Prince of Fools

Mark Lawrence does an excellent job writing compelling protagonists. I enjoyed reading about Jorg, who put a little something special in the “anti” part of antihero. That said, I enjoyed Jalan even more.

In the beautiful and terrifying world of the broken empire, it makes since that you'd have more than a few things to fear. As a self-professed coward, Jalan embraces his fears. He also embraces gambling, drinking, and women. A lot. This alternately had me wanting to reach through the pages and give him a well-deserved punch to his princely face and cheering for him in ways I never could with Jorg.

I'm really glad I read the Broken Empire before starting this series. The references to world events and characters, as well as the parallel paths to Jorg's story in Prince of Thorns really added depth to an already engrossing story. Plus, Prince of Fools manages to keep the same dark world as the original series while injecting a never ending supply of humor. The book had me laughing out loud on more than one occasion, and Tim Gerard Reynolds–who narrates the audiobook–absolutely nails Jalan's comedic moments (really he nails the whole book; seriously, Tim is amazing).