Tough Traveling: Large Man

The Thursday feature "Tough Traveling" is the brainchild of Nathan of Review Barn, who has come up with the excellent idea of making a new list each week based on the most common tropes in fantasy, as seen in The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynn Jones. Nathan has invited anyone who is interested to come play along, so be sure to check out the first link for more information. Compulsive list-maker that I am, I'm very excited to take part!

This week's tour topic is: Large Man

LARGE MAN…He is very calm, very strong, and not at all stupid. In some cases he will have been a BLACKSMITH, which accounts for the ease with which he severs the chains in the Galley.

Okay, so I was completely stuck for the theme for this week. I tried googling for ideas. And let's just say, I hope no one else made the same mistake I did with the search term "fantasy large men". Yeah, I don't recommend that at all. You would not believe the results that came up. Not what I had in mind.

So I'm afraid I'm going to have a rather weak list this week. The thing is, the LARGE MAN (who is also sometimes a blacksmith) feels like it has come up a lot in the books I read, but I can never remember, as this character is so often in the background, "just some guy" the main characters happen to meet, who might not even be named. A few on my list are going to be more prominent and better known large men instead, even if they don't really fit the description.

Red Country by Joe Abercrombie
Lamb is Shy South's cowardly old stepfather, a big man but also quiet and taciturn. The two come back from town one day to find their farm burned to their ground, and Shy's two young siblings Ro and Pit stolen away. Their journey to get the children back brings out a whole new side in Lamb, and we discover he has actually been hiding a bloody past of his own. If you've read The First Law trilogy before this, you're in for a treat!

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
Martin's series is peppered with freakishly large men (and women, in the case of Brienne of Tarth). We have the Clegane brothers, Ser Gregor and Sandor who are both huge and heavily muscled, the former who is nicknamed "The Mountain" because of his enormous stature. We also have Hodor, of course. Well over seven feet tall, it has even been suggested by Osha that he might have some giant's blood in him.

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Speaking of giant's blood, we move on to a character who actually is half-giant. Rubeus Hagrid is the son of a human and a giantess, and at age six he was able to pick up his father and put him on top of the dresser if he annoyed him. Plus, every one of these Tough Traveling posts requires Harry Potter, so glad I was able to get it in for this week.

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
The Horneater called Rock is Kaladin's fellow bridgeman in Sadeas' army whose real name is so hard to pronounce that everyone just calls him by the nickname. He is also a large man. He is described as nearly seven feet tall with thick limbs and a powerful torso. Despite his size, others around him are generally not intimidated by him because of his jovial nature. He is quick to laugh and is well-liked. He likes to cook and refuses to fight because being a soldier is not considered reputable in his culture.

The Broken Empire by Mark Lawrence
Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath travels with his band of gritty brutes, with Brother Rike being notably one of the larger and more blood thirsty members of his gang. There's even a great quote about his size: "Most men have at least one redeeming feature. Finding one for Brother Rike requires a stretch. Is 'big' a redeeming feature?"

Building A Broken Empire: An Interview with Mark Lawrence

In just a few short years, Mark Lawrence has gone from being a debut author to a dominant name in fantasy fiction. His latest book Emperor of Thorns, which released in the US earlier this week, is the breathtaking conclusion to The Broken Empire trilogy, a series of books that has taken the genre by storm (see our review of Emperor of Thorns here!)

One of the things we really admire about Mark is his openness and constant connection with his fans. In turn, we as readers have enjoyed the emotional journey on which his books have taken us. It is thus a great pleasure and honor that we were able to talk a little with Mark about himself and his writing, and share our questions and his answers with you here at The BiblioSanctum.

"There’s something brittle
in me that will break
before it bends."
- Jorg Ancrath

The BiblioSanctum: In the trilogy, Jorg grows from a young boy to become a 20-year-old in EMPEROR OF THORNS, very formative years for a character. Fantasy features a lot of main characters who age and mature throughout a series, but Jorg's brutal history certainly sets him apart in making growing up a much different and more difficult process for him. Were there any challenges or highlights for you as you were writing Jorg's journey from boy to man?

