Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Aug 04, 2014 D.G. rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobook, reviewed, fantasy

This was my first book by Joe Abercrombie and I confess I wasn't that impressed. I just found this book OK and predictable. I don't know if the "twists" at the end were supposed to be a surprise because I figured them out a third through the book.

I never warmed up to any of the characters. Yarvi never stood out to me as that smart or remarkable. I would have wanted to see more steel in his character, but he seemed wimpy at times. He was constantly bemoaning about his crippled hand but a practica ...more

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May 08, 2014 Chompa rated it really liked it

Shelves: grimdark, 2015, young-adult, fantasy

When I started this book, I had forefront in my mind, "This is a young adult novel". Yarvi was designed to be the star of such a book. He was designed to be liked by the teenager types who read these. He was smart, physically flawed and totally misunderstood. The kids who read books would just love him. I hated him because it felt so engineered.

Maybe I was right about that, but after a bit more reading it started getting really good. And it was dark too. Yarvi went from training to be a ministe ...more

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Jun 16, 2014 Christal rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy-aka-swords, other-worlds, murder, arcs, ya-and-na, male-lead, gods-and-goddesses, 2014-favorites

AH and I chose this book for the June installment of our Jumble Your Genres Reading Challenge!

Half A King is definitely in my top 10 reads for 2014. I've read one of Joe Abercrombie's adult books, Red Country, and enjoyed it but this book took it to another level. Abercrombie is a wonderful writer and his descriptions make you feel like you are right there with Yarvi as he is on his journey.

Yarvi was a wonderful character and he grows so much in these 350 odd pages. The character at the beginnin ...more

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Jul 18, 2014 Deidre rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, series, young-adult, fantasy-swords-and-socerey

I liked this. So much that when I woke too early, I got up and finished it.

For those who have read Abercrombie, this is not set in the First Law world. And it is very different. I wondered how he would handle a YA. I'm guessing that the difference is that he doesn't use "fuck" in every sentence and blood, guts and treachery are only every other page. Plus, DO NOT READ THIS UNLESS YOU HAVE READ EVERY SINGLE OTHER BOOK JOE ABERCROMBIE HAS WRITTEN!!!! (view spoiler) ...more

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Jul 18, 2016 Katyana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, epic

Wow.

Really, wow.

A friend rec'd this book to me, because she knows I love Game of Thrones. And it most certainly did not disappoint. I've read Abercrombie before - I enjoyed his First Law trilogy - but this just feels above and beyond anything else I've read of his. Really fantastic, twisty plotting. Definitely elevates him to my auto-buy list.

If you love epic fantasy with a dose of gritty realism, check this one out. ...more

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