Prince of Thorns
Ratings315
Average rating3.6
Well this really had a different kind of protagonist hell I wouldn't even really call Jorg that...
It was a wild ride people said it was gonna be horrible and shocking i guess there was some but nothing as big as people were saying but either way i really enjoyed the book and am currently buying and reading the rest
2.5 out of 5 stars – See this review and others here.
The main conceit of this novel revolves around the notion of the “anti-hero.” Prince Jorg, the leading man, is a horrible person. He lies, cheats, steals, rapes, murders, pillages, plunders, etc. Despite these minor shortcomings, I held out hope that he would overcome his psychopathology and seek redemption for his wrongdoings. To a fault, I'm firmly tied to the conventional tropes of the genre, which did not set me up well to embrace this novel.
Author Mark Lawrence effectively communicates Jorg's all-consuming rage and thirst for revenge that stems from the murder of his mother and brother. Everything is a bit too easy for him, though. He's seemingly invincible to ghouls, monsters, and the strongest of men. Despite his desperate and improvised plans, he's met with very little resistance when executing said plans. As you learn more about Jorg's past, you realize that this may be by design, but it lowers the stakes of what is occurring. Additionally, Lawrence's plotting feels haphazard and cobbled together. Jorg flits from place to place, driven by his random whims and impulses–with not enough time spent in any one location for major plot beats to hit as hard as they should. Overall, I struggled to invest in the characters and the plot, but, surprisingly, I'm hesitant to give up on Jorg and his potential for redemption just yet...even Darth Vader turned his back on the dark side, right?
This book is dark. Like seriously. But for me it was a nice change of pace from all the ya I've been reading. Yes, the mc is 14, but he's not definitely not average. He's such an ass hole. Whoa. And he has a weird name. lol. I can't wait to read the next 2 books!
I heard there's a lot of controversy around this book but I guess the people talking about it read only fairy tales. Seriously, there are so many other grittier series. Even A Song of Ice & Fire has more violence in 100 pages than this one in 300.
The main character is a 14 year old boy filled with anger on a path for revenge. The age was my biggest problem. He doesn't think or act as he should. It would've been more believable if he was at least 16 and even then I'd have a problem comprehending why his brotherhood follows him. So what if he's a psychopath? He's in his early teens!
The writing gets better and better and by the end of the book it's... good. The story feels rushed but at the same time drags way too much in some places. The lack of description makes it sometimes difficult to understand and imagine the scenes.
The world setting is interesting though I really don't understand how could society return to medieval ways so much. Also, what the hell is with this “Jesu” and “fecking” thing? Seriously, does Lawrence really think people would distort those words into these forms while still reading Plato without any problems?!
All in all it's a book with great potential that wasn't achieved. But it's also authors first book and by the end of it you can see he has improved. I hope the King of Thorns will be better. The reviews suggest it will... but sadly we're living in a world where crap like Twilight and Shades of grey rule the selling charts.
I'm going to keep these short for 2 reasons:
1) I'm not a reviewer so other people are way better at writing them.
2) They are so good you don't need a lot of words.
Prince of Thorns blew me away. From the first page onward everything clicks. Characters, plot, the world and the sauce on to top everything: Nail biting tension and action.
If you like your fantasy a bit grittier without compromising originality and wonder, you can't go wrong with this!
There must be plenty of books that you might have read that talked about anti-heroes. Protagonist who began on the wrong side of the law. Assassins etc. Usually, all of them turn out to be nice guys. Well you won't find any in this book. The prince is a bastard in more ways than one. He is mentally unstable and completely hate-able. You would never want to meet him. But he is also unputdownable! Mark Lawrence truly goes where very few writers tread. He crafts a fine line trying no make sure his Hero is never a nice guy while at the same time making you understand why. The world and its post-apocalyptic landscapes are just a background on which Jorg stands. Lets see how hard he will continue to be! Highly recommended but not for the weak hearted.
A unique read. I liked Lawrence's style of writing blending the past with the present. Jorg's character was an interesting one to follow, and his actions were far beyond what any 14 year old would do unless given the circumstances he was.
