I’m an audiobook fan, for driving and just for something to help me keep going through tedious housework and chores. My family listened to the first book of his young adult Shattered Sea trilogy, Half a King, and I really enjoyed it. My husband is a long-time Joe Abercrombie fan and tells me this trilogy a bit too tame compared to his other work (The Blade Itself, etc.)
Well…to each their own. I thought this book kicked ass, and I don’t use that phrase lightly.
Should you read the first book in the series? You can get away without it, but you’ll have a richer experience if you start with the first book. Yes, I’m getting tired of all my unfinished trilogies, but this one is worth it.
I really enjoyed Half a King, and I thought this book really went up a notch. Yarvi, the young protagonist from the first novel, is now the Chief Minister of Getland, sort of a monkish chief advisor to the king and queen (who happens to be Yarvi’s mother—long story). Abercrombie really knows how to jump into the action from the beginning; we begin with Thorn, a young woman and aspiring warrior who accidentally kills her opponent in a training exercise. The training master hates her—a girl daring to want to be a warrior!—and had unfairly set Thorn up to lose.
The king is forced to sentence Thorn to death, but Brand, another young warrior in training, tells Yarvi the truth. This simple deed triggers a chain of actions, with Brand and Thorn ending up on a journey with Yarvi to the other side of the world to seek help for their embattled kingdom.
And that’s all just the first few chapters.
What can I say without giving away all of the awesomeness? The characters are so compelling, whether supporting or main. He switches back and forth between Brand and Thorn for POV, and he does a marvelous job. His tone is so world-wise and world-weary, and he’s created a compelling fantasy universe that’s magic-free (that’s how I see it, anyway). Thorn is a particularly bad-ass character and the most believable female warrior I’ve ever encountered. You can see the climactic battle coming a mile away, and yet it still gives you shivers.
Brand is another believable, sympathetic guy, gradually becoming more and more disillusioned by Getland’s warrior-based culture. There is indeed a romance, and I really like how it’s handled—awkward, cringe-inducing, but believable. The world-building of the Shattered Sea universe is rich and detailed without being overstuffed. (My theory is that it’s a far future Earth…but just my theory.) To top it off, John Keating give an amazing, effective performance.
In short, I highly recommend this to anyone looking for serious fantasy with a focus politics and swordplay, with humor and crackling dialogue, but light on wizardry and dragons. If you don’t usually read YA fiction, don’t let the category put you off—my husband has a dissenting opinion (suppose that’s allowed) but I thought it was plenty gritty and violent. Can’t wait for the last book of this great trilogy, but in the meantime I’m listening to The Blade Itself (my Mother’s Day gift). So far so good!