King of Thorns cover art

King of Thorns

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

King of Thorns

By: Mark Lawrence
Narrated by: Joe Jameson
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £16.36

Buy Now for £16.36

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.

 Dark Fantasy Epic Fantasy Fiction Historical Military Royalty Game

Continue the series
The Secret cover art
The Secret By: Mark Lawrence

Critic reviews

Praise for Prince of Thorns:

‘Dark and relentless, Prince of Thorns will pull you under and drown you in story. A two-in-the-morning page turner. Absolutely stunning… jaw-dropping’
ROBIN HOBB

‘Excellent – on a par with George R.R. Martin’
CONN IGGULDEN

‘[A] morbidly gripping, gritty fantasy tale.’
Publishers Weekly

‘Without a doubt the most original and most memorable fantasy debut of 2011. It’s difficult to imagine how another book could top this one.’
RisingShadows.net
All stars
Most relevant
An excellent book, darkly humourous we'll paced and balanced. Had doubts at first about Joe Jameson the reader, but he has proved to be an entertaining conveyor of the story.

Spoken word as it's supposed to be.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
given there are over 40 chapters this allowed me to listen during my commute to work on a daily basis. Great book and can't wait for the 3rd.

Easy to follow

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
having listened to red sister and the first prince of thorns book I was eager to hear more, this doesn't disappoint, combining just as much intrigue as all Mark's work, highly recommended. The Easter eggs relating the modern world to this post apocalyptic world are particularly enticing.

another fantastic listen by Mark Lawrence.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
excellent book so well read and writen. cant wait till next one thank you very much

awesome better and longer than last. performance 5

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews