Prince Of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

The Blurb On The Back:

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.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Mark Lawrence’s debut fantasy novel (the first in a trilogy) is a dark, nihilistic tale that follows a teenage anti-hero. Although I don’t need my main characters to be likeable, I found this to be an uncomfortable and unsatisfying read, in part because while showing Jorg’s casual attitude towards rape and murder and the way he revels in the darkness within him, Lawrence also sets up possible excuses for it. Despite Jorg’s first person voice, the book oddly lacks atmosphere and I found many of the plot twists to be predictable. The world-building also failed to convince me with Lawrence hinting at a post-apocalyptic future that’s reverted to Medieval norms for reasons that are unclear (although I suspect it will get explained in the remaining books) and I found it dispiriting that female characters are once again relegated to mothers, spouses, virgins and whores. Ultimately, this just wasn’t a book that worked for me and I doubt that I’ll read on.

Thanks to Harper Voyager for the review copy of this book.