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afa · 11-02-2011, 08:22 AM

I am done with Prince of Thorns. Good book, a pretty solid debut from Mark Lawrence. I was a tad disappointed with the book, though; I had heard a fair bit about him and many saw him as an Abercrombie-esque author, but I can't say that was correct. Sure, his book has a lot of violence and the characters are, for the most part, b******s. But the similarities more or less end there. His style and prose isn't anything like Abercrombie's. Prince of Thorns seems to emphasize that everything is hopeless, whereas Abercrombie at least shows a glimmer of hope (before yanking it away). All in all, Abercrombie's status as my favorite author remains secure (and comfortably so).

I also felt PoT (now there's an unfortunate abbreviation) was a bit too rushed. Don't get me wrong - I don't look for Jordanesque levels of minutiae, but I do like a little detail. This was far too minimalistic for my taste, although I know some find it appealing (yes, I'm looking at you DiapDealer!). We were rushing headlong from one scene to another, without ever pausing for breath or just to take some time to reflect on and assimilate the events. For me, Abercrombie strikes the best balance between giving you enough information to feel as if you are in something big, without ever going into unnecessary level of details or 'infodumps'.

I also found Lawrence's mix-and-match style of world-building a little jarring. It is clearly a Fantasy, and yet there are plenty of tie-ins to the real world, in the form of references to Christ and Plato, as well as other references to ancient Rome and Greece. Not saying I disliked it, necessarily, just that I found it peculiar, and a little confusing. Does this mean that The Broken Empire is based in some sort of alternative Earth? Post-apocalyptic, maybe? Or is it truly a completely imaginary world, but one where Lawrence has decided, for convenience and perhaps realism, to share Earth's past with? I suppose we'll have a better idea as the series progresses.

All in all, I would say it is a very good, but not necessarily great, novel. I would still recommend it, though. Let's say a 7.5 out of 10.

And now, I shall be starting The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.

11-02-2011, 08:22 AM	#11265
afa The Forgotten Posts: 1,136 Karma: 4689999 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Dubai Device: Kindle Paperwhite; Nook HD; Sony Xperia Z3 Compact	I am done with Prince of Thorns. Good book, a pretty solid debut from Mark Lawrence. I was a tad disappointed with the book, though; I had heard a fair bit about him and many saw him as an Abercrombie-esque author, but I can't say that was correct. Sure, his book has a lot of violence and the characters are, for the most part, b*****s. But the similarities more or less end there. His style and prose isn't anything like Abercrombie's. Prince of Thorns* seems to emphasize that everything is hopeless, whereas Abercrombie at least shows a glimmer of hope (before yanking it away). All in all, Abercrombie's status as my favorite author remains secure (and comfortably so). I also felt PoT (now there's an unfortunate abbreviation) was a bit too rushed. Don't get me wrong - I don't look for Jordanesque levels of minutiae, but I do like a little detail. This was far too minimalistic for my taste, although I know some find it appealing (yes, I'm looking at you DiapDealer!). We were rushing headlong from one scene to another, without ever pausing for breath or just to take some time to reflect on and assimilate the events. For me, Abercrombie strikes the best balance between giving you enough information to feel as if you are in something big, without ever going into unnecessary level of details or 'infodumps'. I also found Lawrence's mix-and-match style of world-building a little jarring. It is clearly a Fantasy, and yet there are plenty of tie-ins to the real world, in the form of references to Christ and Plato, as well as other references to ancient Rome and Greece. Not saying I disliked it, necessarily, just that I found it peculiar, and a little confusing. Does this mean that The Broken Empire is based in some sort of alternative Earth? Post-apocalyptic, maybe? Or is it truly a completely imaginary world, but one where Lawrence has decided, for convenience and perhaps realism, to share Earth's past with? I suppose we'll have a better idea as the series progresses. All in all, I would say it is a very good, but not necessarily great, novel. I would still recommend it, though. Let's say a 7.5 out of 10. And now, I shall be starting The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.