Book · 2011
Prince of Thorns
by Mark Lawrence
A teenage warlord burns down a village, remembers his mother's murder, and decides the empire owes him a throne.
What does Reddit think of Prince of Thorns?
4020 mentions in seven years, nearly all of it r/Fantasy, and most of what's displayed isn't argument so much as recognition. Jorg Ancrath gets named as the answer to "unsettling protagonist" or "morally grey antihero" threads over and over (↑354, ↑286, ↑234), which tells you more about how the character has become shorthand than about anyone debating the book's merits. One commenter calls the trilogy "fairly short," "aren't exactly deep," but fun (↑274); another asks Lawrence directly, in a thread the author showed up in, how grimdark the sequel gets (↑254). That author cameo (↑577) is its own data point: publishing-rights trivia, not a review. r/suggestmeabook and r/booksuggestions carry real volume too, 859 and 427 mentions, but nothing from them made the excerpt cut here. What's visible skews toward Jorg-as-reference-point rather than sustained discussion of the prose or plot.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · A child narrator built entirely around vengeance
- · Grimdark fantasy's most-cited unsettling protagonist
- · Short, fast books that don't linger
- · The author engaging directly with r/Fantasy
Common praise
- + Gets called "super fun" by a commenter in the same breath as asking Lawrence how much darker the sequel gets (↑254).
- + Read as "fairly short" and enjoyable even by someone who says it "aren't exactly deep" (↑274).
- + Jorg keeps getting volunteered as the answer whenever r/Fantasy asks for unsettling or morally grey leads, which at minimum means the character stuck.
Common criticism
- − Most of the highest-upvoted threads are naming Jorg as a reference point, not actually discussing what happens in the book.
- − Lawrence's own appearance in the thread (↑577) is about rights and publishers, not the writing, and it's the top-upvoted excerpt in the set.
Who it's for
If you've ever wanted a fantasy protagonist you're not supposed to root for, Jorg is the name r/Fantasy reaches for first. Short attention span works in your favor here; the trilogy is described as brisk rather than sprawling. Grimdark curiosity without commitment to Malazan-length worldbuilding fits what's being described. Readers looking for craft over shock value should note nobody in this sample calls the prose deep, fun is the ceiling on offer. And if character studies of murderous teenagers aren't your thing, this isn't the exception that changes your mind.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
- r/Fantasy 2,588
- r/suggestmeabook 859
- r/booksuggestions 427
- r/printSF 103
- r/YAlit 25
- r/horrorlit 11
- r/RomanceBooks 7
Which Reddit comments matter for Prince of Thorns?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“Very many thanks for the shout out, Aegon, much appreciated. Fumax have bought the rights to all my books as far as I remember, even the Broken Empire short story anthology, Road Brothers, the only exception being Impossible Times as 47North have worldwide rights to that trilogy. Anyway - I stand…
“Jorg Ancrath from The Broken Empire Trilogy. Love the books, but he is unsettling particularly in the beginning.
“The Broken Empire Trilogy by Mark Lawrence has this for sure. They're fairly short and aren't exactly deep, but I had fun reading them.
“Oh hi Mark! Your Broken Empire trilogy was super fun. Will definitely check out your new book. How grimdark is it?
“Jorg in Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence is the typical answer to this one. Great series.
“For it, I would say Jorg Ancrath from **Prince of Thorns** / **Broken Empire**. Many people didn’t get through the first book because of him, sometimes not even the first chapter, but others find him an incredibly interesting and compelling character.
“I feel like broken empire is an anti rec for this honestly because it’s more of a redemption arc than a depravity arc (it’s my favorite series so I’m not dissing the work, I’m just confused by the OP). I am genuinely struggling to think of books that fit this because I read a lot of antihero/villai…
“Malazan (gardens of the moon) - pretty writing, very difficult to get into. Sword of truth - seriously wtf. Prince of thorns - too rapey.
“I guess if we are going for unpopular opinions: I don't really enjoy Neil Gaiman books. I have tried several and dnf'd them all. The lone exception was Good Omens. Same with Mark Lawrence. I know they are both good writers, but I just don't enjoy their books. I did complete The Prince of Th…
“Try the Prince of Thorns series. People often talk about Jorg of Ancrath as an antihero, but he's not. He's a straight up villain. R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series is another good candidate. There are some sympathetic characters who get multiple POV chapters, but they share the POV spotli…
“Mark Lawrence There’s a big improvement between Prince of Thorns and the rest of that series and he’s just been on an upward trajectory ever since
“Holy s*** is this the actual Mark Lawrence? I loved the Broken Empire trilogy
“Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence from The Broken Empire trilogy. And 'everyone' will include you, the reader.
“Hey Mark! No questions, just wanted to say the Broken Empire trilogy is one of my all time favorite reads and I look forward to many more years of reading your other works.
“The prince of thorns is exactly what you're looking for. It starts with him talking to a disemboweled town leader as his bandit gang sacks and rapes the village. And he gets even worse somehow. But it's very refreshing to see a likeable bad guy that wants nothing other than to be emperor, forget the…
Convinced? Pick up Prince of Thorns
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with Prince of Thorns — counted from the comments, not curated.
Prince of Thorns — frequently asked
Is Prince of Thorns worth reading if grimdark isn't usually my genre?+
Depends on what you want from it. The displayed excerpts describe it as short and fun rather than deep (↑274), so it works as a quick, unsettling read rather than a genre-defining epic. If you want R. Scott Bakker-level density, this sample suggests you'll be disappointed; if you want a fast, dark character study, it delivers that much.
Why does r/Fantasy keep bringing up Jorg from Prince of Thorns?+
He's become the go-to answer for "give me an unsettling protagonist" threads, cited three separate times in the top excerpts here (↑354, ↑286, ↑234). One commenter specifically flags him as unsettling "particularly in the beginning," which suggests the character's darkness is the calling card, not a footnote.
Did Mark Lawrence actually respond to fans about Prince of Thorns on Reddit?+
Yes, per the top-upvoted excerpt (↑577), where he clarifies which publisher holds rights to which books in the Broken Empire series. It's a logistics answer, not commentary on the story, but it shows the author engaging directly with r/Fantasy threads about his own work.
Is Prince of Thorns more popular in r/Fantasy than anywhere else on Reddit?+
By a wide margin in this dataset. r/Fantasy carries 2588 of the mentions and every scored excerpt; r/suggestmeabook (859) and r/booksuggestions (427) show real volume too but contributed no scored quotes to this sample, so their tone isn't something this data can characterize.