Superb ending to a fantastic trilogy. Mark Lawrence really outdid himself with Emperor of Thorns. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so this will be vague.
Emperor of Thorns follows our (anti-) hero Jorg of Renar, NOT Ancrath as he caravans to Vienne. There he is to join other kings and representatives who will vote for a new emperor. The vote takes place every four years and it has been a very long time since the Broken Empire was whole. Jorg intends to change that.
Meanwhile, we have our previous ancillary characters (No Spoilers) moving in the background as the plot of all three novels converges. Emperor of Thorns is a little more science fiction than the other two Broken Empire novels but the transition seems natural and unforced. Finally, there is one hell of an ending that I did not foresee at all. WOW!
I REALLY liked this entire series and this book was the best of the bunch. It would get 4.5 stars if I could do that but falls just short of a fifth. I don’t quite love it and I’m not sure why but I recommend this to anyone who likes darker fantasy. Like I said in my review of Prince of Thorns- in a sea of (equally nice) indie rock, this series is a refreshing glass of Black Sabbath.
Total 5-star series for me. The last one might warrant a 4.5 because I was slightly disappointed by the ending and the Dead King. That being said I think Lawrence is brilliant and it would have been almost impossible to stick the landing on a story this complex and he very nearly did it.
I can only guess why you didn’t quite love this one but I’m guessing it’s because it was the slowest moving. In the previous two books Jorg is routinely facing mortal peril and impossible odds. In this book the threats where a bit more mysterious and emotional.
Still I adore them all. Jorg has got to be the best dark hero ever written.
I have to ask: what’s the appeal of this series? I just recently read and reviewed Prince of Thorns, and I absolutely loathed it on every level. I’m not looking to pick a fight or anything, I’m legitimately curious why so many people seem to enjoy this series. If nothing else, I’m looking at the blurb on the cover of Emperor of Thorns, where Conn Iggulden (whose Mongol books I’ve read and enjoyed) puts Lawrence on par with Martin, and that just strikes me as preposterous.
I saw your review yesterday and was contemplating a discussion starter myself so I’m glad you reached out. No worries about a fight, to each his own.
I liked this whole series because it represented a departure from much of the fantasy I have read. Most fantasy, IMHO, has heroes and villains that are clearly differentiated. The good and good and the bad are inherently bad. The Broken Empire Series has a villainous hero. Jorg is a sociopath. He is excessively violent and yet, the hero of the series. As a reader you can’t cheer for Jorg but you don’t necessarily cheer against him. I think the comparisons to GRRM are a result of the blurred lines between right/wrong and good/evil.
I could tell that this series would not appeal to everyone as I read it. I liked the way that Lawrence made me care about a sociopath. He made me want to cheer for Hannibal Lector and I think that is a testament to his ability as a writer.
I’d like to think that those of us that like the Broken Empire aren’t all sociopaths with subdued violent tendencies. Maybe Jorg is the answer to all the things we wish we could do at an unconcious level. I prefer to think that we just like the novel approach to modern fantasy.
Also, I don’t think it’s necessary but just in case – DO NOT READ BOOK TWO. It contains a scene that I found painful to read, though it did explain much Jorg’s personality.
Alexis- I wonder if it was the slower pace. I don’t think it was because I normally appreciate the slower, more analytical politics of a story. You made me think and I appreciate that. If I had to put a finger on the reason I didn’t rate it higher, I would say that it was my overall desire to not inflate my rankings. I don’t want every review to be five stars and I can think of five or six books that definitively liked more so I knocked it down a peg. That may not be fair to a lot of books but I can’t help it at this point.