The Broken Empire

Author: Lawrence, Mark

If you want some seriously good fantasy (extremely gritty, grimdark fantasy), The Broken Empire Books are some of the best out there (the books top our Top 25 Best Fantasy Books list and make quite a few of our other lists. Those phenomenal books become even BETTER when you listen to the audiobook version by British narrator James Clamp who manages to nail down exactly what you expect the characters to sound like in the story.Indeed, once in a while you listen to an audiobook and the narrator BECOMES the characters so utterly that you canÃ¢t pull apart the story from the voiced narration. This is one of those examples, and it's an audiobook that MUST be listened to if you can get your hands on itJames Clamp does a stand out performance here; his performance of LawrenceÃ¢s Prince Jorg is pitch perfect perfection itself, embodying exactly how the character would be. The broken story of troubled Prince Jorg of Ancraft is stripped from the dry pages of the book and raised to life through Clamps powerful and compelling narrative powers. It's a story and voiced narration that you feel deep into your bones with Clamp's handling Jorg's gentle introspective soliloquies about the nature of man to his cocky and brash confidence as a leader hell bent on revenge in absolute perfect voice and style. It's a rather philosophical reading of the character and the overall feeling is one of an introspective character observing the character around him but never connecting to it on a personal level, which is exactly the character of Jorg himself.Clamp's style has a melancholy note to it and is often dry and reserved rather than enthusiastic. Little weight is given to voice acting inflections, which is usually a negative point on part of the narrator. But in this rare case, such lack of inflection and acting on the narrator's part fits perfectly the character of Jorg perfectly.Note that the sequel trilogy is narrated by Tim Curry, who also does a stand up job (albeit with a more voice-acting style suitable for the character of the conniving rogue Jalan).Listen to a sample Joe Clamp's voice

Booklists having this book

Top 25 Best Fantasy Audiobooks

Listening to an Audiobook is a popular way to 'read' a book these days -- especially for those who are always on the move and don't have time to site... Read more

Other books by Lawrence, Mark

Prince Of Fools

Mark Lawrence's newest 2014 release in his new The Red Queen's War trilogy, set in the same world as his Broken Empire trilogy. This time around he focuses his efforts... Read more

Broken Empire / Red Queens War

Mark Lawrence doesn’t use an abundance of technical explanations and diagrams, but that doesn’t make his magic system any less interesting. In fact, it lets him focus on his astonishing... Read more

King Of Thorns

Emperor Of Thorns

Prince Of Fools

This first entry into the Red Queen's War trilogy is about a layabout, womanizing, alcoholic prince. He's also just funny enough not to think he's an utter bastard. Okay, he's... Read more

Red Queen's War

Mark Lawrence's newest anti-hero fantasy, with the first book out so far (2015 as of this writing). It's not as good or genre pushing as his first trilogy The Broken... Read more

The Broken Empire

If you want some seriously good fantasy (extremely gritty, grimdark fantasy), The Broken Empire Books are some of the best out there (the books top our Top 25 Best Fantasy... Read more

The Wheel Of Osheim

Felt so so about the first book, loved the second book, and I also love the final book in Lawrence's new take on an anti-hero prince. Jarl, the hero of... Read more

Red Sister

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The Liar's Key

The Wheel Of Osheim

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The second novel in a brilliant fantasy trilogy from the international bestselling author of Prince of Thorns.Behind its walls, the Convent of Sweet Mercy has trained young girls to hone... Read more

Red Sister

The international bestselling author of the Broken Empire and the Red Queen’s War trilogies begins a stunning epic fantasy series about a secretive order of holy warriors... At the Convent... Read more