Review: Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Title: Emperor of Thorns

Author: Mark Lawrence

Series: The Broken Empire #3

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Ace

Publication Date: August 6th, 2013

Edition: Kindle Edition, 593 pages

Source: Library

Purchase: Amazon US | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | BAM

Synopsis

    King Jorg Ancrath is twenty now—and king of seven nations. His goal—revenge against his father—has not yet been realized, and the demons that haunt him have only grown stronger. Yet no matter how tortured his path, he intends to take the next step in his upward climb.

    Jorg would be emperor. It is a position not to be gained by the sword but rather by vote. And never in living memory has anyone secured a majority of the vote, leaving the Broken Empire long without a leader. Jorg plans to change that. He’s uncovered the lost technology of the land, and he won’t hesitate to use it.

    But he soon finds an adversary standing in his way, a necromancer unlike any he has ever faced—a figure hated and feared even more than himself: the Dead King.

   I initially started this book months ago but had to put it down for a later date because reading this series in quick concession became too much. Jorg is a considerably darker character than most other protagonists I read about, and I just needed a break. I didn't mean to take as long of a break as I did, so when I got back to this book I had to just start over.

It's hard to put into words what I like about his character without sounding like a psychopath. Jorg, while he does grow over the course of the series, he doesn't soften so much as become decisive with his kills. He's still ruthless and a murder. But, I still like his character. He's a protagonist, but not someone to aspire to be like. That being said, I was a little saddened by his fate, because of his growth. 

While reading this series I was never sure where things were headed. The back and forth time jumps might have contributed to that, but had this been written linear, I don't think it would have worked. Because at the end of it all, everything came together in a place that makes perfect sense. The world is still a little confusing to me, the lack of a map makes it really hard for me to visualize the world. This is a "me" problem more than anything wrong with the series, I just really like maps.

The characters remain the shining stars. They all add something to the narrative, even the ones who have little page time add so much and the book would lack something if they weren't there. 

It's also very hard to talk about this book without giving away major spoilers. 

So I'm just going to leave it at this. This is a great series, and I think everybody should give it a read. There are some really dark themes, so keep that in mind.