King of Thorns

By: Mark Lawrence

Narrated by: James Clamp

The follow-up to Mark Lawrence' s thrilling debut novel Prince of Thorns, King of Thorns continues the tale of antihero Jorg Ancrath. After wresting back control of his kingdom from those who murdered his family, Jorg sees the land erupt with hundreds of battles fought by lords and petty kings. More daunting still, he faces an enemy many times his own strength. Jorg may not be able to win this battle in a fair fight, but he wields a rage and cunning that just might even the odds.

Also listen to the first book, Prince of Thorns.©2012 Bobalinga, Ltd. (P)2012 Recorded Books

Better than most middle books

Was looking to cure my itch while I wait for the new Red Rising book to be written. Saga is holding me over nicely!

So perfect

Such an amazing piece of work, mark lawrence is such a good writer, so witty, awesome plot, awesome character development, and narrator was a perfect fit.

Better

Better than the first book, he gets better at writing scenes to where they are more clear, BUT like every other review, he jumps around alot in the timeline, which can be great storytelling BUT some important details are skimped upon for dramatic reveal later on.

Watch me

Jorg is the most complex and conflicted character I have ever read. Prideful to a fault and a strength. Witty, diabolical, cruel, passionate, loving, nihilistic, regretful and many others all at almost the same time. ML made him a believable and likeable atrocity.

Better

While this series features the most unlikable characters I’ve seen in any other series I’ve read so far, they make sense in the ci text of the world. I think this installment was a great improvement, in plot, in characters, in world building, and even in the quality of prose and mechanics.

That being said, there is still too much of the deus ex machina and convenient outcomes to resolve the key prophecies and plot points and to remove the impossible barriers standing in the way of our protagonist.

Given there is another sequel here, it’s not really a spoiler to report that he “wins” though this leaves him with an even bigger challenge, without some key allies but with new allies by his side.

I guess I will have to listen to the final installment of the trilogy now after my investment in the story!