King of Thorns

This story continues with the first-person narrative of Jorg Ancrath, plus another POV via Katherine's diary entries, which serve as an interesting counterbalance. Their star-cursed relationship reveals depth to Jorg's character that goes beyond the traumatized and desperate young teen of Prince of Thorns. I hear that some people hate Jorg and find him too dark. I do not feel that way, because Lawrence laid out his childhood traumas and motivations well enough that I found him to be somewhat of a sympathetic character, even in the brutality of the grimdark tale. In the second book, he is a bit more mature, self-aware, and conscious of his choices and actions. We delve into his relationships with his merry band of misfits and how he stays in command of his violent comrades. An interesting expansion to the magic system keeps the fantasy aspect interesting. I particularly like the dream magic. In addition, there is a very unique and unexpected aspect to this series. That is the post-apocalyptic science-fiction element that thoroughly surprised me and challenged my brain a little bit. I'm not sure how I feel about it, but it does lead to some interesting plot twists. Lots of action-packed and gory scenes. I hate his father, and I actually love Jorg. Katherine as well; tragic and bittersweet. That romantic sub-plot is fabulously executed. Chef's kiss. I'm already halfway through book three, so I guess I liked this book well enough. Hope I didn't mix in book three stuff with this review, since it's all kind of blending together in my head. It's a sparse review, anyway, not to risk too many spoilers. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by James Clapp. Great narration. I cannot think of Jorg's name without the accent.

Genre: Fantasy Rec Age: 16+ Fave quote: "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." I am enthralled by this series. King of Thorns picks up right after its predecessor and tosses you right back into the mayhem! You can't put it down! I picked it up off my shelf to take a peek at it a few days after I recovered from my Prince of Thorns hangover and ended up standing there at my bookshelf for a near hour. Lawrence's writing is so beautiful it calls to me and sweeps me away and pulls me down into its deceptive depths. I've found myself daydreaming about our little Jorgy. Now 18, in this installment. I ponder on what it'd be like to meet such a ruthless, intimidating man-child. I don't know why. But he stirs up strange feelings in me. I catch myself wondering if he could ever find love. Could love could soften him? Save him from his demons? I thoroughly enjoyed the introduction of new characters and the new layers they brought. Most especially, Miana. And the intrigue she sparked in me. I loved the risk Lawrence took with Miana's character. I won't elaborate because I don't write spoilers. But I can say it was expertly done. And I lived for her character development and interaction with Jorg. And now I know Lawrence can create lovely strong female characters which makes me excited to see what he's done with Red Sister.

