Prince of Thorns

Written by Mark Lawrence

Narrated by Joe Jameson

Prince of Thorns is the first volume in a powerful new epic fantasy trilogy, original, absorbing and challenging.

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.

Mark Lawrence's debut novel tells a tale of blood and treachery, magic and brotherhood and paints a compelling and brutal, and sometimes beautiful, picture of an exceptional boy on his journey toward manhood and the throne.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Aug 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9780007459827

Mark Lawrence

Mark Lawrence is married with four children, one of whom is severely disabled. His day job is as a research scientist focused on various rather intractable problems in the field of artificial intelligence. Between work and caring for his disabled child, Mark spends his time writing, playing computer games, tending an allotment, brewing beer, and avoiding DIY.

Reviews for Prince of Thorns

[crazybatcow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Hmmm... most of the reviews say this is a particularly "dark and violent" story. I guess I'm desensitized. Yeah, sure, it's violent but was the violence excessive, given the situation the world is in? No, not really. Perhaps the big hiccup on it is because the main character is only a child. Well, a child in our world, not so much in his own.But, anyway, if the main character was 30, we'd not even bat an eye at the violence. I didn't even find it particularly gory violence... just sorta random. But it wasn't even really random if you accept the world Jorg lives in - the only way to rule is to kill anyone who doesn't obey. Simple. And was he a psychopath/sociopath, really? Or was he being controlled by outside forces to behave this way? Exactly...I liked the book better than I expected. My library has it filed under YA, so I expected it to be a YA novel. It is not. It is as mature as any dark fantasy I've read, though perhaps a bit more straight-forwardly written than many. There is some foul language, but not really that much, considering the context.If you liked this book, and want to read books that are not even remotely YA, you could try Joe Abercrombie's stuff... it is as dark, more violent, and much more "politically" complex.

[glitzandshadows · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is great. It's also incredibly violent and graphic and has a whole host of completely unlikeable characters! I mean, if that doesn't get you interested right there, I don't know what would!
Starting points, you'll either get sucked into this book right off (guilty as charged) or you will be so nauseated that you'll put it down right away and probably not continue. It's graphic, and the gore starts at the very first page.
Now, if you're someone who has to really like the narrating character, then this book isn't for you. I mean, Jorg really isn't that likeable. He doesn't even really have any redeeming qualities. However, if you're someone more like me and you adore flawed characters, then you're probably going to like Jorg because MAN he is flawed.
The book literally begins with a slaughter. Jorg and his 'brothers' - the band of roguish men that he travels with - have just finished decimating a village and are just finishing up when the book begins. As I said, the gore begins right off. Now, the gory stuff really isn't written to be nasty or vomit inducing or anything. It's just violent, and gory.... and really violent.
The narration is from Jorg's point of view, and switches back and forth from being the present and four years earlier when Jorg was ten. (We are dealing with a fourteen year old main character here. Brace yourself.)
Jorg is a great character, if you're okay with really not liking much about him. He's violent, angry, angsty, vengeful, proud. You name that deadly sin and Jorg has it! It was a little awkward at first when you first realise that the narrator is a rather young boy, and yet is more violent and colder than the grown men that he travels with, but as the story progresses it makes more sense. The chapters that deal with Jorg's past show why it is he's like how he is, and what happened to make him that way.
One problem is, because there is a whole band of men that Jorg travels with, it is hard to keep them straight at the beginning. But, i mean, a lot of them die throughout the book so there's less to keep track of by the end! Don't really bother getting attached to many of the characters, they're probably going to die (hey it's like reading a GrrM book!) And, speaking of George R.R. Martin, his influence over this book is really really obvious. At times it was a bit too obvious.
The book deals a lot with the idea of life and war just being a game. Jorg compares this war that he's in and his life to being just a game and everything and everyone are just pieces in the game. Before he makes an important action, there will be moments where it is laid out like a move on a chess board. However, the number of times he says something about the 'game of thrones' was a little ridiculous. Like, I know that that is a pretty generic statement, but really, it's kind of obvious where that was inspired from. Regardless, the phrase worked with the story and the whole idea of everything being a game did lend itself well to the plot and Jorg's narration. It gave him a tiny bit of endearing character, because he is rather detached from the situation, viewing everything as if it were a game.
The only real problem i had with the book is that I had absolutely zero sense of setting. It tells you about the broken empire and few hundred kings that are all dreaming of one day reuniting the empire as a whole. But Jorg was constantly referencing ancient to modern philosophers ( from Socrates to Nietzsche ) and there were actual geographic places that were mentioned. However, it was obviously a fantasy setting. So, i was confused whether or not we were supposed to be viewing these places in a European setting that is apparently set apart from time? Or if it is a world in and of itself with this realistic elements in them? It was all rather confusing.
Aside from that, though, the book was very well written. The pacing was great, i really didn't put it down after I started it. Even though the characters aren't that loveable, i did like them. But really, you have to really like this kind of book to get into this. You have to be someone who likes flawed characters and gritty plots. Because that was basically all this book was. Flawed characters and gritty plot.

