Mark’s first published novel, Prince of Thorns, is celebrating its fifth birthday on 2nd August 2016! To Mark the occasion he generously offered to send a signed or dedicated copy of The Wheel of Osheim to two random winners of this giveaway.
To enter simply tell us when and how you came across Prince of Thorns and how you liked it by leaving your response in the comment field below by 2nd August 2016!
Please note: your email address will be required for the submission but will NOT appear on the website!
(Alternatively you can also log in with your WordPress/Facebook/Twitter account)
Best of luck to everyone and Yaaaaaaaaay Happy Birthday to published Jorg! 😀
Agnes
that thorn guy 
It was the end of the month and I decided to go to the local bookstore. I was browsing with no particular book in mind when the girl that worked there asked me if she could help me. I asked for a fantasy recommendation and she immediately pointed at Prince of Thorns. Needless to say, I went back a couple more times to get the rest.
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When summer came around I decided that I needed to read. I hadn’t read properly all year due to school. I was starving for a fantasy book. So I brought out my old bike, then made my way to the city library. As usual, my feet lead me to the fantasy section. I scanned the shelves for something good to read. There were many titles, some familiar, some foreign, but one caught my eye. It was a small and wedged between two big books. Written by an author I’ve never read. Prince of Thorns. So I took it out, leafed through the pages, read a bit. Yes, the writing was nice. Skipping the praise on the back I read what really mattered; Who was the cheesy protagonist? Could I handle the cheesiness? Or would it be too much? Turns out, it was Jorg. Far from cheesy. Much more bloody. Brilliant.
So I read more, and more, and developed a complicated relationship with Jorg. Simultaneously hating him and empathizing with him. Especially in (spoliers) the second book when he meets Orrin.
Since I first laid hands on Prince of fools, I’ve purchased King and Emperor, as well as helped the Broken Empire wiki out. I do not regret being pulled into this fandom, I love it.
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It was a recommended read on my Amazon account for me, and I devoured it quickly. I even got my wife to start reading the series and recommend it to all my friends.
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Was in the bookstore looking to pick up The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett when the cover of Prince of Thrones caught my eye, I am a sucker for a good cover. Never heard of it before but I noticed right on the cover that there was a recommendation from Peter V. Brett on it thought it was a funny coincidence so I bought it and I am so glad that I did.
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Prince of Thorns*
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I read a review on Pats Fantasy Hotlist. Once I heard that Mark worked in artificial intelligence I was hooked. I love smart stories and witty writing. He does both and can really weave a tale that is not dumbed down. Thank you Mark!
Big Fan and I hope I win.
Take care and keep them coming.
Ron Witt
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While browsing the fantasy section of one of my favourite bookshops, I saw the front cover of Prince of Thorns and it grabbed my attention right away. After taking a quick read of the first few pages and was hooked so I had to buy it. I finished the book very quickly due to Mark’s style of writing, and has made Jorg one of my favourite fantasy characters to date. Since finishing the series I have been recommending it to all my friends, as a story of a different more darker type of fantasy hero.
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Was just fresh off reading one of the books of A Song of Ice and Fire and i needed another read soon or I would begin to lose it. I say read but really I mean audiobooks. A lot of people give me shit about how listening to audiobook is not the same as reading, etc. But im not going to argue that now. Point is I needed something to listen to while I worked, I was a janitor at the time, so I looked up “best fantasy books of all time” on google. One of the first pages was an article on the 25 best fantasy books. Of the 25 I had read 5 already and of the remaining 20 only one caught my attention. Ranked 12 was The Broken Empire series. Bought the audiobook for Prince of Thorns right then listened to it for 8 hours straight, fell asleep, woke up and listened to the rest of it. I loved it so much I went and bought it at the bookstore along with the the 2nd and 3rd installment of the Broken Empire. By far the best series I have ever read, every chance I get i recommend it to my friends. I even went and got my best friend hooked ton the series as well. I look foward to every new release from Mark Lawrence who is now and will forever remain my favorite author.