I immensely enjoyed this book, and now that I'm finished with it I wish I had the third book to read right now. The first book was an amazing start, but I found this book to be so much better. It's really masterfully constructed, and incredibly well written. This novel's structure is similar to the Prince of Thorns, where a half or so of the book takes place in the present, and half takes place a certain amount of years in the past. In this book however, I found it to be much more successful, and I think that the main contributor to this was the amazing use of the memory box (for lack of a better name). Four years ago, on the way to deal with a rapidly mutating/growing Gog, Jorg met Katherine (this initial scene is absolutely beautifully written) which led him to commit some sort of horrible act that broke his sanity. To fix this, his brothers took him to a Wizard (or I guess they call all of them even males witches) and stored all of the memories surrounding that event into a copper box covered in thorns. Not only is this a great plot device as the reader is kept wondering throughout the story what exactly he did, but it's also really cool how Jorg learns to store important memories/strategies inside to keep them away from Sageus the Dream Witch. I also loved how and when the time line of the story changed, Mark Lawrence knew exactly how to pace the novel, when to feature the battle going on in the present, when to go back to the semi-epic questing that happened 4 years ago, and when to reveal secrets about Jorg's past or how he has developed as a character in the 4 years. The only thing that was a little confusing though involved the narrative, which is almost always first-person present tense (even when taking place in the past), however two times during his visit with his mother's family the tense breaks and Jorg talks as a narrator writing the story in the future. This is confirmed in the Epilogue of the book, as he talks about writing this account of his life. Still, I love it either way, but I didn't really see the need to have the character actually writing the book that we're reading. As for the story, overall it was very good, though a little unlike the first book there wasn't as much of an intro (of course) and the events that occur aren't quite as big, they're still very important but at the same time they are very much setting up the third book. For the character development, it was a huge leap forward. I'd thought that we'd found out everything we needed to know about Jorg's childhood before being thrown into the thorns, but near the beginning of this book we see an almost more powerful moment. I won't give much away, but it was horribly graphic and heart wrenching without being distasteful, I admit that I cried a decent amount here, but I'm going to blame it partially on the fact my dog was curled up next to me as I read it. We also see that he had a penchant for climbing all of the walls of the Tall Castle, something that comes in handy during multiple parts later in the book. I really appreciated that part of the story jumps 4 years into the future, letting Jorg grow up and become an adult. He's definitely still the Jorg we know and love (or occasionally hate/despise) but he's not quite as crazy, and you can tell that he loves, in his own way, some of the characters surrounding him. It also gives Jorg time to become stronger, smarter, and a much better swordsman than he was when he was 14 years old. I won't talk too much about most of the story as it would have to be full of spoilers, but I will say that I enjoyed all of it, even when some of the parts were slower (meeting his relatives) or slightly goofy at times (searching for help for Gog) they were still very interesting/enjoyable and they really helped to set-up the future events. For the world building I was surprised to find that there was a lot more of it here than in the first book. Many times in Fantasy, authors have to blast through as much of the world building as they can in the beginning of the first book to get past the reader's learning curve, this then lets them get into the meat of book, the characters and the story. However in King of Thorns, Lawrence dishes out the facts of the World like heavily guarded secrets, consequentially making them all the more treasured to the reader. A good way to explain why they are revealed in this way resolves around the fact that Jorg himself doesn't know too much about the world, and as he learns its secrets so does the reader. I want to put down the facts that I ascertained while reading the book, so if you don't want to be slightly spoiled, you should skip the rest of the paragraph. So the world featured in The Broken Empire series is our world, but it is somewhere around 1,000 to 1,300 years in the future (gleaned from a comment about a glass jar being around that old). The people known only as the Builders, are human beings probably 100 to 300 years in our future. The Builders were more advanced than we are today, as seen by the existence of virtual intelligences bordering on true AI's, water filtration systems that take in seawater & put out fresh drinkable water, satellite imaging that can be controlled and viewed through a ring, some kind of super metal (which is what Jorg's sword is made of), and among other things the invention of real magic. If the AI was telling the reader/Jorg the truth, the Builders somehow slightly decreased the separation between mind and matter, which over the stretch of time along with a nuclear apocalypse resulted in giving human beings with enough willpower the ability to control the elements, including death. Another important thing we learn about the world in this book, is that the oceans have risen by around the height of the Tall Castle (which was once a parking garage), or over a hundred feet. I also was very interested to learn a little more about the main religion in their broken empire, and why technological development has completely stagnated and reversed to that of the dark ages. Basically, The Roma church is the only version of Christianity around, as one of the Popes confiscated every copy of the bible in existence, letting them change the religion to whatever they wanted, as Jorg says that no one knows how much the Roma church resembles the old Roman Catholic Church. Related to this, Jorg talks about how while you might be hung or burned at the stake for supposedly being a witch, if anyone is found to have made a better type of glass/metal or some other development, they will tortured for days. I just really enjoyed the world building of this universe, and I can't wait to see what else will be revealed in the next book. So in closing, I would definitely recommend this book, in fact I would even recommend this book to people that were turned off by the grittiness/darkness in the first book as this one maintains the excellent writing and story development (probably even improving it) while being slightly less dark. Jorg still does horrible things, but he is much more likeable and relatable, in fact I think you could actually call him an anti-hero this time around. I wouldn't necessarily advise readers to skip Prince of Thorns, but I think that you could potentially read King of Thorns as a stand-alone novel and still get a lot out of it. I really liked the first book of the series, but I absolutely loved this book and hate the fact that I have to wait for awhile to read the conclusion to Jorg's story.

So very rarely can an author pull off what Lawrence did in this book and in the series so far for that matter. Of course, if you have read the previous novel Prince of Thorns than you are familiar with the first feat of literary brilliance. Jorg (the main character) is despicable and morally corrupt. Having said this about Jorg, I will admit that I think he is fantastic and likeable. How is it possible to accept a character that will commit almost any act to win the game? It comes down to brilliant writing. The first person narrative is partly how Lawrence succeeds in making Jorg acceptable, if not likeable. We are able to see the brilliance of Jorg through witnessing his poetic inner dialogue. There are several passages that I highlighted for the philosophical merit in the description and reflection Jorg regularly produces. I will grant that in this book Jorg has been tamed a bit. He commits less atrocities here and you get a glimpse of a heart buried somewhere in his depths. He does have tiny shards of regret and a few specks of conscience that show through the novel. It is refreshing that Lawrence does not turn Jorg into someone who "has learned his lesson" or "redeems himself". This is the same Jorg who would do almost anything to win but you can see a tempering of his impulses as he grows up. It also goes a long way in convincing the audience to accept an anti hero if he is clever and Jorg is one clever kid. He still flies by the seat of his pants to succeed when facing insurmountable odds but in King of Thorns he has learned the value of planning. His impulsiveness is still monumental but we get a more wizened perspective as he approaches conflict. The second literary feat was pulling off a plot twist that absolutely no one would have seen coming. I pride myself on getting it right when I guess at what is actually going on or what will end up happening. This is one of only two books that have completely knocked me off my feat with the "blind reveal" as some people call it where the character knows the secret but the audience is kept in the dark. The other book that accomplished this brilliantly was The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks. The King of Thorns pacing is a little slow in some parts, unlike the first book. The reverse chronology timeline is used as it was in Prince of Thorns but here it drags somewhat. We want to stay in the action packed part of the story but are continually pulled out of it and brought back to a slower paced part of his story. It is effective, however, in relating how events played out so we get a full grip on who Jorg has become in the four years after Prince of Thorns took place. It is a great way of setting up the suspense in the conclusion and it is a conclusion that you do not want to miss. Another great thing about the Broken Kingdom series so far is that, even though it is three novels long, the main conflict introduced in each book gets resolved fully so you are satisfied. Cliffhangers are becoming more and more the thing in writing now days. I think that this is either a sign of bad writing or a ploy to make money. There is no reason why an author cannot tell a complete story with each book in a series. Overall it is just a genius piece of work that deserves a spot on the top twenty list for best fantasy of all time. I am assuming that most readers are familiar with Jorg from Prince of Thorns so the one impediment to satisfaction (Jorg being an amoral character) is not a problem for you. This was the singular complaint that garnered some bad reviews of Prince of Thorns and if you are easily offended than you may not appreciate this book. It is extremely refreshing to read about such an interesting character while cringing at many of his choices. I confess I was rooting for him to succeed at any cost. I have to admit that one of the reasons I love Jorg is because he is so awesomely wicked and unapologetic. He may become one of my favorite characters of all time. For those who loved The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks this series is a must.

The second book kept me turning the pages as quick as the first. I actually liked this book better, as there was a bit more originality to it. The story line was good, compelling, mysterious. Any author that can make a grown man cry over a dog is doing a good job. I liked the exploration of the "builders" culture. Also, I felt this book was much more emotional and introspective than the other one. Jorg is still bloodthirsty, but he has regrets, the pea of a conscience is starting to form, and he actually helps others out, even if not always for the right reasons. I really liked the way his character progressed. Jorg's wife was a nice addition. Things I didn't like: 1. I like the post-apocalyptic setting, but found it quite odd that every culture reverted back to concepts and naming conventions from 2000 years ago (book time). 2. I still did not come away with a good view of "the brothers". They just seemed there. Rike is big; Sim is a gay musical assassin; Makin is the trusty side-kick...thats about it. 3. I found Jorg's "magical powers" a bit contrived and everything too convenient. 4. Too much of the middle of the book seemed to be aimless wandering. 5. The Katherine chapters were rather boring and could have been left out IMHO. I wonder if they were inserted due to some criticism of the last book lacking strong female characters. All in all, another good read. Can't wait to finish the series.

