Usually I don't review sequels (too many accidental spoilers, and by the time you've read the first one you should know if you want to read the next) but for Mark Lawrence's The Liar's Key I'm going to make an exception. 
 This book starts at the end of the winter Jalan, Snorri, and Tuttugu have just spent in the North, as they start to head south. Snorri and Tuttugu are heading for Death's Door, and they have a few ideas of where to look. Jalan is on his way home to Red March and the comforts of his old life as a prince. Kara, a volva (witch/wise woman) that they met at the start of their journey home also accompanies them, sent by Skilfar to learn through adventures. I appreciated the meeting with Gorgoth and his trolls and enjoyed what we heard about the Ancraths throughout the book as well. 
 "'This Jorg of yours, I've heard tales of him. Queen Sareth wanted me to put the scap over my knee and tan his hide. I would have too- very persuasive woman, Queen Sareth.' I raise my voice, just a notch, nice and subtle, so Kara wouldn't miss my talk of queens and princes. 'Beautiful with it...I would have taught the boy a lesson but I had more urgent business in the north.'" 
 "A modern breaches etiquette the way an Ancrath murders your family, i.e. it's not unheard of but you know it means they're pissed off." 
 I loved the Broken Empire Trilogy. There are so many books that imagine some sort of future world and society, but very few do it the way Lawrence does. Prince of Thorns the first dark fantasy I'd ever read, and it was impossible to turn away from Jorg's story. Jalan's story, beginning in Prince of Fools and now continuing with The Liar's Key is just as good, but Lawrence does a wonderful job of making Jalan and Jorg very different protagonists. Jorg is smart, sulky, somewhat evil (though he does grow up some) and in general kind of a badass. Jalan acknowledges himself to be a coward; adventures and quests aren't really his thing but he loves gambling and women and horses. His story is more humorous, with frequent laugh-out-loud moments in both books so far. Some of my favorites from The Liar's Key: 
 "'We'll sail from Kristian to cross the Karlswater. That's the only time we'll lose sight of land.' 'A great comfort, Tuttugu. I always like to do my drowning within sight of land.'" 
 "Barbarians should know their place, and using long words isn't it." 
 "..Snorri's dreadful little boat wallowed around like a pig trying to drown..." 
 We also get some more great Snorri/Jalan moments: 
 "At home I'd damn the fellow's eyes...and let one half of the palace guard hold me back while the other half beat him out of town. The trouble with a friend like Snorri is that he's the sort to take things at face value and think I really did want to defend my own honor." 
 "A sense of betrayal rose through me and the loss of Snorri settled on me suddenly from nowhere. Friendship felt somehow more valuable than unbreakable contracts. Whatever his faults the northman would never have stood there and let this happen to me." 
 Throughout the book, we get to see flashbacks to when Jalan's grandmother, the Red Queen, was young. I especially enjoyed these because I've been dying to know more about her and the Silent Sister. We also get to find out more about the mysterious Blue Lady through these flashbacks. 
 I'm not sure how Lawrence does it, but everything he writes is amazing. I'm already counting the days until the next book in the trilogy comes out. 
 This is a copy of a review originally posted on my blog, bookreviews77.com