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Peter V Brett told me to do it. Well, not personally, but I saw him rave about it in Facebook. Glad he did! High tide raises all ships 🙂
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As silly as this, and most likely because I don’t read reviews or participate in forums, I read Prince of Thorns because it was recommended to me by whatever gods Amazon uses to recommend books. I read it after King of Thorns was out but before Emperor of Thorns got published. Anyway, it was pure genious and one of the best series I have ever read. Definitely the most quotable.
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Do you believe in love at first site, Mark? I didn’t until one summer’s day when I was in Waterstones looking for “Britney Spears: Heart to Heart” when I looked at the fantasy section and saw that young scallywag holding a sword on the front cover. To call it love at first site is illegal in almost every country as he is but a boy, HOWEVER, I fell in love with the name, the artwork and the sword. My bosom heaved with anticipation. “I must have it!” I thought to myself, so I got it for Christmas, the end.
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I was fresh off a binge read of the Black Company books and searching desperately for something that could satisfy my growing obsession with morally ambiguous antiheroes with complicated penchants for black humor, violence and humanity. After several hacky false starts (all with very similar cover aesthetics, I might add), and on the verge of despair, I decided I might as well give this Thorns book a try. Mission accomplished with aplomb. And it just kept getting better.
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I have come across so many of my favourite books by chance, a description that has a bit of a ‘waow’ factor, a spark of interest, research on the author if it is someone I do not know.
Prince of Thorns hooked me after the first page, as I turned the pages, it reeled me in, it was very different and in some parts, the prose was pure joy! Uplifting at every level.
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I got a free copy when I pre-ordered A Dance of Dragons from Waterstones. I think the Wertzone blog flagged the offer. I enjoyed it and have enjoyed the next four books too, plus the short story collection.
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It was the summer of 2012. I was blazing through my summer reading list when my mother told me to stop whatever I was reading and read the book she had just finished. It was Prince of Thorns. Fantasy wasn’t really my thing, I explained to her, but she did not care. She pestered me until I relented and read the damn books. (The first two) and they were awesome. We waited for the third one together.
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I was on the GRRM website when I came across a post that stated, “If you liked the Game of Thrones books, then you’ll definitely love The Prince of Thorns.” You know that person was right. It’s the only book I recommend when asked.
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I was looking at a book I had seen at the shops using good reads and I saw a comment left by Mark, so I decided to check out his profile. I saw he had written a book – Prince of Thorns – the book looked like a interesting read so I tracked it down and bought it. Soon after I started reading it I was hooked. Every chance I could take to read it I was. I was recommending the book to all my friends and family and soon too they were reading Prince of Thorns. It was different to what I was used but I’m so glad I bought it. It’s now up there with my favourite books on display.
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I literally just went to Barnes N Noble one day to visit my mom- didn’t plan on getting anything. Didn’t have money. Had like ten other books lined up to read, but I picked Prince of Thorns up off the shelf, read the back and said “hey it’s only 300 pages. it sounds good, so it shouldn’t take that long. treat yo self” little did I know it would soon consume my life and soul…
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Why, I was looking exactly for something of the sort – a compelling “anti-hero” type of grimdark fantasy book that I wouldn’t want to put down from start to finish. And so I found “Prince of Thorns”.
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Wondering through B&N looking for something new and the cover caught my eye. Sounded great and wasn’t disappointed.
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I was given the book as a gift, by my brother, who had never read it. We have now both read the whole first series and are devouring the second – Jal and Jorg both so flawed, so full of real humanity (but in very different ways!). I love the world too, a sci-fi style land lost but given over to fantasy. Not to mention the totally unique magic system!
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I started reading prince of thorns because all my other authors were between books. One of my favourite authors, Peter Brett, had mentioned Mark Lawrence as someone to watch, and when I read his review tag on the cover of PoT, I was convinced to give him a try. I bought the book on a Thursday, drove out to the lake on a Friday, finished it on Saturday night by candlelight, and started it again on Sunday. What a read. The scale of the story and the unique way in which Mark told the tale had me hooked(pun intended) from the first chapter. I’ve grabbed everything Mark Lawrence has published since and can’t wait for the next series!
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I had finished last book of demon cycle by Peter v bret.
