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2016-08-08, 19:40
What an incredible dark fantasy series. The writing brilliant, with every page carrying sentences and paragraphs about life that we inherently already know, but perhaps hadn't considered or couldn't put quite to words... Really top notch prose, but not so heavy that you get bogged down.
The great thing about this fantasy is that the reason for the magics existence is plausible, unlike most fantasy series where it "just is", or some silly basis, such as using metals within the body (Mistborn series) to create magic. Though the reason for it existing in The Broken Empire series isn't revealed until later.
There's a fair bit of violence and darkness, and the main character may be despicable to some. He rapes, he pillages, he murders, he hates... I think if we each look deeply enough and are honest with ourselves, we may all have a bit of Jorg in us. Do I mean we're all rapists and murderers? Certainly not. But, we all, as humans, are capable of anything given the right circumstances.
This excerpt is from the follow up series "Prince of Fools". The main character here is even more despicable than Prince Jorg. Prince Jalan is many of the things Jorg is, but he's also a complete coward; whereas Prince Jorg takes on all challenges and anyone who dares to insult him, no matter how slight. We will see if Jalan grows some nuts later on in the series... I would say the writing in the first series is significantly more memorable and eloquent, but the follow up series quoted from here is no slouch.
This is an excerpt from Jalan's far more honorable companion, the viking Snorri.
"Snorri left his son’s pyre, the last logs still blazing, the snow on all sides retreating to expose the black earth of the Wodinswood. Behind him embers swirled skyward amidst dark smoke. He trekked the hills of the hinterland, leaving the Uulisk far behind, tracking Sven Broke-Oar and the men of the Drowned Isles across the boulder fields of Törn, where vicious winds shape the rocks themselves. Above Törn the Jarlson Uplands, and beyond those, the Bitter Ice.
What he would do when he reached his enemy, Snorri had no idea, other than to die well. Grief and guilt and rage consumed him. Perhaps any of these on its own would have destroyed him, but in conflict, each with the next, they achieved a balance within him and he carried on."
If you're into fantasy at all, you owe it to yourself to check this series out.
Book 1, series 1: Prince of Thorns
Series 1 title: The Broken Empire
Book 1, series 2: Prince of Fools
Series 2 title: The Red Queen's War
Author: Mark Lawrence
The great thing about this fantasy is that the reason for the magics existence is plausible, unlike most fantasy series where it "just is", or some silly basis, such as using metals within the body (Mistborn series) to create magic. Though the reason for it existing in The Broken Empire series isn't revealed until later.
There's a fair bit of violence and darkness, and the main character may be despicable to some. He rapes, he pillages, he murders, he hates... I think if we each look deeply enough and are honest with ourselves, we may all have a bit of Jorg in us. Do I mean we're all rapists and murderers? Certainly not. But, we all, as humans, are capable of anything given the right circumstances.
This excerpt is from the follow up series "Prince of Fools". The main character here is even more despicable than Prince Jorg. Prince Jalan is many of the things Jorg is, but he's also a complete coward; whereas Prince Jorg takes on all challenges and anyone who dares to insult him, no matter how slight. We will see if Jalan grows some nuts later on in the series... I would say the writing in the first series is significantly more memorable and eloquent, but the follow up series quoted from here is no slouch.
This is an excerpt from Jalan's far more honorable companion, the viking Snorri.
"Snorri left his son’s pyre, the last logs still blazing, the snow on all sides retreating to expose the black earth of the Wodinswood. Behind him embers swirled skyward amidst dark smoke. He trekked the hills of the hinterland, leaving the Uulisk far behind, tracking Sven Broke-Oar and the men of the Drowned Isles across the boulder fields of Törn, where vicious winds shape the rocks themselves. Above Törn the Jarlson Uplands, and beyond those, the Bitter Ice.
What he would do when he reached his enemy, Snorri had no idea, other than to die well. Grief and guilt and rage consumed him. Perhaps any of these on its own would have destroyed him, but in conflict, each with the next, they achieved a balance within him and he carried on."
If you're into fantasy at all, you owe it to yourself to check this series out.
Book 1, series 1: Prince of Thorns
Series 1 title: The Broken Empire
Book 1, series 2: Prince of Fools
Series 2 title: The Red Queen's War
Author: Mark Lawrence
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth
