid secondary roles concisely and with skill.

Outside of the excellent characterisation, Lawrence paints a vivid picture of a post-apocalyptic world. The ruins of an earlier, technological age (probably our one, though the map suggests that if it is, the geography of the world has been radically transformed, at least in the area the story takes place) paint the landscape, and it's interesting to see references to familiar names and places. The works of Plutarch, Socrates and Sun Tzu have survived, as has the Christian faith, and in the distant east place-names sound more familiar (Indus, Persia). This evokes the feeling of a world broken and twisted, the new rammed in with the old, the effect of which is unsettling (I think it might be what Paul Hoffman was going for in The Left Hand of God, but Prince of Thorns does it much better). I assume more about the world and the history will be revealed in the inevitable sequels. Whilst Prince of Thorns is the opening volume in a trilogy, but also works well as a stand-alone work. Whilst there is clearly more to come, it ends on a natural pause, not a cliffhanger, which is welcome.

This is a blood-soaked, cynical and unrelentingly bleak novel, but it also has a rich vein of humour, and there are a few 'good' (well, relatively) characters to show that there is still hope in the world. There are some minor downsides: a few times Jorg seems to 'win' due his bloody-minded attitude overcoming situations where he is phyiscally or magically outclassed, and there's a few too many happy coincidences which allow Jorg and his men to beat the odds, especially right at the end. There's also an event about three-quarters of the way through the novel which is highly impressive, but may be a bit hard for some fantasy fans to swallow.

Prince of Thorns (****�) is a page-turning, compelling and well-written novel, but some may be put off by its harsher, colder aspects. Those can overcome this issue will find the most impressively ruthless and hard-edged fantasy debut since Bakker's Darkness That Came Before. The novel will be published on 2 August in the USA and two days later in the UK. Read more ›

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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

5.0 out of 5 stars A Heart of Darkness beats inside the Prince of Thorns 30 July 2011

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.... Read more ›

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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Expected more 27 Aug 2011

By A. L. Rutter

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.... Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Book

Brought as a birthday present for a friend. he was very pleased with it. I hope that he enjoys the book.

Published 22 hours ago by Sandra dee

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 6 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 7 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 11 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 11 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 12 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 18 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 21 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 21 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 26 days ago by mick leaf

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