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Half the World Shattered Sea Joe Abercrombie Books

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Half the World Shattered Sea Joe Abercrombie Books

I really loved this new addition to the Shattered Sea Trilogy and am eagerly awaiting the next installment. Many of the characters from Book one have returned such as head oarsman Rulf and the loquacious and contriving Father Yarvi, but the magic in this adventure is our Heroine Thorn; she is magnificent.She is a female without equal and even though the premise of her reason for being is telegraphed very early in the plot, getting her to its eventual denouement is full of excitement and joy. The plot is too intricate to detail in any brief review but it moves along quickly with only an occasional sidetrack to an unneeded diversion such as a fight with "Tree" people which really was unnecessary and seemed just a page filler. But, put that aside and enjoy the journey of a heroine from a merely belligerent teenage female set on proving herself worthy of her father's sword to a character of epic proportions. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.


Tags : Amazon.com: Half the World (Shattered Sea) (9780804178426): Joe Abercrombie: Books,Joe Abercrombie,Half the World (Shattered Sea),Del Rey,0804178429,FICTION Fantasy Epic.,FICTION Fantasy General,Fantasy fiction,First loves,First loves;Fiction.,Teenage girls,Teenage girls;Fiction.,Action & Adventure,ENGLISH SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,Fantasy,Fantasy - Epic,Fiction,Fiction - Fantasy,Fiction Action & Adventure,Fiction Fantasy Dark Fantasy,Fiction Fantasy Epic,Fiction-Fantasy,FictionAction & Adventure,GENERAL,General Adult,Great BritainBritish Isles,Monograph Series, any,United States

Half the World Shattered Sea Joe Abercrombie Books Reviews

6 Deep Cunning Stars

I thought I loved Half a King...and I did but only half as much a Half the World.

Since I can't drop Half a King to 2.5 stars because that would be ridiculous and I can't give Half the World 9 stars because 5 is the highest I guess I'll settle for 6 Deep Cunning Stars

Joe Abercrombie has a great way with characters. He is one of those fantasy writers that aren’t afraid of flawed people, motives and moralities. I have found that his stories are driven much more by the characters in them than the actual plots and this is no exception to that rule but the story and plot line are very good and well developed as well.

Characters

It has been three years since the event of Half a King and there are many characters old and new to be found. I was worried I would be disappointed by the story shifting to new people but I found that I liked the addition of Thorn and Brand to an older and wiser Father Yarvi’s entourage.

Thorn the strong willed teen with a chip on her shoulder and vengeance in her heart could have easily bugged me with her stubbornness and general attitude of it’s her against the entire world. Instead of me rolling my eyes at her, I found that I understood where she was coming from and I watched her transformation from someone who could brawl like a man into a clever and deadly killer.

Thorn went from this

“She is wretched. She is all pride and anger. She has too much confidence and too little. She does not know herself.”
The figure pushed back her hood. A black-skinned old woman with a face lean as famine and hair shaved to gray fuzz. She picked her nose with one long forefinger, carefully examined the results, then flicked them away.
“The girl is stupid as a stump. Worse. Most stumps have the dignity to rot quietly without causing offense.”

to

Over time and with the help of an unusual trainer she becomes one of the most deadly women alive and someone that songs are sung of. But she is always human, always flawed and forever trying to find her way.

Brand has dreamed of being a warrior for Gettland for as long as he can remember. He has dreamed of glory, serving his country and doing good.

He is so shocked to find that the leaders he has longed to serve for so long might be fallible too.

".... Brand stared in sick disbelief. He’d been sure among all those lads someone would speak, for they were honest enough. Or Hunnan would tell his part in it, for he was a respected master-at-arms. The king or the queen would draw out the truth, for they were wise and righteous. The gods wouldn’t allow such an injustice to pass. Someone would do something. Maybe, like him, they were all waiting for someone else to put things right. "

Brand is the character that tries to do the right thing no matter the cost to him. He is the character that is a hero without trying to be a hero. I loved his character and even though he makes mistakes along the way he is always looking out for those he cares for. He is reluctant to fight but is a terror when he does.