[meow9th · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Someone else once characterized the protagonist Jorg as 'charming and amoral', and those two descriptors could not be more apt. Jorg charms people the way shiny objects charm ravens; the reader and his band of 'brothers' are drawn to him irresistibly. At the same time, he rapes, pillages and burns without any sympathy for his victims.A brief note on allegations of misogynism: while it may be easy to call the book misogynistic, it would be false and shallow to do so. While Jorg has no use for women other than as convenient pit stops for his penis, this does not mean that the author has the same view. I am enough of a feminist that I cannot enjoy a book unless it has strong female characters or no female characters. Prince of Thorns actually falls into the former category, and I suspect a large part of Jorg's maturation will involve learning to respect formidable women.The worldbuilding is a bit sparse at this point, but the enigmas hinted at are enough to make me want to find out more. The world appears to be standard medieval fantasy broken up into a land of many kingdoms rather than an empire, but then there's ... AI? It puts me a bit in mind of Sharon Shinn's Samaria.Pacing is fast, full of action. Language is simple and direct, easy to read quickly. Plotting flowed well; no holes or wtf moments.But the real reason to read the book is Jorg. What a refreshing protagonist! Neither a hero nor an anti-hero, he's just unapologetically himself: precocious, charismatic, and amoral.

[Arun kanth · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's roller-coaster all the way... It's a marvel in itself... Once you get on, ends with a overwhelming feeling.. All the way action and no nonsense.. Dark and gritty..

Initially when I was reading I get kinda HALF A KING vibe. Initially.
Given first person POV. Prince out of his kingdom, trying to get want is rightfully to his, Vengeance against who killed his family and all...
I guess I enjoyed this one better than half a king..

On good reads it's rated tad below 4.0 and there is the butt of a joke or three.. It's my 5 star

[cindy_draumrkopa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’ve always had a preference for dark fantasy, I don’t know why, it just keeps me hooked. “Prince of Thorns” is perfect for me: it’s fascinating, raw and it makes you look beyond the things you encounter along the way. I enjoyed this book for many different reasons, one of the obvious ones being the one stated above.

Another one was the writing style. This book is so fluently written, I could have read it in a few hours if only school hadn’t absorbed all my free time. I love the way the author describes certain situations and feelings. The dialogues are witty and fun to read, with the occasional outburst of depth from Jorg, our main character, showing his real and hidden emotions. Here’s one of my favourites:
“Memories are dangerous things. You turn them over and over, until you know every touch and corner, but still you’ll find an edge to cut you. Each day the memories weigh a little heavier. Each day they drag you down that bit further. You wind them around you, a single thread at a time, and you weave your own shroud, you build a cocoon, and in it madness grows.”

There’s one word that kept popping into my head while I was reading “Prince of Thorns”: honesty. I think this is a no-bullshit, honest kind of book. I’m sitting here, thinking about how I can describe that feeling and make you guys understand, but I’m kind of struggling with it. How can such a cruel story be honest? But that’s just it, the story still has its rough edges, everything that happens throughout the book is to the point and hasn’t been smoothed over.

