Reviews

From the many cages ranked around the walls they looked down on him now, the doves, and one great bronze-feathered eagle which must have brought a message from the High King in Skekenhouse. The one person in the lands around the Shattered Sea who had the right to make requests of Yarvi now. Yet here he sat against the dropping-speckled wall, picking at the nail on his shriveled hand, buried beneath a howe of demands he could never fulfill.

It's really hard for me to review this. The book was not confusing in any way, I enjoyed reading it all, but it's something I don't usually read. In fact, this is considered adult fantasy which is something I don't really read. Actually, never have read. I asked my good friend Petrik for recommendations. Half a King was wonderful, amazing, action-packed, intense, crazy, and filled with like 4 plot twists that I did not see coming which is the big reason for getting 4 stars. I didn't see them coming, unlike other readers, and I'm glad I didn't. I don't like predicting things in books and I don't plan to. It's best for me not to, unless the book is way too predictable, which ends up being a book I'll give a negative review on. Half a King couldn't have been better for me and I'm so glad I decided to start off with this one. Also, I'm in love with that cover? I mean, it's a sword and it looks shiny and there's more blades on it or something and I find it beautiful. Joe Abercrombie definitely did not disappoint with this one. I already went to the library to get the 2nd book because I am so excited to start it and see where Prince Yarvi, the main character, goes off on his journey.

Half a King, like the title says, is about half a king? Prince Yarvi was born with a half hand, or a crooked/crippled hand, who doesn't plan on taking the throne of his Father because of who he is. He wishes to be a mistress that he even studies everything and proves himself he's worthy of one to become one. As Yarvi is practicing for his upcoming test of becoming a mistress with someone very close with him, he finds out that his brother and father have been killed, murdered, and it is his turn to take the throne he never planned on taking. Not having a clue on how he will become the King his people need, unsure how he will be able to do things with that crippled hand of his, he swears and makes an oath to the Gods that he will reclaim that throne and take vengeance on his brother and father's killer. When something unexpected happens, Yarvi is later thrown into a world he didn't ever think about. Slavery. Brutality. Betrayal. Friendship. Unexpected turns are taken which lead to Yarvi becoming part of a group who later help him come out of his "immature side" and become the prince he was always made to be. From cruelty and chains to vengeance and friendships, Yarvi might just end where he started off.

So, this was intense for me. It had plot twists I didn't see coming and I don't read books with so many plot twists (yes I know there are more books with more plot twists but I'm just starting) which made everything so much better. The book is intense from the beginning and it's even got the betrayal since the beginning which later leads to revenge. Yarvi was a likable character and I even felt bad for him but then I was proud of him because he went from being a weak boy who wanted to be a mistress to a cunning man who is back home. He had to go through a lot that he had never been through and it was hard reading about him facing those struggles he never thought about. You can't give anything but pity to him because of who he is and what he thinks of himself. He doesn't believe in himself and neither does anyone else, not even his mother, and the only person who believed in him was his "2nd mother" who was also his mentor, the one who practiced with him for his mistress test. He takes trials he didn't want to take and later ends up as a slave. I don't read a lot of books that have a male character as the male lead, but Yarvi has changed the way I look at male characters. What I'm saying is I'm so used to reading about female characters wanting to become this badass heroine but manage to actually fail that I ignore the actual characters that manage to accomplish what they swore to do, and it's not a female character but instead they're male characters.

There's really no hint of romance in this. There are female characters, but there's really no romance, and it was a little weird for me to read something without romance because almost every book I read has some element of romance in it and it has to stop. There's a female character who ends up becoming one of Yarvi's friends. She's ruthless, but she has her fears. She's strong, fierce, but she's afraid. She's a little arrogant, but she doesn't let her close friends behind. Other than that, there's Yarvi's cousin who was not really part of the book since there are unexpected turns taken down and she's basically living in a ruling house while Yarvi is a slave, starving, suffering, finding ways to escape. Aside from the romance, there are the characters that make the story so much better. I will be honest: Since I'm not used to reading this genre, followed by names I'm not used to, I had trouble pronouncing names.