Prince of thorn came up in Amazon similar genre and Peter v bret recommendation decided to give this book a go. I prefer trilogy books which are already published so I don’t have to wait for next one 🙂
Thoroughly enjoyed all of your books since prince of thorns. Nearly shed a tear while reading during the dance. Laugh out loud recounting jals insightful comments on cowardice and bravery, and no words can describe jorg.
Quality work, rich characters. Gruesome action.
All I want to say is thanx
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I had just finished another read through of the Game of Thrones series. I’m always left feeling like there will never be anything as satisfying when I’m finished with a great series. So I scoured through Amazon, which as most of us know, finding a good new book is like finding a needle in a needlestack. PoT happened to be on sale, and even better, the whole series was out, so I downloaded a sample. I don’t even think I finished the first page before i went ahead and purchased it.
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Found through a pinterest board and so happy I was searching that day!!
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It happened during the semester I was taking Organic Chemistry in college and feeling particularly bloodthirsty. I happened to notice the book by chance on one of my regular prowls at the bookstore. Reading the first chapter made me realize that the murderous rage I had in me was nothing compared to Jorg’s and I was instantly charmed (and weirdly humbled). I bought the trilogy then and there and have been an avid reader of the author’s works ever since. Thank you for the amazing ups and downs these books have given me.
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I had recently migrated to Denmark from a tropical country. It was winter and I was always miserable and freezing. The town library was my favorite place to stay warm and help with the homesickness–a library gives me the same feeling of comfort and peace no matter where it is located, even when most of the books on the shelves are not in english. The sci-fi and fantasy section had the most english-language books, which was lucky since I also love these two genres.
So I picked a bunch of books out and found a comfy chair to read a chapter here and there. I don’t remember what the other books were now, but I remember falling in love with the angry prince as I read the first chapter, and then the next chapter. I remember the soft blood-red easy chair, and the white snow outside the window, and the black winter trees. I also remember falling into the angry prince’s world as I read the next chapter, and then the next chapter. I lost track of time and didn’t realize it until I got a text from my husband wondering why I was late coming home.
I borrowed the entire set and finished everything in a little over a week. Ahh the curse of being a fast reader. I’m ordering the books from an online seller because I want to have my own copies and because I want to share these awesome books with my husband.
Thank you, Mark Lawrence, for bringing Jorg to life. Thank you for his story.
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I discovered Prince of Thorns at my local library when I was around twelve or thirteen. This was right around the time the book came out. As you can imagine Prince of Thorns is not exactly for children but I absolutely loved it all the way through. Jorg proved to be an interesting anti-hero that I actually began to root for and support even though I sort of despised him and his merry crew for their actions. All that I did when I was that age was read read and read some more so it only took a couple of days for me to read all the way through Prince of Thorns and I LOVED it and could not wait for the next installation to come out. I still come back and read the book every so often for nostalgic reasons haha.
I loved Prince of Thorns mostly for its outstanding narrative and how the story was structured. Rather than being a basic fantasy story with a lovable hero that fights for the good in life Jorg is someone that the reader will typically not relate to or like all that much. Also the way Prince of Thorns was narrated was close to perfect in my opinion; the way that we, the reader, get to understand and see every thought that crosses Jorg’s mind in quick and easy sentences was a great use of first-person writing and I wish more authors utilized this style of writing.
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I Discovered this book through goodreads and I thought it was something that my little brother (13 years old :O) would love to read. The cover was all PG 13 type so I decided what the heck. I bought the E-book version for my bro and when I fell Into a reading slump I decided to pick it up. I read till the part where Jorg “rescues” Father Gomst and I was hooked… and the rest is history 😛 I LOVED Jorg for reasons still unknown to me, and I totally recommended this to all my friends…
My little bro still asks me for the book that I supposedly bought him….
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Just wanted to read something new. /r/Fantasy on Reddit recommended The Broken Empire heavily. Mark seemed like a cool guy and we had image processing in common.
My reaction to the book was perfectly summarized by Robin Hobb: Jaw dropping. I mean literally. With a deep gasp.
