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Monday, February 12, 2018

Review: Prince of Thorns & Write Club

Well. I'm off to a much better start this month, having finished book number 2, leaving me only one more book to read this month in order comply with my resolution to read three books every month.



Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, is the first book in the Broken Empire Series and I chose it because I needed a good fantasy to read. I will say I was a little surprised by the main character, Jorg, who was decidedly unlikable, and yet...I kept rooting for him.

As the story begins, we are with Prince Jorg of Ancrath and his merry band of cut throats who have cut a swathe of destruction and death across the lands. Jorg is at first an unsympathetic character, too young to be so cruel, until we discover why. At the age of nine he witnessed the killing of his mother and younger brother by Count Renar's men. Now, five years later, he's ready to have his revenge.

What I liked about this book was the author's ability to make me root for Jorg, who went about killing without the least bit of remorse, even for the innocent. It helped that Jorg's father and his necromancer were worse though it takes a while before we meet them. Still, I liked the book a  lot and my only complaint would be that Jorg is a little too lucky sometimes. I would give this book four stars and I will probably read the next book in the series.

In other news, WriteClub is coming...



16 comments:

  1. I'm always on the lookout for a good fantasy series.

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    1. I liked it. The main character reminded me a bit of the mc in The Lies of Locke Lamora, though I will say Locke was more likeable.

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  2. Sounds like a great fantasy especially if you were rooting for a character that you didn't like that much.

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    1. I'm envious of writers who can make you root for the anti-hero.

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  3. Liking a detestable character is an admirable narrative trick. Happens a lot in good TV: consider Mad Men.

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  4. Write Club sounds like fun! Are you going to enter? Plus, what a snappy video for it!

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    1. Totally agree about the video. I'm not entering, but I did volunteer to be a reader...:)

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  5. Glad you found a book you liked. Jorg seems like an interesting character.

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    1. He was interesting. Unlikable, but still interesting.

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  6. I don't like it when they write about teenage or very young killers and vigilantes. I wish American writers would stop feeding their kids with death and murder because they're poisoning the rest of the world with it too :(

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    1. I hear you Dez, altho I will say there's a reason the main character was the way he was.

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  7. It takes a lot of writing skill to make readers cheer for an unlikable character.

    Wow! The Writing Club has been around for seven years already? Man, time really does fly...

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    1. I agree. Most times I get bored, but there was something compelling about Jorg and his journey.

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  8. Wow! Maybe I should read this. I'm gearing up to write characters forced to act evil against their will, just because of their family heritage. ~grin~ Happy Reading!

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