Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Emperor of Thorns by Mark  Lawrence
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I took my time in reading this book because, first of all, I didn't want to leave the Jorg and Broken Empire universe, and second, some books are meant to be digested. It's like eating a dish that has been cooked all day and it has so many flavors that you want to spend all day eating it.

I am definitely coming back to the trilogy for a second read because I am sure that there is a lot that I might have missed in my slow reading through the book.

What is the book about? Well, our lovable murderer King Jorg has his eyes set on the the title of the Emperor and he also has some scores to settle with the Dead King and even when he has no plan in his head, he is always meeting things head on.

Mark Lawrence's writing is like a burning butcher knife through slabs of meat. It's powerful, it makes you think, it evokes images that you might not ever see while reading the usual fantasy books, and it leaves afterimages that will stay with you for a long time to come.

I loved the book for the "lessons" embedded in the prose. There is always this tongue in cheek sense of humor that makes you feel slightly guilty for finding it funny.

And a fitting finale. There was simply no other way and no better way to end a trilogy.

Right now, I'm really looking forward to reading Prince of Fools which is going to release sometime in June this year.


View all my reviews

Books I Am Really Looking Forward To

There is only a handful of authors I read with relish, the staple of Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk and above all Sir Terry Pratchett. I also like to read Science Fiction, particularly Cyberpunk, and some Fantasy too. But not too much swords and sorcery for me, it gets suffocating.

With that out of the way, there are few fantasy books i am really looking forward to read.

1) Scott Lynch's The Republic of Thieves. Next instalment of Locke Lamora series. The previous two books The Lies of Locke Lamora (June 2006), and Red Seas Under Red Skies (July 2007) were completely kickass. I mean, fantasy where people swear like anything is total win in my book. One of the most memorable lines I remember from the first book is "Be fucked" proceeded by the sayer shooting the other dude in the head. Lynch writes awesomely. A must read.

2) Richard K. Morgan's The Dark Commands. After I read Ringil's adventures in The Steel Remains, i was blown away by the scale of violence and perversion in the book. I never knew swords and magic could be so amazingly cool. Though Morgan is an expert in cyberpunk, (I re-read all three of his Takeshi Kovacs novels once every year) but his foray in fantasy has been nothing but epic.

3) Patrick Rothfuss was a new find. I saw someone praising him a lot on some forum and decided to read Name Of The Wind. It was fantasy of a different kind for me. There was not so much of swords and magic, there was some magic, but the voice of the author and his main character was strong. The book was a delight to read and now, the second part A Wise Man's Fear will be released in March 2011. Oh well, long wait.

These are the three books, i am looking forward to read. What about you?