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I finally caved a bought a kindle back in 2013. At the time Prince of Thorns was trending under fantasy and fairly high on the list. I bought it on a whim and it promply became the first book I read on my kindle. I loved it so much I wizzed through the others in the series – Emperor of Thorns had just been released – and I now end up pre-ordering any Mark Lawrence book I hear about!!
The main thing I love about the series is how much you end up rooting for essentially a bad guy. There’s not really definitive lines drawn between good and evil though like you usualy come across in books, i.e. this person has never done a bad deed in their life sort of deal. The characters are also very deep, and you see many sides to them.
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I was browsing through fantasy titles on Goodreads and the covers (yes, I can be incredibly superficial about books) caught my eye. I bought the trilogy and started reading, only to realize I’d spent two days being antisocial so I could absorb everything. After that, it took me three days and rereads of the first two books just to finish the last half of book three.
I love the series. Adore might actually be more appropriate. I ended up becoming a hard-core Mark Lawrence fan and, often, cheerleader.
Happy anniversary!
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I09 & Goodreads book club =]
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I generally liked the books of the hungarian publisher who made the release of the trilogies possible. I chose the first book blindly, and it was one of the best choices what I ever made when it comes to books, I am and will be a fan of Jorg 🙂
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Found it through http://bestfantasybooks.com/top25-fantasy-books.php
Fantastic trilogy, and I’m halfway through the Prince of Fools trilogy. One of my favorite authors now, keep it up!
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Picked up the book in water stones when someone in the shop next to me said “you don’t want to read that it’s full of violence”
My reply “sold!” I then wheeled myself to the counter with a smug look on my face and left a rather bemused stranger behind me. Loved it from the first page. That was a few years back now and I’ve read it a couple more times since 🙂
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Picked up the book in water stones when someone next to me says “you don’t want to read that it’s full of violence”
My reply “sold!” I then wheeled myself to the counter with a smug look on my face and leaving a rather bemused stranger behind me.
I loved if from the first page. That was a few years back now and I’ve read it a couple more times since 🙂
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It was the book of the month for a fantasy subgenre group that I started following on goodreads. I checked it out at the library and ended up buying the whole broken empire trilogy.
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Boring answer: Twitter
I honestly couldn’t even tell you who mentioned you first, most likely candidates are Brett, Weeks and Rothfuss.
Started following you as well and you seemed like a good and interesting bloke, the cover art for the books is GORGEOUS so off to amazon I surfed!
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Have not read it yet. It comes strongly recommended by a fellow member of a Facebook group I belong to. I was researching the author and the titles mentioned in the recommendation, and here I am.
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Audible.com and audible.com.au and amazon and goodreads spent 6months recommending.so I caved to the pressure
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Found it at Dymocks because i needed something new to read. Was utterly different from anything else Id read before and was completely hooked
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I first encountered Jorg about 18 months ago when I wrapped up the most recent Joe Abercrombie book. It was listed in the ‘suggested for you’ tab at the bottom of my kindle. The title was so intruiging and word of mouth so good that I downloaded it immediately. Every night for a week I sat with a glass of Whisky and devoured all three books of that trilogy. I learned there was a second trilogy and was incredibly stoked because I had undoubtedly found new favorite writer. Cheers and to many more adventures!
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I purchased my Prince of Thorns paperback at a used bookstore a few months back. I had been heading back towards the clearance section, 22 year old with not much money, when I saw a display of new books. I don’t normally look at the new ones because of their price but I couldn’t help it. I just had to pick it up. I read the first few pages and cursed myself because I knew I would be unable to place it back on that display. So made my happy yet slightly pouting self move to the register instead of the clearance.
This story grabbed me and the entire time I was uncertain of my feelings of Jorg. I came to realize at the end of the book that I rather liked him… And I liked him for his brutality, crassness, and his confidence. I finished the book and immediately went online to find the others in the series because I was excited to learn what happened next
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It’s been several years ago. I had finished reading the Night Angel trilogy and was making a list of other fantasy books recommended and kept coming across rave rescuers for this Thorn guy. I actually hesitated initially, b/c it’s written in FP, but I got it anyway, and was blown away. Thus began my love affair w/ the much maligned Jorg.
