Reading roundup: Prince of Thorns

[hamsterwoman]

52. Mark Lawrence, Prince of Thorns (Broken Empire #1) -- this is a book I wouldn't have picked up if not for ikel89's intriguing write-up. The write-up reminded me of Abercrombie, but, beyond a sort of gallows humour and a snappy style combined with the grimdarkness of subject material, the book didn't feel very similar to the First Law stuff at all.

Comments

[asthenie_vd]

I've read about Prince of Thorns before, but the grimdarkness you mention always turned me off. But if it's got interesting worldbuilding I feel like I must check it our for that, at least the volume! I'm always interested in good world building, and unusual ones even more so. :)

[hamsterwoman]

On the worldbuilding concept, I don't know that it's super-unusual, but it's not very common, and it's interestingly, thoughtfully done (at least so far).

As for the grimdarkness, if that's a turn-off, then the worldbuilding may not be worth the price of admission. But the opening pages are very representative of the level of grimdarkness and the tone (which mitigated the grimdarkness for me), so you could probably check out a reading sample's worth of the first book and determine whether it was worth continuing on that account.

[a_phoenixdragon]

*HUGS*

[reynardine]

Sounds interesting! I made a note to give that book a try at some point (although my to-read pile is huge at the moment!)

[hamsterwoman]

Will be curious to see what you think of it if you do read it! It's one of those books that are definitely not for everyone, but the first volume was a surprisingly fun read, and I hear it gets much more interesting in the two sequels.

[ikel89]

I was always on the brink of shipping him with Makin myself, but the women distracted me from that with scary efficiency. What did you think of Katherine?

"I don't like to get angry. It makes me angry."
I empathize with that on a spiritual level, and also "because fuck him" is truly the most accurate summary to ever summary Jerk XD

And yes, the puppeteering and worldbuilding will get expanded on, I promise. The first book just maps them out as things that exist, but they get to play a major role further on (not just as a backdrop for Jerk killing people dead :>). And of course, the connection thing that book 1 represented solely in Makin and Nuban will expand - I think you'll notice he grows up (while still staying his charming self, obviously:)

[hamsterwoman]

I'm only ~7% into book 2, so just just getting the Katherine POV interludes (I had no particular opinion on her based on book 1, tbh, although I did like the "I'm your Aunt Katherine line"). I like her so far, and little Miana, but I haven't seen enough interaction between either of them and Jorg to have any feelings on the two of them together (unlike Jorg and Makin).

I empathize with that on a spiritual level,Heh, me too. It's actually a great -- and probably fairly applicable (to people other than Jorg, I mean) -- observation

[ikel89]

I really love Miana and Katherine both, so I'll be looking forward to your impressions of them <3

Interesting about Taltos and Jerk - you must remind me to think back on it when I've read Taltos, ok? Might not be soon, but I'm curious to see what you mean.

And what are those traits you think you won't like in Night Circus? So far it reminds me of a number of things but not in a rip-offish way, rather, a combination of tropes I recognize and so far like, but I am not even mid-book yet to have a bigger picture.

#file anything under #better than dickens :P

<3

[hamsterwoman]

you must remind me to think back on it when I've read Taltos, ok?

Will do! (And I'm heartened that you're still thinking of checking out Vlad :) I swear I don't just keep mentioning him as a ploy -- Jorg really does remind me of him, a bit, though he's a lot crazier than Vlad.

I keep hearing Night Circus described as "lyrical" and "enchanting" and "romantic" and things like that, and books with those kinds of writing tend to be hit-or-miss for me (I'm also not necessarily a fan of circus/carnival-as-setting, although I've been able to enjoy stories set in some). Now I'm curious to know what other works this reminds you of. The description made me think of Big Fish, which I loved, but I also suspect that might be the rare sort of thing that would appeal to me more in a visual medium than in a book...

#file anything under #better than dickens :P

Haha XP

[meathiel]

Sounds like a good book ... I had to ... errrm ... acquire it ... ;-)

[hamsterwoman]

I hope you enjoy it! And looking forward to hearing what you think of it if/when you read it.