Review: Prince of Thorns

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

“I've been known to be contrary. When something pushes me, I shove back. Even if the one doing the pushing is me. It would have been easy to gut him then and there. Satisfying. But the need was too urgent. I felt pushed.”

Jorg Ancrath is probably THE best anti-hero I have ever known. He's just fourteen, he's annoying and thinks he's always right, he goes against people just because it's fun, he's cruel and he's brutal. But he's also true to himself, he knows he's all those things listed above, and he's still the best and funniest narrator ever. Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath narrates his own story, and it's one hell of a story!

Between the present and the past, we learn that his mother and younger brother were killed right in front of his eyes while he was stuck in a bush of thorns by men of Count Renar. Wanting to revenge them, he sets off with a bunch of criminals and soon turns to be the leader of their gang at only 13! Villagers near their death stare with wide-eyes while they claim he can't be older than fifteen. Little did they know that Jorg SAYS he will be king once he's fifteen.

With a quest for revenge, Jorg guides us through an adventure to gain back his rightful place by his father while fighting ghosts, necromancers and almost death itself. Jorg pushes through with his cruelty which is made to shock us but is so honest it feels refreshing. Jorg has no second thoughts about his acts, and reading the honest way of how his feelings are written felt just right, refreshing from all the conscious main characters of nowadays. Jorg is an anti-hero, but you'll fall in love with him just in time.

“Memories are dangerous things. You turn them over and over, until you know every touch and corner, but still you'll find an edge to cut you.”

Mark Lawrence is a genius and wrote this book in a genius way. His words never fail to amaze, and the little world-building we have feels massive. It is dark and gritty, even thrilling, and the whole feeling of it almost makes you feel heavy. This is a heavy book that CAN'T be read in little time. It has you thinking to understand some things, and you have to be in the mood to read it, otherwise you'll get lost. This isn't to say it doesn't have its share of humor. The dark-humor in it is intense, and it's always delivered to us by our dear Jorgy, as the main character sometimes refers to himself. This is a character-driven story. We feel what Jorg feels and we WANT what Jorg wants. The way Mark writes Jorg is so sarcastic and compelling that it's impossible to hate the main character, you'll find yourself taking his side. As a character-driven story, Jorg also lets us know about the side-characters who are all different and important in their own way. This is a book where even characters that are mentioned in only one chapter get a name. It wouldn't be right if they didn't, as Jorg is narrating it to us and they were all people he met. Speaking of other characters, one thing I really want to see more explored is his relationship with Makin. Makin was a knight, the best man with a sword, captain to Jorg's father, and he ended up with Jorg and a bunch of bandits. Most important of all, he's constantly present in Jorg's life.

All in all, this book is definitely a solid 5. It has everything I wanted from the moment I knew he was an anti-hero. Anti-hero are my favorite type of main-characters, and when there aren't anti-heroes, I usually find myself rooting for the villain, maybe because of the inner layer of humanity that they have but that they never show when doing their most cruel acts. The mood is incredibly dark and the characters are cruel, it has sword fighting and necromancy, dirty sieges and honorable combats. It's completely (notice how I say it again) dark but brilliant at its finest. Mark Lawrence is definitely one of the best writers of this genre, and I can't wait to continue on reading Jorg's history, because I DEFINITELY want to seem him at the highest point. And this, my friends, is how you know it's a good book: when you're rooting for the worst person ever. I really am rooting for him to become the Emperor.

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