Half A King

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have to admit I wasn't sure what to expect with Half a King. Having Lord Grimdark himself Joe Abercrombie write a young adult novel didn't fill me with confidence regarding this book...but I was wrong.

Half a King is another strong book from Abercrombie about a boy with a deformed hand who should have never been king in Yarvi. Yarvi was training to be a minister when disaster struck in the form of his father and brother being killed. Yarvi then becomes king, gets engaged to his cousin, and vows to get revenge on those who killed his father and brother. Things go downhill for Yarvi quickly after that.

Yarvi strikes me as a young Tyrion Lannister before having the first of Tywin's sharp lessons. Though he's clearly intelligent he's a bit naive which leads him into the trouble that is the bulk of Half a King. The parallels between Yarvi and Tyrion are clear. They most clearly each share a physical deformity that makes others overlook them in a world where warriors are more important than basically everyone else.

My only complaint is I found the books major twists quite predictable. It's a shame because I love being unsure of the major twists, but I figured out the ending half way through the book.

In most ways this book seemed normal for a Joe Abercrombie book except there aren't any sex scenes or even described nudity. So if anyone likes Abercrombie, but dislikes the sex scenes this is probably a book for that person. Also anyone who is a fan of Abercrombie will find plenty to enjoy in Half a King.

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