This morbidly gripping, gritty fantasy tale is not for the squeamish. Prince Jorg was 10 years old when Count Renar's soldiers hung him on a hook-briar while his mother and brother were murdered. Vicious and desperate for revenge, he joined a bandit gang. Four years later, he's their leader and determined to end a multigenerational war by resurrecting the old empire and becoming emperor. Jorg is the epitome of the antihero, killing not just in battle but whenever he feels the need to set an example. Only toward the end of the book does a startling revelation focus his violence on clearly deserving targets. But Jorg is a product of his world, no worse than any other power there, and Lawrence increasingly makes readers believe that Jorg may indeed be able to use small savageries to end the ongoing greater ones. (Aug.)
You’re not supposed to do it, but judging a book by its cover is a skill we all employ from time to time; whether we’re standing in a busy Barnes & Noble or squinting at a screen full of thumbnails, a book’s cover is often all you have time to peruse. Sure, in a perfect […]
From fantastic fantasy to scintillating sci-fi, we at the Barnes & Noble Book Blog do more than our fair share of browsing in the genre aisles. Whether you’re into urban fantasy, doorstopper epics, or galaxy-spanning space opera, we know just the book for you. Below, find a list of must-read titles released in June. Unexpected […]
Season 7 of Game of Thrones is finally here—and somehow, already nearly halfway over! If you’re like me, and unsure how you’re going to pass the time between Sundays for the next few weeks—never mind the break between the season finale and the start of the next and final season, and double-never mind the agonizing […]
If the last decade has proven anything, it’s that people love a good zombie apocalypse. Something about the mindlessness of a shambling horde of undead just feels right to us right now—almost as if we know, somehow, the end of the world is nigh, and it isn’t going to be pretty. Humanity literally wandering around […]
Across six novels set in the same brutal, ruthless post-apocalyptic fantasy world, Mark Lawrence proved himself to be a master of darkness, creating works so unrelentingly vicious, they approached a kind of genius comic absurdity—even as they rewrote the rules of what fantasy can do via fearless storytelling, unforgettable characters, and show-stopping worldbuilding. His latest […]