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King of Thorns: Broken Empire 2

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King of Thorns: Broken Empire 2

By: Mark Lawrence
Narrated by: Joe Jameson
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About this listen

The second book in the Broken Empire series, Lawrence takes his young anti-hero one step closer to his grand ambition.

To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I’ve walked from pawn to player and I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood…

The land burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings fight for the Broken Empire. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.

A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg's gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.

Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan.

©2012 Mark Lawrence (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Dark Fantasy Epic Fantasy Fiction Historical Military Royalty Game

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Another fantastic book from the series! There was one moment when I was a little unsure what was happening, then it all came together in that little bastards way. loved it!

fantastic

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The main character is, admittedly, no longer aggravatingly annoying and sad at the same time (cf. my review of Prince of Thorns), so the book was a lot easier to get through. It continues the investigation of the world I find absolutely fascinating, which is why I continue to rate it this highly. On the other hand, though, while the character is less awful, the story and pacing have really gone rather downhill.

Where the first book tried to present a coherent story with the right mood, escalation and resolution (that I just didn't care about), the tension the start of this book builds up gets resolved about halfway through. The story then tries to claim it was building up to something else all along, but really just limps along until the end.

With this book as much as its predecessor, my recommendation stands: read it only if you're curious about the world. The rest is really not worth your time.

Excellent world, rest getting even worse

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Audio book two of the Thorns series and it continues to be, in my opinion, a great listen. The narrator, Joe Jameson, is very good and I thought his slightly stereotypical accents for various characters were nicely done. You have to keep your wits about you to follow which time line is being read, as it jumps around fairly frequently but overall another great listen.

Enjoyed

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Great story and great performance. Can't wait to start the next one! Looking forward to how it turns out.

Can't flaunt a thing

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I am a big fan of this series, the world-building Is great, the characters are fun, and just an overall great series of books.

Great book series

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love it. Really my cup of tea. looking forward to the last book. would recommended this book to friends and family.

king of Thorns.

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This has had me gripped from the start I usually just listen to audio books in my works van but have found myself at home with my earphones in at every opportunity, looking forward to book three tomorrow.

Excellent this series just gets better

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an amazing book witch just keeps getting better with each chapter would recommend to anyone and everyone

F*cking amazing

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This is the 2nd book, loved it and feel emotionally scarred by some utterly gruesome bits but it's all part of the story. He weaves the plot in an intricate pattern that's fast paced and unpredictable. Intelligent fantasy, totally recommend. Great narrator too.

Shocking and enthralling

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Amazing story but to be honest it's the narrator that makes the big difference

Exceptional

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