Why? Why did I wait a full year to read this book after thoroughly enjoying Prince of Thorns last December? This book was every bit as good as that one, probably better. Either way, this is proving to be a VERY memorable series. Certainly one of the best written. Lawrence's prose is right up there with HobbThuss (Robin Hobb and Patrick Rothfuss). I loved -almost- everything about this book. The characters are better and more fleshed out. Not just Jorg (more on him in a minute), but ALL of the side characters. I feel like I know everyone in Jorg's gang intimately. Are they pretty rough? Yes, but each of them is relatable, and most of them (other than maybe Rike) have at least one scene in this book where they are likable. That's a step up from Prince of Thorns. Great new characters are introduced as well, most notably Jorg's young wife Miana and Jorg's mother's family on the Horse Coast. Miana was one of my favorite characters in the book, and getting to meet the people of the Horse Coast was a great addition to the already awesome world of the Broken Kingdoms. And then there's Jorg. In Prince of Thorns, I described him as 'basically a villain'. He was immature, vile, and cruel. Did he have reason to be upset? Certainly. But nothing excused most of that behavior. I'm happy to say that in King of Thorns, Mark Lawrence has found a way to make Jorg more mature, responsible, and likable, while still being unpredictable. Make no bones about it, Jorg still plans to kill his father and become Emperor of the Broken Kingdoms, if for no other reason than that everyone tells him he can't. But certain events in this book reveal Jorg to have a heart. He faces his regrets, and even (in one incredibly touching scene) shows kindness. His journey through this series has been nothing short of awesome, and I can't wait to see where it ends in Emperor of Thorns. The post-apocalyptic world of the Broken Kingdoms continues to be fascinating as well. We get a few more secrets revealed this time around, and anytime Jorg interacted with technology from our time was a definite highlight for me. The magic system also starts to get more fleshed out, and there are some phenomenal battle scenes, including probably my favorite one-on-one duel scene ever. Honestly, the only downside to the book (and the reason I gave it 4/5 stars), was the plot structure. The story is told from 3 different time periods in Jorg's life. While each time period story is told chronologically, the way it bounces around was at times super frustrating and confusing to me. I would lose track of when things had happened. "Wait, why is this a problem for Jorg? That one thing already happened two chapters ago to solve this problem. Oh yeah, that chapter was IN THE FUTURE." Yeah, it's weird. I would almost suggest skipping around and reading the book completely chronologically. That may be what I do on my reread. That said, this is still an extremely well-written book and part of a great series. Highly recommended to all Fantasy fans out there.

Likes The writing, reading incredible line after incredible line. Descriptions were top notch Dislikes So so many impossible situations to escape from and most were done magically. The magically fire bomb emerald, sudden discovered powers, ancient killing device etc. too much. The times he used strategy were great. ( 2 out of every 10 ) Characters , there was like one. Seemly pointless storylines , 60% of the book. I've read the Game of Thrones and understood everything , read this book and was confused way too often. The plotting was just awful. Conclusion Mark Lawrence is a great author / writer of that I have no doubt , but this book was off.

It isn't often that you come across a book that changes the way you see an entire genre, a book that becomes the measuring stick for others that come after it. Mark Lawrence has managed to write two such works. Even more amazingly, they are his first published novels. For all the hype about George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, I found Lawrence's work to be far superior (BLASPHEMY!!!). Compared to the glacial pace of Martin's books, Lawrence's sail along at a nice clip. Lawrence's writing is also much more focused and visceral than Martin's. King of Thorns is the second book in The Broken Empire series. Both KoT and its predecessor, Prince of Thorns follow the protagonist (if you could call him that, but more on this later), Honorous Jorg Ancrath. Jorg is the son of one of the many kings to arise on the former European continent centuries after some long ago apocalypse. His goal is to reunite (and rule, of course) the Empire. That's all I'll say about the plot. I hate spoilers. Lawrence's prose is clean, flowing, witty, and deep. His storytelling is fast-paced, gritty, and contemplative. He not only tells one heck of a story, but also explores the `why' of it. Why is Jorg such an evil, self-centered little snot? Why do his followers remain loyal to him? And why can't I keep myself from liking him? This is the brilliance of Lawrence's writing. He gives us a protagonist that, in any other book, would be reviled. He mixes three parts narcissism, two parts genius, one part charisma, and a pinch of humanity and comes out with a character that we know we should hate, but end up cheering for. This is no small accomplishment. Not since Mike Myers' Doctor Evil has a villain been so appealing...and he was a boy scout compared to Jorg. But Lawrence doesn't stop there. His examinations of the inner workings and motives of his characters reveal insights into human nature that could teach a psychology major a thing or two. Again, I now find myself comparing much of what I read to Lawrence's work. Sadly, most books are found wanting in its shadow. It's hard to go back to ground round once you've had filet mignon. I guess this is the only criticism I have for this series so far. It spoils you. If King of Thorns does ruin other books for you, take heart. Emperor of Thorns is scheduled for release this August. The anticipation will make it taste all the sweeter.