Prince of Fools

Mark Lawrence was born in Champagne-Urbanan, Illinois, to British parents but moved to the UK at the age of one. He went back to the US after taking a PhD in mathematics at Imperial College to work on a variety of research projects including the ‘Star Wars’ missile defence programme. Returning to the UK, he has worked mainly on image processing and decision/reasoning theory. He says he never had any ambition to be a writer so was very surprised when a half-hearted attempt to find an agent turned into a global publishing deal overnight. His first trilogy, The Broken Empire, has been universally acclaimed as a ground-breaking work of fantasy. Mark is married, with four children, and lives in Bristol.

‘A savage voice which is telling you a good jest while trying to drown you in story’ROBERT LOW (Author of the Kingdom Series and the Oathsworn Series)‘Really excellent, gritty fantasy – I'm trying to avoid comparison with GAME OF THRONES, but I'm afraid it’s right there. But funnier. Very funny indeed’YA and Carnegie-shortlisted author ANTHONY MCGOWANPraise for The Broken Empire:‘Dark and relentless, Prince of Thorns will pull you under and drown you in story. A two-in-the-morning page turner. Absolutely stunning… jaw-dropping’ ROBIN HOBB‘Excellent – on a par with George R.R. Martin’ CONN IGGULDEN‘Lawrence’s poetic prose is amazing, far and away the best of the modern fantasy authors’ PETER V. BRETT‘A hard-edged tale of survival and conquest in a brutal medieval world, well told and very compelling’ TERRY BROOKS