I just sat and read and it wasn’t until I realised that I was completely alone and the house was deathly quiet that I noticed that it was about 2.00 am in the morning and everybody else, without my even noticing or acknowledging it, had gone to bed. I was on a tractor beam and couldn’t get off. I started the read and almost had a headache in the first few chapters (okay, maybe I’m not as smart as some and sometimes had to stop and think ‘what?’) but then without any discernible effort on the part of the author I was totally immersed.

This story is woven like the most complex tapestry and really is a thing of beauty, I was practically clapping my hands in appreciation at certain points. This also helps to keep the momentum going rather than reading the plot in a straight line and watching the story unfold we seem to jump from one action scene to the next barely catching breath inbetween. We move to one time frame and get to take part in the current battle whilst moving back in time to read about seemingly random and meaningless events – albeit interesting. This is such a brilliant device and works really well here. The story is told in two time frames so that even though we’ve jumped forward in years we still get to see how Jorg has reached his current whereabouts. However, his domain is threatened, a mammoth army sits on his doorstep, he’s outnumbered 20:1 and the battle of wits is about to commence. We’ve moved on and he’s now King of the Highlands. I don’t know how he did it but he’s written this wonderful and complex plot where all the strands come together, like magic, and where very little is left unanswered.

Where the hell Mark Lawrence has been hiding for the past few years I have no idea but I hope he has no immediate plans to return. No longer a Prince, the King of Thorns rises above it’s first instalment to truly become the successor to the throne. As usual impetuousness won the day and I rushed in …. Part of me wanted to rush head long and part of me was afraid of the ‘second book syndrome’ that I’ve experienced in the past and which usually succeeds in my losing interest in the rest of the series. I picked this book up with a certain sort of trepidation. I mean, it’s a pretty nasty world that Lawrence has created here but Jorg, who, in fairness, is plagued by his own demons, is not necessarily the worst of the bunch. The anti-hero who, in spite of himself, you couldn’t help eventually shouting in support of. For me personally it brought a new sort of perspective to fantasy. Last year Mark Lawrence brought to us Jorg, the Prince of Thorns, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, in fact it was in my top 10 for the year (thank you again Little Red Reviewer).

Just finished reading King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence and before I place one more word to blog I will just say ‘wow’.