Half the World (Shattered Sea)

An excellent book. It continues the story of "Half a King", but instead of Yarvi, there is a new character taking the spotlight: Thorn. She's bascially the opposite of Yarvi. After all, Yarvi is a man, who was expected to be a warrior king but instead chose to be a minisiter of peace. Thorn is a woman, who is expected to be a traditional lady, but wants to be a warrior. The plot by itself isn't actually anything amazing. In fact (like many fantasy books), they spend a huge portion of time just travelling. And yet, Joe Abercrombie is such an amazing storyteller, that I loved every minute of it. If I had to criticize anything, I would say that it's too short! I wanted to read more!

The first book in this series was really good, I don't know how it went down hill.
The characters stopped getting interesting and it sort of becomes hard to follow.
The plot is also very slow to move, you just don't feel like you're bonding with any of the characters.

A very satisfying conclusion to Shattered Sea! The fight scenes were exciting, the love scenes appropriately awkward. Lol I look forward to other books from Abercrombie. I have found a new favorite author!

Let me preface this brief review with a little side-note. I love Abercrombie's work. I've read The Heroes 3 times, The Blade Itself series 4 times. I can't put this stuff down. Yet . . . while Half a King was a great, enthralling read, this one was . . . less so. As I hunkered down with my Kindle and a cup of coffee to begin an all-nighter, I was perplexed by the fact that I assumed that I'd missed a book. Thorn? Who the hell is that? Where's Yarvi? I actually found myself checking online to make sure this was, indeed, the next book in the series. Well, with that cleared up, I picked up where I'd left off and . . . lost interest. I finished it, but only half-heartedly. I managed to read Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes, Jim Butcher's Small Favor and two or three other books while plodding through this one.

Sorry, Joe. Not for me.

Even better of the 1st book, a non stop reading of mine. So far I've never assigned a 5 star (I reserve it to a book to be read twice in a row), but the 4star to this book it's without esitation. If you like a realistic adventure fantasy D. Gemmell style this is it,

Let me preface this brief review with a little side-note. I love Abercrombie's work. I've read The Heroes 3 times, The Blade Itself series 4 times. I can't put this stuff down. Yet . . . while Half a King was a great, enthralling read, this one was . . . less so. As I hunkered down with my Kindle and a cup of coffee to begin an all-nighter, I was perplexed by the fact that I assumed that I'd missed a book. Thorn? Who the hell is that? Where's Yarvi? I actually found myself checking online to make sure this was, indeed, the next book in the series. Well, with that cleared up, I picked up where I'd left off and . . . lost interest. I finished it, but only half-heartedly. I managed to read Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes, Jim Butcher's Small Favor and two or three other books while plodding through this one.

Sorry, Joe. Not for me.

Even better of the 1st book, a non stop reading of mine. So far I've never assigned a 5 star (I reserve it to a book to be read twice in a row), but the 4star to this book it's without esitation. If you like a realistic adventure fantasy D. Gemmell style this is it,

The only reason why I have finished this book is that I was on a journey and I had nothing else to read. The characters are simply unintelligent. The plot is not believable. The motives of the characters are unclear. To put it simply, this is one of the worst books I have ever finished. There is a zero chance I am even picking the third book when it comes out. A shame, since Half a king was an enjoyable read.

Last year I had a bad run of YA fantasy. A really bad run. So bad that I was seriously considering giving up YA altogether, b/c I had clearly matured past the point to being able to enjoy it.

Pfft.

And it was Half the World's predecessor Half a King that kept me from making a brash decision I would inevitably come to regret.

I am pleased to tell you that Half the World (IM humble O) has surpassed it.

Meet Thorn.

Thorn is a girl who lives in a world where women are resolutely confined to more delicate pursuits than say . . . WAR.

As children, they may be temporarily indulged in their desire to train with the boys and their wooden practice swords, but the older they get, the more discouragement they encounter, and if they persist in the stubborn hope of being the first girl in memory to take the Warrior's Oath and fight for their King, then more extreme tactics are employed to set the wayward female on a more acceptable path.

For Thorn that means facing impossible odds in her final test as a student.

But it is made clear that even should she win, there will be no place for her among the men.

But Thorn doesn't win.

It sucks, dude.

Hissing-and-growling-and-throwing-heavy-objects sucks.

And the situation isn't improved by Thorn's own surliness and sense of entitlement.

Abercrombie does an excellent job of showcasing how obstinately difficult a 16 year old girl can be, without making you hate her (b/c self-involved 16 year old girl). Instead . . . you remember. You remember how convinced you were of your own infallibility, of how much more deserving you were of the thing that you wanted than that person over there. And then you remember how hard those lessons proved to be when you finally realized you were wrong.

B/c Thorn does learn. And it is hard.

I loved her, prickliness and recalcitrance included.

She winds up in disgrace that leads to swearing an oath to Father, yes, Father Yarvi, and Father Yarvi sees fit to have her trained by Skifr, a bizzare old woman from the far south.

And believe me when I say that "bizarre" does not even begin to cover it.

But I loved her too.

Know who else I loved?

The hodgepodge of villainous-looking crew members that Rulf assembles for the voyage Father Yarvi is leading to seek allies for Thorlby against the High King and his oppressive dictates.

"Thorn wondered what mountain of corpses this lot might have heaped up between them, but she wasn't one to be easily intimidated. Especially when she had no choice."

Despite this initial impression, the men become family to both Thorn and Brand (don't worry, I'll get to him in a minute), and more and more my distinctly different first impression was reinforced:

[image: I Have a Dream less-than-savory types from TANGLED]

"She put on her bravest face, stepped up to the biggest man she could see and tapped him on the arm.
"I'm Thorn Bathu."
"I am Dosduvoi." She found herself staring sharply up at one of the biggest heads she ever saw, tiny features squeezed into the center of its doughy expanse, looming so high above her that at first she thought its owner must be standing on a box. "What bad luck brings you here, girl?" he asked, with a faintly tragic quiver to his voice.
She wished she had a different answer, but snapped out, "I'm sailing with you."
His face retreated into an even tinier portion of his head as he frowned."

[image of less-than-savory-type-as-mime from TANGLED]

"It was either bluster or look weak and Thorn reckoned that no choice at all, so she puffed herself up and snapped out, "How did you get the scar?"
"How did you get the scar?"
Thorn frowned. "What scar?"
"That's the face the gods gave you?" And with the faintest of smiles the Vansterman went back to coiling rope."

[gif of less-than-savory-type-with-tiny-unicorns from TANGLED]

I'm sure there are people out there that are absolutely horrified by the comparison, and make no mistake, this is a book written by Lord Grimdark himself, so there is nothing Disney about it, but . . . I can't help it, that's what I saw in my head. *shrugs awkwardly*

And I haven’t even gotten to Brand yet. *sighs* Suffice it to say that Brand is . . . experiencing the exact same types of things that Thorn is experiencing (b/c typical teenaged boy), but he is a softer, gentler example of adolescence, and he serves as both a wonderful foil for Thorn, and a secondary illustration of why it’s idiotic to try to shove people into gender-specific boxes.

Bottomline: It’s just really, really good. Half the World is a stellar followup to Half a King, making this is a series that should be on the bookshelves of anyone who loves fantasy. And with the next installment Half a War just a few short months from release . . . blah, blah, just read it. You’ll love it. *winks*

I was doing ok with this book. I wasn't swept away. It's basically a Darker And Grittier version of a book i read last year, Bracelet of Bones. Girl manages to earn her way onto a ship headed south, up a river, across a dangerous portage, and down another river to The Big City, earning the respect of the crew and learning a thing or two along the way. I could be more detailed, there are some really quite specific parallels, but i don't want to risk spoilers for those not warned off by my disappointment.

I was a bit annoyed from the start, as the back cover makes it seem like Thorn is the star, but she shares the spotlight entirely with Brand. They nearly alternate Point Of View by chapter. And even so, they're clearly just cameras to show us the wit, wisdom, and antics of characters from Half a King. Thorn is, in fact, pretty much a one-note character.

I loved Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. I thought Best Served Cold was good, but longer than it needed to be. I couldn't even read Heroes, it was too intense. Red Country is in my To Read pile. I thought Half a King was weak but readable, the good writing making up for the fact that it was a predictable trope-fest.

But this? Seriously? When knock-down-drag-out brawls in the marketplace are just background to a 'does he like me? do i even like him? I hope he likes me...' internal monologue?

No.

I'm done.

Others can read Half a War (the third in this planned trilogy). I'm out.

Another amazing sequel by Joe Abercrombie! Since this story wasn't told from the perspectives of Yarvi or the other characters, I wasn't sure where this story would go, so I just settled in for a journey. And what a journey it was, especially in an emotional sense. The story was told from the perspectives of fierce warrior-in-training, Thorn, and her unwanted companion and sweetheart-ed Brand. The two of them are forced into a ship as per Father Yarvi's instructions. From there, both Thorn and Brand grow into complex people and face challenges that test their wills and morals. It's so hard to choose which story I enjoyed the most, but Thorn had the biggest change. I honestly didn't like her very much at first, but by the end, I was rooting for her to survive a pulse-pounding fight. Brand also had fantastic development and I couldn't help but love him. While the first novel doesn't need to be read to enjoy HALF THE WORLD, there were plenty of references and familiar characters to please the fans. I honestly loved this book and have no complaints about it. A must have for all fantasy fans!

Rated 4.5 of 5

<span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>**WARNING -- THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!**</strong></span>

Joe Abercrombie is a terrific writer!

<em>Half the World</em> is Abercrombie's second book in his Shattered Sea series, and while you'll want to read the first book (<em>Half a King</em> [see review <a href="http://lookingforagoodbook.com/2015/06/05/half-a-king-joe-abercrombie/" target="_blank">here</a>]) you don't really have to in order to enjoy this book.

The first book followed Prince Yarvi on his journey and rise to power. In <em>Half the World</em>, Yarvi, now an established king, is still looking for ways other than fighting but is smart enough to know that he needs fighters. Training takes place for the young ones who hope someday to be offered a position with the king's guard. This story focuses primarily on the powerful Brand who should have no problem being with the guard, and the girl Thorn, who takes on three boys in a training exercise. The master of the exercise, Hunnan, clearly has a bias against girls training, even though Thorn is far and away the better fighter. So when Thorn accidentally kills one of the three, Hunnan declares her a murderer and her punishment is to be crushed to death by rocks.

But Brand is governed by a moral code to always try to do what is right and he reports that Thorn was given an unfair challenge and that the death was an accident. His actions save Thorn's life, but when Hunnan hands out assignments for those graduating from his training, Brand is left with nothing from the vindictive Hunnan.

While things seem bleak for both Thorn and Brand, they wind up together as mercenaries, working for Father Yarvi. Brand and Thorn both manage incredible feats of power and/or prowess and have songs created about them.

Thorn seems born to fight and becomes the Queen's "Chosen Shield" - a personal body-guard. Brand still looks for his place in the world. Someone who is always looking to do what's right does not make a good soldier.

