Book Review: Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

 

Betrayed by his family and left for dead, Prince Yarvi, reluctant heir to a divided kingdom, has vowed to reclaim a throne he never wanted.But first he must survive cruelty, chains and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea itself – all with only one good hand. Born a weakling in the eyes of a hard, cold world, he cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so has sharpened his mind to a deadly edge.Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast, he finds they can help him more than any noble could. Even so, Yarvi’s path may end as it began – in twists, traps and tragedy…

 

“When you’re in hell, only a devil can point the way out.” Do you like a story of betrayals and revenge? How about great world building and original mythology? Badass characters who you end up caring about a whole bunch? Plot twists? Lots of plot twists? Really great, unforeseeable plot twists? Who doesn’t love all of that in a fantasy right? Read this book. Now. Seriously. Wow, That Was A Twisted Plot: As mentioned before it’s jam packed with all the good stuff. You have your betrayals, your revenge,and your unbeatable odds. It’s definitely one of those books that will force you to start talking to yourself while reading. And by that I mean yelling, yelling in rage at all of the injustices done to our main character or just people in general. Plot twists. Oh the plot twists. I won’t tell you anything about those ,of course, but let me tell you that they are HUGE and there are quite a few of them. Seriously, though you will be saying that throughout the entire book! Joe Abercrombie also does a fantastic job building his world, it’s very creative and the mythology is fascinating. I found myself wanting to know more about the world’s mythology than the actual plot! I mean elves that broke God and disappeared ages ago? Tell me more!!! These Were Some Badass Characters: Yarvi is our main character, and his character develops so well. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever gone from thinking a character was a little wuss to “Wow you’re a total badass” before. Not to mention the super badass supporting characters, especially the women, no damsels in distress here. No matter what moral compass these characters are following I found myself liking them regardless. I actually didn’t find myself disliking any characters, you either love them or love to hate them. In Conclusion “Half a King” is ultimately worth checking out, it’s one of the best fantasy books (or books period) that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading and I will definitely be picking up the last two in the trilogy!  Recommend? Most definitely! Especially for any fans of the fantasy genre or if you loved any books in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series!  Links: Goodreads / Amazon