lia_kim's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I love the story bit hate the character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Murder
Moderate: Rape
dampgrass's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
I have never given a book a 1 star rating. This one is an exception. It read like a bad fanfiction that an 11 year old boy wrote, while being mad at his parents. All characters have zero redeeming qualities and are extremely sexist. The story has no point to it. All these men do, is kill and rape. Not to mention that the main protagonist was between 10 and 14 in the book and already killed half of the worlds population just because he loves killing. I do not understand how this is a trilogy and I never want to see or hear anything about this book again. I would not be surprised if only men enjoy reading this and I hope no woman ever thought this is an okay book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, War, and Kidnapping
farleighelse's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
This story feels like an edgelord's wet dream. There are frequent references to things that are just never explained or further expanded upon, leaving the reader confused. The concept itself is interesting, but very poorly done, containing the bare minimum that would constitute a book and leaving the reader wanting more, in the worst possible way possible. One of the most childish and simplest books I've ever had the displeasure of reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Racism, and Cursing
whirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An excellent anti-hero, dark and grim but captivating and interesting
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Child death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Murder, Torture, and Violence
Minor: Rape
writingcaia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Interesting story this one of Jorg, the Prince caught in the thorns watching the ones he loves the most die while unable to stop it.
When you meet him he is a savage, brutal, uncaring, ruthless kid, only thirteen, which kind of boggles the mind. But, I guess it is the Broken Empire and there are explanations and manipulations but there’s still a lot of violence that felt a bit too gratuitous and less mentions to rape would have tasted much better, still we end up realising everything has a reason, somewhat.
The plot is solid, sometimes leading places you would never guess, which makes it surprising and fun, but then gore, again. It’s the authors choice I guess.
The writing is pretty good, but both plot and writing in the author’s Book of the Ancestor trilogy are far superior, which is one of the reasons for my rating too.
The ending was not bad, not too much of a cliffhanger, just enough for you to know what’s what and making clear that he will be likely a bit older on the next book but his aim the same. How he will get there? Well I want to find out.
When you meet him he is a savage, brutal, uncaring, ruthless kid, only thirteen, which kind of boggles the mind. But, I guess it is the Broken Empire and there are explanations and manipulations but there’s still a lot of violence that felt a bit too gratuitous and less mentions to rape would have tasted much better, still we end up realising everything has a reason, somewhat.
The plot is solid, sometimes leading places you would never guess, which makes it surprising and fun, but then gore, again. It’s the authors choice I guess.
The writing is pretty good, but both plot and writing in the author’s Book of the Ancestor trilogy are far superior, which is one of the reasons for my rating too.
The ending was not bad, not too much of a cliffhanger, just enough for you to know what’s what and making clear that he will be likely a bit older on the next book but his aim the same. How he will get there? Well I want to find out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Blood, Murder, Body horror, Vomit, Animal death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Moderate: Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Rape
m3gan0's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Amazing storytelling. You want to be disgusted and hate Jorg but he draws you along and eventually you realize you kind of love the crazy kid.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Blood, Death, Torture, Child death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Torture and Sexual assault
Minor: Rape and Cannibalism
A lot of people die, often horribly but the camera doesn't linger.voxelbee's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Torture, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual assault and War
Minor: Genocide, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Fatphobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Racism, and Rape
pagesofash's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
“What's it going to take for you to open that door? Gold? Blood?"
"Your name and password."
"My name is Honorous Jorg Ancrath, my password is divine right. Now open the fecking door.”
Jorg you murderous wry little bastard I fucken love you! You’re right up there with Galharrow in my list of all-time favourite characters.
“… I leapt from the saddle. Or got as close to a leap as a man in full plate can, which is to say that I chose where I fell.”
I imagine that anti-heroes must be hard to write; like truly scary horror, or comedy movies that make you laugh right up till the end, else we’d see more of them. Either that or there’s just not as much demand for a solid anti-hero as I think – perhaps I’m just a special kind of twisted for liking them so much?