Abercrombie writes action sequences as well as anyone writing today and this book has plenty of action. But he also writes about people who seem very real. After reading this,I feel as though I could count Brand and Thorn as friends - I know as much about them - and more importantly, CARE about them - as I do most friends. We want to see them succeed and we hold our breath when they are in trouble. And because we care about the characters, we are drawn in to the story.

As I wrote about Half a King, Abercrombie tends to know just how much to push his characters and still make them believable. We know why we are following this story ... these characters are remarkable, above-average, but still real.

But this story had a down-side for me. As real as it was, and as fantastic as Thorn is, Abercrombie has a choice to make: keep her a strong young woman who fights against the odds at every turn, or make her something special but still someone who falls into the 'girl' trap ... wishing she were pretty and good at 'women's work.' Near the end of the book Abercrombie chooses the latter path. After all she's done, after all she's become, she still takes a moment to bemoan the fact that her talents have meant she can't really be a good wife.

Really? You've just created an awesome kick-ass female character the likes that haven't been seen since Robert E. Howard/Marvel's Red Sonja ... someone who could get teen girls excited about reading sword and sorcery fantasy ... and you make sure to remind girls what they should desire to be? I get that we're talking/writing about a time/age when women were supposed to want or aspire to certain things, but this was a chance to rise above the pedantic and Abercrombie took the easy way out. It's the only time I've seen this from this writer (in my limited reading of his work) which is part of the reason it stuck out so much.

Looking for a good book? Joe Abercrombie's <em>Half the World</em> is is a tremendous adventure, with characters we believe in and a story full of action and power. This is a book and a writer you will want to read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Now, to start with I am a big Abercrombie fan. Believe it or not, I have only actually been reading in the Fantasy genre for about 5 years (despite writing, or rather attempting to write in it, for 15), and once I’d finished George R.R. Martin, Joe Abercrombie was the next big author I uncovered. It’s fair to say that I was somewhat blown away.

So how would Half the World fare against the other great books in Lord Grimdark's back catalogue? Let’s find out.

This YA (or cross-over in fact) trilogy is set in the Shattered Sea, which as far as I can tell is Northman country (see the First Law) but around a bloody cold stretch of water. The characters are therefore distinctly Northman-like, and this left me with a problem because I was getting a little bored of Northmen (they feature prominently in the First Law trilogy and related books).. Not necessarily a problem, but it meant I was a little slow to warm to this book.

Now, in rather unique fashion, this second instalment of the trilogy focusses on different characters from the first. Yarvi is still a big part, but he is a second tier character - albeit a very interesting and emotionally committed second tier character - rather than a focal protagonist. So what are the new characters like? Well, first impressions weren’t great.

Thorn reminded me a little of Shy from Red Country, albeit with a more obvious aggressive streak. But she was sultry and tough, and afraid of contact – loss was her thing. Brand was a bit different – a genuine nice-guy – but I wasn’t feeling compelled. It took a while to get going.

And as far as I could tell, the YA aspect comes from a) a strained attraction between Brand and Thorn; and b) slightly lighter language when compared to the pure "fantasy books", though not substantially so. For me this seemed to distract from the guts of the story, and the depth was somewhat absent. Perhaps YA is not Lord Grimdark’s thing? And the story wasn’t grabbing me either. It didn’t have the electric compulsion of the First Law, and this left me worried.

So, was the love affair over? Did the grey start to this book drift disappointingly into drizzle? Was I about to fall out with Lord Grimdark?

Well no. A seasoned professional like Joe wouldn’t allow that – and this book comes to life. It is an excellent novel.

The central portion of the book involves a journey to the Deep South, and in this passage, the scale of the imagined world is reaffirmed as they pass over mountains; through ‘Mongolian’ horse-men; past a rather disturbing Prince in Kalyiv; and onto the ‘First of Cities’. A grand journey indeed. And this immediately gave the book weight and substance; a return to the sensations that made the First Law so good.

But this book was also so much more than that. In Thorn’s escalation into a ‘badass-bitch’ (my words), we have a real tainted heroine to grab hold of, and the sexual tension between her and Brand – the YA bit, if you like – really adds to that compulsion. She is one twisted bitch, but in that relationship we see something familiar, and that is important in someone we need to connect with. Brand is her lifeline.

And between them they save an Empire. That’s grand, right there.

Following this we have the return to the North, which is important because despite the adventure, this book is still about the North. For a while I feared we may slip once more, but I needn’t have worried. There is some ‘normalisation’ between the return and the conflict, but we were always worried about the fate of Gettland, and that’s where we end up. And in quite spectacular fashion.

So all in all a spectacular read, and one which now demands that I finish the series; which I’m sure will be no hardship. I may have to leave it a while, but I look forward to reading the final instalment. Will we change the cast once more? Maybe, and that’s exciting. But no doubt Yarvi and Thorn and Brand will feature, and that is enough of a draw. I like them, and I want to know how they get on.

Let the battle for Gettland commence.

Half the World, by Joe Abercrobie, is the second book of ‘The Shattered Sea’ trilogy, and follows directly from where Half a King left off. Or almost, as in what is a slight disjunction it follows instead two new young characters as protagonists rather than Yarvi: Thorn and Brand.

So, what is Half the World about?

The book starts with sixteen year old Thorn (Hild) Bathu, desperate to follow her dead father’s footsteps and be a warrior. Something which is quite the challenge in a male-dominated world. Brand, her counterpart, is a young man who desires to go raiding and become a warrior in order to support his orphaned sister and himself. Of course, things don’t turn out as easy as it seems for them at first, and they find themselves on the ship of Father Yarvi, crossing half of the world to find allies against the ruthless High King. Thorn and Brand are thus forced to grow up and confront who they want to be, as well as face the possibilities of failure and death. Both of the young leads are made outcasts in the first part of the novel, and see the loss of practically everything they had worked for within the first few chapters only to be given an opportunity by Yarvi to succeed whilst furthering his own goals. Thorn and Brand find themselves part of a long journey south to win allies and of the diplomatic group, thus setting the stage for the story of this book.

Half the World sees the reappearance of characters from the first book and tells what has happened to them since the end of Half a King. This is done from the perspectives of Thorn and Brand respectively, making for a different though interesting perspective of them. Yarvi is now a minister to King Uthil and is presented as clever and grumpy by Thorn, and Queen Laithlin is seen without the rose-tinted perception given by Yarvin in the first book.

Much of this book is about their long physical and mental journey, and both of the protagonists absorb new life lessons that change them and grow. It is very Viking in that characters build relationships and muscle generally at the same time, and the details of the travelling make up a great portion of the book. Insights and information is given about the elf cities, and historical details are placed in a bigger perspective. Then there is a romantic subplot between Thorn and Brand, who alternate between hating and fancying each other in what probably is one of the most stereotypical and cliché elements of the story.

So, how good is Half the World then?

It should be noted that this book follows the young adult style of Half a King, and that many of the more criticisable aspects of it are also present in the first book. As always, I found myself loving the writing style of the author. However, despite this and the fact that I loved the story within the first chapters, it ended up being hugely disappointing. The story is compelling enough, and though albeit simplistic it succeeded in being interesting enough to be quite the page turner at first. However it seems to advance at too much of a slow pace in some areas, and too quickly in others. This, only to arrive at what seems that should have been the end of the book around 100 pages before it really finished. Then there is the world building of the book, which seemed like it lacked depth. There are gods, religions, countries, and kings which are all well set from the introduction in Half a King. However, all of these lacked depth and believability, and seemed to be two dimensional and simplistic. Sure, characters are influenced by them and adapt, but the world doesn’t give the sense to be complex as in some other works, and the result isn’t satisfying at all.

Half a World as such starts off interesting, then becomes more normal and satisfying, and finishes off as being truly disappointing. Dissapointing, that is, considering this was written by Joe Abercrombie. The story turns into a Hollywood-esque story which is utterly predictable at every turn, even with twists and ‘deep’ insights of characters such as Yarvi. It lacks political depth and complexity, and lacks excitement on a more general scale, particularly on the second half of the book. This is something which I expect from other authors, but not from Joe Abercrombie. Then there is the romance subplot, which was cliché and poorly handled. Quite frankly one of the most disappointing elements of the story. The main protagonists shift from hating to fancying each other with surprising speed, and though this isn’t bad in itself, even a classical romantic misunderstanding between would-be-lovers takes an important place. Only to be happily resolved months later without any consequences at all.

What can be said in general about Half a World? To put it bluntly, there are much better works out there with similar themes, particularly with the romantic subplot. This is something which I would have expected from other authors, but not from Abercrombie, which is probably why this book failed to impress me so much. It isn’t bad, and for someone who enjoys this type of young adult novel the book will undoubtedly be a great one to read, and the book is entertaining to read in many points. However, for previous fans of Abercrombie and more ‘adult’ or developed fantasy books it isn’t something which I would really recommend, and Half the World will undoubtedly seem underwhelming considering the author. It is cliché and predictable, and lacks the things which made previous Abercrombie books as well as Half a King enjoyable.

Half the World is the second book in the Shattered Sea trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. The narrative in this book is handed over from Jarvi, the half-crippled king from the first book, to Thorn Bathu. Thorn is a teen girl who only wants to be a warrior. She is unfairly sentenced to death for the accidental death of a fellow warrior-in-training when an exercise is rigged against her. Her friend Brand loses his own place for standing up for her.

Yarvi doesn’t disappear in this book, but he does take a back seat. Still, it his manipulation of events and long-range plans that drive the narrative. He manipulates Thorn and Brand into becoming tools he can use. He likewise maneuvers half the kingdoms in the Shattered Sea into unlikely allies.

Abercrombie does an excellent job of creating memorable and likeable characters. In somewhat of a departure from a lot of YA fantasy, the battle here is less a straightforward battle between good and evil and more the political machinations of persons with different goals. The extent to which the goals benefit individuals or their respective kingdoms or both is never clear.

The events in Half the World, as seen through Thorn’s eyes, are fascinating. The thrill is watching Thorn’s growth, both as a young woman and as a warrior being sharpened into a deadly tool. Brand also undergoes a great deal of growth in understanding himself and his place in the world.

The action is top notch and the political manipulations add a level of complexity to what may otherwise be a simple story. The audiobook is narrated by John Keating who does an amazing job at bringing the characters to life. The voices are easily distinguishable and he underscores the drama and humor in the story without overpowering it.

Half the World is an exciting and intriguing middle book in the Shattered Sea trilogy and I look forward to its conclusion.

I was fortunate to receive an advance copy of this book.

I’ve been reading a lot of reviews of Throne of Glass lately and many are disappointed in Celaena’s character. With the fact that she’s hyped to be a bad ass then falls short in the books. So here’s my advice, READ THESE BOOKS, OKAY.

You want strong female characters? check ✔
You want bad ass fighting female characters? check ✔
You want less romance more realistic struggles? check ✔
How about adventure? check ✔
Intense fight scenes? check ✔
Politics? Friendship? Laughs? check, check and check! ✔✔✔

Anyways, you get my point. This book pretty much has it all, I wont lie. I was worried when I found out there was going to be a huge narration change between the first book (find my review here). Going from one character, with one POV in book one, to two brand new characters with alternating POVs in book two, that’s a risky thing. Please, don’t let this stop you from reading this because it gave this story, this world so much more depth.

I admit, I wasn’t sure I was ready to give up Yarvi as the main character, I wanted more Sumael and Isriun and all the characters and things I loved about the second book. But then I met Thorn and Brand and knew I was in for an amazing story. Yarvi was never far, with his hilarious statements and deep-cunning mind. There was more than enough of him to keep me satisfied.

But let me tell you a bit about Thorn, I have never, ever, loved a female protagonist more. She starts off this fiesty young girl in a sea of boys trying to fight her way to the shield wall. And by the end of her journey, she’s this majestic woman with half her head shaved and the fiercest warrior anyone could have asked for. She wasn’t any of your typical YA female protagonist tropes. She fought hard, she felt every bruise and hit, she bled like any other human, her period didn’t miraculously disappear, or not happen. Abercrombie even had a ‘small God’ called ‘He Who Sprouts the Seed’ used in reference to her period. I mean, c’mon, that’s pretty fabulous. She didn’t depend on anyone but herself, not even the boy who saved her. THAT is a strong female character.

There was never a dull moment in this book, a mix of old and new characters who took on feats and grew together. I admit, a lot of stuff happened in this book, at times it felt like it was moving too fast and other times it was moving too slow. But I couldn’t wait to read the next page and was always on the edge of my seat. In similar fashion with the first book romance played a little part in the story but there was more of it than the first book. But it wasn’t overwhelming, Thorn didn’t immediately fall for the boy who saved her, there was nothing instant about it. There was miscommunication and awkwardness and fear and fumbling and sex. Everything in my opinion anyways, that makes falling in love real.

The ending was so intense I was reading through my finger cracks! Abercrombie actually had me thinking that someone important was going to die and I was not prepared! But thankfully there were no deaths and I was left wanting more, as usual. One great thing about picking up this trilogy so late is that, the first and second book were already out and the third one gets published next week! So no long periods of waiting, which is so wonderful.

Review by: Mark Palm

For far too long fantasy meant elves, fairies, dragons, and various little races of people with too much hair on their feet. If you want a little more meat and blood on your bones, let me suggest Joe Abercrombie, and his new book Half the World. This a brawling sprawling book full of adventure and battles. What makes it so good is that Mr. Abercrombie’s warriors are real, living, breathing people full of nerves and fear as well as courage.

The main characters, Brand, a young man and Thorn Bathu, a young woman, both of whom wish nothing more than to be warriors for their homeland, Gettland. Both however, are unfairly denied the right, and end up finding their destiny tied up with Father Yarvi, minister to the King. They also find themselves sharing a bench as oarsman, (oarspersons?), on a trip halfway across the world to find allies in a desperate fight against the High King. During the trip we get a good look at their world, as well as the assorted cast of ruffians with which they are sailing. More importantly, for the story, both of them learn more about themselves and each other.

Brand is a good guy in all the best ways. Strong and brave, but reluctant to kill, and determined to do the right thing whenever possible. Thorn is touched by Mother War, happiest when she is fighting, but unsure of how to make her way in a world that refuses to accept her. Fortunately, Father Yarvi knows a woman, the truly bizarre Skifr, who can train her to become formidable fighter.

That is the entire plot that you get. Mr. Abercrombie tells a taut and tense story, and the dangers and toil of the world come alive in his prose. The work is dirty and tiring, and the battles bloody and scary. I don’t want to ruin the rest of this wonderful ride, so you are going to have to read it for yourself. Just be prepared, everything doesn’t always turn out all right. Trust me when I say that nothing makes the light brighter than a good handful of darkness.

This is Thorn and Brand’s story, and both are vivid and have depth. They are flawed and human, and still they become heroes often in ways in which I did not expect. I have to admit that I was a little more drawn to Thorn, but she is almost larger than life. There is probably just as many readers out there who are ready to join team Brand.

The one other thing that makes this novel really stand out is that it is the second in a trilogy, and I didn’t read the first, and I felt that I wasn’t missing a thing. That has happened to me only a few times, so I have to take my hat off to Mr. Abercrombie. When my hat is back on I am going to go to the book store and get the first book, Half a King.

Warning: this is a second book in the series so there will be some unavoidable spoilers for Half a King.

I really, really liked this book. I nearly didn’t give this series a chance because I wasn’t too impressed by The First Law trilogy, but I’ve never been more happy to be wrong about an author.

The story picks up soon(-ish) after the events of Half a King. Prince Yarvi is Father Yarvi now and is an important man whose job it is to keep the peace in his country. The story doesn’t revolve around his adventures only – in fact, the main characters are Thorn and Brand, two teenagers from Yarvi’s hometown.

They’re both training to become soldiers – but Thorn is a girl, and girl soldiers are generally frowned upon there, and Brand’s moral compass is too accurate to follow orders of dubious intent. Father Yarvi, who seems to have a soft spot for discarded people, collects both of them and makes them a part of his crew. They set off on a mission to win more allies against the High King and his evil (or just too-powerful) Minister, Grandmother Wexen.

