Mark Lawrence (author)
Mark Lawrence (born 1966) is an American-British novelist who wrote "The Broken Empire" trilogy. In 2014, Lawrence won the David Gemmell Legend Awards for best novel for "Emperor of Thorns". He operates the annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. Biography. Mark Lawrence was born in 1966, in the United States. While he was still 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 secret level clearance with both US and UK governments. Since 2015, Lawrence operates the annual Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off, a literary contest intended to bring greater visibility to self-published English-language fantasy authors. In 2021 Lawrence was nominated (and shortlisted) for the Nobel Peace prize as a contributor to a North Carolina committee on justice reform. Reception. Lawrence's first work, "Prince of Thorns", was a finalist in 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). 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". 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 work is translated into 25 languages and he has sold around two million books worldwide. Bibliography. The Broken Empire. A short story entitled "Sleeping Beauty" set in the Broken Empire was released in April 2014. Poetry. Free poems available on his website: