Reading order
The Broken Empire Trilogy reading order
1
2
3- 3 volumes
- Volumes
- 2011–2013
- Published
- about 25 h
- Reading time
- Completed
- Status
- Fantasy#153
- Genre
Quick answer
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Publication order
3 volumes2011–2013Completed
- Prince of Thorns opens with a teenage warlord doing terrible things and is the lowest-rated of the three; King of Thorns and Emperor of Thorns rate about half a point higher.
- If the first book’s violence is too much, know that it is the series at its harshest.
- The Red Queen’s War runs alongside in the same world.
A plan for the whole series
3 volumes, 1,315 pages, about 25 hours. At 45 min a day that is about 5 weeks.
Share of volume 1’s readers who reach the last volume. Chance of reaching the last volume: medium
Stages
2 stages, with 1 short book from outside the series between them. You finish around December 4, 2026, 4 days later than in one go.
- Stage 116 habout 3 weeksby November 20, 2026
- Short breakThe Fire Next Time · James Baldwin · 120 pp. · score 8.8
- Stage 28 h11 daysby December 4, 2026
- The end of the series
We count 1.1 min per page, the pace of an average novel reader. Faster? Move the slider.
Does the series hold up
Shape of the series: it gets better. Readers scored the opening (7.5) below the ending (8.1). After the first volume you do not yet know how good this series is.
Best volume: Emperor of Thorns (8.1, 336 ratings). Weakest: Prince of Thorns (7.5). The series is complete; you can read it start to finish with no waiting. The last volume (8.1) scores close to the series average or above it.
How this plan is calculated
The plan comes from the pages and ratings of each volume: we split the series into stages of about three weeks’ reading, size each break to the stage before it, and read the chance of finishing from how many readers rate the last volume compared with the first. How we work out the plan →
Every volume in order
Order checked by hand · Order and years: Wikidata (CC0). Spotted an error? Tell us. · Data updated October 29, 2026
The Broken Empire Trilogy books ranked, best to worst
- 1.Emperor of ThornsBook 3 · 20138.1
- 1.King of ThornsBook 2 · 20128.1
- 3.Prince of ThornsBook 1 · 20117.5
Frequently asked questions
Which Broken Empire Trilogy book is the best?
By reader score, Emperor of Thorns (8.1/10). The lowest-rated is Prince of Thorns (7.5/10).
Which The Broken Empire Trilogy book is the longest?
“King of Thorns” is the longest at 496 pages; the shortest is “Prince of Thorns” with 384 pages.
What should I read after The Broken Empire Trilogy?
Other series by Mark Lawrence: The Book of the Ancestor.
