"The broken empire" by Mark Lawrence

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Royce

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« on: August 13, 2013, 11:11:02 am »
Anyone read this? you should :D

Love it or hate it kind of fantasy I guess,overwhelmingly dark and honest stuff


Madness

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« Reply #1 on: August 13, 2013, 02:00:54 pm »
Hmm... I'll have to look it up. Thus far, I've not felt much of a lure to read the of Thorns series.
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Royce

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« Reply #2 on: August 13, 2013, 07:15:42 pm »
Well if you are a heavyweight in the genre,which I am not,you might find this mediocre.
But I must say,the worldbuilding and plot is very fresh and differs a lot from other works in the genre(imo),and the protagonist is totally unpredictable and completely insane:)

Madness

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« Reply #3 on: August 14, 2013, 04:53:23 pm »
Interesting...

EDIT:

Lol, what I called the of Thorns series, is The Broken Empire.

Mayhaps, your approval might motivate me to read it, Royce.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2013, 04:55:15 pm by Madness »
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Royce

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« Reply #4 on: August 15, 2013, 05:52:35 am »
well,if you think speculative use of quantum theory+post apocalyptic world is in your taste you should go for it :D

Davias

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« Reply #5 on: August 18, 2013, 12:54:08 pm »
I have read the first two books in the series and it was entertaining for a while. But not for long and the books rested on my shelf for weeks, before I read another chapter and dropped it again after some reading.
The main protagonist is - as Royce had already mentioned - insane but it is fun too read about his trains of thought in some chapters.
I didn't like the world building at all, it is a apocalypse version of our current world in a future after a big downfall, where some mythologies of our history has survived ( such as viking and roman gods, greek heros, etc... ). Also the characters mention books about Platon, Sun Tzu and so on. I found it quite.... irritating at times.
The story is ok, but only driven forward by the main protagonist and his crazy actions, the other characters are mainly stereotypes and not very interesting in my opinion.

Royce

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« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2013, 04:35:14 pm »
I finished the last book recently,and I think it worked quite well.The explanation to why there is so much magic in a post-apocalyptic world(our world) was what kept me reading to the end. I do agree that the protagonist is the only interesting character,but the worldbuilding did not irritate me at all,I thought it rather interesting to pursue what had happened in the past,that had left a world full of magic later on.The ending was quite disappointing,since he hastily wrapped it up in the last 20 pages or so.

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« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2013, 01:05:12 pm »
I enjoyed it also.
The guy has a very nice turn of phrase in sections, some good plotting and twists, and interesting reflections on self and ethical landscape that he explores.
On the down side, as Davias notes, there is some equally clumsy writing - average characterisation, hurried action and poorly introduced world building (it's redeemed somewhat once book 3 reveals certain historical points of  departure).
I'd rate it pretty highly overall though.
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sologdin

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« Reply #8 on: November 18, 2013, 01:43:52 am »
it's fun, and lawrence got beat up by subliterate undergraduate liberal converts worse than RSB to some extent. so, yaknow, have at it.

Madness

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« Reply #9 on: November 18, 2013, 01:21:07 pm »
Really? What was it about, solo? [The argument made, not the book lol]
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Royce

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« Reply #11 on: November 18, 2013, 02:20:30 pm »
Who wants a straightforward uncomplicated protagonist anyway? What made this a fun read, was the unpredictability of the protagonist.

Madness

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« Reply #12 on: November 18, 2013, 09:07:17 pm »
I'm not sure I can get over the first-person. When I have extra-money, I will spend my wages trying it, I suppose.
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EkyannusIII

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« Reply #13 on: November 24, 2013, 01:39:03 am »
here is a little taster: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/08/qpeople-who-like-this-sort-of-thing-q-being-a-review-of-mark-lawrences-prince-of-thorns

Oh look, a publisher allowed someone to blog on their website trashing a product sold by one of their competitors.  That's shocking.
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if Kellhus was thinking all of this, he's going to freak out when he get's back and Kelmomas is all "i lieks to eatum peeples da"

the whole thing is orchestrated by Kellhus who is wearing a Bashrag as if it were a suit

Royce

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« Reply #14 on: November 24, 2013, 07:39:43 am »
Quote
Oh look, a publisher allowed someone to blog on their website trashing a product sold by one of their competitors.  That's shocking.

I am not into who publishes what in the US/UK etc, but if what you imply seem to be the case, then it is not shocking at all :)

Was just highlighting some of the criticism against his books.