After reading a few of the one-star reviews on Goodreads, I was in a bit of a conflict with myself. Most seem the hate Jorg for the way he behaves and the things he does.
Here’s the thing: I liked him. Yes, he’s ruthless, he’s got no conscience and he’s a brat. But I couldn’t hate him. If anything, I felt a bit sorry for what he had to go through at such a young age, but mainly I think he’s in a constant inner struggle. He wants to cut out his humanity because of the things he’s seen and the guilt and pain that came with it. He has seen first-hand and at a young age that doing something horrible doesn’t always mean you’ll get punished for it.
I’ve read a lot of YA the past months and most main characters in those books are (understandably) good people. Jorg was a breath of fresh air to me, I liked this new perspective, the one of the bad guy. Does that make me a bad person? Hm.

Before everyone jumps on this and actually answers my question with a big fat “YES”: I don’t contradict that Jorg is a bad person. If he existed in real life, I’d hate him, pity him and avoid him at all cost. But come on, this is fiction! I loved reading another kind of story, something different than the usual stuff. Our main character is a disturbed young man, I know that, but that’s the whole point of the story, that is what makes this book so fascinating.
I do think you should put things in perspective. There’s a whole discussion going on about Jorg raping two girls on the first few pages of the book. Rape is wrong, everyone knows that (well, most of the human population knows that), but this is a book about a band of ruthless thugs in a medieval-esque setting (it says so on the back of my book). We know Jorg is an anti-hero, so why get all upset about it?

I can understand why this is a love-or-hate book, some people won’t like the cruel tone in this story, others, like me, will be able to see it from a different perspective. That’s life, everyone has its own opinions, but if you like dark fantasy and don’t mind a gritty story: this book is brilliant and should be at the top of your TBR list!

[kiddboyblue · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

There are anti-heroes and then there is Prince Jorg.I really struggled with this character at the beginning. You want there to be some redeemable qualities in your protagonists, and this kid was just, brutal and deadly, and evil. Admittedly I started this book years ago, and after the first chapter I set it aside. It left a foul taste in my mouth. However, after encouragement from a friend, I picked it up again.As brutal as the book and Jorg is, as the story unfolds, and the story gets more and more in depth, I found myself coming over to his side. I found myself maybe not liking him, but certainly rooting for him. I also really loved how in the end you are left wondering, the same as the character is wondering, how much of his evil and ruthlessness is who he is, and how much is from outside influences. Lawrence has created a complex and engaging larger story here, that is hidden behind a bloody and relentless facade. He is a great writer, with some powerful characterization and world building.I had a rough time with some aspects of the book that left me feeling uncomfortable. Jorg's age bothered me in scenes that involved him in sexual situations. And I really hated the references to Shakespeare and Socrates, and other philosophers from our real world. Every time they were mentioned it took me completely out of the story, and I had to re-adjust to get back in. Perhaps there is a bigger story behind that. Perhaps this whole series is set in our world, and that will be unveiled later, I have no idea. However, I do know, it was a huge distraction for me, and one that brought the novel down. Overall, however, this was a strong start to a series. Jorg is one of the most unique protagonists out there, and the story Lawrence is weaving is certainly worth a read to any fantasy fan.Best Quote of the entire book was: "It's what I am, and if you want excuses, come and take them." It pretty much summarizes Jorg's character to a T.

[brian_terenna · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Overall - I strongly recommend the novel for anyone who likes fantasy or science fiction and who isn't squeamish.There is violence and gore in the novel, but only a little more than other fantasy novels. It didn't bother me at all, but it's tough to bother me and could upset some people. I can't wait to read the second novel in the series, "King of Thorns."Creativity -At first, "Prince of Thorns" feels like a standard fantasy novel with the standard elements of nobility, melee battles, and magic. After further reading, "Prince of Thorns" develops into something much more grand and well thought out. Characters -Prince Honorious Jorg or Jorg for short is the main character in the novel. He is ruthless, cunning, and deadly and he's only fourteen. He is extremely well developed early on in the novel. I read several reviews on amazon about how they didn't like his personalty, that he's nothing more than a sociopath. Maybe that is true. I certainly wouldn't want to be friends with him, but I loved him as a fantasy novel character. Beyond Jorg, the other characters were much less developed. I can't quite remember anything in particular about their personalities, but it is more difficult to develop characters without viewpoints.Plot - It's weird. Although there didn't seem to be many plot points in the novel, I was excited to read it every time I picked it up. The few plot points in the novel worked really well for me. Toward the end of the book you feel a much grander plot begin to develop.Romance - While there isn't much, there was the beginnings of a romantic connection. It could developing into something more in the next novel. The novel does quite well without romance though. If you are looking for romance, you should probably look elsewhere.Writing Style -Simply the single best writing style in existence! I loved it. It's easy to read, but insanely imaginative. His similes and metaphors are very creative and would take me years to think of them all.Rating - 4.5 Stars

