Prince of Thorns
- 384
- Pages
- about 7 h
- Reading time
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Our view
“Prince of Thorns” stands or falls with its protagonist, a teenage prince who is a ruthless killer and whom the book never tries to redeem. Jorg is drawn with real depth, and readers who accept him find the story grimly funny as well as brutal. Some notice the rough edges of a debut. First of a trilogy and firmly grimdark; those who need a likeable hero will struggle.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
BOOK ONE IN THE BROKEN EMPIRE TRILOGY “Prince of Thorns deserves attention as the work of an iconoclast who seems determined to turn that familiar thing, Medievalesque Fantasy Trilogy, entirely on its head.”—Locus When he was nine, he watched as his mother and brother were killed before him. By the time he was thirteen, he was the leader of a band of bloodthirsty thugs. By fifteen, he intends to be king... It’s time for Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath to return to the castle he turned his back on, to take what’s rightfully his. Since the day he hung pinned on the thorns of a briar patch and watched Count Renar’s men slaughter his mother and young brother, Jorg has been driven to vent his rage. Life and death are no more than a game to him—and he has nothing left to lose. But treachery awaits him in his father’s castle. Treachery and dark magic. No matter how fierce his will, can one young man conquer enemies with power beyond his imagining?
Reading order · The Broken Empire Trilogy
Full order & progress →- Prince of ThornsThis book
7.57.5 / 10 - King of Thorns
8.18.1 / 10 - Emperor of Thorns
8.18.1 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.4 across 638 ratings. With that many, the reader vote carries 81% of the weight and the score stays at 7.5 — the Fantasy average of 8.0 barely moves it.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 7.2 | 29 | 5% |
| Google Books | 8.0 | 12 | 2% |
| Hardcover | 7.4 | 597 | 94% |
Frequently asked
How long is Prince of Thorns?
It has 384 pages — shorter than 82% of the ranked books in Fantasy.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Fantasy — and a score of 7.5, the closest to this book.
