Tag Archives: Del Rey

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

Half a King cover
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

Half a King , the recent novel by Joe Abercrombie, is the author’s first real foray into the world of Young Adult and the first book in his new Shattered Sea series. I have mixed feelings about YA in general, but with Joe Abercrombie as the author, I was going to dive in either way. On one hand I feel that YA is really flooding the market, especially in the Fantasy genre. On the other hand I love that it is out there and there is a good base to bring younger people into the literary world. I will not go into my YA feelings in any more depth right now, I prefer to take a book for what the content is, rather than how it is marketed.

At the heart of the story we have our main character, Yarvi, the second son of the King and Queen. Yarvi has no real air of royalty and is in fact studying to become a minister, having no interest in the royal life. Yarvi is young, weak and had a deformed hand. In a family and culture which prides itself on strength and warfare, he knows where he stands. Unfortunately his plans are upended and he is forced to take the throne. Whilst beginning to settle and accept a life he never truly wanted, Yarvi is betrayed in usurper’s a grab for power. He swears an oath of vengeance and to reclaim the throne he wished never to have.

Regardless of the YA billing, this is still very much an Abercrombie book. It may have been conceived for an audience younger than the average Abercrombie fan, but the loyal fans can still love this novel and get a real sense that the author has not compromised in writing it. There is still a gritty and grim feel to this book. There is enough death, blood and violence to get that familiar ‘Lord Grimdark’ feel. It is a classically styled fantasy-adventure novel. I think it is good for any age… well, maybe anyone above middle grade.

Although it does go above the YA classification, it does keep strongly to the YA formula. A young protagonist, usually teenage, either becomes a leader, or is thrown into a tough situation (usually a combination as it is here) and has to work through it and grow up quickly. Not to say that I do not enjoy the books, but too many really do fall into that narrow scope. The only other slight criticism I had was the “twist” as it has been labeled by other reviewers. I don’t know how much of a twist it really was. From early on I though “hey I can tell this is going to happen,” and I was just waiting on the reveal. It could be that I was expecting a twist and this was the most logical theme, or that I’ve watched to many bad-guy of the week TV shows that I always look for things. Many others have written about their shock at the twist and I am sure that added to their enjoyment. I, on the other hand, felt that it was a fairly blatant thing and it even helped me better understand one of the secondary characters a bit better as I was reading.

The novel as a whole was a very well done classic story by Joe Abercrombie. It is certainly a must read for any fan and certainly a recommended read as an introduction to this author for any fantasy reader who is not yet a fan. I give Half a King 4.5/5 with the only caveat for me being the predictability. I think being surprised or have a more unexpected ending would have made it that much more enjoyable and moved it well into the 5/5.

Previews

A week has gone by since BookCon and I have been inundated. Unfortunately most of the books I picked up are not being released until the fall and the publishers request reviews not be posted until a certain period prior to release. The time varies by publisher, but basically nothing I have right now can be posted. Instead of a new review, I figured I would throw out a couple of previews until I get through a book I can actually write about.

First from Tor, something I am personally excited for, Is John Scalzi’s new book, Lock in. In the near future, a virus spreads through the world’s population. Everyone reacts differently with some people experiencing nothing worse than a headache or flu symptoms. The more severe cases result in acute meningitis, and only one percent gets “locked in” and are unable to move or respond, but are still conscious. This is unfortunately a real phenomenon called Locked In Syndrome. It is generally unrepeatable and the person has almost no ability to communicate, with a few notable cases trying to have interfaces where patients could at least answer “yes” or “no”.

In Scalzi’s book, however they have devised a virtual reality system where those suffering could “ride” a licenses body and once again interact with the real world. The story builds based on what actions are taken with these “loaner” bodies. Tor has released the first 5 chapters on this up coming book. Check here for links to each chapter as well as other related information. Lock In comes our August 26th 2014.

The next link I have is an excerpt from the new anthology edited by George R.R Martin, Rogues. Rogues contains stories from Neil Gaiman, Pat Rothfuss and Mr. Martin himself as well as many other authors in this genre. I know I am excited for some of these stories such as Neil Gaiman’s story “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back” which is based in his Neverwhere story. Martin’s story is based in the “Game of Thrones” universe (so calm down, you’re getting a new story), and of course Patrick Rothfuss has a story with Bast from “The Kingkiller Chronicles”. It is that story I happen to have found an excerpt of on Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist. Suvudu has also posted Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie reading from their stories. The release of Rogues is right around the corner on June 17th and is being published by Bantam. I really wish I had gotten a chance to review this book earlier, but I promise to try to squeeze it into my TBR list.

Luckily there are tons of great books coming  out and I don’t even come close to scratching the surface. Stay tuned in to your favorite publishers, authors and blogs for the latest.

Links & Excerpts

There are many really exciting new books coming out this year. Some authors and publishers understand our deep addiction to their content and are kind enough to share a small taste of what is to come. The drawback is that instead of temporarily satiating us, it only leaves us wanting more now, adding to our anticipation. Click the title of the book for the link.

The first excerpt comes from the good folks at Tor Books. This excerpt contains the prologue and first two chapters (with recently released cover art) from the highly anticipated and long awaited second book in the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson: Words of Radiance. The first book in the epic fantasy series was released almost four years ago and has been very highly praised by both readers and critics. A Pavlovian response was triggered when I first saw this link. I am very excited to see where it goes considering the end of the previous book.

Our next link is from io9, which is a a really great site. If you you are not checking it out regularly, I highly recommend it. This link has an excerpt and cover art from Joe Abercrombie’s new novel Half a King. Joe Abercrombie is best known for The First Law trilogy, but of course you already knew that. This new novel is being published by Del Rey. It revolves around the youngest son of a king born with a disabled hand. Due to this he is referred to as “half a man” by those around him.

For our final link for today, we head back over to Tor for the second novel in Marie Brennan‘s Memoir by Lady Trent series, The Tropic of Serpents. This of course is the follow up to A Natural History of Dragons published last year.  This story took an interesting turn on dragon fantasy, taking the topic into the scientific realm. The point of view is of an older and more accomplished Lady Trent taking a look back at her early work as a natural historian, studying dragons. I enjoyed the first book very much and am eagerly waiting for the next.

Check back for more updates from the lands of SF/F!