[minealready · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I cant get behind a book that has the main character raping girls in the first few pages.No thanks, I am good.I have read a lot of books with rape in them, but I have to say they were mostly with a female protagonist.One of my favorite fantasy series The Deed of Paksenarrion Paks lets herself be tortured for five days and nights, and rape isn’t the only thing that she has to suffer.I understood why the character did this, I also understood why the author wrote the story the way she did.I can see why an author will do this to their female leads, it can make them stronger, give them motivation to become the best they can be to fight evil in whatever form it comes in.There are a couple of reasons I have issues with the main character being rapist, the first being the obvious. I cannot empathize with a rapist, there isn’t a good enough reason in the world for me to like a person that commits such a crime. I can’t think of another author that has had their main character act in the way Jorg has.This leads into my second reason for disliking the course of actions of this book. It’s an easy out, a cheap shot in making the main character be evil, and he is evil, this is not the actions of an anti-hero. I like a good anti-hero, I enjoy the show Dexter, and Richard Kadrey writes a mean one with his Sandman Slim series.I like books where the author takes time to build the story so the reader and the character get to know each other and settle their differences.In this book there isn’t time, the author just jumped right in with this disgusting display to portray what a horrible man Jorg is.This is why I will not be reading this book, it’s not all the reasons, but it’s the top two.

[gobbers · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Anti-hero is too mild to define Jorg.

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay, this is a hard book for me to review. I enjoyed it's fast past, the action, the hints of a past which should be familiar to us all. Having said that, I also have to say I had some real reservations about the story. I love fantasy, especially the gritty realism of writers like Erikson and Martin. They are full of characters it is easy to love or hate and the world building is always amazing. And herein lies my problems with Prince of Thorns. There is not a single character I liked (okay, maybe one but he gets killed off half way through). Most of the main characters are nothing short of psychopaths and that goes for Jorg, the title character. There is little to redeem them and, frankly, I found myself really not caring much when one gets killed. Certainly, Jorg and his merry band of psycho killers are not unique to fantasy but, there is usually something to make the reader empathize at least a little or there are other, more sympathetic characters to offset the crazy - not so here. As to the world building, well, it's there and, as I said, I liked the hints to a future past, but overall, the world-building remains pretty skimpy. So, having said this, why am I giving it 4 stars? Fair question and not one I can easily answer except to say, despite my problems with the story, author Lawrence is a heck of a writer and this is one real page turner. Somehow, the story moves so fast that it is easy to overlook its flaws and just enjoy the ride. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, seeing if Jorg can gain some perspective if not some humanity and hoping the world he lives in expands a little. After all, his world is in the middle of the Hundred War. With one hundred kings, princes, rogues, and scoundrels vying for the Emperor's throne, it's pretty clear there's a great deal more to the story and I look forward to reading it.

[rogert-7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The 'Alpha Male' Jorg a damaged protagonist but too young to have acquired this much evil. Otherwise an impressive 'romp around' tale.

[Leanne Penrose · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jorg is certainly not your typical main character. I found the story really intriguing although also quite violent.

[jr7raluces · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A promising, exciting debut novel from Lawrence that left me impatient to read the next (yet to be released unfortunately!)It is a powerful, brutal, violent novel, set in an equally powerful brutal vieolent world. A story of revenge, redemption, and confronting nightmares. Based upon a character born as a privileged royal child Jorg, but circumstances mean he soon finds himself at a very young age a ruthless, immoral, moody, at times charming leader of a grim cold blooded mercanary gang of outlaws who commit a wide range of atrocities. Witnessing the tragedy of his mother and brother murdered in cold blood changed the man is was to become. Now dark, sly and calculating with an irrational streak that resides within. Any word or deed that upsets, irritates or angers him can set him off and mean dire consequences for the person who caused it. Usually death. However, there is an hidden depth to Jorg, beyond this side of his character portrayed and it's a face his has to maintain within his gang, who do not know that he is in fact a Prince. He has capabilities to master over the living and the dead which I expect to be expanded upon in the second book. The first person narrative works very well, and the insight it provides into Jorg, his motivations, fears and thoughts is superb, and creates an udnerstanding of the characters and what is driving him, and lends to a liking of this otherwise immoral ruthless person. The storytelling is concise, absorbing and engaging. Fast paced, action detailed well, and there is a lovely flow to the book. The only minor downsides I can say are that the world building is not as indepth or as challenging as it could have been, but then again, the book is reasonably short, and does not get bogged down in uneccessary detialing, which just highlights the story all the more. Other characters, like with Douglas Hulick aMong Thieves book, all have potential that I hope the second book goes on to expand upon since it is somewhat missing in this book. All in all, another cracking debut novel from a promising and challenging author, one who again I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

