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Book Review


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Half a King

 

Author: Joe Abercrombie
Publisher: Harper Voyager
RRP: £8.99
ISBN: 978 0 00 755022 7
Publication Date: 29 January 2015


The crippled Prince Yarvi awaits his minister’s test, sure in the knowledge that he neither wanted the throne nor could a cripple make more than half a king. The sudden murder of both his father and brother disrupts this plan forcing him to take up the mantle of the Kingdom, but Yarvi is not the only person to question his suitability and Yarvi is betrayed and left for dead. Sold into slavery Yarvi gathers together an unlikely set of friends and vows to take his throne back...

Half a King (2015. 373 Pages) is the first part of a Shattered Sea trilogy by British writer, Joe Abercrombie, who is better known for his successful The First Law series of books and short stories. Whereas his earlier work was aimed at a decidedly more adult audience, the new series is more akin to young adult literature, but no less enjoyable than his earlier work.

The book's world consists of a number of kingdoms which surround the shattered sea, not unlike the Mediterranean, but its size and scale mean that it can encompass anything from a warm climate to a northern land of ice and volcanoes. Politically and culturally the world lies somewhere between the Viking era and early medieval. Abercrombie has chosen to go the same way as R. R. Martin in creating a world where magic may well have existed in the past, but has seemingly passed out of the world when the Elves, in their hubris, shattered God, becoming the architects of their own demise.

Apart from creating a coherent world in which to play, one of the greater strengths of the book is in the creation of the characters. The book does not contain a villain, as such, or really a hero, Abercrombie preferring to create characters that may well do bad or good things depending on the circumstances they find themselves in.

In many ways this creates more realistic characters and there were many smaller characters that I warmed to, maybe some time later Abercrombie will return with earlier, scurrilous tales of the drunken ship’s captain, Shadikshirram. Naturally flowing from the creation of realistic characters the book creates understandably realistic relationships.

The tale is part coming of age and part travelogue through the lands, which on one level makes it sound a little dull, but the book has a nasty way of lulling you into a false sense of comfort before completely pulling the rug out, pirouetting the plot into another direction.

Given that this is a new series, there is no need to have read any of the First Law stories. Readers looking for the bleak aspects of his earlier writings will find that he has smoothed the edges for this young adult series. It does have its dark moments, but the violence and some of the language which he is known for has been seriously toned down, making it a suitable read for his target audience.

In the end, I really did enjoy the book and look forward to the next two; there are few writers who can continually keep you guessing and fully engaged at the same time.

8

Charles Packer

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