To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I’ve walked from pawn to player and I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood…
The land burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings fight for the Broken Empire. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.
A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg’s gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.
Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan.
This is the rare sequel that trades spectacle for consequence. Prince of Thorns made you watch a ruthless boy; King of Thorns asks what the damage costs him. Most early reviewers say it's the better book, with richer prose and a narrator who gains an inner life. Peter V. Brett, himself a fantasy author, called Jorg's inner struggle the real strength, not the plot machinery.
The price is structure. Two timelines, one a few years back and one in the present, make for a tricky read. Some find it masterful. Others feel the cutting interrupts the stronger thread. The old-world technology and convenient magic are where fans and doubters part ways, and at least one reader misses the rawness of book one.
The early word was strong: a genuine step up from the debut, with better prose and a Jorg who finally gains some inner life. Reviewers split over thin resolutions, heavy-handed old-Earth references and magic that arrives a little too conveniently. Even skeptics respect the attempt to explore Jorg's trauma without handing him redemption.
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The Broken Empire