[morphologyus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A powerful and emotional tale with suprising depth hidden between the lines. This is character-driven fantast at its finest. The literary and cultural references leave you in no doubt that this is fantasy written for an adult audience and a sophisticated one at that.

[benkaboo-51322 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Prince of Thorns:

Summary: Genre fantasy that tries to break some of the traditional moulds. Some quite nice writing and decent
characters. Plot moves along at a good pace and concludes in a satisfactory way that doesn't leave you hanging.

Things I like:

The little descriptions of different 'brothers' that came between chapters.
The extreme post-apocalypic setting was fun.
Villain such as it was nicely done in my opinion.

Things that could have been improved.

I didn't really buy the idea of a 10 y.o. come 13 y.o. running a band of ruthless mercenaries. It wasn't completly congruent for me.
The book offers an explanation and I went along with it, but I think this could have been done better (maybe 14 going on 19 ?).

The central characters reconciliation of good and evil didn't really 'click' for me either. Better writing (a few more illustrative stories?)
or less diametrically opposite character traits/behaviours probably would have improved this.

[mariannem85-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found this book to be both disturbing and enthralling, and even more disturbing because it's so enthralling. If I'd had a clue what Prince of Thorns was really about, then probably I wouldn't have started reading it. My brother had given me his copy and told me I had to read it. So I did. It is a very fast-paced and gruesome tale of a fourteen-year-old boy's epic journey of vengeance. I found his age to be a bit improbable given the things he says and does, but I took it in stride, because I've never had a member of my family murdered in front of me. Maybe Jorg's brand of hatred at such a young age is possible. What I can say is that it's very well-written, and I'm eager to start the next book so I can find out what the hell Jorg gets up to next.

[stige_3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The book came highly recommended but failed to delight. The main character is a homicidal child/teen who walks around like some young evil super-ninja and commits horrible deeds in order to coax a reaction or acclaim from the reader because his father doesn't notice him. The book has the frame of an excellent book and the language is on occasion elegantly used, but because it fails to make the characters believable and it fails to make me care about their success - I won't be queueing up for the sequel.

[tottman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Prince of Thorns starts off right in the middle of the action. The first few pages make it clear that you are not going to feel much love for Jorg, the hero of the story. He is amoral and ruthless, but you come to admire and root for him. Anytime you start to feel more than that, he reminds you how truly twisted he is.Prince of Thorns is the story of Jorg. Jorg, as a young boy, was forced to watch his mother the Queen and his younger brother brutally murdered. He was spared by being tossed into a thicket of thorns that trapped and nearly killed him, but concealed him. This is Jorg’s story of revenge. Revenge on those who murdered his brother and mother, revenge on a father who traded political expediency for justice, and revenge on anyone who stands between Jorg and his desire.The book starts off with Jorg on the cusp of his 14th birthday, but fills you in on his past by alternating between events of four years ago and the present. Alternating between two timelines works because both timelines are equally fascinating. The setting is fascinating as well. Early clues are dropped as to where this story is set. I found it a bit confusing at first, but as hints and references were dropped, it became more and more clear where and when this story was taking place. The action moves along very briskly. Concentrating on a few main characters keeps the story tight, focused and exciting. The world feels both fully fleshed out and with a lot left to explore. Jorg leads a bit of a charmed life, but other characters who feel like they might be main cogs in the larger story are dispatched with impunity. This creates real suspense in battle scenes or dangerous situations because you can’t be sure that any of the characters you are rooting for will survive.This is the first book in a planned trilogy, but it has the feel of a world with a lot more stories in it. It reads as a complete story and leaves you anticipating the next leg in the journey. Jorg is a unique protagonist and he’ll leave you anxiously awaiting what he has planned next. Highly recommended.

