King of Thorns

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.

I just finished Mark Lawrence's, "King of Thorns" last night, and I must say that while I enjoyed "Prince of Thorns," it's predecessor, the sequel solidified my admiration of Lawrence as an up and coming fantasy author.Lawrence is gutsy, to say the least. In the first book, he chose to tell a conflicted coming of age story, but in reverse order, starting with Jorg and his band of brutal, unmerciful bandits raping and pillaging the land, only giving the backstory of the troubled Prince of Ancrath later. Lawrence must have known that he would lose readers - especially those who found Jorg's morality, or lack there of, a little too much to handle. We eventually got our explanations and the origin story for his sociopathic nature. Still, as a reader, Jorg was difficult to identify with because of the shock of the first half of the book.Enter the second book. Here, Lawrence gives us much more backstory and situates Jorg with character-types we weren't privy to in the first - characters that remind Jorg that human lives might indeed be worth something. In this context, Lawrence gives us several emotionally gut-wrenching scenes, offering us glimpses into the complexity of Jorg's character. Readers who did not enjoy the first book should definitely try the second. Very rarely do authors make readers bleed the injuries suffered by their characters, and Lawrence does that successfully in several scenes.The book is told in two primary time frames, the present, while Jorg is 18, and 4 years prior, directly following the events of the first book. Interspersed between these time-jumps were diary entries told from Katherine's perspective. As several other reviewers have noted, the initial 100 pages were a bit difficult to navigate, primarily because in addition to time-jumping, the reader had to figure out where the story actually was in each of those time points. This was not a problem with the latter half of the book.Supporting characters were well-flushed out. Katherine, in particular, has developed tremendously, and we also get introduced to an additional strong female lead.As with the first book, the mythology of a post-apocalyptic world was rich, and the juxtaposition of ghosts, trolls, and machines certainly makes the story less predictable.In sum, "King of Thorns" outdoes its predecessor. I certainly recommend picking up a copy. Lawrence is unpredictable and one of the most interesting fantasy authors to read.

Jorg is still the anti-hero you can’t help rooting for. Or maybe it’s just me. I seem to have enjoyed this book slightly more than the first one. And given my first book bias in most series I read, this probably is a slightly better book. I love reading about Jorg, but another part of this series that has really impressed me is the setting. A post-apocalyptic world that feels medieval, but is actually set in a future following nuclear devastation. Some of the technology is still around, as readers of the first book (Prince of Thorns) know by now. There’s more of that here, and it’s great fun. A bit like Stephen King’s Dark Tower in that respect. Which raises questions about the magic system. Are magic wielders just clever people who have figured out past technology? I’m probably wrong, but would love to see magic explored in a bit more detail in the final book of the trilogy.The narrative was confusing at times, split between the present, and four years earlier. The narrator himself, Jorg, is unreliable mostly because he does not recollect a lot of the things that happened in his past, and slowly recovers each memory at a time. It mostly works well though.Mark Lawrence is a very intelligent writer. He took a huge risk – ruthless despicable rapist killer as the only POV, shifting between timelines to tell his tale. It pays off brilliantly. Glad I brought this book forward in my TBR, and look forward to reading Emperor of Thrones next month.Highly recommended!

I must admit I struggled with the structure of this one. Firstly, like the first it is written in first person, which is always a struggle for me. Secondly, the narrative of this book was split into numerous sections, time, places and narrators (though Jorg was the narrator for the majority) so I sometimes found myself lost as to my placement within said narrative. However, like a five tapestry, as we progressed, the picture became clearer. I believe my perseverance through my confusion actually made the accomplishment of finishing this book all the greater, and I'm excited to see where Jorg will take us next!

