The Prince of Thorns: Book Review

I just finished reading The Prince of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence. This is the first book in The Broken Empire trilogy, and it follows Prince Jorg Ancrath, a decidedly nasty protagonist who is about to return home after multiple years of raping and pillaging the landscape with his band of outlaws.

You get a sense of the kind of character you are dealing with from the very first chapter, where Jorg steals, rapes, and kills people with his troupe of men for no reason but loot. And this is the crux of the book, the major selling point. Jorg is the most unlikeable character imaginable, treating everyone around him like they are pawns in his schemes. The cherry on top is that this story is told from the first-person perspective, giving the reader a close telling of his actions and psychology.

Also, he just turned fourteen.

No Spoilers

Character

I was drawn into this story from the very beginning. And I am happy to say that I was satisfied with the story throughout the course of the novel, and I will be jumping to the next book very soon (I might read Of Mice and Men real quick beforehand, since it's such an easy read).

The part of the book that I liked the most was basically everything I mentioned above. The protagonist is basically the selling point of this series, and it is the main thing that dragged me into this world—and it will be the reason I'm continuing. It's actually kind of funny reading through the many, many reviews talking about how unlikeable Jorg is and how this story is not for them and how much Lawrence risked going this route—knowing my own reaction. I've probably said this a thousand times at this point, but dark characters are always my favorite, especially the ones who do the unforgiveable. It's especially funny because I think one of my characters in my own novel is even more unlikeable than Jorg is. It's easy to forget how niche your work is.

Either way, I'm actually willing to admit that Jorg wasn't even as bad as I was expecting. I've definitely read characters who were a lot nastier and cold-blooded. Seeing Jorg occasionally run up against the wall of his emotions was refreshing to me, at least showing that he wasn't utterly devoid of humanity. His backstory was alright, not something that truly captured me, but also not something that disappointed me. What truly grabbed me was just one spoiler aspect of the flashback that undercut Jorg's character and motivations, making you question how things had gone and where they might go in the future. I'll touch on that later.

Plot/Worldbuilding

The plot was a little scattered and rambling in nature. It was obvious that the book was not selling itself on a driving plot, or intricate scheming—so I wasn't let down or even irritated by it. And one thing I actually did enjoy was how the plot developed in a way that allowed the storyworld to reveal itself over time. The worldbuilding, overall, was minimal—but those who have read it know what I am referring to here.

And that leads to the second point I want to make in this section. I really enjoyed the "reveal" about the storyworld. In particular, it was the way that Lawrence let the information come out over the course of the story. He could have treated this as some jaw dropping revelation that throws everything into disarray, but it would have probably fallen flat, given that it’s been done before. Instead, Lawrence just let the information drip in until you realize what is being communicated. I imagine that this storyworld choice will only become more important as the series progresses, and Lawrence introduced it here in the perfect way.

The final point is about the magic system. It is a fairly soft system, as is often the case for very dark stories, and the portrayal was especially compelling to me. The way the scenes felt and the way they influenced the story was terrifying, even, and I can't wait to see how this changes over time. I'll bring up specifics in the spoiler section.

Prose

The prose in this novel was very simple and clear in the best way possible. But there was a more specific use that truly grabbed my attention. There are multiple dream sequences in this book, where Jorg becomes lost in his nightmares, and I really appreciated the way this was executed. Because of the discussion around Jason Fuhrman's book A Song for the End of the World, particularly how to portray a mentally unstable protagonist from a first-person perspective, I was in that headspace while reading this book.

The problem at hand was finding a way to ground the reader enough that they aren't flailing about for something concrete, while also setting them on edge with the twist of uncertainty that the protagonist is experiencing. Lawrence touched upon this idea with these dream sequences. There were moments where you were led to think he had woken up, only to have that subverted later on—and this did an excellent job putting you into Jorg's scattered psychology and the uncertainty that came with it. What made the sequences work so well was having the scenes be surrounded by beginning and ending scenes that ran parallel; either that, or there were common threads that the reader could grasp on to understand what was going on.

Part of the reason Lawrence was able to accomplish this is because these dream sequences were the exception to the rule. The whole of Jorg's experience was not as detached and unstable as these specific moments. And this asks the question, can this detached experience be communicated in the story where a person's psychology is so ravaged that there really is no common thread?

My thinking is that you are going to have to move away from the first-person perspective, or at least scale back the amount of depth, if you want to accomplish this. Another option is to provide a common thread and make the reader think they are grounded, only to pull the rug and show that the common thread is just their delusions. One example would be if a character travels through a world where things seem fantastical, only to reveal that the character is just insane at the end.

Either way, I found that I really appreciated these dream sequences in Lawrence's book.

Complaint

One minor complaint would be near the end of the book. I can't get into the specifics because of spoilers, but the general idea is that Lawrence basically mentioned what was going to happen by essentially breaking the fourth wall, and this put me off. In retrospect, I understand what Lawrence was doing, but I would have removed the section. As usual, I'll bring this up in the spoiler section.

Ending

For obvious reasons, I can't say much about the ending in the non-spoiler section. My overall evaluation was positive, though there were a number of specifics that I was asking questions about. Some things had the potential to be disappointing, but I am also aware of how the story might develop in the future, so I'm not too critical yet.

But How Dark Is It Really?

Now, for the question we have all been waiting for: Is this the darkest book I have ever read? Is this book darker than R. Scott Bakker's Second Apocalypse? The short answer is "no."

