“King of Thorns” by Mark Lawrence (Ace Books / Voyager)

Jorg’s quest for power continues

The Broken Empire burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings battle for the all-throne. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.

A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg’s gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.

Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan.

This is a tricky novel to review. I really want to steer clear of spoilers (some are unavoidable, though), so I’m going to keep this relatively short. I’ve been looking forward to King of Thorns ever since I finished Prince of Thorns. It’s an ambitious novel, one that works very well, despite a couple of concerns I had about the beginning. If you enjoyed Prince of Thorns, then you should enjoy this, but expect a story of considerably greater scope and complexity.

[Warning: there are some minor, unavoidable spoilers for Prince of Thorns in this review.]

“King Of Thorns” by Mark Lawrence (Ace Books / Voyager) - The MLA* Review

The sequel to one of 2011’s most-talked-about fantasy novels

I thoroughly enjoyed Prince of Thorns, and I would certainly hold it up as one of the best debut novels I’ve read in the last five years – not only was the story gripping, but Lawrence’s prose were some of the best I’ve read (this is a huge factor for me, when deciding on how much I love a book). So, I’ve been impatiently awaiting its sequel. Which I have now read! As a preview for the full, proper review, I thought I’d offer a brief MLA review, first. Because they’re fun. And slightly silly.

* MLA = “Mark Lawrence Approach” – Mark suggested something unorthodox for my review of John Scalzi’s Redshirts, and because the resultant review was quite popular, and because many of you asked for more reviews like it, here we go with King of Thorns…

Stop Press! “King of Thorns” by Mark Lawrence (Voyager)

Wow. Just saw this, and had to share – the artwork for Mark Lawrence’s King of Thorns:

I really like this. A lot. And I can’t wait to read it (it’s currently scheduled for publication in August 2012).

I’m not sure if this is the absolute final version of the artwork, but I imagine it’s pretty close. Maybe a couple more tweaks still to come, but… Well, I think this is great.

More on CR: Review of Prince of Thorns & Interview with Mark.

“Prince of Thorns” by Mark Lawrence (Voyager)

A dark beginning…

“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.

Prince of Thorns is one of the most hotly-tipped debuts of the year, and its release has been preceded by quite a lot of online uzz. After reading it, I can see why: it’s pretty incredible. Lawrence has written a dark and engrossing tale, and one that grips from very early on.