I recommended this book for Fantasy book of the month in our book club Dragons and Jetpacks. Which is a shame really, as I really didn't like this book. - Changed from 2 stars to 3.
I didn't like it for a number of reasons, and it wasn't because of the violence, rape etc.I realise with Fantasy you often have to suspend some belief, however, to belive that Jorg was the age he was pushed my imagination just too far. I found it nigh on impossible to believe it, even given the terror of his childhood etc. The book seemed to be placed somewhere between real world and fantasy world (e.g. mentioning Roma, popes, Shakespeare, Plutarch etc), yet the dead walk at times, the map doesn't look like real world among other things.REVISION: It has been pointed out that the story is set in the distant future of our world after a nuclear war... which makes this make a lot of sense and is actually pretty cool.At one point in the book when Jorg etc are in the cave of Leucrota, they appear to be confronted with an electronic(?) panel which speaks to them - yet this doesn't seem to be a big deal. REVISION: The presence of the panel makes sense now that the nuclear war part has been established, however I still have issue with the fact that no body seems to think this is odd. Did I miss the part where everyone is aware that the past had this stuff?And, perhaps crucially, I just didn't enjoy the story. I felt it was quite woolly, and didn't like the way it was written. I realise that the book has been shortlisted for the David Gemmell Legend award, which means my opinion is likely to be conflicted with most people's, but that's how I felt!The things I don't like are most likely deliberate by the writer, and I wouldn't say he shouldn't have written it like that, he is obviously free to write his own stuff, but these are just reasons I didn't like it!The book receives two stars though, as it wasn't allllll bad, there were some good scenes, and a couple of moments which made me smile. Perhaps he is just not an author for me, I'm not in any rush to pick up the next one that's for sure.
After all the fantasy books with their good hearted heroes, it's nice to read a good one with a cruel and ruthless main character, and I almost read it in one go.
Prince of Thorns is the tale of a boy, scarred witness to the brutal murder of his mother and brother, who choses to turn his back on all things good in order to obtain vengence. This is a tale of revenge, as rich in its single mindedness as any classic by Dumas. Young Jorg forsakes every shred of his humanity to feed this desire, something initial reviewers were less than pleased with. Many lambasted this novel as dark and misogynistic, but I have to admit that I didn't see any of that when I read it. Maybe my perspective was tempered by interviews with the author and other commentators, but when I read Prince of Thorns what I saw in Jorg was a dark, disturbed boy, a sociopath created rather than born.
The first chapter sets the tone for the kind of book you have started. The razing of a village, the flippant use of violence to send a message, and all from the perspective of the instigator. The message to the reader is simple: this isn't going to be a light or cheery story. We are led through a world that's almost familiar - a map that looks striking like Europe, references to Jesus and Plutarch, Shakespeare and Rome. Confusing, at first, are the references to Nietzsche and other modern writers. Rest assured it will all make sense, begging more questions than are answered in this volume. This is a world familiar to us from our own history, familiar to readers of fantasy for its near medievalness, and yet somehow ajar to what we expect.
There is something else in this story, though, something lying beneath the layer of vengeance and hatred, beneath the blood and violence. This is a story you have to finish to realize just how sad it is. Its compelling, dark tale is written in the first person, drawing the reader into Jorg's warped, sick mind from the start. It is only through flashbacks peppered throughout the narrative that we begin to understand Jorg better. We understand the instigating moment with the briars, when he turned from ten year old boy to vengeful demon. We understand how in the course of only four years (because yes, the Jorg of book one is a young teen) Jorg could gather a band of cut throat, vile scum as his entourage. And only in the final pages of this book do we see what lies beneath the surface and what strings are really being pulled. As a reader, you have this perspective of watching Jorg take bite after painful bite from his heart, because it is bitter, and it is his.
This was a well written, easy to read debut novel. The best part? I've taken so long to read this book that the sequel is already out, so if you enjoy it, you can keep reading!
I loved this novel, I thought it was great. If you can get through the first few chapters and actually get into the story, it's amazing! It was written really well and I can't wait for the next book in the series.