Apparently I hadn't read this book before, even though it was marked as read. I wonder what book I read that I thought was this one. I reviewed one of Mr. Lawrence's other books that I read without having the background and make some assumptions that were entirely incorrect. He reached out to me on Twitter with some questions and so I re-read (or intended to) Prince of Thorns. The world make more sense now but I will hold off on re-reviewing the other book until I finish this series. I generally don't mind the protagonist being a bad guy, or as in this case really evil, but it did disturb me that he is a child in this book. However that is the only thing that took away from my enjoyment and it's well worthy of the rating I gave it when I thought I had read it before.

I usually don't enjoy books set on earth with big reveal about the setting (See: Planet of the Apes) but while this book is set on earth it doesn't feel like it's supposed to be a big reveal or a major plot point. While there is no direct explanation of whatever disaster threw the world in to the state in which this story is set there is enough information for one to draw conclusions. The remaining technology is used well and doesn't detract from the fantasy setting or suspension of disbelief. Overall I'd give this one pretty high marks on world building alone. I do prefer a little more focus on magic and how it works, if it exists, but in this case the way it's handled makes sense so I'm alright with it.

Jorg, our protagonist, isn't likable, you don't want him to win, and at times he makes you want to throw the book (or your tablet in my case) across the room. What Mark Lawrence does do is manage to make you not root for the antagonists while at the same time weaving a story that makes you have to know what happens next. It appears to be a tightrope walk for Mr. Lawrence here in that by creating an evil main character that is hard to care about he has had to create opposing forces that are easy to hate and he nailed it without going overboard. That's a very important point that could be easily overlooked, he didn't go overboard on the bad (maybe "worse" is a better term) guys. Jorg is driven by revenge, make no mistake, this is not about justice, but pure cold revenge. I guess there are only a couple of ways to react when you're ten and watch your mother and baby brother brutally killed and get left dead. If the road to Hell is paved with good intentions then Jorg will never get there.

Even Jorg's "merry men" (my own reference, not Lawrence's) are not nice people. In fact there are points that make you wonder if there is any good left in this world. It's obvious there are normal people, even good people, but are there enough to make a difference? I will admit to the Nuban being one of my favorite characters and while he grew on me as the story went on I don't know if you'd classify him as remotely good. That said a lot of the characters have a code by which they live, you, the reader, probably won't agree with their codes but they exist.

The Prince of Thorns is not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach but it is a well crafted story. I have avoided the anti-hero references because I don't feel like Jorg is an anti-hero, he's the protagonist to be sure but there's nothing heroic about his drive or his actions. And yet none of what I describe feels like it's there for shock value, even if the overall premise is a little out of most people's comfort zone. It all comes together in a nice, albeit dripping blood, pretty bow with just enough threads hanging off to suggest that things might just take a turn for the even worse. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to read The King of Thorns because as much as I'd probably root for a white knight to cut Jorg down, I can't wait to read what he does next.