Friday, July 1, 2011

Prince of Thorns-Mark Lawrence

Prince of Thorns
Mark Lawrence
Ace, Aug 2 2011, $25.95
ISBN 9780441020324

When Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath was ten years old, Count Renar's soldiers murdered his mother and younger brother, and hung him from briar patch thorns to watch them die. Raging with vengeance, he joins an outlaw gang. Less than four years later, he becomes the chief of the gang.

However, Jorg has goals beyond the gang. He plans within a year to sit rightfully on the throne. To do this he must end the civil war by reuniting the empire under his rule. The time to kill Count Renar and those who executed his loved ones is at hand. However, betrayal and dark magic awaits the former prince who would be emperor.

The first Broken Empire thriller is a dark gritty fantasy starring a pragmatic protagonist who kills without remorse; a lesson his uncle taught him. With the help of a kindred blood thirsty spirit, Jorg’s quest for the throne is not for anyone with a weak stomach. Mark Lawrence portrays a realistic landscape as in many ways the “hero” is as brutal as the villain yet whether one describes Jorg as the lesser of two evils or not he is the glimmer of hope.

Harriet Klausner

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