And that’s all you need to know of the plot! While I know much of the focus is on the crew’s adventures and travels, I felt like the most important part of the book was the development of Torn and Brand. And I don’t just mean Thorn’t combat training, but personal stuff, too. They both have to learn their limits and generally grow up on this trip. Thorn, whose personality greatly resembles her nickname, was an instant favourite. I know we’re not meant to like her from the start because she’s really a brat, but I did. And I always had a thing for the quiet type guys so Brand wasn’t hard to like, either.

Having read about 1500 pages about intensely obnoxious characters in The First Law trilogy, I continue to be surprised by how much I’m liking Yarvi and his bunch of misfits. It’s not just Yarvi, Thorn and Brand – the whole cast of supporting characters is well thought out and I enjoyed seeing some of the characters from Half a King making an appearance here.

All in all, Half a War is definitely one of my most anticipated reads. I can’t wait to see what adventures Yarvi and his crew will get themselves into and if I’ll get more of Thorn’s story, I’ll be a happy camper.

This review was first posted on my book blog, Of Dragons and Hearts (http://ofdragonsandhearts.com/2015/04/book-review-half-the-world-by-joe-abercrombie/)

Originally posted at www.archeddoorway.com

Half the World is the second book in Joe Abercrombies new Shattered Sea fantasy series. Set three years after the events of the first book in the series, Half the World follows two new characters as they struggle to survive the harsh lifestyle and political turmoil of the kingdom of Gettland.

Thorn Bathu wants nothing more than to be the greatest warrior Gettland has ever seen while avenging the death of her father. But being a warrior is not an easy thing to do on along the Shattered Sea when you are a girl. Brand is as strong as two men and is almost as good as Thorn with a sword, but he does not believe steel is always the answer, and has what the warrior see as the unmanly habit of seeking peace.

A tragic accident during Thorn’s final training session before she stands before her king and takes the warriors oath finds Thorn labeled a murderer and jailed to await execution by those who trained her. When Brand goes to Father Yarvi to tell him the true version of the events that lead to Thorns imprisonment he to finds himself unjustly accused by his trainers an denied his place as a warrior. Thorn and Brand soon find themselves thrown together as they follow Father Yarvi across half the world in search of redemption for themselves, and possible salvation for the Gettland and its people.

I enjoyed this story much more than I did the first book in the series, and I think the reason for that is the characters. In Half a King I found Yarvi and his group of misfits to be a rather unlikable lot, and struggled to really finish the story. That is not the case for Half the World, I loved the characters of Thorn and Brand and found their slowly budding friendship to be the backbone of the entire story.

The only thing I wish we had seen more of was the magic that exists in the world. In Half a King we get a glimpse of the elven ruins, but learn very little of where they came from or what their purpose was. While Half the World does a good job of keeping up this tradition, it does at least introduce us to the artifacts and the brutal blood magic that can be learned from there. I honestly found myself a bit queasy after the first scene in which the magic was introduced.

This is definitely a book you want to read if your a fan of Joe Abercrombie, or of coming of age stories, or if your just a fan of a really good fantasy story. I made the mistake again of starting my read when I had to work early the next morning, and found myself going to work with no sleep at all. It was well worth it.

This book was provided to me free for an honest review.

This book came to a grinding halt half way through for me (maybe a play on this series theme on Halves? Maybe). Like others, I came to this series from a deep appreciation of the First Law trilogy. I was on board with the shift in protagonists, and thought that their set up was decent enough. A girl saved from death and sent across the world? A shamed warrior seeking redemption? Why not. The entire boat ride down the Divine and Denied was a wonderful trip. Skifr played great in my imagination and I enjoyed her interactions with Thorn.

Then they got back to Thorlby.

To me I felt like that's where the story should have ended. Everything after that just felt like it was playing for time and dragging it all out to fill up a novel. I had to skip whole swaths of eye-roll inducing romance chapters as we watch two teens fumble around in each others pants like idiots. I had to skip whole swaths of eye-roll inducing fight scenes that follow the "Hero is confident! Hero is now VERY confident! Now hero isn't confident at all. But oh wait, hero still wins" scheme.

If the book had just found a way of wrapping things up within 50 pages of returning from their boat trip, I'm sure I'd have given this 4 stars.

Thorn Bathu is touched by Mother War. She has dedicated her life to learning to fight so that she might avenge her father, who duelled the infamous Grom-gil-Gorm, Breaker of Swords, and lost. A terrible accident mars her last test, however, and she is branded murderer instead of warrior. Her sentence: death!

Brand is touched by Father Peace. He, too, has trained all his short life to become a warrior of Gettland. But the memory of his mother encourages him to do good, so he cannot stand by while an unjust sentence is passed. He speaks up on Thorn’s behalf. As a result, neither Thorn nor Brand may realise their dream of becoming a warrior of Gettland.

Father Yarvi has a plan for them. With the deep-cunning minister, Thorn and Brand will travel half the world in search of allies. Against them are the edicts of the High King and the machinations of his minister. The journey will serve as a better forge for the ambitions of both young warriors and a true test of Yarvi’s capabilities as minister.

Half the World is the second book in The Shattered Sea trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. In the first book, Half a King, Yarvi vowed to regain a throne he didn’t want, succeeded and then gave it over to the rightful heir (read the book for more on that). His story continues here, a few years on, a few years matured. The theme of thwarted ambitions continues as well, with Thorn and Brand picking up the thread. Several members of Yarvi’s original crew play important parts and we meet a few new solid characters.

This isn’t just another book in another trilogy, however. While there is a greater story arc, Half The World serves beautifully as the story of Thorn, the story of Thorn and Brand and even as the story of Brand, whose journey may seem less significant but is just as important. Being a warrior touched by peace is a lovely twist. I enjoyed Brand’s show of strength and fortitude and the manner in which he finally came into himself.