I think it is fair to say that the books of Mark Lawrence can be described as harsh. Not in a bad way, the world that is lived in and the characters are harsh, but there is more to it than that. There have been criticisms about some of the things that happen in the book(s), that perhaps things have been a little too brutal, but that is the world.If people believe that the middle/dark ages - the time period many fantasy worlds are based on - were all sunlight through cherry blossom and that bad things did not happen, even disturbing things then they are living in a dream world. They were mud choked, full of blood, rape and treachery, probably to an extent that The Broken Empire books only scratch the surface.But... these novels are not set in a comparable middle age blueprint, in some ways they have to be considered science fiction over fantasy as they are set in our own world, in the future.I remember when I was reading Prince of Thorns (first book in the series) and I felt that Lawrence's use of religion seemed to be based on Christianity, well it was Christianity, but it grated for me. I kept telling myself it was different but I did not think it worked. Until the story unfolded and revealed that this was our world after a nuclear war. Then everything made sense.Lawrence said it was something that was only brushed upon in the first story, but it would be looked at in greater detail in this next novel. And he was not joking, here we get some depth and world building (and a bigger map) that really lets us feel this new world, what has happened to the old as it was burned away and left behind.There is a lot of fun guessing just where they are in the new/old world and how it compares to what we know, and there is a lot of fun in guessing just what the ancient structures that have become castles once were. And there is a lot of interest too, in the seemingly odd things, like a graveyard encased in a kind of resin just to preserve it. Was it done by accident or design, and if the later, why?This in itself, the old world elements, from the recognisable to the more Science Fiction remnants, an AI in a 'computer' that is a 'real' man, literally a ghost in a machine, a recording of a person. These things and so many more were enough to keep be gripped to the page, but you cannot talk about a book like King of Thorns without looking at the central character.For me Jorg of Arcanth has to be one of the finest creations in recent times. Yes, has been stated elsewhere and time again, he is a truly nasty piece of work and the fact that he tells his own story just adds to that, but it also speaks of a kind of honesty, that he is not hiding the fact from both the reader and himself. No one can be truly irredeemable, and we see some other sides of Jorg in these pages. At times he is as ruthless and nasty as he has always been, but we see little chinks in the armour, a sign that he is growing in character as well as age.The apparent rape of another character turns out not to have been what it seems (Lawrence really keeps his literary feet shuffling as he pulls the rug from under you not once, but twice); his decision with his new very young wife shows a slightly more tender side (even if the reasons are not exactly the most noble) and the conflict he goes through when deciding whether or not to murder his baby half brother is believable and humanising. The outcome of it all is even more devastating because of it.Yes Jorg is still ruthless, but he carries a humanity that he seems to deny but is still there.Lawrence throws in some great action sequences that really give the book some set piece highlights, and proves to be as ruthless with apparent main characters as he ever was in the first novel. In some ways, for me, this was one of the weaknesses, with one real POV character we have little time to really come and know the rest of the cast, so when they die there is not the impact there might have been - although to be fair, when it really needs the impact it is there - but this all comes through Jorg's perceptions of the people around him.The climax at the end it just about spot on. If I was going to say anything negative about it, then it would be it happened to quickly. That is but a quibble though. It is a superb wrap up to an excellent second novel, that is spilt over four years, with some grim revelations, some stunning world building, and a different central character. (I also liked Jorg's new queen, a more than perfect match for him, even if he has not realised it by the end of the book). There is so much I liked about it that I could rattle on forever, but that would be pointless: go and read the book!I said at the end of my review of the first book that I felt Lawrence would grow as he continued, and I feel that my words have been justified, this takes all the promise and runs with it. Even if it turns out that this is the high point of the trilogy, the third novel will still be a special something to look forward to.

'Prince' was the start, learning the pieces. 'King' is the man growing into power, making bigger moves, dealing with bigger foes, finding the limits, discovering more oddities, testing his indomitable will, and paying the price. Even darker with a stronger feel of the desperately bleak dystopian post apocalypse world and the vividly evoked flavour of Jorg's character. Jorg is the most detailed character, most of the narrative in the first person, which keeps us from dropping too far into black despair at the darker twists. The many other characters are also convincing. The author has an intelligence, skill in his writing and experience in his dialogue that is far above the average. We are in the same company as other great writers in the genre, but with more, extra originality and style.Worthy Book 2, must go get book 3. New stuff here from an interesting new author on the scene...STRONGLY RECOMMENDED(You may have to wait til you feel strong or brave enough; it only gets blacker! But it is worth it)

Having been recommended these by a friend I was disappointed in the first book, but this second book in the series was much better!The author's writing style is hugely improved over the first, the world is built up and vivid (important in fantasy I think), the main character, Jorg, had much more depth this time, rather than just being psychotic and the other characters in this book were much more three-dimensional and seemed to have better parts to play.I have to say I do not like the mixing in of current-day dimensions (the idea being that this fantasy world is in the future after some sort of apocalyptic event where remnants of a world we would recognise are dotted about) such as bits of machinery and weapons, but that is just personal preference.Overall a much improved read over the first book, with, dare I say it, even a smattering of humour and wit mixed in, and with an interesting storyline that flowed well (unlike the first where main events just happened without much explanation).So now I am looking forward to third installment rather than thinking I had wasted my money on buying the set in one go!