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I kept hearing about the books on r/fantasy and decided to pick it up on audible. This of course led to listening to all the books in a row!
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Every summer, my family would go to Brookside Resort in Park Rapids, Minnesota. It’s a log cabin resort on the Two Inlets lake, and is in the forest, so my favorite thing to do was read outside because the scenery was gorgeous and it felt really peaceful. When I was looking through the local bookstore there, I saw a copy of Prince of Thorns and I really liked the cover art and the description sounded interesting so I bought it. I don’t remember why, but I actually really didn’t like the book at first. I changed my mind around the time Jorg and Co. got to Ancrath, and then I couldn’t put the thing down. I read the book in two days I was so hooked by it, and now the whole series is one of my absolute favorites. I’ve reread Prince of Thorns about 5 times since then, and I still don’t really remember exactly why I didn’t like it the first time I read it.
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My friend told me about it while we were playing board games and boy did it sound really interesting from just that. After i picked up the first book i could not put it down and fell in love with the trilogy it is honestly one of my favorites now.
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I had just finished reading the Great Gatsby recommended by my friend. I told him to give me a book that was as epic but of a different type. He told me about The Broken Empire trilogy and the moment i read the first ten pages, i knew it was something special. His words were “never a dull moment” and he was absolutely correct. Never stopped reading since. On the King of Thorns now
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In India,especially in Bengaluru(south India) where I live there is an increasing shortage of bookstores. So as I was going through one such surviving bookstore called Landmark with the sole purpose of spending my tri monthly saving of an equivalent of 12 USD,on Mr.Brandon Sanderson’s book….I couldn’t resist to not pick up the “Prince of thorns” with its dark enticing cover art and after one reading of the preview at the back….I could do nothing but go home with the books and the satisfaction of money well spent I only realized after 2 days whence I completed it…I hope I win the giveaway….but anyways kudos to Mr Lawrence and thanks for such a wonderful novel….And also awesome work on the prince of fools series.!!!🙌👍
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It is rather odd. I came across Prince of Thorns by accident, and I think you will remember this with me Mike, it had to do with encountering you on twitter. I think maybe some other conversation got us intersected, the book’s premise got me curious, and off I was to the races.
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Mark, not Mike.
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I was looking for book recommendations, one of my friends recommended it to me and I totally loved it.
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I found a copy in a second-hand bookshop. It looked interesting; I’d finished it by the end of the day and then brought King and Emperor on Amazon that night!
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Asked for it as a gift and received!
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Saw it the first day it came out, reading the jacket at a B&N, bought it, enjoyed it so much that I have copies of all Mark’s books, and their Kindle editions as well. a brilliant author that I am thankful for.
EZ
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It was an Amazon recommendation for Prince of Fools that led me to Prince of Thorns. Read the reviews of Fools and thought it looked good (which when I came to read it, it was). Saw though that the author had written an earlier series so, with my OCD kicking in that I should start at the beginning, I had soon bought and downloaded Prince of Thorns; King and Emporer soon following. Fantastic series that I have recommended to many …
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I was browsing a best fantasy list, looking for something new. I love them all!
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I had been soldering through another fantasy series that left me bored. I rarely don’t finish a series once I start but on this one I let it slide. I remembered I had seen PoT on display at the local book store and thought I would give it a shot. It was almost to cold to read on my back deck but once I was hooked I sat out there day after day, eventually freezing my ass off until it was done. The bourbon helped to keep me warm but did help the post read conversations with my family.
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I stumbled upon Prince of Fools at the library in the new books section last year and after reading it and loving it, I wrote to Mark via Goodreads and asked if I should have read Prince of Thorns first. Although he said they were two separate series unto themselves, there was some crossover between the two. I was intrigued and read the Thorns series. I really enjoyed this series and Mark’s character development. Can’t wait to read the Wheel of Osheim and onto the next Lawrence book!
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I had just finished reading Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself. I emailed a friend and said I wasn’t sure I liked this darker kind of fantasy book. He strongly suggested I read Prince of Thorns and said he guaranteed that I would like it. He was right! Thanks, Charlie (@areadingmachine)! Once I got caught up, I started getting each book as soon as it was available (hardback plus eBook at midnight on release day) and am eagerly awaiting my omnibus copy! Happy First Book Anniversary, Mark! I’m really looking forward to Red Sister!
