For a long time, fantasy was one of my favorite categories of books. I still read them sometimes, but now I frequently find myself two chapters into the book and thinking "oh, they all go exactly like this."

"Prince of Thorns" does not go like that.

Yes, it's a fantasy world with some of the elements you'd expect and want in your fantasy book. But in this one, everything has been painted black. And then kicked in the throat.

The Empire is broken. The Prince comes from the thorns. These are weak words to describe the scene.

Quick: think of a fantasy novel hero. He or she is usually a thinker who has been drawn into action, reluctantly. He or she is struggling on the side of good in a world that has been sliding into decay, but has hopes of improving the world by righteous struggle against long odds. That's my gut reaction, anyway.

The "hero" of "Prince of Thorns" is vicious. He is nowhere near as cuddly as a grinch or a grouch. His sins are legion. His creativity is both fecund and fetid. He acts swiftly and from the gut... right from the grease of the liver itself. "Good" wouldn't stop by his house to reason with him over tea and cookies; "good" would firebomb him from a distance.

The lesser of two evils? That "lesser" part happens only rarely within these pages.

This isn't your childhood fantasy novel. This is not a black versus white world. This is a novel of anti-escapism. This is a novel with the entire wide spectrum of black. Well, maybe a little bit of really really dark gray here and there. Usually under rocks.

Yeah, and I really need to read the next book in this series, too.