Lawrence is back, and better than ever...

Mark Lawrence's debut novel took the fantasy world by storm, with Prince of Thorns being hailed as the commanding new voice in the world of fantasy. But with King of Thorns, the second in the Empire of Thorns trilogy, due out on the 16th August, fans might wonder if that difficult second book can live up to the success of the first?

Well wonder no more. In fact, double the hype...

In the new release we move to Jorg's tale four years later: he is King and the odds are still stacked against him. This is that increasingly rare delight - a book that's too hard to put down; a two in the morning page turner. There are characters, plot, not to mention enough blood, death and betrayal in this one book to fill a whole trilogy. And if you thought Jorg was challenging before, you haven't seen anything yet. We know Jorg has done some terrible things, and we learn just how bad as the story unfolds. At times you will question if you should like Jorg as much as you do. You'll beg him not to do the things you fear he is going to. Mark Lawrence will take you to that edge, and even send you hurtling off it at times.

On reading King of Thorns you'll feel achingly sad; you'll get caught up in the deadly struggles. But you'll laugh out loud a good few times as well. Here we have an author who manages to take us so deep into the shadows we fear we will not see daylight again, but who also has a sharp, dry sense of humour. It is an addictive mix.

You have to ask yourself what new delights Mark Lawrence will dream up for the final book. He is a masterful writer that crafts challenging worlds and creates a dark, flawed and fascinating protagonist. He will give us glimpses of characters other authors would be happy to base whole books on. He can captivatingly describe the harshest of battles, which is not an easy skill, and in what seems an unfair amount of talent he is also as funny as writers who make humour their whole trade.

My recommendation: Read this guy! What he writes will linger far beyond the pages and long after you've closed the cover.

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