Thorn owns the novel, however. Her anger at everything is palpable, as is her need to prove herself, which drives her to not only pledge herself to Yarvi’s cause, but to learn all he and his companions have to teach. But she remains stolidly individual. Her own woman. This doesn’t always work in her favour, but it makes her so engaging to the reader. I laughed out loud at many of her observations. I cheered her successes and mourned her failures. I might have smacked her in several instances if she had obliged me my sticking her face out of the book.

The climactic scene toward the end, the fight that only she could fight, is one of the most riveting scenes I’ve ever read. Nothing could have torn the book from my hands from there to the end or most of the way through, for that matter. I eagerly await the final instalment in this trilogy, Half a War, due out July of this year.

‘The Shattered Sea’ novels are written for a young adult audience. The violence isn’t as violent and the sex isn’t as…sexy. But the tension is all there, as well as the gritty realism and careful and clever plotting. This is definitely an Abercrombie book and I found it as engrossing as others I have read. I would recommend this series to readers of all ages and especially for anyone who enjoys an epically absorbing fantasy experience.

Written for SFCrowsnest.

What Worked For Me:

That cover. So. Cool.

The world-building that Abercrombie started in Half a King continues to get fleshed out in this follow-up. While nothing is directly stated about the ‘elves,’ several clue and moments in the novel are quite revealing, and once this trilogy is finished, I’d love to see Abercrombie return to this world and deal the ‘elves’ and their demise, or something like that. He’s clearly created a very large and detailed world to work in, and I hope he continues to do.

I enjoyed the two new protagonists, Brand and Thorn, though I admit it took a little while for them to grow on me.

I like the new role that Yarvi has taken since the first novel, too, but I miss the character that he was in the first novel.

Each chapter taken by itself is excellent. The writing is tight, the characters are engaging, and the dialogue is very sharp. Scenes of character introspection are thoughtful, and scenes of battle, large and small, are violent and bloody (and several scenes from the end stand out as particularly brutal - I loved them).

What Didn’t Work For Me:

However, taken as a whole, there is precious little plot driving the characters’ actions in the book.

The first book was arranged in a similar fashion, with each chapter feeling like it’s own entity, but the first novel was a revenge story, and so there was always a goal, a man to find, an enemy to kill, a stolen kingdom to reclaim. Even if the chapters were sometimes disconnected, I always knew the driving forces that kept everything together.

I think this book attempts to follow the same structure, but because the ultimate goal of the book does not belong to the two protagonists, I struggled to care about the overarching plot...

...Until I got to the last fifty pages or so - then it all came roaring back, and if I had a copy of the third book, I would have started it right away. The ending was fantastic. But I shouldn’t have had to go through such a large middle portion without some kind of meaningful context.

Also: Skifr and Safrit? Really!??!?! Two weird names of women with s’s, i’s, f’s and r’s? It took me pages, and pages to realize that these were two different female characters. At first I thought I was just reading about one very schizophrenic character. Both of these ladies were great, but man, those names! BAH!

Conclusion:

I wish that the stories in this book would have been presented as side novellas, as discrete from the main plot arch. Then I could have enjoyed them for their own sake, and not have been constantly asking myself what anything has to do with the plot.

Don’t get me wrong: I really liked this book.

If you enjoyed the first book, you should enjoy this one, too. Though, as other reviewers have pointed out, if you didn’t like the first book, this one is not going to do anything to change your mind. Personally, I liked Half a King better than this book, but I am still eagerly waiting the final book, Half a War.

The good:

1.Abercrombie is tight here. No words wasted and he never tries to be overly clever in my opinion. Nothing grates more than authors who think they are witty and clever and writing wonderful comic turns in a fantasy novel. Comedy is hard. And maybe he is not doing this in his previous works. If so my bad. If I am right? His rather bad.

2.The story is a straightforward one. Travel adventure as the main character grows and learns. So too does the reader as the world grows and expands and becomes more understood.

3.As simplistic as Abercrombie keeps it (in a very good way), there are plenty of glimpses into the also expanding political machinations. Nuances and some clever twists that always seem logical and well thought out.

The bad? None.

The less than good (which takes a star?) It is a middle book and does feel like that. While the two main characters are fun, they also are cut from the cloth of typical teen gets sucked into bigger badder things and is used as the vehicle to tell story and build on the previous story and of course provide the bridge to bring on the third book. I'm taking a gamble here though and thinking those who read all three books together will reap the reward for having the patience since as one big read, I think this will be a five star effort if it follows the quality of the first and second book.

I still think it does not quite surmount the weakness that a second bridging book has and I have read other authors who manage to incorporate the bridging method and still present a completely fresh book.

Still, the mix of simple story telling and yet wonderfully nuanced and intriguing world building and plotting makes this a must read for those who like fantasy. Abercrombie was never an author I liked to the level that the fantasy community seemed to embrace him out the gate. But with this series I am getting there.

I was a fan of Joe Abercrombie’s first YA Novel, HALF A KING. And I’m a fan of its sequel HALF THE WORLD. It’s a fun fantasy novel that is not as harsh as its predecessor, but it does everything a sequel should.

Although Yarvi is at the heart of this story, he is not the protagonist. Instead, we focus on Thorn and Brand, young warriors in training who are eager to become heroes. Thorn’s father was killed in battle, so she is training to earn her vengeance, even if it means fighting twice as heard and taking twice as many beatings just be considered an equal. And after a childhood of struggle and scrapping, he wants to earn his fortune and do good, like the heroes in songs. Of course, both will find out the songs are exaggerations, and being good and being a legend come with tremendous costs.

