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Prince of Thorns (Broken Empire, #1)

Mark Lawrence

Start date: December 1, 2014

Finish date: December 31, 2014

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Discussion leader: Heena Rathore Rathore-Pardeshi

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What Members Thought

Apr 04, 2014 Markus rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2014, fantasy, post-apocalyptic

"War, my friends, is a thing of beauty."

Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath, heir to the throne of his father's kingdom, was nine years old when the Count of Renar's men ambushed the royal carriage, smashed his little brother's skull against a rock, and proceeded to rape and kill his mother. He himself was only saved by being thrown into a patch of hook-briars just moments before the attack. This episode is what turned him into the Prince of Thorns, and filled his existence with an insatiable lust for ...more

67 likes · Like · see review

May 02, 2014 Will M. rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, 2014

Assassination is just murder with a touch more precision

Obviously this book is supposedly about assassins, and it lived up to its premise. With a seemingly dark fantasy summary, I had high expectations for this book. What made me feel reluctant though was the fact that the main character is a child. What could a child assassin really do that would seem realistic and entertaining at the same time?

The first 1/3 of the book annoyed me a lot. It felt like the author tried so hard to make Jo Assassination is just murder with a touch more precision

Obviously this book is supposedly about assassins, and it lived up to its premise. With a seemingly dark fantasy summary, I had high expectations for this book. What made me feel reluctant though was the fact that the main character is a child. What could a child assassin really do that would seem realistic and entertaining at the same time?

The first 1/3 of the book annoyed me a lot. It felt like the author tried so hard to make Jorg look like an independent and strong child assassin. Everything felt forced, and I didn't really like the characters that much. As the novel progressed though, I learned to like Jorg a lot.

"Children shouldn't be this way."

I'd thought to reach around and cut the bastard's throat, but he was tall, too tall for a ten-year-old's reach."

So the author started to present the flaws of a child assassin. There are a lot of limitations and I was worried that he wouldn't make them evident to the readers. Once he started writing about them though, I also started to like the main character a lot.

Age makes different things to different men. It will harden some, sharpen them, to a point.

This statement's probably the most truthful one about Jorg of them all. He was a revenge filled child who had no sense of direction. He did things he shouldn't have without thinking of the consequences, and no one can blame him because he was a child. Now that he's slightly older, his experiences made him a better man. He's not like his old self anymore. That makes the novel amazing, because it showed us Jorg's transformation. His life journey is truly eventful and his experiences molded him to become what he is right now.

Not that I want to spoil anything but obviously the title of the sequel says it all. The attainment of his goal is what's truly interesting though. One of the darkest fantasy novels I've read. Who would've known that a child could do what Jorg did. Not that believable but honestly not truly impossible too. His life journey's truly remarkable, and I can't wait to go ahead and read the sequel. It may be one of the darkest, but I'd be honest and say that it's still not the best one I've read. It really caught my interest, but there were still things I didn't like. Some characters didn't stand out, and the world building was just decent. Despite not being a perfect novel though, I'm still recommending this to avid fantasy readers. ...more

36 likes · Like · see review

Feb 11, 2015 Kevin Xu rated it liked it · review of another edition

3 and half stars. My problem with the book are that the second half of the book was not what I expected from the plot. Also the book length, world building, and all the characters other than the main character I felt were too short changed with not enough details. Is that better than books with too much details like the Wheel of Times or books like Tad Williams or Karen Miller, where the book is too long, felt with pages and pages of nothing? But I did like the fact that Mark added real historic ...more

27 likes · Like · see review

Nov 07, 2014 Srividya Vijapure rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: tower-teams-iv, kindle-owned, 2015_reading_challenge, series_2015, on-the-edge-of-your-seat, fantasy, epic-fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian-apocalyptic

The most beautiful thing about Fantasy as a genre is that you can literally let your imagination go wild! People would argue that the whole of fiction is pure imagination, so what’s so special about Fantasy? To them, I would say that in fantasy, you can create different worlds, varied species, countless powers, include magic or supernatural or just about anything, including making a monster the good guy and a good guy a monster and it will work; provided it is written well. Now, well-written is ...more

25 likes · Like · see review

Jun 28, 2019 Vikas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, nbtr

Well, you like Anti-Heroes did you say? Do you like different characters? Did you like conflicted characters? Well, Mark Lawrence heard you all and gave you kid who at 14 is much more bad-ass, cruel and heartless that you would be hard-pressed to call him a hero or an Anti-Hero no sir Jorg is a villain with a band of villain who goes around killing people, raping girls/women, looting them and shocker Jorg is an actual prince who saw the murder of his mother and younger brother and since then his Well, you like Anti-Heroes did you say? Do you like different characters? Did you like conflicted characters? Well, Mark Lawrence heard you all and gave you kid who at 14 is much more bad-ass, cruel and heartless that you would be hard-pressed to call him a hero or an Anti-Hero no sir Jorg is a villain with a band of villain who goes around killing people, raping girls/women, looting them and shocker Jorg is an actual prince who saw the murder of his mother and younger brother and since then his heart is full of hate and he has let hate fester so much that his heart is now dark with hate and he doesn't even think for a second before slitting the throat of someone he was traveling for last few months.

And if you think by the setting and the world that this is a fantasy novel set during the middle ages then one interesting line shatters that idea to million nay Billion little pieces and then there was nothing and hopefully, things will be explored in the next books.

You wouldn't believe if I tell you how long this trilogy and then next trilogy and the next trilogy by Mr. Lawrence was with me and I was just waiting for I don't know what but it took almost destruction of two books in the latest trilogy that I finally decided to start my journey in the fantasy world created by Mark Lawrence who is amazingly super active on Goodreads. As I finish this I already have the next book in the series

King of Thorns (The Broken Empire, #2) by Mark Lawrence

out and ready and hope to start it as soon as I reach home. Hey also far warning this is a violent violent book with lots of violence and sexual crimes and references so tread carefully.

So having provided you the warning, I obviously loved the book and would suggest you go ahead and enjoy this world and prepare to get lost in bloody adventures of a 14 years old prince who is full of zeal to avenge the crimes against him.

People who don't read generally ask me my reasons for reading. Simply put I just love reading and so to that end I have made it my motto to just Keep on Reading. I love to read everything except for Self Help books but even those once in a while. I read almost all the genre but YA, Fantasy, Biographies are the most. My favorite series is, of course, Harry Potter but then there are many more books that I just adore. I have bookcases filled with books which are waiting to be read so can't stay and spend more time in this review, so remember I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading. ...more

7 likes · Like · see review

Mar 24, 2014 Vicii rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, own-copy

Overall I'd give this a 3.5 stars. I have mixed feelings since at the start I wasn't sure whether I was enjoying the book or not. You know when you've read a page and get to the end of it but can't remember what you've just read - there was a lot of that at the start but as I progressed through the book I did find myself strangely interested in what was going to happen.

I will definitely be reading the next book in the series as I did find Jorge oddly compelling towards the end of the book ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 06, 2011 Nayan Patel rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: recommendedbyothers, series_dropped_permanently

This book again came recommended from some of my best authors and reviewers and after reading it I can see why.

This book is written from the PoV of "Prince" Jorg who witnessed the murder of his mother and brother. Within a few years of this incident, he manages to form and lead a group of bloodthirsty thugs.

The author here has done a phenomenal job in ensuring that the reader roots for a protagonist who is basically "evil". So, while this makes for very original reading, you also realize somethi ...more

1 like · Like · see review