The growth of Brand and Thorn is amazing over the course of the story. They fought and trained with one another for years but didn’t become friends until they had to row a boat across Half the World in Father Yarvi’s service. The development of their relationship and the way each of them sees the other was heartwarming and the little inkling of romance I missed in Half a King.

“I don’t like the look of him,” she muttered to Brand.
He peered at her over the rim of his cup. “You don’t like the look of anyone.”
She’d never had any objection to the look of Brand at all, but she kept that to herself. “I like his look less than most, then. One of those people with nought in them but hard stares and hard words. Face like a slapped arse.”
He grinned into his ale at that. “Oh, I hate those people.”
She had to grin herself. “Beneath my forbidding exterior I’ve got hidden depths, though.”
“Well hidden,” he said, as he lifted his cup. “But I might be starting to plumb ’em.”
“Bold of you. Plumbing a girl without so much as a by your leave.”
He blew ale out of his nose, fell into a coughing fit and had to be clapped on the back

Father Yarvi is a deep cunning man and JA tells us this all the time. I believe it though. He is a little darker in this installment and he is on a mission. He might have taken the oath to be a Father but he is still working to fulfill the oath he made to avenge the death of his own. How far will he go though?

“...I have an oath to keep.”
Her smile faded. “I didn’t think you took your oaths that seriously.”
“This one I do,” said Father Yarvi.
“Will you break the world to keep it?”
“I hope it won’t come to that.”

Yarvi is taking some calculated risks and putting a lot of pieces in play, it will be interesting to see who he is willing to sacrifice in order to fulfill the one oath he seems set on keeping.

Yarvi is still a smart and interesting character and he is most definitely straddling the line between good/evil and light/shadow.

The Journey

Well like any good journey it is fraught with danger and peril. As the crew journey to find allies among enemies and Yarvi must me more cunning than the High King and Grandmother Wexxen if he is going to save Gettland.

Sometimes when there is a lot of traveling I get bored but the way it is set up with the different cities in this world and the time building comradery on the ship, because we all know how close oarmates become, I enjoyed it. There is plenty of time wheeling and dealing with foreign powers and trying to survive life threatening experiences that the story just flew by.

Overall

I liked this so much more than Half a King, which I totally adored. Was it the addition of a little bit of a romance? Or having Yarvi be a little older and teetering between good and evil? Or all the other crazy cool world building and characters? I’m not sure maybe it was all of the above. There just seemed to be a better blend of everything in this story. Plenty of surprises along the way and since it is JA you know that not every character will make it out alive. Nothing is ever guaranteed so I was nervous for my favorite characters many times in the story.
Loved this book as I loved its predecessor, Half A King. This is a saga comparable to Game of Thrones. In the second book, we find the hero of the first book, Yarvi, has become Minister to the king of Gettland, This makes him the key ambassador to attempt to form alliances to counter forces of the High King who is threatening subjugation of all countries around the shattered sea. Yarvi saves a young girl, Thorn, from execution and then presses her into service on his quest for alliances. Thorn is under the tutelage of a mysterious woman who, in the course of their journey, gradually turns her into an unparalleled fighter with any means at hand. Her skills prove vital to forging alliances along the way. The young man, Brand, who spoke up to Yarvi in saving Thorn from execution, loses his dream of being a warrior as a result but also gains a position on this epic journey. The story is filled with intrigue, epic battles, and shifting alliances. It is a worthy successor to the saga of Yarvi told in Half a King and prompted me to order the third book, Half A War, as soon as I finished it. Anyone who loves Game of Thrones will really get off on this saga.
I really loved this new addition to the Shattered Sea Trilogy and am eagerly awaiting the next installment. Many of the characters from Book one have returned such as head oarsman Rulf and the loquacious and contriving Father Yarvi, but the magic in this adventure is our Heroine Thorn; she is magnificent.She is a female without equal and even though the premise of her reason for being is telegraphed very early in the plot, getting her to its eventual denouement is full of excitement and joy. The plot is too intricate to detail in any brief review but it moves along quickly with only an occasional sidetrack to an unneeded diversion such as a fight with "Tree" people which really was unnecessary and seemed just a page filler. But, put that aside and enjoy the journey of a heroine from a merely belligerent teenage female set on proving herself worthy of her father's sword to a character of epic proportions. Can't wait to see how it all turns out.