Part of the answer is going to be subjective. Like horror, different people find different things disturbing. From my own experience, I can say that even the first book of Bakker's series had a profoundly more discomforting impact on me. I genuinely enjoyed this book, and I actually kind of like Jorg, as nasty as he is, but he didn't really get under my skin. Almost nothing gets under my skin.

It is really only Bakker's series that has truly put me on edge. Some of the characters, the circumstances the characters find themselves in, and the way that Bakker builds up the dread over the course of the story is unparalleled. I might be able to deal with Jorg, if I met him in real life. Yet, a certain character in Bakker's story truly leaves me terrified; everything that he represents is basically everything that I fear, and he is the perfect of example of horror extending into the thematic realm of a story.

But it goes beyond even that particular character. I finished Bakker's first book feeling filthy and unwashed. I came out of it feeling as I did with Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects: feeling as if sex were an inherently animalistic and bestial act, with the thought that I might just go celibate from that point on. And the series just gets darker from there.

Bakker still reigns at the top.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I think I will give it a 7/10.

Spoilers

The "reveal" I was referring to was the fact that this story is set in a post-apocalyptic Europe. Lawrence could have "shocked" us all with a stunning reveal that was basically played out and uninteresting, but he instead went for a slow crawl realization. There is no point at which the reader is supposed to apprehend the truth. The information just builds until it can't be ignored. I was technically spoiled on this from the outset, but I still noticed very early on the references to Bertrand Russell and Nietzsche. It started with the subtle references, and then we got slapped with artificial intelligence and nukes.

And while I am talking about the nukes, I think I should very quickly pick up the one complaint that I mentioned before. At the end of the chapter where Jorg takes one of the nukes and plants it underneath the castle he wants to capture, Lawrence basically breaks the fourth wall and tells the readers that the consequences would have been infinitely worse if Jorg had gone through with his original plan. I hate it when chapters end with statements like "And they would never see each other again." Shut up. Don't tell me this crap. This is a cheap gag for keeping the reader invested. The story itself should be sufficient for that.

As I also mentioned, I understand the obvious implication, here. Jorg is likely telling this story after the fact, and we are reading a written account. This chapter's ending also functions as a kind of hint toward that, especially given that this is the first-person, rather than omniscient. The book's ending further supports this. I don't know if this will all become more relevant later on. We will have to see. Either way, I still don't like how the chapter ended. It was not necessary.

Character Moments

One character moment that I particularly liked was when Jorg had found Makin in the cell and was realizing that he would have to kill Makin if he were to follow his pragmatic code. But he hesitates and Makin manages to knock him unconscious. What happens after that? The next scene we are treated to is one where Makin and Jorg are walking together discussing their future plans. I laughed aloud at this, and for all the right reasons. I really appreciated the way Lawrence was willing to skip over the finer details, because the readers are able to fill in those gaps just fine on their own at that point in the story. It is an excellent example of parsimony.

But I think the best character moment in the book is when Corion is revealed in the flashback, and we realize alongside Jorg that he was flushed of his memory and manipulated into losing his hatred for Count Renar. Earlier in the book, we are led to think that Jorg had simply moved on from the desire for revenge. This undercuts all of that, forcing us to realize that Jorg was actually just a pawn at the hands of Corion. It makes you question whether this violent and amoral monster you have been following up to this point was fashioned into this person.

Part of me wished that he really was fashioned into a monster, given the implications, but the book ended with the suggestion that Jorg is like this without Corion around. I'm not disappointed, and I get the appeal of this approach too: undercutting the hope that he might actually have humanity or be worth saving.

I also question why Jorg remembered Corion, in the first place (in a good way). It happens when Jorg is stabbed by his father, but I'm left to wonder what the actual cause was. Did Corion allow Jorg to remember? That was my first thought, though the book ends in a way that suggests "no." Aside from Corion, it might have been the other sorcerer whom I can't remember the name of. The one who works for Jorg's father. He has reason to be rid of Jorg and also set Jorg's sights back on Count Renar and Corion, both. We will see.

Finally, for this section, Corion and his sorcery were what I was referring to when I mentioned that I liked the magic system. The whole notion of sorcerers who can manipulate the motivations and memories of others is a rather disturbing concept, and I hope the series will carry on along this thread for the next books.

Nitpick

One nitpick worth mentioning is that I thought Corion explaining why he wasn't king was a bit too on the nose. The comment seemed to be shoe-horned in, and it really wasn't that necessary. It's not hard for the reader to fill in an obvious explanation.

Ending

I have scattered feelings about the fight with Corion at the end of the book. I almost said "mixed feelings," but I don't know if that captures my reaction. On one hand, I am left thinking the fight was a bit anti-climactic with how it concluded. Corion only lost because of some freak occurrence. At the same time, I know that this isn't the last book. There is still more to come, and with the question of how to defeat these sorcerers still looming in the background, we are poised with more questions about how Jorg is supposed to proceed. The fact that he only won because of luck makes a person like Corion all the more formidable.

I would not call my reaction mixed at least because I'm going to wait until the later books to see whether this kind of ending is worth it.

Another question I have about the ending is how the confrontation with Count Renar was portrayed. Lawrence cut away right after Jorg began his charge. The story then ends with an account after the fact telling the reader that the Count was now in captivity and was being tortured by Jorg on a regular basis. It's usually not a good idea to cut away right before the emotional climax of the story. At the same time, I wasn't exactly disappointed by this. Maybe the fact that Jorg is so unlikeable makes this option both more appealing and easier to get away with. Maybe there is some twist later down the line that will make this come together. I think this is unlikely, but we will have to see.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I think I will give it a 7/10.