Mark Lawrence

Mark Lawrence (born 1966) is an American-British novelist who wrote The Broken Empire trilogy. In 2014, Lawrence won the David Gemmell Award for Fantasy for best novel for Emperor of Thorns., and again in 2016 for best novel for The Liar's Key. He operates the annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off.

Biography

Mark Lawrence was born in 1966 in the United States. While he was young, his parents moved to the United Kingdom. Lawrence has a degree in physics and holds a PhD in mathematics.

He is married and has four children. Lawrence is the primary carer of his disabled child Celyn, and for this reason he does not travel to promote his books or attend conventions. He works as a novelist and was a research scientist in the field of artificial intelligence. He has held a secret level of clearance with both the US and UK governments.

Since 2015, Lawrence has operated the annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off, a literary contest intended to bring greater visibility to self-published English-language fantasy authors.

Reception

Lawrence's first work, Prince of Thorns, was a finalist for the Goodreads Choice Award for "Best Fantasy 2011", a David Gemmell Morningstar Award Finalist in 2012, and short-listed for the Prix Imaginales (Roman étranger) in 2013. Prince of Thorns was also one of Barnes & Noble's "Best Fantasy Releases of 2011".

His second book, King of Thorns was again a finalist in the Goodreads Choice Award for "Best Fantasy 2012." King of Thorns was also one of Barnes & Noble's "Best Fantasy Releases of 2012", and a David Gemmell Legend Award Finalist in 2013.

The final book in the Broken Empire trilogy, Emperor of Thorns, was published in August 2013 and was on The Sunday Times Bestseller list. It also made the final of the Goodreads Choice Award (2013) and won the David Gemmell Legend Award (2014).

His second trilogy, The Red Queen's War, is set in the same world as the Broken Empire trilogy. Prince of Fools was a semi-finalist in the Goodreads Choice Award for "Best Fantasy 2014" in an expanded category. It was also a David Gemmell Legend Award Finalist in 2015. The Liar's Key was a semi-finalist in the Goodreads Choice Award for "Best Fantasy 2015", and won Lawrence a second David Gemmell Legend Award (2016). The Wheel of Osheim was a semi-finalist in the Goodreads Choice Award for "Best Fantasy 2016".

Lawrence's books have been in the Goodreads Choice Award category for "Best Fantasy" 11 times and in the "Best Science Fiction" category once (One Word Kill). In addition, he was the artist for Wheelmouse and All the Crazy Robots, which was included in the awards' "Best Picturebook" category.

In April 2015, Harper Voyager acquired the rights for his next fantasy trilogy—the Red Sister trilogy—for a six-figure sum from Ian Drury at Sheil Land. This trilogy is not set in the world of the Broken Empire.

His books have appeared on The Sunday Times Bestseller list five times, most recently with his 20th book, Daughter of Crows, which debuted at number 3 on the list.

His work is translated into 32 languages, and he has sold around four million books worldwide.