Fantasy Book Club Series discussion

Hello, I hope many of you are enjoying the first novel the Broken Empire trilogy.

Many people seem to either love this book or hate it, so I encourage you to share your view and tell us what you just loved or that which has turned you off the series.

I am assuming not everyone reading this discussion has finished the book so please mark any spoilers with the html format.

I am so torn on this book. The writing is wonderful, but I'm not sure how I feel about the main character. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the next instalment.

Naydene wrote: "I am so torn on this book. The writing is wonderful, but I'm not sure how I feel about the main character. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the next instalment."

For the first 21 chapters Jorg’s tale is not the story of an interesting anti-hero worthy of my affection. Instead, for me, it is the episodic ramblings of a petulant sociopath.

Further, I am having a very difficult time taking this 14 year old sociopath seriously. How (and more importantly why) did this band of immoral hoodlums keep Jorg alive? He is simply too erratically homicidal and too young to be the leader of a group of dangerous grown men. Sir Makin, one of his Road Crew, stated it best:

“I think you need to have lived more to truly know a man’s heart. You need to have made more transactions in life to know the worth of the coin you spend so freely”

I also have a very hard time with Jorg’s motivations and rationalizations for his own actions. (view spoiler)[He is not a person born to the life he is living. He was 9 years old when the seminal moment of witnessing the murders of his mother and younger brother occurs. He is a prince with a fine upbringing and education as befitting his station. Had he been rescued from the attack by the group of highwaymen he rides with, I could almost accept his “conversion” to barbarism. But, instead, he was rescued by his father’s men and returned to the castle. He is healed and restored to his life of rank and privilege. He chooses, at age 10, to free men from his father’s dungeon and runaway to seek his vengeance on the Count who had orchestrated the attack. (hide spoiler)] This does not seem plausible. The choice is not age appropriate nor are the reactions of the adults who surround him.

I am not really enjoying this book :(...and I wanted to very much.

Having read the whole series I find it hard to comment without spoilers as I'm not sure which books the bits are from. That being said, this is one of the best trilogies I've read. I love Jorg.

The reasons behind all his behaviours becomes clear and, I think, justified. Read on.

I second what Helen has said
I found as you read on, that it shows we are all victims of circumstance, and have to live with our choices.

Deano wrote: "I second what Helen has said
I found as you read on, that it shows we are all victims of circumstance, and have to live with our choices."

Bur Jorg is NOT a victim of circumstance cruelly abused by the world he was abandoned into. He is a child of privilege who, for no good discernible reason, willingly abandons everything he has ever known...

Don't worry it all makes sense! kinda....

I would say having you mum and brother killed in front of you, would make you a victim of circumstances beyond your control.
But I was really talking about the series as a whole.
That's why I was agreeing with Helen

Deano wrote: "I would say having you mum and brother killed in front of you, would make you a victim of circumstances beyond your control.
But I was really talking about the series as a whole.
That's why I was ..."

This is giving me what I have come to call "The First Law feeling" - I'm not getting enough meta-story to make me want to finish this book, much less pick up the next two. I am 40% of the way through and I'm waiting for a plot to begin.

It's the "Lazy Editor" syndrome that is epidemic in Fantasy: don't edit a good story from 1200 pages into a great story of 700, instead, let's just split the single arc into a bloated trilogy. Sure, the first book is nothing but a glorified prologue, but our readers expect a trilogy! They will buy it anyway...

Hmm, I was hooked from the first chapter, but not all people are sociopaths like me that fist pump every time Jorg beheads somebody.
I kinda like an idea of protagonist that doesn't whine about every man he kills. This was indeed very refreshing.
Truth be told, I loved Jorg from the first momemt, but I think that most people can't empathise with him in the first book.

Jiří wrote: "Hmm, I was hooked from the first chapter, but not all people are sociopaths like me that fist pump every time Jorg beheads somebody.
I kinda like an idea of protagonist that doesn't whine about eve..."

That's what I was like.

Lucinda, I can't argue against what you're saying without huge spoilers.

@Lucinda: Might I suggest that you open up a topic thread that's for spoilers or mark this one as containing spoilers. If you want me to do that for you, I can.

Thanks, Jon

Jiří wrote: "Hmm, I was hooked from the first chapter, but not all people are sociopaths like me that fist pump every time Jorg beheads somebody.
I kinda like an idea of protagonist that doesn't whine about eve..."

Couldn't agree more. I was actually a little disapointed when some of his actions were explained and wasn't just the actions of a mad man.

I read the trilogy a few months back and enjoyed it very much.

I'm definitely in the group that loves this book.

I actually finished the second book a week ago or so and the third one is sitting on my shelf as I just haven't had time to begin, but I'm really looking forward to it.

I like the books thus far, and Jorg is awesome..hehe.

I read this book two or three months back and I enjoyed it. Sometimes you can get a bit sick of the good guys who must save the world, and they're a pretty common trope in fantasy, so it was nice to have a lead character who was a bit of a psycho! I also like the way Mark Lawrence went about the world-building. (view spoiler)[At the start I was assuming this was a fantasy world, but then you realise it's not. I thought it was cleverly done. (hide spoiler)]

I haven't read the second book, and I'm looking forward to reading along with you guys next month. :)

I adore your lion.

Thanks! Your black cat is pretty cute too. :)

I didn't know what to expect from it when I started it, and I was confused at first (very confused) but I like it so far. I heard about the violence but I wouldn't say that the violence isn't without reason or purpose. So far anyway. And I've read worse. I think what bothers most readers is how young Jorg is. If he was older I wonder if the violence would be such a big deal. The book is marketed strangely as well. For me it gave off a young adult vibe but it isn't.

Definitely not a YA. Jorg is young but being a royal I think he'd be more mature than boys of a similar age. Also as it's set in a different age to us, ages could be quite different. Girls used to be married off at twelve years ago.

I started late, but I think I might finish before the end of the month. I read the first fourteen chapters and till now I like the style and the world described, much detailed. I think that the main character, Jorg, is surely a disturbed young, in a rough, violent and dangerous world, like another middle ages. Violence si surely present in the story, but if it's subject to a purpose or not by Jorg, it's early to say.

I just started reading the book and I don't think I'm going to like it. Somehow all this revenge make me sick, but hey, things might get better in the end. Still counting heads.

I can definitely see why this book is so polarizing. For me, personally, I really enjoyed the writing - very well done. In general I don't like worlds/settings where all is lost and the people all despicable so I'm definitely not the demographic...but the fact that given all that I was still entertained says a great deal about Mark's writing style.

Michael wrote: "I can definitely see why this book is so polarizing. For me, personally, I really enjoyed the writing - very well done. In general I don't like worlds/settings where all is lost and the people all ..."
This is also exactly (word by word) what I thought while reading Prince of Thorns. And I felt that the next books get better in all aspects.

Yes, the writing is surely a good aspect for the book. Personally I like this type of world, stimulate my imagination to recognize place compared with those present today.
On psycological side, Jorg is defined very well, with all his obscure facets. Remains to be seen if the style will be maintained in future books.

I went on with no expectations, no knowledge of the plot etc. I really enjoyed it, read them close together and Jorg remains one of my favourite characters. I'm all for revenge!