Half a King product reviews

This is the first time that I've read any of Joe Abercrombie's books and it's also his first foray into the young adult scene. Sometimes it's hard to see where the line between young adult and adult books is. I've read a few books that have been labelled as young adult which I thought highly inappropriate for the lower end of that age group (16-25) but I'm happy to say that this is not one of those books and can be enjoyed by both young and old readers.

The story follows Prince Yarvi, second son of a King, who has the unfortunate circumstance of having been born with a severely disfigured arm which in a world that relies on brute strength and the ability to hold a sword makes you a weakling in the eyes of others. When, due to unforeseen events, Yarvi is forced to take the throne, he finds himself plunged into a dark world of death, betrayal, slavery and survival.

Yarvi is portrayed as a weak character that is always relying upon others to save him. He more than makes up for his lack of strength with a sharp and cunning mind and I found it a refreshing change for the main character to not necessarily be the 'hero' of the story. Yarvi's character is well developed throughout and it was interesting to see his progression from self loathing and disgust over his crippled state to realising that he's strong in other ways and that brute strength isn't all that matters in the world. The other characters that Yarvi meets and forms friendships with along the way aren't as well developed but I think that considering the hardships that they all face together, it's assumed that they would quickly forge a strong bond.

The main story line is vengeance - Yarvi swears an oath to avenge the death of his father and brother but before he can truly begin, he finds himself betrayed and thrown into a life of slavery. Although the plot isn't particularly original the author has done a good job of creating a dark and compelling read with occasional humour and wit. I found the pacing at the beginning of the book a bit slow for my liking and at first it was hard to see what direction the story was heading in but once the main story kicked in I found it hard to put down. I really enjoyed the authors writing style and all the little flourishes and descriptives that he uses and I didn't feel like any of the story was just filler to add length to the book, which was nice. I also particularly enjoyed the rather surprising ending which I didn't see coming at all.

Half a King is book one in the Shattered Sea series and while it is a complete book and can be read as a stand alone, I'm interested to see where the author will take us in book two.