Prince of Thorns

The Broken Empire, #1

by Mark Lawrence

373 pages

English language

Published April 16, 2011 by Voyage.

ISBN:: 978-0-00-742329-3
Goodreads:: 9579634

View on OpenLibrary

View on Inventaire

(81 reviews)

8 editions

Ablaze3594 reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of a lot of bloody messes...

3 stars

Nice twist in terms of story lore. I was a bit confused where the story took place, and the clues are more or less subtly sprinkled in, with not too much exposition.

The main protagonist is a bit archetypal, similar to The Lies of Lock Lamora, a young masculin teen with a freakish tactical and strategic luck, who is also hyper-violent and clearly on the psychopathic spectrum, saved by a story plot-twist that explains why they are like that. But still needs to be redeemed in the next books IMHO.

Has a Cosmere , aka The Stormlight Archvive/Mistborn vibe in the greater powers that play a 1:1 worldwide game. Again, to be seen if relevant in the other two books.

Is rather similar, as pointed out by @kergoth@bookwyrm.social, to The First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie.

Sean Gursky reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Jorg is a violent monster struggling to understand his past and justify the way he is. The story was enjoyable enough that I will keep on reading. The ratings of the later books indicates that the series improves, otherwise I may have stopped here, but I'm willing to see where the story goes next.

TimMason reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book started as a variation on a theme by Anthony Burgess, and this occasionally shows in the writing. But Jorg is not just another version of Alex; he is an echo of such historical figures as Foulke Nerra - who was instrumental in building the power base of the Angevin kings who later gave us the Plantagenets. Foulke - Black Hawk was a vicious killer, who was happy to condemn his first wife to burn at the stake, among other acts of extreme cruelty. (Unlike Jorg, he was also pious, and voyaged to the Holy Land to atone for his sins and ease his time in hell). Another similar figure, Gilles de Rais, fought alongside Jeanne d'Arc, and was apparently violently reckless on the field of battle. In later years he became a serial killer, sexually assaulting and murdering perhaps hundreds of boys whose families had the misfortune to …

Yashima reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

The book is well-written. I enjoyed the language, style and images it evokes. Also the sci-fi fantasy mashup was interesting. But this is not executed interestingly enough for my taste, too obvious for one thing.

The things I didn't like and made me deduct several stars from the experience:

First: I hated all the characters but 'Brother Makin'. It didn't pay to remember any of the characters because most of them just died. Many deaths didn't have any real significance. They just happened. For me in a book it is important that there is at least one sympathetic character that gets enough screentime. With the whole book being told from the perspective of the - rather unlikable - prince ...

Second: the complexity of the story. On the one hand there is a level of complexity there, with enough complications to keep the reader entertained. On the other hand the complexity was scattered around too much: the scene changes to often, there are a bunch of short story arcs that are simply connected in a linear way which takes away a lot of the potential complexity. The story is missing the smooth "grand arc" that I am always looking for. The reader is just being jumped from scene to scene. Before anything becomes significant and has time to capture the reader ... the prince moves on.

Tavish reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

3.5 stars. I liked it, I expected more to happen by the ending (therefore 3.5 stars); but probably not for everyone.

RxBrad reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This is my second read, and I waited to review it until I finished the whole series. The main character, Jorg, is an insufferable psychopath 13yr old who somehow reigns over a troop of murdering criminals. Pretty hard to believe on even an imaginary level. On the bright side, the books get a lot better as the series moves on.

matt reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I liked it more than I thought I would. It's still too dark and grisly for my taste, but Jorg is a fun Roose Bolton-esque character to root for. Will definitely read the rest of the series and more from Mark Lawrence.

While the grimdarkness is excessive, and the gore, the setting is interesting and the characters are memorable. It does get a little silly at some points with the excess.

TimmyMac reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Enjoyed this a great deal. It did live up to the hype vis a vis the ol' ultraviolence, but I found the writing compelling enough to stick with it, and I'm glad I did. Jorg is one hell of a character, and his self-awareness at the end of the book helps redeem him (as a character, if not a human). Already bought the second book in the series.

Steen Christiansen reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Having a psychopath as the focalizer is difficult; this book does not pull it off.

Mollarom reviewed Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence (The Broken Empire, #1)

Review of 'Prince of Thorns' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Loved it. Went into it blind and was quickly intrigued by this evil "protagonist." Then there were other plot twists that were expertly told. I can't wait to read the next book.

kergoth reviewed Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire, #1) by Mark Lawrence

Review of 'Prince of Thorns (The Broken Empire, #1)' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Well, I do have to say that I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. It's quite dark, and the main character is clearly an anti-hero, but at times it seemed a bit over the top. In the end I did care about the main character somewhat, but it certainly didn't hold a candle to Abercrombie, which is the closest to this in style I've read to date. It was a quick read that carried me along from beginning to end without interruption, though. It was certainly action packed. I'm rather torn about the whole thing. I suspect I'll be re-reading it in the near future to clarify my feelings about it, and will certainly read the future novels, if for no other reason than to see how the author's skill develops.