King of Thorns Review

So I have now finished reading King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. It is the second book in the Broken Empire trilogy and sequel to Prince of Thorns which was released last year.

I read Prince of Thorns last year and loved the book and that was the reason why I picked up the second installment after it came out in Waterstones. The first book is very dark and gritty but hilarious all the way through. My only complaint about the first novel was how short it was, but on the other hand it was nice to read something straight to the point and not packed to the gills with filler like some other fantasy novels I have read over the years.

King of Thorns is anything but short though. The book tops nearly 600 pages in length, so while first was like a thick wedge, the second in hardback is like a doorstop - although its cover is far too pretty to allow it to serve such a purpose once you have finished reading.

Anyway the story follows Jorg - the anti-hero of the first book. Things kick-off four years after the last novel ended but the story jumps between the present and the events that took place after the end of Prince of Thorns. The book alternates between the two time periods and as the story progresses the events of the previous four years begin to bare more relevance on Jorg's present circumstances.

We first find Jorg, now 18, making plans to fight off an army that has arrived at his door. Also on the same day, seemingly by bad timing, we also find he is getting married. But as the tale marches on it becomes appraent that neither were any accident.

Then there is the object that haunts Jorg throughout the tale; a little box that holds one of his memories, which was taken from him to end his madness. Throughout he gleams shreds of the memory and pieces it together piece by piece. Yet the question remains until the very end: Should he open the box? And more importantly, what terrible thing did he do that his friends thought it best to have the memory taken from him entirely?

The book is written in a first person persepective (Jorg's) and walks the reader through his thoughts with every new situation he is faced with, along with his pains and memories. Jorg also often reflects on the thin line between life and death - often with humorous conclusions.

If you also had inklings when reading the first novel about when the story is set, King of Thorns confirms it openly several times.

In conclusion, this is a solidly written book with a lot of dark and also funny moments. My only complaint would be the lack of development among some of the other characters.

Overall I give King of Thorns 8/10