Review: Half a War

Third book of the Shattered Sea trilogy
By Joe Abercrombie
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)
Review copy
Read my reviews of Half a King and Half the World

I was excited to finish the Shattered Sea trilogy since I enjoyed both of the first two books.  There's something so satisfying about finishing a series.

Each of the books shifts focus to a different narrator.  The main narrator of HALF A WAR is Skara, a princess who sees her family slaughtered.  She's traumatized and in exile, but she's also a queen now.  She must figure out how to be more than a figurehead and rescue her country from war.  Half a war is political shenanigans, and I love political shenanigans.  (What I didn't love is how many times characters express that sentiment.  Half a war, it's the title, we get it.)

The protagonists of the previous two books do appear.  Yarvi is used very well.  He's changed from who he was at the beginning of HALF A KING, and do many of the characters' points of view he's one of the villains.  Even though we only got a third of his journey through his eyes, it's been an intriguing one to watch.  I didn't think Thorn and Brand, from HALF THE WORLD, were used as well.  In fact, I rather disliked how they were treated in this book.

The Shattered Sea trilogy is composed of three very different coming-of-age stories.  Skara's story is probably my favorite of the three.  I admired the balance between her inexperience and her ability to learn quickly, listen wisely, and act decisively.  The co-protagonist, Raith, didn't impress me as much.  He's a brutal fighter annoyed at being traded to Skara like a thing, but he does think she's hot.  His character development felt inorganic, especially when Skara's was right there being done smoothly and neatly.

I thought HALF A WAR was a strong ending to the series.  The main storylines come to satisfying conclusions, but not completely neat ones that are false to what comes before.  The previous stories are built on, although too many elements from HALF THE WORLD fall to the wayside.  And Skara is the strongest protagonist of the series, which definitely gives the story a boost.  I think HALF A WAR will definitely satisfy fans of the Shattered Sea trilogy.

Review: Half the World

Book two of the Shattered Sea series
By Joe Abercrombie
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)
Review copy
Read my review of Half a King

Joe Abercrombie returns to the world of the Shattered Sea for another globe-trotting adventure.  This time the heroes are Thorn, a prickly young woman who wants to be a warrior like his father, and Brand, a young man who wants to be a warrior to secure a life for himself and his sister.  Both of them are from Gettland, and their lives become entwined when Thorn accidentally kills another warrior-in-training during an exercise.

Gettland's growing power does not sit easily with the High King.  Therefore, Father Yarvi needs to gather up a crew to go find allies for Gettland, if only to prevent his country from being easily subjugated.  Thorn and Brand, of course, become two of them members of his crew.

I preferred HALF THE WORLD to HALF A KING.  Some of it might be as simple as the fact that the world is more established and less time can be spent building it up.  Some of it is the prickly relationship between Thorn and Brand, which I loved.  Some of it was getting to see an outside view of Yarvi, who is a few years older and now a minister.  From the outside, his ongoing quest for vengeance is a bit more oblique.  Other characters from HALF A KING also make an appearance, but the fact that HALF THE WORLD focuses on new protagonists means that it can be read without knowledge of the first book.

I loved getting to see more of the politics of the Shattered Sea.  The alliances between countries are delicate things, honor less of a binding promise than gold.  I also liked that there was plenty of action to liven up passages between the negotiations.  The pace of HALF THE WORLD is very solid, and made me forget just how long the book was as I read.

Thorn's growth as a character appealed to me too.  At the beginning of the novel, she's impulsive, rude, and expects combat to be rule-bound and fair.  She has to learn self control and improve her skills to be an effective fighter, because a small girl can't take on a large man if she tries to beat him with brute strength.  Brand has some lessons to learn too, although the changes in his character are less drastic.

HALF THE WORLD is a fun novel for fantasy fans, full of swashbucking and double-crossing and a mix of personal and political triumphs.  I am looking forward to the third book and hope that the Shattered Sea series keeps improving.

Review: Half a King

Book one of the Shattered Sea series
By Joe Abercrombie
Available now from Del Rey (Penguin Random House)
Review copy

I have never read a Joe Abercrombie book before, but I knew his name from discussions of modern fantasy. When I saw he was starting a new series, I wanted to give it a try.  HALF A KING begins much like this year's fantastic THE GOBLIN EMPEROR.

After a sudden assassination, a younger son who doesn't fit in at the court becomes the ruler.  But there the books sharply diverge.  Prince Yarvi is knowledgeable, but not a particularly savvy ruler, and he is quickly eliminated by a rival from the throne.  Presumed dead, Yarvi is sold as a slave and must find a way to rescue himself and his country.

HALF A KING is a twisting adventure full of unexpected allies and enemies.  Yarvi encounters people from many countries, and people who have much less and are more desperate than anyone he's known before.  He also meets people who are not so ambitious as to murder for power, but loyal to the end.  It's often pretty obvious which characters are which, but Abercrombie manages some surprises.

No one ever expects much of Yarvi, because the countries prize physical strength and he was born without a hand.  His brain is one of his greatest assets, as he often has to convince people that he is too valuable to kill.  And, as his journey continues, it starts to become true.  The spoiled prince learns skills - physical, social, and mental - that he was lacking.  At the same time, it may not be enough to make him a good king even if he would be a better one than at the beginning.

I've heard that Abercrombie writes fairly grim and dark fantasy.  HALF A KING certainly isn't optimistic or idealistic, but neither is it grim (even with all the slavery).  I'm sure it will have a significant overlap with the YA audience, given Yarvi's young age.  I really like that HALF A KING stands very well on its own despite being the first book in a trilogy.  I think the story works even if Abercrombie never writes another word about the Shattered Sea.