With the holiday rush in the rearview mirror, I am starting to catch up on reviews of books I finished last year. First up is Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, the first book in his Broken Empire series.
Prince of Thorns is a dark, violent, and sometimes unsettling journey into the life of Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath, one of the most extreme antiheroes I’ve encountered in fantasy fiction. We’re introduced to Jorg as a thirteen-year-old self-exiled prince leading a band of ruthless outlaws who have just ravaged a farming village. Jorg enjoys war and has no scruples when it comes to killing, but most of all, he craves revenge.
All of this makes Jorg a hard character to root for. However, his tragic backstory – the brutal murder of his mother and brother while Jorg was pinned helplessly in a briar patch – offers some explanation for his motivations. This is particularly true after we learn that Jorg’s father has pardoned their murderer and taken a new, younger wife who is pregnant with an heir, giving the father a reason to ensure Jorg does not survive to take the throne. The fact that the father is more evil than the son provides one of the few reasons to pull for Jorg as he seeks to avenge the murders of his mother and brother.
Still, there is something genuinely evil within Jorg, something wicked enough to scare the undead. The reason for that is one of the story’s mysteries, which is somewhat resolved before the finale. But the book has enough intriguing loose ends that I’ve already purchased the sequel.
Another intriguing aspect of the novel is its setting. Lawrence’s Broken Empire is one of medieval castles, swords, and necromancers, but it is also the post-apocalyptic remnants of our own Earth. It’s hinted that a nuclear holocaust long ago reshaped the planet, leaving behind echoes of the old world. In the shadows lurk not just undead horrors and practitioners of dark magic but also relics of a bygone era – lethal technologies capable of wiping out entire civilizations.
Even many of the monsters of this world, like the Leucrota, are rooted in this atomic aftermath. While scary and seemingly magical, they are mutants who can consume radiation like miniature Godzillas, and a pair of them become two of Jorg’s most interesting companions.
While this book is not for the faint of heart or those seeking a traditional hero’s journey, it offers a thought-provoking exploration of revenge in a world whose history holds the secrets to humanity’s near extinction. It’s also a story that has lingered long after the final page, and as dark as it is, I’m eager to see where the series goes next.