Saturday, December 6, 2014

Book Review - Half a King

Posted by LunaMoth at 10:04 PM

Half A King
Author - Joe Abercrombie
Series - Shattered Sea #1
Genre - Fantasy
Pages - 352

“I swore an oath to be avenged on the killers of my father. I may be half a man, but I swore a whole oath” 

  Prince Yarvi has vowed to regain a throne he never wanted. But first he must survive cruelty, chains and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea itself. And he must do it all with only one good hand. 

  The deceived will become the deceiver Born a weakling in the eyes of his father, 

 Yarvi is alone in a world where a strong arm and a cold heart rule. He cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he must sharpen his mind to a deadly edge. 

  The betrayed will become the betrayer 

  Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast and the lost, he finds they can do more to help him become the man he needs to be than any court of nobles could. 

  Will the usurped become the usurper? 

  But even with loyal friends at his side, Yarvi’s path may end as it began – in twists, and traps and tragedy...
This was an ARC and let me tell you, if you like twists, an underdog, hardship with a sprinkling of comradere and friendship, politics and schemes, then you just may want to pick up this book.

 Half a King is about Yarvi, a man with only one hand who is thrust into position as king, and then due to some unortunate circumstances thrust into being an oarsman slave. Throughout the book i felt sad for Yarvi but i did not pity him his infirmiry, it gave him his character and made him what a great hero should be. He made mistakes here and there, he got thrown the short end of the stick many times but he was clever, what he lack in strength he made up for in wit and cunning. 

 The world building was decent, you never really get a feel for the lands. Its hot here, its cold here but that was basically it, they traveled so quickly through them that any landmarks or notable details are soon forgotten. That is not to say that the author is not detaled or focused, the book was great and I really liked the descriptions when given. 

 What really shines though is the friendships Yarvi makes, his companions that travel with him add spice and each has their own personality. I really liked how the friendships were rocky at first, especially with Ankran, but they built up and becae more than just second-hand characters. 

 The plot twists at the end were very well done, I could not have known what was going to happen even though there were wubtle hints here and there in the book. I do hope there is a next one though or the author i working on more books as i type, i would love to read ore from him!

 

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