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As usual went stalking through the shelves of my local bookstore, but had to use a lifeline. I am new to the fantasy scene, my usual taste are in Sci-Fi or Horror, like Rob Thurman, and Mira Grant. My friend suggested The Broken Empire as it links fantasy with my love of dark and twisted main characters to the fantasy realm. As soon as I picked up ‘Prince of Thornes’ I knew I had found what I had been longing for in this being forced to “try new things” phase my friends have gotten me in. Reading it as fast as I can, and absolutely love it!
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I visited this page yesterday but when I started to comment, I found out that I don’t remember how I found about the book. What I do remember is how surprised I was by it. I kept wanting to hate Jorg but he kept worming his way to my heart. I remember telling a friend about how this protagonist had nothing protagonisty about him and yet I dared her to hate Jorg. She didn’t fare better than I had. Thanks for this opportunity!
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While browsing my local bookstore, I came across one book that stood out from the rest. Prince of Thorns. After a quick glance at the back cover I thought what the heck looks like a good read and bonus it’s a series so if I like it then I’ll know what to read next. Needless to say I couldn’t put it down once I started. After that it’s just been a domino effect of one Lawrence book after another! I have no intention of looking back just going to keep reading as long as Mark keeps writing!
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Earlier this year, I needed another €7.50 to qualify for free shipping, and I’d just run out of fresh books. So I figured i’d search for english fantasy books with a price range €7.50-€8.00 . Turns out prince of thorns was the only book matching those filters at the time, and I still cringe when I remember thinking ‘Worst case scenario, it’s long enough to keep me busy for a weekend or so’. Needless to say, I enjoyed the book quite a bit and I am still unsure about how I managed to not hear about the broken empire series sooner.
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I saw the cover and just chose it randomly because it looked cool. I am so glad I did because I was addicted to the whole series from chapter 1!
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I happened on prince of thorns in an indigo book store. I live in a small town, which don’t get many books. I was taking my father down for cancer treatment in a bigger city. I found mark’s book and I knew it would be good! It made the stay at the hospital not as long and stressful.
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I ordered it on Amazon because I wanted to learn more from Mark, and also see what all the fuss was about ^.^
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Saw it at a local bookshop, was very intrigued by the cover art. Bought Prince and King of Thorns there and then. Great reads!
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I was reading an article on how A Song of Ice and Fire could potentially be set on a future Earth, and someone had mentioned the Broken Empire trilogy in the comments. Then I bought all of the books and they were excellent.
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I was actually begrudgingly bought a copy for Christmas by a manager that hated me but was coerced into buying the teams a present. Refused to read it due to the association and gave it away (as books should be read) and then as a wind up my other manager bought the same book on my birthday, read it and haven’t looked back!! Love the style and hope Mark never runs out of ideas
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I was writing reviews for a newspaper at the time and had a lot of books crossing my desk. With limited reading time and so many choices, it was tough to crack the to-be-read stack. I’ve learned many lessons about judging a book by the cover, but that’s what caught my attention and pushed Prince of Thorns out of the donate stack and into the take-home stack. Of course, when I cracked it and started reading, I was hooked, and it was one of my happiest literary discoveries of the last five years.
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I happened upon a paperback copy of Prince of Thorns by accident. I was in a Books-A-Million looking for something new to read after having read The Warded Man, and when I saw the cover for Prince of Thorns it just grabbed my attention. I picked it up and was hooked. After reading it I was bummed to find out the second book wasn’t out yet, but I preordered it immediately.
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It was a cheap kindle edition that got my attention. I figured, “What the hell? How bad could it be?” And then I fell in love……
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After reading my 3 full bookshelves for the thousandth time and while taking a break from writing my own I decided to reward myself. It turned out to be a stressful day, ending up at the bookstore only 20 minutes before they closed. I decided to browse the “new” section to speed up my selection so as not to piss off any employees eager to end their workday. As luck would have it every book that caught my eye was mid-series and if there’s one thing I hate it’s getting a book that’s not the first in a series and having the patience to wait on finding the first before wanting to dive in the book at hand.
5 minutes left, last book on the corner of the table..never heard of the title or the author but it was book number 1, perfect! Back home, alone, raining softly I start reading..next thing I know it’s 5am and almost time for work. Book is finished but my mind is still wrapping around it. I believe I read it 8 or 9 more times before I ever found out that book 2 and 3 had arrived!
Now just after finishing book 3 in the 2nd trilogy I’m hungry for the short stories. I didn’t know a book could wear darkness as well as a woman!
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I’d run out of Fantasy to enjoy. I’d just finished Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and frankly, I thought nothing could compare. Really, I didn’t want something to compare, I wanted something incomparable, so different it could not be held up against books I’d already read and yet still fantastical. I was, more or less, bored of fantasy.
Then I found this charming little book, more akin to Darkly Dreaming Dexter or Tokyo Ghoul than The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Grimdark, Fantasy, Literary Fantasy – Whatever people may dub it, it re-enlivened a world I thought haggard and made it new again. It did what the self-published books I’d been desperately paging through on Amazon wished they could do – Something different and something viciously intelligent.
I think I remember actually being tipped off to it by some kind of online list, but I can’t remember it for the life of me. Apologies to whoever wrote that list, you deserved a lot more credit than a nameless nod.
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It was in an audible sale and sounded interesting 🙂 best sale ever!
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I came by this book because of a recommendation on Terry Brooks’s website. He was posting about reading a couple of Thorns books as he had also recently read The Dark Thorn by his webdruid, Shawn Speakman.
Because I was out of work back when I first picked this book up, I got it as a library lend, got halfway through then went on a mini break with family, meaning I returned the book. Jorg has stuck with me all this time because I love, love, love the use of a woman’s rear as a book easel, and because I like to binge, I will set myself some free time and go read all of your fables.
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I first started reading Prince of Thorns around 3 years ago. I had just learned that I rather enjoy grim and dark books, having read Joe Abercrombie’s Trilogy and A Song of Ice and Fire. I went online to search for books I would enjoy, and an obscure list somewhere had Prince of Thorns listed in the top three books along with GRRM and Abercrombie. I tried it and was shocked into the glorious world of Mark’s writing. Every sentence delights me. Seriously. And Jorg!
My first read was a borrowed copy, but since I’ve been able to purchase my own, one of the special editions, and I can’t wait to have it in the flesh and it belong to me!!
I also learned later on that Mark is bery active online! And so began the fandom. *shakes pom poms*
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In May of 2013 my gf of 4 year (since high school) was diagnosed with cancer. We fought the illness together, but eventually she passed away in June 03 of 2014.
Twenty six days later (on my birthday) i decided to pick a fantasy book (after more than 1,5 year without reading due to obvious reasons) to escape my world and join another. That’s when i fell upon Prince of Thorns, with a cover & synopsis completely fitting my mood. I have since read both trilogies of Mark Lawrence, and he is by far my favorite author, a person to look up to.
Whenever i think about The Broken Empire, my Anna always comes to mind, and the memories are always bittersweet.
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I was looking for my next read and saw Prince of Thorns on a list at Goodreads along with some of my other favorites. I gave it a shot and was hooked. I’m not 3/4 of the way through Emperor of Thorns and find myself slow-reading it as I don’t want the adventures to end.
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I am enjoying the Prince of Fools. This is next on my list.
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I was looking for something new to read and I kept seeing Prince of Thorns mentioned, and the “controversy” around it. The impression I was left with was that you took the cliche underdog kid comes into his own, kicks ass, and becomes ruler, but turned it on its head by making the kid absolutely brutal. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into exactly but after reading Prince of Thorns you instantly became my favorite new author, and probably in my top 3 fantasy writers overall. As an aside, the “controversy” wasn’t particularly controversial in my opinion. People sure can overreact, amirite? Amazing debut and series, looking forward to everything you write in the future!
