Description:

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.

From Booklist

It’s been four years since Prince Jorg avenged his mother’s death by killing his uncle and taking his throne. In that time, the young prince has matured mentally and physically and has prepared his small mountain kingdom for war. Opening with the arrival of an army of more than 20,000 soldiers and Jorg’s hasty wedding to a young princess, the novel is split between the war in the present and lengthy flashbacks to earlier years; the source of the flashbacks is a mysterious copper box that Jorg keeps with him at all times. The box, which holds the king’s memories, is designed to keep his past safe from his dream-walking enemies. Lawrence masterfully builds tension here, using the few frantic days of battle as the framework for his larger story. Readers who first met Jorg in Prince of Thorns (2011) will cheer for the return of one of fantasy’s most violent, yet strangely likable, antiheroes, and those new to his story will find it easy enough to start here (but they will be eager to jump back to book 1). Set hundreds of years in the future after a disaster ended the time of the Builders, this is epic fantasy only lightly touched by science fiction, and the combination of dark fantasy, male characters, and plenty of violence makes it a perfect read-alike for fans of Brent Weeks and Joe Abercrombie. --Jessica Moyer

Review

“Mark Lawrence is the best thing to happen to fantasy in recent years.”—Peter V. Brett, international bestselling author

“Shockingly raw…Horribly amazing, like a deadly storm I just couldn’t escape or want to tear my eyes away from.”—Night Owl Reviews

“Dark and gritty.”—*Library Journal *

“Brilliant…Action-packed throughout with a surprising spin.”—Genre Go Round Reviews