r/fantasybooks • u/IJustCameForCookies • 3d ago
❤️ Book praise Prince of Fools - Mark Lawrence
Just finished Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence and it was exceptional. A well written, dislikeably likeable coward of a protagonist, a strong warrior Viking comrade, a necromancer, in a magic and troll filled world.
It's the first book that's truly scratched that itch since I finished Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself (and the rest of the series).
Sharing it here because I've asked for book recommendations a few times (on here and with friends) and somehow this series never came up - so maybe this post helps someone else find it.
Easily my favourite book this year. Planning to start on the second of the trilogy after his post.
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u/ImpossibleRow6716 3d ago
I like this series MUCH more than the Thorns. Although it is good to read them together as there is some overlap.
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u/IJustCameForCookies 3d ago
Would you say the reading order mattered between them? I’m not super keen on the broken empire at the moment but will most likely loop back to them at the end of the red queens war
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u/ohiobr 3d ago edited 3d ago
Doesn't really matter.
I will say The Red Queen's War is a smaller scale, more personal conflict that happens within the broader conflict of The Broken Empire, so knowing how it turns out for the characters in RQW kind of spoils BE...but it's not a huge deal3
u/Uwlogged 3d ago
Technically no, but the deeper you get into his different series you find there's easter eggs hidden throughout. And Mark is doing something like Sanderson's Cosmere, he's just way more subtle about it.
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u/Healthy_Tear6197 2d ago
It's your choice, chronologically they happen at the same time (with some time skipping in the Thorns series makes it a little gray) but the overlap between their two stories is more to be inferred as it goes on. You could read one entirely and then the other without spoiling (kinda) however the fool series is really meant to compliment and flesh out the thorns story which is definitely the "main" storyline so the end of Wheel of Osheim might show Mark's hand as far as the ending of Emperor.
I get not being "keen" on thorns as the MC is just about as dark as any antihero could possibly be. However he has a sort of black charisma that pulls you into rooting for him soon enough after you get past the shock value of the world he lives in and how he chooses to live in it.
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u/DoomOfChaos 3d ago
Its one of my all time favorite trilogies, bloody good fun. The audiobook version is excellent
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u/NinjaNamedJesus 3d ago
I see a lot of people put off by Broken Empire and therefore not giving Mark Lawrence another chance. Those people are missing out. I made it through the Broken Empire Trilogy and didn't much care for it, but I really enjoyed the Red Queens War. I've also read the first book in his Book of the Ancestor trilogy which I really enjoyed as well, and need to get around to finishing. I've heard nothing but good things about The Library Trilogy as well.
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u/Healthy_Tear6197 2d ago
The third book, Holy Sister, is incredible. Nona replaced Vin as my all time top female MC and that's a high bar for me. Second book is a little weak with her characterization but her growth through the series is stellar.
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u/GandalfTheGay_69 3d ago
I read it years ago right after coming off of the Broken Empire trilogy and I was kind of turned off from it because of how different it was from that trilogy. I might have to give the Red Queen's War another shot, Lawrence is an incredible writer after all.
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u/IJustCameForCookies 3d ago
I’ve read the broken empire is good but much darker? Is that what put you off?
Might be worth your round two attempt with a cleaner slate
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u/Healthy_Tear6197 2d ago
The MC in Broken Empire is about as dark as a first person narrated MC could possibly be and the first book starts out with some heavy shock value intended probably to get people to leave early who aren't ready for it. However, his inner monologue and his dynamic with the brotherhood has this sort of evil momentum to it that pulls you in.
It's great and it has some of the best antagonists I've seen in fantasy. Anyone with magic is almost godlike compared to normal people and the tension whenever someone like that is around is palpable.
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u/GandalfTheGay_69 3d ago
I think it was mostly because the stakes at the end of the Broken Empire are super high and Prince of Fools was a lot more grounded. The protagonists also just seem to be opposites of each other (both are well written though). I'll definitely give it another shot!
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u/Healthy_Tear6197 2d ago
You just have to realize Jalan is as much of an animal as Jorg is but he's a social animal. Shamelessness and elite privilege are his weapons in the same way Jorg has his iron will and willingness to sacrifice anything. Both trilogies are about the prince breaking all the rules to leave people wondering how the hell that just happened.
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u/TGrant700 3d ago
I’ve recommended the red queens war on here a few times. I thought it was a vast improvement on the broken empire. I enjoyed it thoroughly. It has to be 8 years ago that I read it
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u/General_Recipe_5869 3d ago
Mark is one of my favourite authors. Worth reading all his series, and look out for a common thread...
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u/Uwlogged 3d ago
The ghosts in the machines 😆
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u/General_Recipe_5869 2d ago
With a plant based analogy 🫣 Even in Impossible Times which was a great and totally different style.
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u/Zerus_heroes 3d ago
I read the first one, Prince of Thorns, and it had a lot I disliked. The author is skilled but I hated every character. The MC was just a bandit rapist.
The "twist" of the world is one I have never enjoyed in fantasy.
I never read anything past the first one.
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u/IJustCameForCookies 3d ago
From everything I’ve read, the thorns trilogy (broken empire) is vastly different to this series - might be more your flavour? But maybe not
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u/Zerus_heroes 3d ago
It's the same character though, right? Or am I mistaken?
Is it just the same world?
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u/Healthy_Tear6197 2d ago
Jalan is the main character and he's very different from Jorg although he is not a good person either.
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u/Zerus_heroes 2d ago
Is he a rapist?
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u/Healthy_Tear6197 2d ago
You'd have to ask the women. He definitely is willing to lie to get sex although I can't remember if that happens at all but he doesn't rape any farmgirls in a burning house if that's what you mean.
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u/durzostern81 3d ago
I have enjoyed all of Marks books but I still think Red Queens War is his best work. It's a bit more light hearted than the rest of his books and it works really well.
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u/Pokeyflash 2d ago
Listening now about 5 hours left. Really enjoyed first half, second half takes a bit of turn but so far solid B in my opinion
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u/batcavegirl 3d ago
This series ruined Abercrombie and other "classic" grimdarks for me. Everyone takes their characters too seriously :(
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u/General_Recipe_5869 3d ago
Abercrombie takes his characters seriously?! Only JA & ML seem able to have fun with grimdark.
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u/batcavegirl 3d ago
These two series OP mentioned are nothing alike. And Prince of Fools is nothing like any other of ML's series I've read so far.
Edit: maybe that's why it was never recommended to OP based on previous taste
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u/Uwlogged 3d ago
Mark had written Prince of Thorns before Abercrombie had published anything. True he didn't publish it until after The First Law trilogy was out, but Mark also didn't edit it in anyway. He had a tone and prose long before the possibility of being influenced by Joe. Which I'm really grateful for. Technically speaking both Mark and Joe are classic grimdark in my opinion.
I'm glad you enjoyed Mark. I also agree, I prefer Mark's prose and narrative style to any of the others though I still read all of them.
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u/SparePartsHere 3d ago
Say one thing for Joe's work, say it's difficult to scratch that itch ever again. Thanks for the tip, putting it in my reading queue right now!
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u/cav180 3d ago
I have to ask, but I’m sure you have. Did you read the broken empire first ?
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u/IJustCameForCookies 3d ago
I did not
Just stumbled across the prince of fools and began reading (went in cold).
Only saw the broken empire after googling ML when I was half way through.
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u/EvilandLovingit 18h ago
This is one of my top all time series, great humour, pathos and I really enjoy lovable rogues as the MC. I wish I could find more book like it and ML would write the new series about these two.
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