The story is told through two parallel storylines, one is present day where Jorg is travelling with his brothers and pillaging villages and searching for revenge, and the other is set 4 years earlier, before he left his home to go on the road with a bandit group. He is someone who is feared all across the land, he's known as a the Mad Prince.because he is a Prince, but he ran away when he was just young, in search of vengence and justice and revenge for something truly disturbing that made him how he is today. He sees what is right, and chooses the path the furthest from that. Jorg is a harsh leader, never one to shy away from discipline, rather he enjoys the hurt and pain he can cause people and he is twisted in his ideas of good and evil. They are dark, grisly and nasty, but although they have very few redeeming qualities, they fit in nicely with Jorg who is the most evil among them by far. The men he travels with are hard, tough men who have lived a long time by destroying their enemies before they could be destroyed and by deciding their own fates before it was decided for them.

This is the story of Jorg who has suffered a great deal in his past and when we meet him he is travelling in the wilds with a band of men who all respect him and look to him for leadership, although he is their junior by many, many years. I certainly felt reminded of Glotka from The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie whilst reading about Jorg, which was a good thing as Glotka was my favourite character in The First Law and so Jorg was certain y my favourite character in this story. I really loved the main character of Jorg (a young 14 year old boy who has been hardened by the treachery of the wilds and scars of the past) as he was so witty and nasty.

This is a revenge tale through and through and is a unique fantasy because of the perspective it's told from. We also see how the world is landscaped, merging fantasy with science - a concept I never knew I loved until this series. Over the book we see how Jorg has grown to become what he has, we delve into his tragic past and his family history. You turn them over and over, until you know every touch and corner, but still you'll find an edge to cut you.' Don't let that lull you into a false sense of security though, there's no end to the levels of depravity he will go to, and where his ambition will take him in his quest to be King by 15. He may be the hero of our story, but you wouldn't know it if you ever crossed him, and he's only 13 when we first meet him. I remember Jorg not being a nice guy, but I forgot just how bad.

'There’s something brittle in me that will break before it bends.' Why on earth have I left it so long to revisit this series!? I finished my reread of Prince of Thorns a few days ago - and I loved it just as much as the first time I read it, about 8 years ago, and started my love affair with Marks writing.

King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence