There must be something in my strange heart that resonates with a mean main character. Jorg of Ancrath (still no idea if that's pronounced like George or with a hard "G" - my inner monologue goes for the phonetic pronunciation) is actually and thoroughly a vicious, black-hearted cur. "In such circumstances, with a heavy blade that's sharp enough to make the wind bleed, you can swing in grand and vicious circles and your only care need be to ensure the weapon isn't locked into the corpse of your last victim. In many ways I had lived most of my life in exactly such a condition, swinging in all directions with no worry about who might die." Jorg is compelling. He is young and blood thirsty because so much horrifying shit happens to him at a young age. From birth he is a victim, not so much of circumstance but a victim of parentage and abuse. He refuses to play the role though, is taught not to care on the outside. This crucible forges a terrifying, clever young man and he rises to a position of power by sheer violence and widespread terror. What's most compelling about him is the way he lays things down for you. All his actions recalled with reason, his violence recounted not from a sense of pride but necessity. He understands pain, loss, fear, death, and he embraces them all as old friends. To never again fall victim he destroys his enemies completely, he does the unthinkable, and in the tightest of spots he makes split second decisions that always manage to surprise me. I like his unpredictability, underneath a mantle of assured violence. "Hurt spreads and grows and reaches out to break what's good. Time heals all wounds, but often it's only by the application of the grave, and while we live some hurts live with us, burning, making us twist and turn to escape them. And as we twist, we turn into other men." Title: Emperor Of Thorns (Book 3) Author: Mark Lawrence Published: 2013 Genre: Fantasy Pages: 434 Finish Date: 02/06/2017 The weirdest and best part of the way Jorg narrates is that he is incredibly insightful. A thoroughly destroyed man, we see him grow from childhood, but he never really changes. We are not particularly aware of him growing physically into a man, nor are we encouraged to think of him as being on any kind of journey to betterment. He is what he is, and that's what I think is the most attractive thing about this type of character. He does what he wants, whatever he thinks best, whatever whim he feels like following in the moment, though of course he does have grand designs and is often motivated by revenge or regret. He is refreshing, shocking, and ultimately... he is torturing himself every step of the way. The setting of the series is a fantasy based universe in Earths future - this is post apocalypse sort of stuff. Some kind of nuclear event has occurred on Earth and now we are so far in the destroyed future of our civilisation that we've gone medieval but there are hints of it everywhere - new forms of old names, defunct technology, Jorg even picks up a gun at one point, though he has no idea what it is or how it works beyond it being weaponry with a trigger. His journey is told in several parts, it is a time-jump and recollection kind of narrative, with effective but subtle cliff hangers at the end of most chapters - Mark Lawrence knows how to work a room. I will not spoil the end for you in case you decide to read this trilogy, but suffice to say that Jorg's path is an obvious one that his iron will does not deviate from... until the last second. I did not see that end coming. Bravo. GOOD PLOT TWIST LAWRENCE, GOOD PLOT TWIST. I've been reading this series for a few years. I started it thanks to the recommendation of a friend who also loves fantasy and medieval stories, but it has taken a long while to finish it. I did at some point get it confused with a different series of books, which is easy to do in this genre, but I have now knocked another series off my goal list. I'd give it a 7 out of 10.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorCailin Archives
September 2017
Categories
All
|