[REVIEW] The Broken Empire #1: Prince of Thorns

 

Book

Title: Prince of Thorns

Series: The Broken Empire

Volume: 1 of 3

Author: Mark Lawrence

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Release Date: 2011

Page: 319

Summary

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.

My Opinion

"War my friends is a thing of beauty."

You want a dark, bloody and brutal story with a lot of black humor? Then you’ll love this. 

I've picked this book up on a whim and hell yeah this was an awesome ride. I've never anticipated, that I would enjoy it as much, as I did.

"Is revenge a science or an art?"

We follow the story of Jorg Honorous Ancrath a young boy who has lost his mother and brother in a raid. And although he is only fourteen, he is not a good boy. Together with his band of brothers he roams through the land, killing, raiding, plundering, raping and so on. There is not one crime they haven’t committed.

“There’s something brittle in me that will break before it bends.”

I love Jorg. He’s the kind of person who wiggles his way out of every situation, who just outwits everyone in the room and has always some sarcastic phrase or a thread on hand. He is so damn intelligent, although he is so young and it is absolutely amazing to be in his mind.

“I may be running out of options, but running out isn't an option.”

The writing style is very simple and easy. The author has a straight way with words, not flowery or beautiful but very captivating. There are so many catch-phrases, I can write a whole book with them.

“Cowards make the best torturers. Cowards understand fear and they can use it.”

The story is quite simple, at least at the first moment, because there is so much more to it, than only a revenge-story. You have a lot of hidden myths, hints of the past and different kinds of magic. They are not the main part, but they add to the story.

“The biggest lies we save for ourselves.”

The worldbuilding is good, but not too fancy. In fact I would have liked to have a bit more information at the beginning, it was kind of confusing, but you get to it, at some point, only a little slower. The pacing is fast, very fast. This book has only 330 pages and on every single one of them something is happening. You don’t have a down time, you jump from scene to scene, with action, planning, scheming and more action. Fabolous! The ending was quick and violently beautiful. I couldn’t stop myself from picking the next book up right away.

Video-Review (german)