Mark Lawrence: We see Jorg at age six, age twenty and quite a few ages in between. I didn’t find any difficulty in maturing him – I just had a vision/model of him in my head and wrote that. It helped that he was always intelligent and confident beyond his years so the only real growth he had to make was emotional.

The challenges and highlights are the same thing for me and are always whether I can make the strong emotion that certain sections of the books generate in me come through the page. I don’t plan my story so I’m taken by surprise and shocked as often as the reader is. If the turn of events hits me hard, I want it to hit the reader hard too. That’s the writing challenge. It’s difficult to arrange letters on a page so that someone years later and far away both in geography and background will find their heart beating faster or punch the air or blink away a tear.   

The BiblioSanctum: The world of The Broken Empire has a medieval fantasy feel, but there's also an intriguing twist to its history that introduces some genre-bending elements into the series. Without getting too spoilery for readers new to these books, was this aspect of the setting intentional or was it something that worked its way into the storytelling as you went along?

Mark Lawrence: The setting, like everything else, grew with the story. The first hint of the twist that I got was when I typed out the first hint of a twist. I don’t sit down knowing what I’m going to write.

"A dark time comes.
My time.
If it offends you.
Stop me."
- Jorg Ancrath

The BiblioSanctum: In your EMPEROR OF THORNS afterword, you were very firm in informing readers that the character's story ends with this book. What are some of the factors that led to that decision and how does it feel to be wrapping up Jorg's story? What are your future writing plans now?

Mark Lawrence: The main reason is simply that the best story I could find to write ended on the last page of book 3.

Secondary reasons include the fact I signed up for a trilogy. I told the readers it was a trilogy. And I didn’t want to be the guy who started stringing it out once it looked like being successful.

I’m happy with the decision (at least now!). I think there’s a power in knowing when to end things. It’s a bit like knowing when enough is enough, when the joke stops being funny, when it’s time to leave, when to stop speaking etc. As I said in the afterword, I would very much rather people remember wanting more when Jorg’s tale ended, rather than just remembering which of the dozen books they finally gave up on as Jorg became a caricature retreading old ground for the umpteenth time. 

The BiblioSanctum: With EMPEROR OF THORNS completing The Broken Empire trilogy, you’ve gone from new author to seasoned writer in the last few years. What has the journey been like for you? How has life changed?

Mark Lawrence: It’s been swift. I’ve gone from having no books out to having a completed trilogy out in a touch under two years. Life hasn’t changed very much at all really, excepting that I spend more time writing now, and because my very limited spare time has not increased that means I spend almost no time doing the stuff I listed on my author bio when I started. My life is still dominated by caring for my very disabled youngest daughter. My day job is still the next biggest call on my time, and my writing still gets slotted in around those things. The big change I guess is that I now spend a lot (too much probably) of time on twitter and facebook etc keeping in touch with readers.

"Every man has his thorns,
not of him, but in
him, deep as bones."
- Jorg Ancrath

The BiblioSanctum: What kind of things fuel your creative fires? Where or when do your best ideas come to you? On the flip side, do you ever have moments when you just need a break from writing, and in those cases, what do you do to zone out?

Mark Lawrence: I think the biggest source of fuel for my creative engine is boredom, or at least a vacant mind. I tend to get my best ideas when I’m cycling to work, or digging the garden, or sawing logs, or staring into space. When my mind empties then ideas bubble up to fill it. The more interesting and fun my life is the less I have to say.

I never really find I need a break, but I do manage to fit in the odd film or book. PC/console gaming sadly is something I just haven’t been able to make time for recently.

The BiblioSanctum: We loved your recent blog post about what THE BROKEN EMPIRE means to you, and your hope that it meant something to your readers. We also appreciate your constant interaction with fans through Twitter and your blog, with fun contests, advice on writing, sharing fanart and more. What's the best part about interacting with your fans?

Mark Lawrence: That’s hard to say. I’ve ‘met’ some great people over the past two years. With my caring duties I can’t go to conventions or signings, but chatting on the internet is a good substitute. I love reading reviews where people have really connected with my work, and one of the best things has been the competitions where I get to see so much creativity and skill on display, often in areas where I’m lacking myself. It’s also been rewarding to have been able to raise so much money for the charity that runs children’s hospices (including one that my daughter uses). But I guess in the end the best part is that some of those fans have become friends.