[falcon124_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent read as we follow into the dark path of a prince who seeks to reclaim his land, conquer the world and extract vengeance. From outlaw & bandit to a royal end with twists, plots, hidden schemes & plenty of bloody combat, all wrapped in a post-apocalyptic world that makes sense.The dark, gritty style is entrancing and the story keeps you moving along as the plot unfolds within the bleak description of the horror of wars, skirmishes & the treatment of unlucky peasants caught up in the game. While it may not appeal to everyone, I found it an incredible and welcome change to many of the sword-and-sorcery books out there.Roll on the sequel! :)

[toniallenauthor · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I picked up Prince of Thorns in a discount book shop while on holiday. The first couple of pages grabbed my attention, so I bought it. I knew absolutely nothing about the controversy stirred by some of the main character, Jorg Ancrath’s actions. In fact, much of what appears to be bothering other people didn’t even make me blink. It’s a fantasy novel set in a future where wars and skirmishes are rife. The bloodshed and rapes that Lawrence writes about do, unfortunately, happen during times of conflict and tension.

What did bother me is the shambolic plot and what appears to be a total lack of editing. Was this book rushed to the shelves?
The plot has three distinct episodes, the first of which is by far the best and most coherently written, after which the editor went for lunch and never returned. By the second phase when Jorg returns home to his father’s castle the use of contrived plot devices if starting to get out of hand. These excruciatingly painful backwards-facing devices appear to be peppered in because the author had only just thought up how to get his hero, or anti-hero as some might view him, out of a tight spot. ‘I saw some tar back there, we can make lamps.’ Oh really? You never mentioned that tar on passing. How convenient. And so it goes on.

There is also the saga of the magical sword. No, Jorg’s sword does not hold any magical powers, but it keeps mysteriously reappearing in his hand. When he leaves it somewhere it is in the next scene, with no hint that he’s retrieved it. Given to someone else…never retrieved. Burnt to a cinder…oops, and there it is again, all shiny and new.
The list of discrepancies goes on and on. Location is another hic-up. They’re here, then there. Highly confusing. People do strange things as well. Characters are standing, fighting; then suddenly dismounting their steed within the space of two paragraphs within the same fast paced scene. Excuse me, but when did he get back on his horse?

These devices and lack of respect for the reader made me feel as if anyone reading this book is being mocked as an idiot who would never notice these things.

The hugely disappointing thing about this novel is that Mark Lawrence has some amazing turns of phrase, and sharp wit. It was these two things alone that kept me reading. I enjoyed his clever phrases; and Jorg’s internal dialogue that portrayed the youth’s character so extremely well. Now I understand what makes poor Jorgy tick.

Will I read the next book in the series? I’m not sure. As much as I love Lawrence’s style I don’t know if I have the stamina to keep flicking back through pages to get to grips with another poorly constructed plot; which is a shame, because with some decent editing The Prince of Thorns would be a notch above the ordinary.

[bookstopshere · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this. It’s a very quick read (2 lunch hours) featuring an amiable character with a catchy back-story; it engages the reader and moves quickly through its tale. Though I’m not sure I can imagine the main character’s redemption in future volumes, I look forward to reading the rest of the story. It’s a breezy style – my main quibble being the presentation of phrases masquerading as sentences. Yeah, I get the nearly stream-of-consciousness first person narration, but my eye-brain connection still demands that things dressed up like “sentences” actually be sentences. Reading this aloud, it works fine; my ear can see colons (and hearts, livers and other guts.) Punctuation aside, I found this fantasy novel dark and thought-provoking, but frustratingly incomplete. The book actually pauses at a sensible spot, but I’m impatient with the wait for the moral sorting-out to follow. Eagerly awaiting volume two . . .

