Book of the Week - Mark Lawrence, Prince of Thorns

I am travelling at the moment, and taking the opportunity to catch up on some holiday reading. This is a relatively slow time of the year for new book releases, but one that has caught my eye is Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. I mainly prefer to read literary fiction, with a smattering of crime and an occasional foray into fantasy. Prince of Thorns falls into the latter category, and is a first novel from a research scientist (bound to be good, therefore!). Lawrence has described the book as an homage (or sorts) to A Clockwork Orange - both feature an amoral antihero, which seems like a good starting point to me.

Prince of Thorns has sold to many countries, and there are few collectors more enthusiastic than collectors of fantasy. There is a dedicated website, and a quick search of the internet will reveal a lot of very positive reviews. Goldsboro books have an exclusive 250 copy numbered edition which seems very good value at £14.99, and this is the one that I would go for.

"Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that's true enough, but there's something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse."

Once a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg's bleak past has set him beyond fear of any man, living or dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father's castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.