Saturday, October 15, 2016

A Book Review: Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence (The Red Queen's War #1)

Last week, I flipped to the first page in Prince of Fools, and read:

I’m a liar and a cheat and a coward, but I will never, ever, let a friend down. Unless of course not letting them down requires honesty, fair play, or bravery.”

Hurrah! I instantly fell in love with this novel. At last, I have discovered another black gem, emitting the grimness and the darkness of those tales from the age of 'heroes”.

Prince of Fools, written by Mark Lawrence, a renowned fantasy novelist, is the first installment in a trilogy called The Red Queen's War. Who is Mark Lawrence? How can you not know Mark Lawrence? All right, if you are not a reader of the fantasy literatures then we can forgive you for not reading Mark Lawrence's works. But if you enjoy reading books from authors such as Joe Abercrombie, George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobbs, or Steven Erikson, then you are committing a capital offense against your reading world by not reading his books. If you belong to the later category, make haste to a bookstore or a library, and pick up a trilogy called The Broken Empire (A.K.A, the thorn guy. Come on, George R.R. Martin have also read the books about this thorn guy).

A few years ago, with The Broken Empire trilogy, Mark Lawrence made a debut in the literary world. It was an instant hit. Following the trilogy's conclusion, Dr. Lawrence set himself on a quest to weave another trilogy, and Prince of Fools was born.

Synopsis:

Prince Jalan Kendeth of the Red March stands gloriously on the cobble-stoned street of Vermillion. His handsome face, beaming with a radiant smile, lends grace to a powerful frame 6 foot tall, and casting the very picture of an ideal royalty. Aside from his good looks, Jalan has a reputation for valor too. “The hero of Aral pass”, they said, when our young prince fended off an invading army all by himself!

All right, all right. I can sense my fellow readers are about to cry, “cheesy” and “cliched”. So let me tell you the truth about Jalan instead. After all, everyone loves the truth behind a twist in the story, heh?

The truth - our dashing, romantic prince Jalan is a gambler, a drinker, and a seducer of women. Jalan has never acquired a proficiency in a useful skill, but he is very good at being a coward and it lends him some sort of invincibility.

Jalan's decadent life ended, on a night when he attended an opera in the city. By a freakish accident, Jalan became magically entangled with a fierce Norse warrior. Together, this duo, one a cowardly prince who is not afraid of being spineless, another a valiant warrior who is afraid of being craven, set out on a misadventure to undo the malicious spell that binds them. Along their journey, Jalan uncovered a reality; his heroic peer and his cowardly self are pieces in a game of war, controlled by his fearsome grandmother, the Red Queen.

My thoughts on this book:

I love reading and I read books from many genres, but fantasy literatures will always be the champion in my reading domain. I cannot pinpoint the reasons that attract me to the fantasy genre. Perhaps one day I will sit down, and pen an article to discussing the virtues of the fantasy literatures. But for now, it suffices to say I adore fantasy novels because: 1) Fantasy books are (usually) well written, 2) Fantasy books usually have good characterizations, 3) Fantasy stories are usually set in creatively and wonderfully imagined worlds, and 4) Fantasy stories somehow reach us in a way that facts cannot.

Prince of Fools ticks all 4 items on this brief checklist.

Firstly, let me quickly discuss its writings. Mark Lawrence wrote fluidically and powerfully in this book. The author captured the characters and the scenes in fine details without bogging down the story's pace. Every scene in Prince of Fools, from a buzzing crowd in a big city, a slog on the country road, to a perilous battle on a frozen tundra, were depicted picturesquely, aiding its readers to envision and immerse themselves in the story's world. This book used the first-person narrative. That is, the story is narrated by the protagonist, and from his view only. While this narrating method may limit our explorations into the minds of other characters in the book, but a first-person narrative worked exceedingly well in Prince of Fools.

Why? Remember, we are following the journey of Jalan, a cowardly prince and a detestable character whose moral compass points to a murky gray. Especially when it comes to matters about saving his own hide. In this case, a first-person narrative takes readers into the head of Jalan, settling us at the front seat and bore witness to the inner struggles and the thoughts of a craven man. Let me just say Jalan's thoughts are hilarious, enough to warrant a laughter-induced coma, but it also disturbed me because I could relate to him. Jalan's narratives will reveal why he is the price of fools, but before you pass down a judgment on Jalan consider this; if a 7 foot troll, or a flesh eating zombie is chasing you, can you honestly say you will behave more valiantly than Jalan? And I think this the major strength for this book; readers will come to a disturbing awareness that its protagonist, a detestable character according to all our standards, is also a person who we can easily resonate with.

Other than Jalan, a second major character also played a centre role in the story. His name is Snorri, a fierce Norse warrior. Upon the first glance, Snorri appeared to be a stereotypical barbarian warrior. But as the story unfolds, readers will discover this fearless Norsemen is not without fear (I won't spoil the story). Furthermore, while Snorri contrasted Jalan in every way, but his character is also far more complex than meets the eye. I think it suffices to say, by the end of the story, I became very fond of both Jalan and Snorri despite their many flaws.

The trademark of the fantasy genre is a story setting in a creatively imagined world. The worldbuilding in Prince of Fools ranks very high on the scale of creativity. Initially, the story appeared to be set in a typical fantasy world, of pseudo medieval European culture, swords and magics. But as the story unraveled, I discovered the story of Jalan is set in a post-apocalyptic world - Our world. Jalan's story belongs to a time, hundreds of years after an apocalyptic event wiped out our civilization, and humanity has once again reached a level equivalent to the medieval era. But this book also has magics, so where are the magics stemming from? Without spoiling the story, let me just say Jalan's world has a VERY interesting “magic” system. This is where Prince of Fools traversed from fantasy into the realm of Sci-fi (I will quickly mention Mark Lawrence is a research scientist in artificial intelligence, and he deployed some knowledge from his trade in this book. But saying more will be providing too many spoilers).

I adore Prince of Fools. I can probably heap even more praises on this book and discuss its virtues endlessly. However, I believe my brief review already placed enough information into the hands of my fellow readers, those who have never heard of, and those considering to read this novel. My verdict, Prince of Fools is definitely worth a read, especially if you enjoy fantasy novels telling grim and dark stories colored in the shade of moral gray. As for me, it is high time for sailing into the next adventure of Jalan's, a book titled, The Liar's Key.

Until the next time, happy reading!









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