FANTASY REVIEW: Prince of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

Release Date: 04/08/11

SYNOPSIS:

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.


REVIEW:

When you’re the new kid on the block and trying to get known, you have to make your reputation hard and fast. That’s exactly the route that Mark has done with this, his debut title. What you get for your money is a hero with no qualms, if it serves his purpose then it’s a legitimate plan of attack, you get a story with a hell of a lot of battle sequences, dirty fighting and above all else a tale where there’s a web of intrigue where all the players are not all in the open with many choosing to hide in the shadows.

Add to this a spartan storytelling style, decent prose and a kick ass short term plot alongside a complex overview for the series and it’s definitely a series that will hit with a bang. Great stuff.