Prince of Thorns

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

The first in The Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence. The series is as follows:

Tropes used in Prince of Thorns include:
  • Abusive Parents: Jorg father is a cold, cruel, callous, calculating bastard, who uses his own son for his ends and then switches to plain open murder when the impossible mission he gave failed to kill Jorg.
  • A Child Shall Lead Them: Jorg becomes a king in the end of the book. He deposes not his father but Count Renar, who ruled an independent country.
  • After the End: The early mentions of Christ and Plutarch indicate that the story is set in our world. Later on it becomes clear that the events happen after the present time period.
  • Anyone Can Die
  • The Archer: The Nuban.
  • Artifact of Doom: There is a pile of still-usable atom bomb analogues, which Jorg uses efficiently.
  • Ax Crazy: Jorg, who says this gem:

"You got responsibilities when you're a leader. You got a responsibility not to kill too many of your men. Or who're you going to lead?"