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Emperor of Thorns
- The Broken Empire, Book 3
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Series: Broken Empire, Book 3
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
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The path to the throne is broken - only the broken can walk it. The world is cracked and time has run through, leaving us clutching at the end days. These are the days that have waited for us all our lives. These are my days. I will stand before the Hundred and they will listen. I will take the throne no matter who stands against me, living or dead, and if I must be the last emperor then I will make of it such an ending.
This is where the wise man turns away. This is where the holy kneel and call on God. These are the last miles, my brothers. Don't look to me to save you. Run if you have the wit. Pray if you have the soul. Stand your ground if courage is yours. But don't follow me. Follow me, and I will break your heart.
Critic reviews
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What listeners say about Emperor of Thorns
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Richard McFerran
- 12-01-20
Great triology
As this is book three, it would be better to read the reviews of the first book in the series.
If you have read the first two books, I'm surprised you haven't bought this book and dived straight in.
1 person found this helpful
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- lgjmac
- 18-04-18
great character. rubbish ending. narrator superb
love the character. story brilliant right until the end. where it just becomes honestly awful. basically from the final fight onwards. you'll really enjoy it up until that point. but it does feel a bit like everything brilliant and then he decided to do the whole ending on a rainy day in Norfolk
1 person found this helpful
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- D. Menashy
- 27-01-14
Indelible
Up there with GRRM & Joe Abercrombie as a fave author. Have listened, twice to the whole trilogy . Fantasy? Sci-fi? Don't categorise, just enjoy the exceptional writing and wonder at how the whole trilogy's arc comes to a neat and fitting conclusion that actually provides satisfying closure.
Joe Jameson's brilliant narration is a joy in itself, his voice for Jorg is so fitting, plus he manages to come up with such apt and varied voices for the myriad of other characters. Would love to hear his take on A Song of Ice and Fire...
In short, these 3 books resonate in your mind long after they've been finished. They simply glisten.....
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 18-04-21
loved it and fantastic performance from Jameson
excellent series that gets better and better with the final book. would highly recommended for Horizon Zero Dawn fans....
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- maxx
- 22-03-21
Enjoyable trio of books.
As usual, great natation. good story and I like the back and forth, sweeping up. still no real answers regarding his broken flight toward the end of the last book. . hmm. did I miss something? 🤔
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- J J.
- 15-07-20
wow
An author to watch much more closely. what a read!! amazing antihero. after reading fantasy and sci-fi for 40 plus years I'm still trying to classify this. perhaps a re-read will help.
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- Anonymous User
- 19-10-19
Long live the King
Loved this series of books a bitter sweet end but well written and wonderfully performed bringing all the characters to life
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- Richard
- 08-05-19
So cool!
fantastic book, fantastic series, fantastic writer. Very dark yet very entertaining, a must read!! (unless you are easily offended and whinge about it)
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- Angel
- 15-04-19
Fantastic Narrator
I listioned to all 3 books in this series, I did struggle with the 3rd book a bit but what made this a great listion was the amazing way it was told, one of the best narrators I have heard, though I do love Stephen Brands voice more all in all a good set
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- Amazon Customer
- 21-01-19
A Great re-imagining of post abocolyptic word
from the 1st book to the last. I could not stop listening. I listened to all 3 in a week. the 1st one in a day. my only wish was to see more from this story of Jorg
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- Anonymous User
- 11-04-21
Great series
Interesting main character and great narrator. Story is dark and the world has an interesting history.
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- Marco Selmo
- 20-02-21
A good finale for the trilogy
Just finished listening so my feelings are very hot still.
Let's start by saying the narration was stellar. Joe Jameson delivered a consistent performance throughout the whole trilogy and especially the last few chapters were marvelous.
**SPOILER**
We got to see some more of the empire and meet mentioned people in a satisfying way. Loads of old friends pop up now and again, which was nice.
My main concern is the lack of consequences for Jorg: throughout the serie it felt like reading accounts of a D&D game where the Dungeon master really likes his chaotic evil player and he lets him do whatever he likes.
Story wise, I did enjoy the ending, to me it was the only kind that was appropriate for a character like Jorg, although it felt a bit inconclusive.
Most side characters don't get closure.
The book is very good nonetheless and it's gripping until the end.
As a whole the serie Is great, since it provides a new, fresh perspective from a moraly dark MC whiteout (for the most part) redeeming qualities.
Recommended!
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- Anonymous User
- 29-05-17
Verry good
Was a little short on action in the end but, it was a superb ending to the series..
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- Kristian Mosti
- 30-03-17
A good, dark and original story.
I just wish there was more, but then again I feel as though it finished just the way it was supposed to. Definitely recommended, it's well worth listening to.
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- Cliente Amazon
- 11-10-16
A disappointing ending to a great saga.
I can't say that I enjoyed the final chapter of the Broken Empire trilogy. While I found the first two books absolutely fantastic, this third one falls completely short of the expectations I had.
It feels like the author is beating around the bush most of the time and then dumps a rather quick and unsatisfying ending based around a twist I saw coming from a mile away.
I devoured the first two books, but this one took me forever to complete. Again a great performance by Joe Jameson, but he alone cannot fix the disappointment that was this book.
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- Jonathan
- 05-02-14
Good listen but disappointing ending
Any additional comments?
The story follows from the previous books. Sometimes the flipping back between the present and the past seems excessive. Most of the loose ends are tied together. The ending was broadcast well in advance. It didn't quite happen as I would have expected (which was that Jorg's convictions were manipulating reality to produce the dead king, especially since the guilt of hanging in the thorn bush and not saving his brother/mother is an underlying issue throughout the series). In the end the actual ending was a bit deficient. and the equality of dream and reality doesn't quite explain how the link between conviction and reality is 'fixed' at the end.
In any case the book is worth listening to, especially after the other books.
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- Joel
- 10-10-13
Surprisingly good
Series started poorly. The book overly and uncomfortably and too realistically focused on the brutality and misery of defenceless children and random murder. However by the end of the series it all made a point. This series is definitely above average and worth the read. Perhaps this author will be worth future consideration in any new series.