Prince of Fools Audiobook By Mark Lawrence cover art

Prince of Fools

The Red Queen's War, Book 1

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options
Buy for $24.09

Buy for $24.09

Hailed as "epic fantasy on a George R. R. Martin scale, but on speed" (Fixed on Fantasy), the Broken Empire trilogy introduced a bold new world of dark fantasy with the story of Jorg Ancrath' s devastating rise to power. Now, Mark Lawrence returns to the Broken Empire with the tale of a less ambitious prince.

The Red Queen is old but the kings of the Broken Empire dread her like no other. For all her reign, she has fought the long war, contested in secret, against the powers that stand behind nations, for higher stakes than land or gold. Her greatest weapon is The Silent Sister - unseen by most and unspoken of by all.

The Red Queen's grandson, Prince Jalan Kendeth - drinker, gambler, seducer of women - is one who can see The Silent Sister. Tenth in line for the throne and content with his role as a minor royal, he pretends that the hideous crone is not there. But war is coming. Witnesses claim an undead army is on the march, and the Red Queen has called on her family to defend the realm. Jal thinks it' s all a rumor - nothing that will affect him - but he is wrong. After escaping a death trap set by the Silent Sister, Jal finds his fate magically intertwined with a fierce Norse warrior. As the two undertake a journey across the Empire to undo the spell, encountering grave dangers, willing women, and an upstart prince named Jorg Ancrath along the way, Jalan gradually catches a glimmer of the truth: He and the Norseman are but pieces in a game, part of a series of moves in the long war - and the Red Queen controls the board.

©2014 Bobalinga, Ltd. (P)2014 Recorded Books Epic Fantasy Witty Royalty War Fiction Fantasy Epic Funny Action & Adventure Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
Humorous Dialogue • Engaging Adventure • Excellent Narration • Compelling Anti-hero • Clever Plot Twists • Witty Writing

Highly rated for:

All stars
Most relevant

Any additional comments?

Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence is a very interesting and exciting read. Unfortunately, I read the Broken Empire trilogy before i read this book. The problem is that The broken Empire trilogy is in my opinion one of the best fantasy series I have ever read. This book is very good and is by all means worth reading. It contains Lawrence's usual deep and well thought out characters and his magnificent story telling abilities. The simple problem is it is very difficult to make another character as good as Jorg from the previous trilogy. I really like the new main character Jalin, but he just doesn't fascinate and horrify you at the same time like Jorg did. Despite this problem the overall story was interesting and enjoyable to read. The narrator in my opinion did a fairly good job with the story, although all the vikings seemed to sound the same to me. As a whole, i liked the story very much and fully intend to buy the next book, but don't be too disappointed if it isn't as good as Prince of Thorns. i give it 4 of 5 stars.

Very good book but,

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you could sum up Prince of Fools in three words, what would they be?

Engaging Entertaining Enthralling

Who was your favorite character and why?

Prince Jalan. Never has a shallow, self involved, character been so entertaining! Of course, if Prince Jalan had never escaped his limited existence - as he was first revealed to us, I would have probably found him tedious.

Which character – as performed by Tim Gerard Reynolds – was your favorite?

The central character Prince Jalan. Tim Gerard Reynold's performance conveyed the nuances of this well written individual, to praise worthy heights; he breathed life into Prince Jalan, & the rest of the book, that I think would only have been matched by my vivid imagination feeding directly from the words themselves.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I think the book as a whole is very well written - the story is of a level where no one point stands out, leaving the rest to have been "lacking". Wherever I was up to, I was engaged; neither wanting to go back or impatient to rush ahead.
Like waking from a vivid dream; remembering the details, is almost secondary, to the tantalising feelings you are left with, as the images dissipate.

Any additional comments?

An excellent audiobook, which I will happily listen to again! I am definitely investing in the other books by this author - Mark Lawrence, & investigating other books narrated by Tim Gerrard Reynolds.

Story telling magic

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Prince of Fools?

I would have to say when the Prince Jalan came to the realization that Snory was his friend. It was nice moment in a action packed book.

What does Tim Gerard Reynolds bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater lol. It takes a chapter or two or three to get used to his voice as a new character if you have heard Tim before. The Narrator is most excellent. "dude"I read normal books but its never as much fun. Reading takes all my attention. And granted some audible books do require almost all my attention most do not.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I choose to treat my self to a book when doing mundane tasks. But I could see someone listing to the book in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

Nice solid book. It was missing some figurative magic somewhere. I cant really place it. So I don't feel right giving it a 5 star. I almost want to say parts of the book felt slow and others felt to fast. The other thing is, I really liked the Prince and Snory, but I wanted to love them.

Jalan, you have permission to be my wingman.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
spoilerless tl;dr -- If you like your heroes a little more "lawful good" than "unlawful neutral," this may be a little tougher to take. Manage your expectations and stick with it. Some parts seem a bit lampshaded as far as sense goes. The world itself has an interesting twist to it. I plan on reading the next book and giving the other series a shot.

Mild spoilers follow (nothing damning).

Full disclosure -- I haven't read the companion? parallel? series (Broken Empire) yet. This was my first experience with this author's work. As I understand, the other series also has something of an anti-hero in it.

I wouldn't call Jalan as much an "anti-hero" as much as an "If anyone actually knew what I was thinking, they'd know I sure as hell wasn't trying to be a hero, even if it happened by accident." The first lines of the book are a warning, guys. "I am 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." The main character is, indeed, a shameless coward, and his flippant attitude to everything in his royal life started off actually a bit grating to me. But the author's tone works, and there is character growth, such as it is.

I had slight issues with the story itself. Some things occurred that didn't seem strictly necessary (one chapter in particular probably makes a great deal more sense if you have read the Broken Empire trilogy, but that's neither here nor there). And it seemed to -- how to say it? Happen in a very straight line, I suppose? I find that sometimes this happens in first-person narrative books, or at least it's my perception. I felt a bit removed from the main character's plight because it was a given that nothing world-ending was going to happen to him, and he wasn't going to change maybe as much as my hero-leaning brain wanted him to. That's probably more my own personal taste rather than the author's failing, though. I don't believe the story would have worked without Jalan's snark and asides about his own self-interest. I found myself more interested in Snorri, but come on -- big, burly Viking, can't go wrong there.

Tim Gerard Reynolds turned in a good performance; his tone is decent for this series, although I personally feel his voice is a very slightly missed mark for the main character (he sounds older than I felt the character needed, maybe?).

I will continue to listen to the series, as I would feel nagged not knowing where this is going from here, but I'm not going to devour it voraciously. If you like your heroes a little on the less-heroic side, this might be just the thing for you.

Decent, as long as you don't expect a hero

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not Abhorsen or Dante Galand. but solid. Enough characterisation, content, and world-building to spark interest in subsequent books. the Main characters are a tad pasay. unlikely-hero-prince and bodyguard. also necromancer white 🚶 ers. slight spin.

Pasable fantasy.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews