I am very out of practise for writing reviews (it’s been like three months lol). This is less of a review and more of a thought dump. It’s not spoilery but unless you’ve read it you probably won’t understand what I’m on about.

Book Information:
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Series: The Broken Empire | Book 1
Genre: Dark Fantasy. Grimdark
Pages: 389
Published: August 4,2011
Publisher: Harper Voyager

Book Blurb:

“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 thoughts:

Prince of Thorns is very edgy, the vibes are similar to what I was writing when I was 14. Undeserving/unsatisfying ending. Not a lot in this book felt deserved. immature writing/voice – not sure if this is because Jorg is 14 or if it’s just poor writing. Will see if book 2 is any different as he’s 19 in that. Not a lot of worldbuilding/history bar from what Jorg is immediately facing. An easy read. Reading it after Abercrombie’s First Law may not have been the best idea as that had so much going on compared to Prince of Thorns. I think I have a higher expectation for fantasy now in general. Not a lot of the narrative was particularly interesting to me personally. The fascination with Katherine has no emotional development and is a bit gross tbh. Even the darker subject matter is not written in a graphic or mature way so I wouldn’t even call this adult fantasy. I’d say 14+ could read Prince of Thorns. I probably would’ve loved this when I was in my early-mid teens. Back in 2012, the standard for off the shelf fantasy was a lot lower than it is now.

I guess I wish the main body of side characters were more fleshed out and given a bit more impact on the story. I don’t feel the need to root for Jorg, not because he’s unlikeable (because I love rooting for unlikeable characters) but because I don’t have any strong feelings for him, I’m just neutral. He comes off as a bit annoying and just like a child thinking he could be king. Nothing he’s done so far gives me the impression he could be king though we’re supposed to believe he could. Even the other characters don’t really believe it either, they just go along with everything with no passion either way. We’re told he’s struggled against the powers that be because of his traumatic past but the reader doesn’t feel the struggle at every turn. More needed to be done to convince the audience of his strength as a character and a leader. I can immediately see the roles characters will play in the narrative as they’re in introduced, like with Katherine. We’re told she’s his weakness, as if her being in love with her will make him soft, but their relationship never develops, and other characters haven’t even noticed it.

I still plan to continue the series. I already own all the books and I absolutely love the artwork (probably the main reason I picked it up tbh). I didn’t find myself struggling to turn the pages or lose any motivation to finish. A middle of the road read. ⭐⭐