Half a King

Book Title: Half a King

Author: Joe Abercrombie

Series: Shattered Sea #1

Date Started: May 26th 2014

Date Completed: May 29th 2014

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Action

Rating: Four stars

Review:

Thanks to HarperVoyager for the Advanced Reader's Copy for review.

I really enjoyed Half a King; being a lover of fantasy, it wasn't hard for me to become fascinated by the history of this new world, and I quickly slipped into the story and was lost pretty early on. Though this book is potentially awesome, for me it lacked that magical spark that sets each fantasy apart from each other and makes them special - however near the end of the book it started to peek through. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series to see that spark really ignite.

Yarvi is the King's son, but he will never been seen as worthy by those around him. But when his father and brother are murdered, and Yarvi forced to take the throne and avenge his family's deaths, he's thrown into the deep depths of war, betrayal and the nature of men.

It’s clear Abercrombie is a fantasy writer right from the start: the old-fashioned phrases and poetic dialogue immediately sets the tone for the world and characters in the novel, and adds to the tense atmosphere.

Something that particularly stuck out to me was the action. It’s common to have the odd battle or two in an epic fantasy book, but rarely are they written in such detail. Abercrombie portrays the movement itself very well, but also the affect that has on the protagonist. Despite the third-person narrative, it was still clear how Yarvi reacted, which consequently made the battle scenes more intense.

The introduction into this world was really good, and little details were being dropped into the story gradually. My favourite part of the book was the world building, because nothing was obvious at the start, but as you went along, you started to understand the history more and more. I hope that the events making Yavri’s world as it is are elaborated on in later books.

Although I was interested in this book very early on, I was completely sold at the first twist. You know a book is good when you have to put it down for a second and just absorb what happened. This occurred about three or four times throughout the whole book, which is really impressive.

The ending to this book was perfect. I mentioned earlier how I only really felt a spark in the story towards the conclusion. What I found so good about the last section of the book was the way it was fast paced at times, but then slowed down to let the reader really understand how everything was being solved. It wasn’t a short-lived ending: while it neatly tied off the necessary strings, it left quite a few more left to be picked up in later books.

Each character in this story was different and grew through the story. Though some were only featured fleetingly, the bonds they made and impressions they left impacted on the story well and keep it driving on.

I didn’t know what to make of Yarvi at first. It was clear he had accepted a life he was happy with, and so when he was forced into one he had been denied and no longer wanted, I did feel sorry for him. The following events enforced that, so by the time it became clear that Yarvi was a good leader and strived for what was honourable, I was on his side. And then Yarvi started making bad choices, and acting like the King he never wanted to be. And now, once again, I’m not quite sure what to make of him. And that makes it very exciting for the next book.

I fell into Yarvi’s world very quickly from the beginning, and found when I started reading, I couldn’t really stop for quite a while. This did, however, wear off a little throughout the novel. The pacing itself was gradual, and while this built up tension for the climax, wasn’t all that interesting during the actual reading process. But, having said that, sometimes still kept me gripped to keep reading numerous chapters at a time.

Half a King is a great in-depth fantasy for Young Adults, but also for older ages as well. Whether you're a fantasy-fan or are just starting off, this epic adventure is brilliantly written and crafted for the reader, and there's so much further the story is going to go.

Image Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20726853-half-a-king