Book Review: Prince of Thorns (Broken Empire #1) By: Mark Lawrence
I give this book five out of five stars for its gritty dark exploration of grief, the uniqueness of the protagonist Jorge, a quality narrative, and a story that refused to leave my thoughts until it was finished. I eagerly look forward to reading the next book in the series.
What I loved about the book:
1) I am of the belief that if an author is going to take you somewhere dark, then they need to go all the way, or not bother. Lawrence went there with gusto. He takes you into the painful life of Jorge, a young man who has been changed by grief. We see him lost to youthful pride, running from what he defines as weak emotions, and twisted by a few outside manipulative influences. Rooting for Jorge is a superb ride as he deals with these things and evolves past his loss.
2) The world building is very well done, and gets better as the story progresses. The hints of a dystopian place hooked me deeper into the story. It wove an added layer of interest into this place and made the magical characters that much more fascinating.
3) The narrative is excellent; created with a solid balance between action, character interaction, and insight into the protagonist’s emotion. The language is elegant and it’s possible to pick out different characters by the impeccable dialog.
The content includes a high level of violence and some mild nudity, all of which I found appropriate to the setting and plot.