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I’ve heard about it on the local fantasy forums (eydis.co) and on reddit, about how it’s “oh so brutal”. Tried the brutality, learned that going back would be near impossible 🙂
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I think I first saw a review of it – very positive I might add on the Adventures Fantastic blog site. Keith does a lot of heroic fantasy/Grimdark/sword and sorcery type reviews.
So in the strength of that, I went and bought Prince of Thorns.
I was cool urging my wife to be at the time – I was in Montana and she was in LA so between the flight there and the flight back I read the whole thing and upon landing – went to my favorite local bookshop and bought King of Thorns for the next flight the next week and Emporer for the next one after.
I’m a big fan and would love a signed copy of The Wheel of Osheim!
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When I first heard about this book, it was from the lips of my dear and best friend. Nothing but praises. But, considering the kind of books she was into (the weird, socially unacceptable ones), I dismissed her rants as a passing fancy. (It’s usually like that between us, until something new catches her attention and then she doesn’t shut up about that new bauble.) Except, she didn’t shut up, but created a year long plan to convince me that this book was The One. She’d sent me beautifully worded quotes from the book at the most random times of the day. And I got intrigued. I maybe read a quarter of the book in quotes by the time I caved (she’s persistent that way). And while I waited for it to arrive, she started discussing headcanons and theories and ideas about the upcoming book. It was all extremely overwhelming. But then I read it. It didn’t take long before we were setting coffee dates just so we could discuss characterization and plot. Because this book, above all, was very different from what we expected in mainstream fantasy. I LOVED it. It became a sort of obsession for us. I was completely hooked on Mark’s work from then on.
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Trolling the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section of my local Beans and Noodles(Barnes and Noble) and the cover art for Prince of Thorns jumped out and slapped me. After reading the description, I immediately grabbed it and The King of Thorns and scooted to the register to begin my adventure.
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Found it online. The lovely cover reeled me in sometime around last year (b/c c’mon, we all judge that book by that cover), all noble and stuff. And then I got into it, and realized, haha, the cover is beautiful but ironic! And it made me appreciate the book that much more. I loved loved the book, it was everything I didn’t know I needed and everything I wanted! ❤️❤️
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I wrote a post in a general book discussion on a now defunct Swedish film forum. My post said something about me not having read any new fantasy in ages, and being sick and tired of clichés like ‘innocent and simple Farm Boy meets Wise Old Wizard, discovers his Destiny and grows up to marry the Beautiful Princess and save the world from Ancient Evil Forces’.
One of the answers I got was a pitch for Prince of Thorns that piqued my interest enough to order it the very same night. It loved it instantly! The complex characters and moral ambiguity reminded me of Michael Moorcock, and the darkly poetic prose was and is beautiful. It was precisely what I had been looking for.
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I was led to Prince of Thorns from an Amazon recommendation as I’d read the Joe Abercrombie books. These usually don’t work out for me so I was not particularly confident. However, within a 2 pages I knew this book was something special and had made me forget my earlier infatuation. It’s visceral, brutal and harsh but not gratuitous as you come to learn later in the book.
Jorg’s story unfolds like a blood-red bloom opening its deep crimson petals and you peek into the horror lying at the heart of this remarkable young man. The prose is a sharp and clean as the blades which cut through gloom and flesh throughout this book couple with a dark wit which will have you nodding your head in admiration.
Not only was it exactly what I was looking for, it was exactly what I needed.
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I came across this book on Goodreads before it was released, looking for something to feed my soul after finishing The Lies of Locke Lamora. The blurb sounded extremely promising, and I instantly rushed to pre-ordered it. Although there was no possible way to pre-order it in my country I got it delivered to a friend’s place in ANOTHER COUNTRY and waited patiently for this fantastic book :3 Worth it ^.^
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oops accidentally forgot to mention my opinion of the book itself XD I absolutely loved it. The writing was dark, gruesome and just thoroughly captivating. One of the best high fantasy novels of all time in my opinion. The story was just something else, with perfect characters. The writing, plot and characters wove together a truly remarkable tale. 5/5 stars ^.^
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Saw it on amazon when it first came out. I had just finished a book and had nothing to read and wanted something new. Obviously I made the right choice
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People were commenting on it on the Malazan site so I ordered it and instantly loved it.
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