From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1)

Joe Abercrombie

Start date: September 21, 2015

Finish date: October 16, 2015

Discussion: Current Nominations

Discussion leader: Hillary Major

Why we're reading this: Group discussion September 2015
[close] Group discussion September 2015

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Showing 2 of 4 topics — 190 comments total

Current Nominations

* SF/F Book to Discuss in January 2020 selected
By deleted member · 22 posts · 83 views

last updated Dec 30, 2019 04:34PM

I Skipped August... and September.... and October.... and November.... and December
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last updated Jun 19, 2019 10:49AM

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What Members Thought

Dec 24, 2013 seak rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc-review, ebooks-read, 2014

I do not believe it is possible for Joe Abercrombie to write a bad novel. Short or long, I'm glued to the page from the very first one. Half a King is much shorter than all his other novels, but that hardly diminishes the effect.

I usually read multiple books at a time (cause I'm insane I know) and I found myself putting down others in favor of this one. REALLY good others too.

Here, Abercrombie takes the point of view of only one character, Yarvi, and explores his world, his story. Yarvi is a p ...more

32 likes · Like · see review

Aug 18, 2017 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, fantasy

I'm glad I finally got around to reading an Abercrombie, as well as this particular fun adventure placed in a brutal world, which I'd heard so much about!

In Half a King a young, but wise prince is placed into a surprising circumstance that immediately turns upon its head. He must "come of age" real goddamn quick. It's sink or swim, baby!

Half a King feels serviceable. The plot and characters march forward with an inevitable predictability. Our prince hero kid goes through the paces, learning from ...more

30 likes · Like · see review

Jun 25, 2014 Kivrin rated it really liked it

A good adventure and a quick read. I really enjoyed that the book was shorter than the usual fantasy epic, and yet there was still non-stop action, a great story, and strong characters! Glad it can still be done!

I did see the twists coming, but that was okay since I loved how they played out. Prince Yarvi whined way too much early on, but I liked him better as the story progressed. He didn't suddenly learn new skills but learned to play to his strengths which I liked. True to form, Abercrombie k ...more

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