Whatever the truth may be this is a fact, you will be hard pressed to find a better anti-hero then good ol Jorgie here. Er I mean bad ol Jorgie… He’s sarcastic, he’s intelligent, he’s murderously ambitious and motivated and he comes equipped with a serious lack of respect for the sanctity of life. Not to wax lyrically about one character but Prince of Thorns is what I’d consider to be a character driven story. It’s not that the plot isn’t interesting, it truly is, and it’s not that there aren’t other characters worthy of your admiration. It’s that if you remove Jorg from this story there wouldn’t be a story, it’s HIS story, cf: title, duh! Don’t go looking for multiple POV’s here, you won’t get them (can I get a hallelujah!?).
Jorg ricochets through these pages leaving all manner of chaos in his wake; everything from torn and bloody bodies to rape, and yes my dear children, even a little bit of cannibalism – which, “is in fact frowned upon in most societies”. So DON’T go reading this book if you’re afraid it will offend your delicate sensibilities. If I read one more review about how such and such didn’t like this because of the violence etc. I’m going to have get medieval on someone’s ass! Clearly if you feel that way then you shouldn’t have picked it up in the first place. There are plenty of reviews stating the type of content contained within, you have been warned and I have no sympathy for any idiocy resulting from such warnings going unheeded. Okay, rant over, where was I? Oh yes…
Despite the destruction he causes and his flat-out amoral actions you can’t help but root for him through every blood torn and mud smeared chapter. Perhaps it’s his backstory, perhaps it’s the subtle nods to something deeper in Jorg’s character. Perhaps it’s the savage company he keeps or the fact that the world he inhabits is full of hard cruel characters. All I know is he’s a funny little bastard who’s not afraid to gamble it all and I would never bet against him.
More than Jorg though I love this book for the writing and the world it depicts. It’s a nihilistic place but the Empire feels like it could still manage to be pulled back from the brink. I think that’s what I find so captivating, a world gone backward that feels like it could be brought forward again if only the right person had hold of the reigns. And whose to say Jorg isn’t the right person for the job? I love the wit and sarcasm that oozes off of every page and the atmosphere of a world so dark that hope is all it has left. Hope and a psychopath.
"Your name and password."
"My name is Honorous Jorg Ancrath, my password is divine right. Now open the fecking door.”
Jorg you murderous wry little bastard I fucken love you! You’re right up there with Galharrow in my list of all-time favourite characters.
“… I leapt from the saddle. Or got as close to a leap as a man in full plate can, which is to say that I chose where I fell.”
I imagine that anti-heroes must be hard to write; like truly scary horror, or comedy movies that make you laugh right up till the end, else we’d see more of them. Either that or there’s just not as much demand for a solid anti-hero as I think – perhaps I’m just a special kind of twisted for liking them so much?
Whatever the truth may be this is a fact, you will be hard pressed to find a better anti-hero then good ol Jorgie here. Er I mean bad ol Jorgie… He’s sarcastic, he’s intelligent, he’s murderously ambitious and motivated and he comes equipped with a serious lack of respect for the sanctity of life. Not to wax lyrically about one character but Prince of Thorns is what I’d consider to be a character driven story. It’s not that the plot isn’t interesting, it truly is, and it’s not that there aren’t other characters worthy of your admiration. It’s that if you remove Jorg from this story there wouldn’t be a story, it’s HIS story, cf: title, duh! Don’t go looking for multiple POV’s here, you won’t get them (can I get a hallelujah!?).
Jorg ricochets through these pages leaving all manner of chaos in his wake; everything from torn and bloody bodies to rape, and yes my dear children, even a little bit of cannibalism – which, “is in fact frowned upon in most societies”. So DON’T go reading this book if you’re afraid it will offend your delicate sensibilities. If I read one more review about how such and such didn’t like this because of the violence etc. I’m going to have get medieval on someone’s ass! Clearly if you feel that way then you shouldn’t have picked it up in the first place. There are plenty of reviews stating the type of content contained within, you have been warned and I have no sympathy for any idiocy resulting from such warnings going unheeded. Okay, rant over, where was I? Oh yes…
Despite the destruction he causes and his flat-out amoral actions you can’t help but root for him through every blood torn and mud smeared chapter. Perhaps it’s his backstory, perhaps it’s the subtle nods to something deeper in Jorg’s character. Perhaps it’s the savage company he keeps or the fact that the world he inhabits is full of hard cruel characters. All I know is he’s a funny little bastard who’s not afraid to gamble it all and I would never bet against him.
