Sunday, April 12, 2020

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



A fantasy book (or rather science fiction, the events happen at far future post-nuclear(?) war world. As a small child, Prince Jorg sees his mother and younger brother killed. He will never be the same after that, and he is consumed by a need for revenge. Back at his father’s castle, he visits the dungeon and releases a band of outlaws. He joins them and slowly rises to their leader at the mature age of fifteen and terrorizes the countryside by robbing and raping. When he goes back to his father’s castle, he is due for a surprise.

An interesting book where the main character was a psychopath and totally unashamed about being a psychopath. At the same time, he manages to be a sympathetic character to at least some degree and someone you are rooting for. And there are some pretty good reasons why he is the person he is. He himself even realizes at times what he is and contemplates what he has done – but as he is a psychopath, he has little real remorse for his actions. The writing was good, but slightly complex in places. On the whole, this is an interesting book, and it is not impossible that I'd seek out the rest of the trilogy.

399 pp.

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