King of Thorns

Mark Lawrence

Aug 2012 · The Broken Empire Book 2 · Sold by Penguin

About this eBook

In book two of the Broken Empire trilogy, the boy who would be king has gained the throne—but the crown is a heavy weight to bear...

At age nine, Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath vowed to avenge his slaughtered mother and brother—and to punish his father for not doing so. At fifteen, he began to fulfill that vow. Now, at eighteen, he must fight for what he has taken by torture and treachery.

Haunted by the pain of his past, and plagued by nightmares of the atrocities he has committed, King Jorg is filled with rage. And even as his need for revenge continues to consume him, an overwhelming enemy force marches on his castle.

Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But he has found a long-hidden cache of ancient artifacts. Some might call them magic. Jorg is not certain—all he knows is that their secrets can be put to terrible use in the coming battle...

Ratings and reviews

This book tries quite hard to spin a compelling story. It turns out to be a little too convenient that the protagonist acquires new powers/things fall into place at the perfect time to be believable. Obviously it is fantasy, but the story line is an overly worded, overly gustoed jaunt through implausibility and perfect circumstance. It changes the rules of the game when it is necessary to do so for the extravagance of the plot. Too much so.

The book has everything to be great but it's far too short and far too full of pretty ramblings and stray thoughts. Normally this adds a nice texture to a story but here it simply steals valuable space that should be used for content. Honestly if this series was one book it would be great, broken into three it feels like a rip off

If you like your novels to be at a grade 3 reading level, this is the book for you. But if you happen to like sophisticated literature that is written eloquently with all of the subtleties of the English language, then do not read this book: you will be seriously disappointed. I did not find anything in this book challenging.

About the author

Mark Lawrence is the author of the Broken Empire trilogy, the Red Queen's War trilogy, and the Book of the Ancestor series. He is a former research scientist working on artificial intelligence. He is a dual national with both British and American citizenship, and has held secret-level clearance with both governments.