Tagged: book 1
Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
(Cover picture courtesy of Fantasy Book Critic.)
Beware the Prince of Thorns…
When he was nine, he watched as his mother and brother were killed before him. By the time he was thirteen, he was the leader of a band of bloodthirsty thugs. By fifteen, he intends to be King…
It is time for Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath to return to the castle he turned his back on, to take what’s rightfully his. Since the day he hung pinned on the thorns of a briar patch and watched Count Renar’s men slaughter his mother and young brother, Jorg has been driven to vent his rage. Life and death are no more than a game to him—and he has nothing left to lose.
But treachery awaits him in his father’s castle. Treachery and dark magic. No matter how fierce his will, can one young man conquer enemies with power beyond his imagining?
When Savindi from The Streetlight Reader told me Prince of Thorns was quite unlike any other book because of the main character, Jorg, I was definitely intrigued. What had Mark Lawrence decided to do that was so different? Who was this mysterious Jorg?
Well, the short answer is that he’s a miniature Genghis Khan. When the opening scene in a book begins with Jorg and his men raping and pillaging, it tends to set a rather dark tone. Rightly so, as it turns out. Prince of Thorns is not an uplifting book at all, but what saves it is that it is an incredibly interesting book. Not just because of Jorg, but because of the future world it takes place in, one where there seems to have been a huge nuclear war that wiped out most technology and made it revert back to Medieval times. If that sounds familiar, it probably is, but Mark Lawrence put such an interesting spin on things that I wasn’t bothered by his use of that particular trope.
Prince of Thorns isn’t really so much about the post-apocalyptic world, but rather Jorg himself. This is one messed up teenager, something that I don’t say lightly. Seeing his mother and little brother killed at the age of nine while being trapped in a thorn patch and unable to help seriously affected him. He tends to lash out at the world, taking his revenge upon practically anyone in his ultimate quest for vengeance on Count Renar. If you’re quite sensitive, you will absolutely hate Jorg. But if you’re a little more open-minded, Jorg is an interesting character from a psychological standpoint. The success of Prince of Thorns is proof that main characters don’t have to be sympathetic to be popular. What they have to be is interesting enough to hold the reader’s attention.
Overall, I really enjoyed Prince of Thorns and I can’t wait to see where Mark Lawrence goes with this series.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Curse of the Ice Dragon by Tara West
(Cover picture courtesy of Guerrilla Wordfare.)
Born with mark [sic] of the Mighty Hunter, Markus saves his village from the brink of starvation—for whenever he releases an arrow, his aim is true. But despite his skill and strength, Markus is unable to confront his tyrannical father. Shamed by his cowardice, he distracts himself by needlessly shooting the forest creatures.
When Markus takes no heed of the village prophet’s warning that his actions will attract The Hunter’s Curse—for every animal Markus kills, his loved ones will suffer the same fate—the Sky Goddess unleashes her ice dragon. Now, Markus must flee the dragon without killing it…or his beloved brother will be the next to die.
[Full disclosure: Tara West sent me a free print copy of her novel in return for an honest review.]
When I started Curse of the Ice Dragon, I was expecting the plot to follow the traditional Hero’s Quest format. That’s not an altogether unreasonable assumption in most of the high fantasy I read. Yet my assumption was proved wrong! In some ways it did follow the Hero’s Quest format, but I absolutely love the unique spins Tara West put on old clichés to make the plot exciting and at times unpredictable.
To be perfectly honest, I hated Markus at first. He was cruel, selfish and completely unsympathetic, but that didn’t last for long. Markus goes on quite the character arc and by the end of the novel, he’s a completely new person and I’m looking forward to seeing how he changes throughout the rest of the series. He’s not the only character that stood out, though. All of the characters were three dimensional and had realistic motivations, but Ura particularly stood out for me. She’s concerned about her brother who left to go topside while at the same time must ward off Bane’s advances and keep her father company. Ura is definitely not your typical fantasy heroine and her character arc is just as interesting as Markus’, if not more.
I was rather skeptical about the world-building because it seemed like a typical fantasy world based on Norse mythology. Things couldn’t have been more far from the truth, which was yet another pleasant surprise. Readers will recognize a few typical fantasy elements, but Tara West never strays into the realm of hopelessly cliché. There are so many new things and such an exciting plot that you won’t be able to put Curse of the Ice Dragon down. Personally, I can’t wait for the next book.
I give this book 5/5 stars.