Review: EMPEROR OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence

Best read slowly to savour the poignant vehemence of each sentence.

The Hundred converge for Congression, an event that will unite or further imbalance the broken empire. With whispers of the Dead King making his presence known, the quest to rule above all is blood laden and not without sacrifice. For King Jorg Ancrath blood and sacrifice is at his very core. Relishing in violence and resonating in the nightmares of men, his actions are marred with the stain of the unholy – none more evident than in this latest book, the conclusion to the Broken Empire trilogy, EMPEROR OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence.

As with the previous instalment, KING OF THORNS, author Mark Lawrence splits the narrative between present day and a block of time prior (in this case 5yrs). The earlier sequences do more than provide background to Jorgs plight but also give rationale and justification for the events that take place in the present, notably the Congression.

There are loads of great ideas in the Broken Empire trilogy but for me, the highlight of the three books has got to be the end to EMPEROR OF THORNS. I won’t spoil it despite wanting to write at great length as to how impressive it was.

Fantasy readers, even the most casual thereof will find something to enjoy, be it Jorgs violent and bloody path to becoming Emperor, the notion of ghostly echoes of civilisations past, trolls, dead things walking or the nod towards medieval times.

THE EMPEROR OF THORNS is a stunningly good conclusion to the trilogy and provides a glimpse at The Red Queen of which the next fantasy series involves – The Red Queens War.

You may also like:

• Review: KING OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence

• Review: PRINCE OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence

• Review: INK MAGE by Victor Gischler

Weekly Pull List Feature [3]

This week in comics we see an end to the mini event from Valiant that is Shadowman: End Times with issue #3 (of 3) (more to come on that in a later blog post when I review the arc) and get taken to the outer reaches of space in the latest title to cross over with Valiants' epic event ARMOR HUNTERS in X-O Manowar #26; fans of Star Wars will LOVE this issue - writer Robert Venditti continues to raise the bar with this series. X-O #26 shines a light on the origins of the Armor Hunters while also giving readers insight into a couple of very interesting characters in Primary Reebo and Malgam.

Shadowman: End Times #3 (of 3) written by Peter Milligan, art by Valentine De Landro

The curse of the shadow loa is a terrible cross to bear…and Jack Boniface is about to be crushed by it.

As an army of voodoo invisibles makes war on Shadowman, the tortured spirit inside Jack will begin to consume his soul – and force a final confrontation with his greatest enemy, Master Darque…once and for all.

X-O Manowar #26 written by Robert Venditti, art by Diego Bernard

Abducted from his own time by a vicious alien race, the courageous Visigoth warrior known as Aric of Dacia spent years in slavery among the stars before escaping with his captors’ most feared weapon – the X-O Manowar armor. Now, stranded in the modern day, the world’s most primitive man also just happens to wield its most powerful weapon. But what is the X-O Manowar armor? And who before Aric of Dacia dared to wield its incalculable power? The ARMOR HUNTERS hold the key to the armor’s untold history and – one way or another – they’ll crush anything that dares threaten their secret. (I should note, that cover art looks fantastic in print).

Pull List Preview: Forthcoming Comics

Today I thought I'd  take a look at some of forthcoming comics due out in the second half of this year. Just like my taste in novels,  my comic reading is all about diversity and, more importantly,  great art that complements the authors vision which really makes this medium such an enjoyable change of pace from the longer form of fiction.

 

Already this year has produced some great new reads in Red City #1 (from Image) and Rai (from Valiant) - both futuristic and off world (Rai is set in the year 4001 in a floating Japan, while Red City is a noir tale spun in outer space with Mars central to proceedings).

 

Looking ahead, there's loads to get excited about for comic fans, but for me this handfull of up new books has me most excited:

 

July 2014: ROBOCOP #1 written by Joshua Williamson, art by Carlos Magno (Boom Studios)

 

 

Dive into the hard world of Old Detroit with RoboCop and his partner, Anne Lewis, following the events of the original film (1987). A deadly and charismatic criminal, Killian, is released from jail. He went into the slammer before RoboCop hit the streets, and now he wants to take out the biggest cop in the city. When OCP wants to take guns off the street, Killian sess it as his opportunity to take on the forer Alex Murphy.

 

July: SPREAD #1 written by Justin Jordan, art by Kyle Straham (Image Comics)

 

 

Ten years ago, humanity dug too deep and unleashed something ancient that couldn’t be controlled. Something that couldn’t be stopped, twisting everything it touched into more of itself. The Spread. Humanity was nearly destroyed before finding a way to slow the Spread to a crawl. Now, deep inside the quarantined zone, one man has found what might be the key to stopping it forever: a baby girl. And if he can save her, he might save the world.

 

September 2014: EX-CON #1 written by Duane Swierczynski, art by Keith Burns (Dynamite)

 

 

Ex-Con #1 begins in 1985 with L.A. con artist Cody Pomeray, who had a gift for looking inside a mark's soul with just a glance. But one fateful night, he targeted the wrong man -- and was sentenced to the most savage prison in California. Pomeray would have been beaten to death on his first day if not for the intervention of Barnaby Creed, the most powerful crime lord in the Southland. Now it is 1989 and Pomeray's out on parole, robbed of his special ability and tasked with doing Creed "a little favor." He has no idea he's just stepped into a long con, and this time, *he's* the mark!