There was a harsh gale blowing on the night Yarvi learned he was to be a king. Or half a king, at least.
Half A King tells the story of Yarvi - the King of Gettland's youngest son and the not-so-proud owner of a crippled hand. When his father and brother are killed, Yarvi finds himself on a throne he never wanted. Things go downhill from there until Yarvi finds himself miles from home and plunged into one life-threatening situation after another. Unable to grip a shield or properly wield a sword, he gathers a strange fellowship of drifters and outcasts and vows to get his revenge.
Joe Abercrombie is one of my favourite authors and Half A King is very much a typical Abercrombie offering. It is a gripping, dark fantasy that grabbed my interest from the first page as the plot twists and turns right until the end. Yarvi himself is the kind of flawed but sympathetic character that Joe Abercrombie writes so well. He screws up, he makes terrible decisions, he betrays people and is breathtakingly ruthless, and yet his actions feel completely realistic and understandable. The secondary characters are also very well written. They are as strong, flawed and complicated as the main character, and each one helps drive the plot forward, often in unexpected directions.
This is a great Y.A. fantasy. It's a Viking saga and a coming of age story in a world which is cold, brutal and savage, and a book about the importance of friendship and finding one's place in the world. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy or Y.A.
Read On: Half a World is the next book in the trilogy, so I'll definitely be reading that one. If you want to go darker with something aimed at a more adult audience, read The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie.
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