Prince of Thorns

By: Mark Lawrence

Narrated by: James Clamp

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Author Mark Lawrence has won over audiences everywhere with Prince of Thorns, his exciting debut novel.

Nine-year-old Prince Jorg is forced to watch as his mother and brother are slaughtered. Fleeing the palace, Jorg joins a bloodthirsty band of thugs. But he’s determined to take back what’s rightfully his, so he returns to the castle a few years later - unaware of the dark and powerful magic that awaits.

©2011 Bobalinga, Ltd. (P)2012 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

“Vivid … full of wonder. This book is brilliant.” ( Galaxy Book Reviews)

Very good book, Shatneresque narration...

The title says it all. I'm just writing this because Audible requires fifteen-plus words here.

Love this book/ series

I have been a fan of this series since I first picked up a paperback copy of Prince of Thorns and have reread it dozens of times. The audiobook brings Jorg to life and you really get a sense of the character. The story is very dark but, imo, extremely interesting and can be quite thought-provoking. It's a medieval fantasy with an MC that's an emotionally broken killer while only being in his teens. He comes across like a psychopath at first but, as the story unfolds, you realize there are very few good people in this world and he's less of a demon than he first appears. His father? A cold-blooded viper of a man that manages to be even worse than the MC and that's one of the least of his adversaries. The story is dark because the era is dark, the MC is a ba**ard because he needs to be one to achieve his goals. His is a character forged in tragedy and violence, where he learned as a child that kindness and honor are simply weaknesses that, not only will others use them against you, but in this brutal world it will probably be your death.

Short answer? Buy this book and the rest, you'll probably be just as hooked as me and will come back to listen again and again

Prince of okay

Any additional comments?

Book was okay, I at least finished it but when I did, I was done, I didn't want to go any further.

Wow! Surprized and glad I finally listed to this

I've been putting off this book for sometime, given the other review's descriptions of the dark, anti-hero.

They are very right; the main character is dark and an anti-hero. I almost stopped listening in the first 10min because he was such a B***rd.

But not shortly after I found myself rooting for him. It is an impressive work in that regard. The main character's condition begins to make sense and you begin to sympathize with him (I hope no one empathizes with him).

I liked it. I'm heading straight back to listen to the next book.

I'd say if you like dark/gritty this is your book--although, I'd say it is more dark that gritty.

I'd recommend it for fans of Game of Thrones, Blood Song, Dragon's Path, The left Hand of God, Black Company, or anything by Joe Abercombre

for angry male teenagers.

Like The Black Company this is a graphic novel trying to be a book. it's not boring, but it's melodramatic action with a lack of depth/lore.

okay...

hard to get into not so great character development, hard to stick to. audio was a little choppy at times probably won't move on to the next book.

the editing and pacing messed up the story

Unfortunately I do not believe this is a three star book. I believe it to be much better. The thing is that I listen to the audiobook. While James Clamp had a very nice voice, the pace and editing where off by a wide margin.

The protagonist was a brutal bloodthirsty child with no redeemable qualities. I have never heard of such a thing. So I was thrilled to pick this story up with my book group. Jorg was simply a demon spawn, unpredictable and brilliant. Though I began to wonder why the brothers followed him. A few liked blood and gold. Two loved him. But what about the rest? Usually in these situations it is one of two things. Pride or fear. They can't be proud of Jorg he is a monster and kills them when he wishes too. They can't fear Jorg because they outnumber him.

The past and present clashing swords made the story more interesting. Though a lot it seemed to be Jorg's self reflection which was a little much sometimes. Jorg repeatedly went through the same thoughts in his head. And honestly I don't know if it was the writing style or the audiobook that made me persistently loose my concentration. I felt there were gaps in the story but fear it was my daydreaming that caused them.

The author didn't give his readers much in the beginning. Ages or even good descriptions alluded me through most of the story. With Jorg being a teen I had just assumed all the brothers were of similar age. Though some were much older which made me more skeptical why they would answer to a child. One downfall I realized with a person such as Jorg is that he couldn't form an attachment with anyone so neither could I.

Not to sound sadistic but I enjoyed the brutality of it all. Jorg almost had a sickness it seemed. Doing whatever he pleased and didn't care if he killed someone else's mother even though he lost his own. The story became more alluring somehow. Scary even. Unpredictability is one of the scariest things in the world. If you know how someone will act you can adjust accordingly. But being face to face with a wild animal, do you fight or flee?

A solid fantasy novel elevated by a great reading

Prince of Thorns is a tale of a prince turned bandit leader and his journey of revenge. The main character is morally abhorrent but the quips and stellar reading make him easy to root for anyway. James Clamp captures Jorg perfectly and takes a good novel to another level. The filler characters in the bandit troop and Jorg's quips about them bring levity to a fairly dark novel. The plot is nothing revolutionary and generally unfolds as you would expect. The world building itself however is pretty interesting and was not the vanilla fantasy I expected.

The best anti-hero story ever.

Over 100 books in my library. This one nails it. Search no more. Your story awaits.

Amazing story about a Dark Prince

Great book. Although there were some parts where I did yawn, but when something catches my attention, it does so vigorously.