More than Jorg though I love this book for the writing and the world it depicts. It’s a nihilistic place but the Empire feels like it could still manage to be pulled back from the brink. I think that’s what I find so captivating, a world gone backward that feels like it could be brought forward again if only the right person had hold of the reigns. And whose to say Jorg isn’t the right person for the job? I love the wit and sarcasm that oozes off of every page and the atmosphere of a world so dark that hope is all it has left. Hope and a psychopath.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Torture, and Murder
Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, Rape, and Sexism
areaderheart's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Death, Animal death, Death of parent, Violence, Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Gore, Body horror, Torture, Religious bigotry, Blood, Cannibalism, Child death, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, and Racial slurs
marie_thereadingotter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Review:
This is my first time reading true Dark Fantasy. I've read other books that call themselves dark fantasy, but after reading this, those feel a bit sugary.
Jorg is probably the worst kind of person, thoughtless murder, among other things. But what I like about that aspect of his character is that he never tries to pretend that he's anything but a shit person. He knows and uses it to his advantage as often as possible.
This is told from first-person perspective, and I've heard that some people struggled to read it because they didn't like being inside his head. I personally didn't have any difficulty with that, not sure what that says about me though.
There were chapters that were set four years previously, shortly after he was thrown in a briar bush depicting how he first met his band of "brothers", and how he was set on his path. It was a nice way to show what happened in the past that made him who becomes without the dreaded info-dump.
There are a number of side characters, many of them I didn't really bother to remember as they don't really play that big of a role in what is going on. Not to mention that most of them were given nicknames by the MC because he too seems them as expendable. Sir Makin and the Nuban are really the only ones he seems to remotely like, maybe even care for.
The only complaint I have for this book is that he really doesn't act his age. He's supposed to be 11- 14 through most of the book. I kept thinking he was older than 14, he acts like somebody in their mid-20s. Granted, people who go through trauma are often forced to grow up faster, and that could have been the case with him. But, he also doesn't talk like someone who has spent their formative years with thug-like people who likely can't read.
I really enjoyed this book though, and I am eager to read the rest of the trilogy. Mark Lawrence has quickly become a favorite author.
This is my first time reading true Dark Fantasy. I've read other books that call themselves dark fantasy, but after reading this, those feel a bit sugary.
Jorg is probably the worst kind of person, thoughtless murder, among other things. But what I like about that aspect of his character is that he never tries to pretend that he's anything but a shit person. He knows and uses it to his advantage as often as possible.
This is told from first-person perspective, and I've heard that some people struggled to read it because they didn't like being inside his head. I personally didn't have any difficulty with that, not sure what that says about me though.
There were chapters that were set four years previously, shortly after he was thrown in a briar bush depicting how he first met his band of "brothers", and how he was set on his path. It was a nice way to show what happened in the past that made him who becomes without the dreaded info-dump.
There are a number of side characters, many of them I didn't really bother to remember as they don't really play that big of a role in what is going on. Not to mention that most of them were given nicknames by the MC because he too seems them as expendable. Sir Makin and the Nuban are really the only ones he seems to remotely like, maybe even care for.
The only complaint I have for this book is that he really doesn't act his age. He's supposed to be 11- 14 through most of the book. I kept thinking he was older than 14, he acts like somebody in their mid-20s. Granted, people who go through trauma are often forced to grow up faster, and that could have been the case with him. But, he also doesn't talk like someone who has spent their formative years with thug-like people who likely can't read.
I really enjoyed this book though, and I am eager to read the rest of the trilogy. Mark Lawrence has quickly become a favorite author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, and Gore
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