We have Sumael who was by far, my favorite aside from Yarvi. She was the badass female character I mentioned above and you can't do anything but love her. You can't not love her. She was fierce but she was also scared like I said, and her loyalty to Yarvi and the rest of the group is just really cute. Not in a romantic way, but in a friendly way. She wished to not help Yarvi because he was the weakling who got pity, but she didn't leave him behind and didn't plan to. I felt bad for the beginning of the book because I had trouble pronouncing her name and kept calling her 'Samuel' instead of 'Sumael' which was awful but even though I kept mispronouncing her name, I tried my best to call her Sumael in any way that was not Samuel. Then we have Jaud, Rulf, and Ankran who all grew on me. I didn't really like them, any, because of how they treated Yarvi, but then it was understandable and their personalities were understandable. They were slaves after all and had been in that ship of the captain for a longer time than Yarvi. They became great allies, companions, friends, of Yarvi and they lived up to his expectations. He managed to fail when it came to first impressions but later he managed to grow on them and later they all helped each other in any ways they were able to until they couldn't. Lastly, we have Nothing. I won't say why his name is Nothing but he was the one who added humor and another unexpected turn to the book. You can't help but love his attitude and the way he acts around the rest of the group.

One of my favorite things about this book was the writing. Some may say it was the worst thing of the book, but it was my favorite. The author manages to write the book as if it was a poem, which is weird. There are so many sentences that were just, sentences, but he managed to make them sound similar, alike, as if there was a rhyme connected. When a sentence started, a reader can be managed to read the ending of that sentence as if he or she were reading a poem. Some of the writing was part of the reason I kept reading, another was obviously the action in the book. Joe is indeed a great writer and I'm really excited to see what else he has written, including the other 2 books of this trilogy to see where Yarvi is going, what he plans on doing, how he goes off on his journey, the new people he meets, the new friendships he makes, and maybe more plot twists and betrayals and more revenge? Hopefully.

It wasn't very dark, in my opinion, but I won't say it wasn't. Joe is able to grip the attention of the reader and keep the reader going because all they want to do is find out what is going to happen next and how. First novel read by Joe but definitely not my last. His writing is gripping, beautiful, compelling.

There are no relatabe characters in this, mostly because it's a fantasy and I can never really relate to a character in a fantasy novel, but characters to manage to grab your attention and keep you reading about them and the rest because they're in a Shattered Sea, starving, being forced to do things for their captain or she will whip them, torture them, hit them, and maybe even kill them, for what they have not done. Yarvi managed to survive, and I was so happy to know he was able to be a character who fits in the "coming of age" genre. He became a man, maybe not a prince, but he became a man who is able to fight with a crippled hand. He was able to prove others and himself and I was happy of that, it's like I was proud. I was. There's really no world-building in this and I was happy with that since they aren't my favorite thing especially because a lot of authors manage to fail on writing it, but there is, without a doubt, some major and great character development.

I'm really excited to read the other book which I am sure to start very soon and I'm also excited to read Joe's other works. I'm just really excited to read more fantasy like this in general. This can be categorized as adult fantasy, and it is with the violence and blood spatters, the betrayals and vengeance, the friendships made and hearts cracked, but it can also be read as a YA novel. What I mean is that it isn't high fantasy, not even that much of epic fantasy. Don't get me wrong, it's an epic fantasy story, but it doesn't have those "epic fantasy" elements you have probably seen in actual epic fantasy books. Yarvi starts off as a boy and becomes someone he didn't think he would become. He grows up. He survives. There are YA fantasy books that can have a similar story to this one, hero or heroine, but then is so different. The story is easy to follow, the book is fast-paced, the plot is also a little original but not as original as it sounds. It has humour, it has action. It's got the side characters that you will most likely end up loving but then there's also the "side characters" you'll most likely end up hating.

pilardo's review against another edition

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3.5

This was fun. Seemed a little lighter than the First Law trilogy, and it wrapped up neatly in one book. Might continue the series, might not.

timinbc's review against another edition

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5.0

A very good YA-but-fine-for-adults fantasy.

The five stars are because it completely passes the "tell me a story I won't want to put down" test.

It's not memorably ground-breaking, not should it be for a YA audience. It need only be a good story with some twists and turns and interesting characters, and it does that very well.

I didn't see any typos, and Abercrombie style never got in the way. The plot rips along at a good pace, and the adult reader can go fairly quickly.

Gotta go, I'm off to look for #2 so I can see what happens next.

l_green26's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

dany_westfall's review

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4.0

Al principio fue un poquito lento pero después OMG!
No me esperaba para nada lo que pasó al finalllll, ya quiero leer el siguiente.

dreaming_ace's review against another edition

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4.0

An interesting take on the boy forced on quest to become a man story line. I really enjoyed the little details of how many things were changes slightly from what is typical such as it having Mother War and Father Peace, etc. The multiple gods were more evenly divided between male and female and everyone understood they were all important. I also enjoyed that Peace is shown the better way when ever possible.

gospelflare's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

4.0

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