King of Thorns
by Mark Lawrence (Harper Voyager, 2012)
audiobook read by Joe Jameson (HarperCollins, 2012)
Jorg Ancrath remains a quintessential antihero, redeemable (if at all) only through dint of his brutal self-honesty and the reader’s lingering hope that he might come good. Lawrence also affords him the appeal of fighting, mostly with his wits, against impossible odds.
Prince of Thorns
by Mark Lawrence (Voyager, 2011)
audiobook read by Joe Jameson (HarperCollins, 2012)
Lawrence’s debut is an impressive piece of genre subversion, casting adolescent antihero Jorg Ancrath against every convention of what is appropriate from a fantasy protagonist, yet still retaining the reader’s backing. Jorg’s conversational sociopathy is particularly well served by Jameson’s audiobook reading.