What People Get Wrong About Prince of Thorns | The Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence Review

I read the reviews for this book
And everyone was talking about the grape in chapter 1 and how disgusting it was and because of that they dropped the book
When i read chapter 1 i was like
" what are the se people talking about"
There is no grape scene there is only one sentence the impkies a grape happened
If this is so disturbibg for you in a made up world then ypu have a problem
I was expecting a grim dark extreme fanatasy book and to be honest i felt it was mid conpared to the other grin dark books i have read
Honesty the book does not deaerve the hatw it gets because there ia no justification for it

I still haven't read anything by Mark Lawrence, but I appreciate your take on looking at what the book is doing rather than criticizing it for not following a certain fantasy formula. I personally find the genre term grimdark too reductive, but that's a whole other conversation. Great hearing your thoughts here!

Although the ending/reveal negatively impacted my experience with the trilogy, I still recommend it to people nonetheless.

That being said, this might be the best video on the book I’ve seen in all of BookTube! I agree with your points for sure.

Love the video. Such a nuanced take and I praise you for actually doing the leg work to trying to understand the main character in context of the story and what Mark Lawrence is trying to do. I think that's what a mind like Gene Wolfe would be proud of. I haven't read the books yet and based on the premise it wouldn't be my absolute Top 5 fantasy sci fi for me either, but it is worth trying to see this character's journey. Also, love that comparison to Batman.

You've done an excellent job with this video, Sam! I found myself nodding in agreement many times as I listened to you. The fact that you can articulate this level of understanding about Jorg without having read Emperor of Thorns makes me keen to find out what you'll think once you finish the trilogy. For me, the ending adds even more layers of understanding and fascination to his character.

I really enjoyed your review and the way you approached it. I look forward to hearing what you'll think after you finished all three books.

You're going to have to go on to The Red Queen's War. It's a concurrentquel, but is incredibly entertaining, as it follows a Han Solo-style loveable rogue who gets magically bonded to a Viking warrior against both their will. It is a bunch of fun, and gives you all the missing pieces about what happened in the past of the Broken Empire. So, you get the humor of The First Law, but in a Broken Empire-setting.

...then, you should also be aware that ALL books released by Lawrence since are, in some way, connected to the Broken Empire...

First interesting pitch I’ve heard of this series.

Mark's stuff is definitely in my top 10 fantasy, all 6 of the Broken Empire books (i.e. Thorns and Red Queen), and I don't think of Jorg as evil or bad, he''s flawed, perhaps deeply, but not evil...

Lawrence does what Gemmell used to do. Stories that feel complete and pack a punch with 350pgs or less. Skipping appetizers and straight to the main course without making you feel like you are missing something.

I love Lawrence and find his books fascinating. The fact that he can make a complete sociopath like Jorg a sympathetic character by the end of the trilogy shows how great a writer he is. And then to turn around and write the Red Queens War, which has a completely different vibe? He is so talented.

I have a lot of thoughts about this series. It is one of my favorites. I appreciated that Lawrence didn’t try to say his main character is “better” than the road brothers. Jorge didn’t just suffer the trauma of his mother and brother being brutally murdered in front of him, he also suffers the incredible consistent abuse of his father. On top of all that, Jorge is constantly fighting against the darkest parts of himself. He is self aware enough to know how that darkness can destroy him and his dreams and works to counteract it.

I struggle to take people seriously who write Jorge off because of SA. Not the murder of innocent people, just the SA.

Anyways, great video!

read this in afgahn alone out in the middle of nowhere, loved it. got me back into reading.

One of my favourite lines in the series is "faster than an arrow, faster than a bullet even. Oh yes, I know of those." I just love the smugness that drips from it.

Very thoughtful and nuanced analysis. Great job. I haven’t read Mark Lawrence yet, but I’m reading The Blade Itself right now, and have no trouble rooting for several of the morally grey characters (perhaps that’s an indictment of myself), but it’s definitely funny. I look forward to reading this one for grim comparison.

Great video man! I think you'll like the end of the trilogy, but I'm curious.

as described, it makes no sense. he's already PRINCE! why would he need to WORK to be king?! it's on the calendar already! and after he escapes to testify who did it, why wouldn't his father the king have the count's head? and how dare a mere count attack the family of a king? where was the SECURITY DETAIL?

I think Jorg's self-hatred is also a factor in his resentment. I think he partially blames himself for the death of his mother and brother, claiming that he could have gotten out of the thorns to help, and blames his inaction on fear instead of the reality that he was indeed stuck and probably would have been killed by the thorns, had tried to move and help. This was such a great review. I just finished Prince of Thorns, and am about to start on King of Thorns.

To me the broken empire trilogy and the red queens war are the same. They tell one story and it is epic. It is not about the protagonists. They are the vehicle of the story for sure but not the focus. This story does a lot of things. First and foremost it is story about feelings: Hate, anger, frustration, loss, sadness, love and hope. Second it is a story about faith, fate and destiny. The author has an excellent grip of the physical reality we live in, being well versed in mathematics and physics, and he weaves his intuition into an extrapolation of our current reality into the mystical realm of AI, space and time. He challenges the narratives of religion in a profound way letting Snorri lead the way in a way which I don't think leave any observant reader untouched. Finally the story talks a lot about the nature of power and violence. What it is and how you should think about it. I read and listened to the trilogy more than five times and I just keep finding more. I have a hard time even pick up new books because of how great this work is as it most other books to shame.