my first encounter with mark lawrence was when i was last in the uk with family in 2013, going into the forbidden planet megastore and seeing this cool looking book called 'prince of thorns'. whilst the holiday was four weeks (three in the uk, one in the us), i didn't expect that i'd get through the entire broken empire series over the course of i think a week or two while over there. compared to all of the other fantasy titles i had read up until that point, this was fast, dirty, gritty and steeped in mystery and gorgeous worldbuilding. it's now been eleven years and a few months, and im still journeying along with mark lawrence, with jorg and makin, jalan and snorri, nona and zole, and now yaz and her crew. lawrence's ability to weave together the real world, the imagined, the half-spaces in between, all set to unique stories is incomparable in the modern fantasy genre, and given the work he does with the SPFBO, he's ushered in a new age for authors and fans. there's never been a title of his that i've read that i've never felt like i didn't want more, and this is no exception. i suppose it's time to get back on the path he's set out, get my novel out there, and follow in the footsteps of the master.