Prince of Fools v Sputnik

• Book: Prince of Fools
• Author: Mark Lawrence
• Publisher: HarperVoyager
• Published: 2014

This book marks the beginning of Lawrence’s second trilogy set in the same world as his debut Broken Empire trilogy. It is not a sequel though some of the same characters do crop up. It actually follows a concurrent timeline to the first trilogy. While the Broken Empire is dark to the point of deranged in places (which I loved), Prince of Fools has darkness is more humorous.

Jalan Kendeth is in a very similar mould to Jezal dan Luthar from the First Law trilogy. He is a spoilt rich kid who would rather do anything else other than getting entangled with any sort of responsibility. Drinking, gambling, womanizing. If it is hedonistic in any way he is all for it. He is grandmother is a Queen but Jalan himself is very far down the list of prospective heirs.

Snorri conversely is Jalan’s antithesis in every regard. He is possessed of a noble soul and would put himself in harms way without question to protect those he loves.

Things go awry for these two unlikely bedfellows after Jal and Snorri are inadvertently possessed by an angel and a demon. What follows is their quest to rid themselves of the spirits possessing them. This takes them North, to the lands of Snorri’s birth and beyond. The plot is quite loose but that’s not a problem as this is a road-trip story. The tale is told in the journey as it were.

Where this book and its sequels excel though is in developing the relationship between Jalan and Snorri who at first are anything but friends. There are laughs aplenty, but also moments of genuine warmth, and then disappointments and betrayals worthy of the greatest tricksters. The more I think about it the more I suspect the heavy influence of Thor and Loki’s relationship in Norse mythology.

• Beer: Sputnik
• Brewery: North Brewing Co.
• Style: Pale Ale
• Strength: 5.0%

Drinkable beer. Can taste the malts through a fairly bitter base flavour. Not a lot more to say about it really. Simple but effective. Would recommend and would drink again.