[lavinient · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Prince Jorg has just turned 14. For the last three years he has been leading a group of ruffians around the countryside thieving, murdering, and raping. He's really not a good guy (or kid), at all. He is a prince who, at the age nine, watched his little brother and mother murdered in front of him at the orders of a neighboring ruler. Jorg left his princely life and his father, the king, when his father chose a political partnership rather than revenge against the man who killed his wife and child. Prince Jorg now sees life as a game. He really has no problem killing whoever and taking whatever he wants. The author does not present this immorality in a vague way. He does not just tell us the character is immoral and leave it to our imagination. We get to see Jorg do these evil acts throughout the entire book. This isn't a story about Jorg turning from his immoral ways or finding redemption. He might see things a little differently by the end of this book, but he never apologizes or regrets any of his past actions. But I found it hard not to like Jorg. He is clever and complex. The entire book is from his viewpoint; it was fun being inside his head, and seeing how he sees the world. In the first chapter he promises he will be king by the age 15. He decides it is time to head back to his father's castle, and he brings his ragtag team with him. Throughout the book we get to know some of these men. His “brothers” are all sinful in their own way. Little snippets of how Jorg sees these men are at the beginning of some of the chapters. My favorite - “Most men have at least one redeeming feature. Finding one for Brother Rike requires a stretch. Is “big” a redeeming feature?” Once back home, he finds a cold welcome by his father and a new obstacle in his father's mysterious adviser. I really enjoyed Lawrence's world building. At first I thought the setting was a typical medieval type fantasy world, but was completely and happily wrong. Won't spoil it for other readers. But I will say, this type of setting has been used before, but the author used it subtly enough not to be distracting and actually made me very intrigued and wanting to learn more.This is the first book of a trilogy. Looking forward to reading what Lawrence has in store for Jorg next.

[mark32_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A spectacular book. The depth of this book is running throughrather like what's seen more commonly in literary fiction. It's almost like fantasy grew up! Bad things happen in the book. When I read this book it was a shock, the good kind. It was something fresh after so much genre same-old same-old. I think there's a powerful new voice her. The book leads us through are murders and torture, and less bad things too. If you're going to object to a book based on its contents then this will be the one. It seems that most of the bad reviews I see of this book are from people who haven't read it! This is a clever, funny, moving book with a hard edge, written with passion and skill. The best thing I've read in years. So from someone who actually HAS read the book --- 5* Treat yourself.

[blodeuedd_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

-read by guestreviewer-

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. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword. 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 of that's true enough, but there's something worse out there in the dark, much worse.

Brother Jorg, Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath, will be King by fifteen. Emperor by 21, probably. But at the moment he is a road bandit, rapist, butcher, torturer. And he is the hero of the book Prince of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence.

You get heroes of all kind in fantasy literature – heroes with varying degree of skill, powers and motivation. The good guys are pure of heart and clean of face. Then we have the anti-heroes, the unwilling heroes who have the hero-hood thrust upon them, but they always come through, and finally show their heart of gold.

Brother Jorg is at the far end of that scale, you might say. He is a stone cold bastard, thirteen year of age, killed more men than the plague. But ok – the land is riddled with war; the feuds between the little kingdoms have been going on for decades, centuries. If he can become the Emperor, at least there will be no more war.

Prince of Thorns is the first book of a trilogy, where we will follow Jorg’s path. The set is an alternate Europe (with magic, ghosts and monstrosities), refreshing it its simplicity. The focus is entirely on Jorg. His stubbornness and lack of fear is legendary – he survives against overwhelming odds by a mixture of intelligence, brutality, dirty tricks, cunning, necromancy, etc.

What do I think about it? If you can get through the initial revulsion in the first dozens of pages (where the author really grinds your nose into the feces of brutality and immorality, to get your mind on the right track) it’s a wonderful book! A page turner, I personally read it in one sitting. Ok, you may learn that Jorg has had a rough childhood to motivate his deeds, but that doesn’t really matter. It is refreshing to just be able to follow the machinations of an artful bastard, winning against all odds. Just don’t expect much romance and love – there is a hint, but no more.

Conclusion:
Extremely different! But refreshingly so. I will read the other two books, that’s a promise.

Rating:
Recommended,

[elysianfield_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4.5 stars

9 year old Jorg Ancrath sees his mother and brother killed. Soon after he leaves his father and becomes consummated with rage, and guilt for not being able to save them. He flees with group of men freed from the dungeons and 4 years later he is the leader. At the age of 15 he vows to be king.