Thank you for your time, Mark!

Book Review: Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Expected Date of Publication: August 6, 2013

This was a book I received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, so thank you to Ace books and Penguin for this most excellent reading opportunity. The cover of Emperor of Thorns proclaims, "All reigns must end..." and I have to say, the prospect of getting my hands on this third installment of The Broken Empire series and finding out what will become of Jorg Ancrath made this one of my most highly anticipated fantasy novels of 2013.

I was not disappointed at all. A caveat for this review, though: this being the final book of the trilogy, the following summary and my subsequent thoughts may contain possible minor spoilers for the two books that came before. In any case, Emperor of Thorns would not serve as a good starting point for someone new to this series; best to start with book one, Prince of Thorns, in order to watch the main character grow and develop throughout the course of these books. 

Indeed, Jorg Ancrath is twenty now; the boy prince has become a king, the ruler of seven nations. But where there is more, Jorg will always want it. He has set his eyes on becoming the emperor, a position decided only by vote during a truce period which comes every four years, when the rulers of a hundred fragmented kingdoms of the empire convene for an event called Congression. In the hundred years of the interregnum, however, no one candidate has managed to secure a majority of the vote. 

But Jorg has plans to change all that. On his journeys across the broken land, he has made even more discoveries about the mysterious Builders of their past, and he will use their secrets and technology to suit his purposes. And yet, equally as ambitious and bloodthirsty as Jorg is The Dead King, watching events unfold from beyond the veil. Jorg may take care to guard his fears and weaknesses, but the Dead King and his necromancers and army of lichkin are waiting, ready to strike at Jorg where he is most vulnerable.

As with the previous book King of Thorns, this one also takes us through different timelines in Jorg's life, with one thread following Jorg on his journey to Congression and the other focusing on events "Five Years Earlier." There are time-jumps aplenty, which makes rereading the first two novels a fine idea, but the author also includes a handy little refresher crash course before the prologue. Or you might be like me: whenever I came to a memory or flashback sequence in this book, I found it easy to figure out when and where in time I am using clues like which one of Jorg's companions or acquaintances are still alive! Those familiar with Jorg's character likely won't be surprised to hear you can form a rather complete history using the impressive trail of death and destruction he leaves behind, but more on that later.

Let me just say now that it has been a pleasure following Jorg on his anti-hero's journey, watching him mature from a boy to a man. But Jorg has never truly been young in the first place, not really; he's seen way too much death, betrayal, cruelty and brutality for that. Yes, he is a selfish, violent, deeply disturbed and deplorable character, but above all, he's also honest and unashamed of everything he is. That and the fact the only predictable thing about him is his unpredictability made him a very interesting character to follow.

Still, I suppose you could say I've never really felt connected to Jorg, because believe it or not, I actually find it very hard to relate to someone I honestly think is quite insane. And the years since the first book have in no way cooled his temper or impudence. However, in spite of it all, I still like him. I can't help but be drawn to this refreshingly original protagonist who calls himself a "broken boy" and wraps himself up in his anger to escape his past. So, can I really find it in myself to fault Jorg for going all Kill Bill Medieval-style on his enemies or anyone who even looks at him wrong? Not really, no.

The thing I love best about this series, though, is that nothing is as it seems. I've mentioned before in the past that the first two books contain relatively familiar fantasy ideas, except Mark Lawrence takes them all and spins them on their head. The third book is no different at all, and pretty much every chapter past the midway point contained something that made me stop reading, shake my head and go, "Whoa." There are just so many unexpected surprises, and even the setting itself is a twist, which I remember was a huge mind-blowing moment for me when I read the first book. Emperor of Thorns explores that setting a lot more, and we're seriously treading into genre-bending territory here.

And finally, WHAT AN ENDING. Needless to say, readers who have been following The Broken Empire up to this point will have no excuse to miss this. Even though Mark Lawrence wrote in his Afterthought that this will be the last book in this series, I don't find myself overly upset. I'm actually quite satisfied with how everything wrapped up. I am just grateful there is an ending, and to me, it was perfect.

4 of 5 stars

Cover Art: Emperor of Thorns

Jason Chan's cover art stages for Mark Lawrence's Emperor of Thorns. [x]