Although the main character is a teen, this is not a book for kids and Jorg is not very likeable character. And his actions are even less likeable. But I loved it!

The book starts when the gang is torching a village and it sets the pace for the book from the start. There’s no hero to root in this book for sure. At first I thought it weird that he’s so young and still the leader of them and how he grew up to be so cold. There’s flashback’s from the past that explains some of the things and while I’m not usually fan of too many flashbacks, I think it worked here.

I liked the relationship between Jorg and Makin. Makin used to be the king’s guard and he knew Jorg before he flees from home and he’s the one who really knows him. Or at least as much as anyone is able. But it makes Jorg more humane anyway.

My only complain will be the references to “our world”. Like at some point someone mentioned Shakespeare and stuff like that. I prefer my fantasy to be totally in other world. But it only happened few times so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

I really enjoyed this book and it was truly wonderful debut book. I can’t wait for the next book to come out and I hope I get my hands on it! But this may not be for everyone so be warned...

[spaceandsorcery · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This should really be a 3.5 stars: I started reading torn between curiosity for the story and some concern about the degree of violence many reviewers mentioned.

The violence is there, granted, but it's depicted with a total lack of morbid gratification; it's rather observed with a detached eye, an emotional removal that I found more chilling than the actual descriptions and that is explained with some important revelation about the main character.

Prince Jorg is indeed an unsympathetic protagonist, with few redeeming qualities - or maybe none at all - and yet his story is a compelling one: the mysteries surrounding his past go hand in hand with those concerning the world he lives in, a future planet Earth reverted back to medieval-like times after a huge catastrophe.

This curiosity, this need to know more, is what will certainly keep me reading the other books in this trilogy. As they say: "hook, line and sinker"....

[zjakkelien · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I didn't like the book that much. Mainly because I don't like the atmosphere. The main character, Jorg is inhuman: he only feels hate and anger. The writing reflects that, in that it is unemotional. This makes it difficult to bond with the characters. Aside from that, the main character mostly wobbles over the stage, changing direction, flinging himself at fights without apparent direction. I can sort of appreciate his brutality, but it makes the book rather narrow. Particularly, since the writing style is rather focused. I feel I only know what the main character sees and nothing else. In the end, I didn't really care that much about what would happen to Jorg, and therefore also did not care that much about picking up the book and reading on.I finished it because I'm going to discuss it with my reading club, and I don't know if I would have finished it otherwise.

[schneider_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While overall this was a good book and I would like to continue reading the series. There were times that I was confused as to what just happened and felt the story line was herky-jerky. But there was enough good parts to out weigh the bad.

[mistress_bedlam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you like fantasy, particularly dark fantasy, I cannot recommend a book any higher than to say, move Prince of Thorns to the top of your reading list NOW.This book was incredibly well written. The plot is well thought out and developed and the pacing was excellent. But more than that, it's a magnificent example of first person narrative. The setting is not what you initially expect, and there is an aspect to it that is slowly revealed in a way that I thought was absolutely fucking brilliant. I was thrilled.The main character, Jorg, is pretty despicable. Typically these types of anti-heroes are really hard to write well. He has to be appropriately psychotic but somehow the reader still likes him, or at least doesn't hate him. Or at least is really hoping he'll succeed despite what a horrible person he is. This, in my experience, is the rarest type of character in fiction. Any fiction. So I get really excited when it's done so amazingly well.All in all, I literally could not put this book down. I read the whole thing in one day and was up with it till 2 am because I simply couldn't go to bed without finding out what happened and how things played out.

[karlstar_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I should know better than to buy books based on cover blurbs, but I got suckered by this one. I thought I read somewhere that Mark Lawrence was a good new author and maybe he is, but if so this book is not his best. My main problem with this is that all of the action centers around a 14 or 15 year old, the title character. While this may be attractive to some readers, this 15 year old is not only a brutal killer and torturer, he's the best fighter in his band of bandits and their leader. The book proceeds in somewhat of a circular fashion, starting in the middle, going back to the beginning then proceeding on. Lots of unrealistic violence lead by the Prince of Thorns himself. There is some evidence at the end that all is not as it seems and that there is a bigger game going on, perhaps it all makes more sense in the second book.