Through various acts of misfortune, both Thorn and Yarvi end up on Yarvi’s boat, sailing half a world away. Yarvi, his uncle King Uthil, and his mother Queen Laithlin are increasingly finding themselves on the defensive as the High King consolidates power. If they are going to survive, they will need turn to enemies and turn them into allies. Because war is coming, but that’s the third book.

Until then though, HALF THE WORLD has plenty of action, intrigue, and even a little romance. And although the plot is a lot of fun, this is definitely a character-driven story. Yarvi remains a clever and “deep cunning” man (a nice nod to Beowulf with the attribute?), and our heroes to be grow into very different, very complex heroes.

This plot is a little more predictable than HALF A KING, but it’s still a lot of fun, so I don’t want to spoil too much. If you like adventurous fantasy, if you like Abercrombie, or if you just want a book that will keep you turning pages, go out and pick up a copy.

Whilst it is not immediately apparent where this book sits in the context of a sequel to the unequivocally fabbo HALF A KING, patience definitely rewards the curious and before you know it, your mind and your memory are beginning to recognise major characters from book one and see their place in book two.

The writing in HALF THE WORLD seems more assured, and also appears to be more confident than book one. Which is a nonsense, of course, since Mr Abercrombie is one of the world’s top fantasy writers. But the fact remains that the story is more complex and certainly at the fifteen percentile mark of the kindle version, way more entertaining than the prequel. It is also easy to imagine the author having great fun as he writes. The characters are awesome, and some of the associated descriptions are laugh out loud funny. For example, taken from location 293 of the kindle version, we have: “’You’ve a visitor,’ said the key-keeper, a weighty lump of a woman with a dozen rattling chains about her neck and a face like a bag of axes.”

The first of many expected plot twists has occurred and i confess to revealing a smirk to the nearby passengers on my commute to work this morning. Who said it pays to be forthright with the truth? Certainly not Joe Abercrombie.

Part one of the book is brilliant. The plot twists and turns in ways unforeseen in many a blue moon (minus one or two lucky guesses on my part) and before you know it, you are on to part two. And then part three. And then ... Well, I think you get the picture. Talk about addictive!

This book is a huge advance on HALF A KING. It will be immensely satisfying to see how and when and where the different plot strands link together, but as they say in the classics, the fun is in the journey. And when Joe Abercrombie is driving the bus, you won’t want to miss a thing.

But like all fantasy series’es, whilst we all love a good cliffhanger, I for one hope we don't have to wait for too long to see how it all ends up. But in the meantime, I am happy and delighted to give full marks to this new age classic and massively exciting blockbuster fantasy release. And i can always pick up volume one again to see how it all began.

BFN Greggorio.

The author of this series has said that he doesn't like to think of it as being aimed at a YA audience, and that's fair enough since it's actually more mature than a lot of fiction that is supposedly aimed at the non-young-adult market. I refer to it as "Abercrombie Lite," because overall these books are shorter, have more straightforward plots, have less profanity, have less graphic violence, and have less graphic sex than Abercrombie's other books. Also, although the story is still quite gritty, the outlook is much less bleak, and there is a stronger sense of justice than books like The First Law trilogy. There are even some scenes where the interactions between the characters are (dare I say it) rather heartwarming. All this is to say that if you like Joe Abercrombie's earlier writing purely because it is dark, gritty, violent, and turns standard fantasy conventions on their heads, you may find the Shattered Sea series disappointing. On the other hand, if you like Abercrombie's style but were put off by the bleakness, profanity, or graphic violence of his earlier work, you may find this series to be just what you're looking for.

The story of "Half the World" picks up a few years after the events of "Half a King," and features the protagonist of the first novel (Yarvi) in an active but less point-of-view role, introducing two younger characters that alternately provide the point of view. I thought this installment of the trilogy more evenly incorporated humor than "Half a King" did, and also kept the characters more interesting across the whole course of the novel (in "Half a King" there were sections where I found Yarvi a bit annoying). The plot has a fair number of twists, although frankly I saw them all coming.

In general, much like "Half a King" (although "Half the World" is a bit better in execution and flows better as a novel), I would say "Half the World" is not Joe Abercrombie's best novel, but he is such a good writer that his second-tier works are much better than a lot of people's best efforts, and still well worth a read.

I really liked the first book of this trilogy, Half a King (Shattered Sea) and had expected the second book to continue Yarvi's story. So I was surprised that instead there is a new protagonist -- a teen girl named Thorn who wants to be a warrior. But, except for some clunky "does he like me, I really like him" romantic angst, I enjoyed this story.

Although there is a new main character, Yarvi and some of the other characters from the first book are present again. It may not be completely necessary to have read Half a King before reading this book, but I would recommend doing so to gain a better understanding of the world they live in (especially the political situation).

I love the world the author created for this series. It's like a Viking era story but the references to the "elf" technology seem to indicate that it really takes place centuries in the future.

I also generally like Thorn as a character. She's not defined by her looks or her ability to win the heart of a prince. She just wants to be a warrior like her father and she has to work hard to succeed. That's why the addition of the kind of lovelorn angst one would expect in generic YA romance hits such a bad note in the book. I thought perhaps it was just my adult perspective so I had my 14 year old niece read one of the most egregious passages. Her opinion was that some girls would like the romance but that she didn't think it was necessary.

Even though it rang a false note for me, I enjoyed the rest of the book enough to overlook the clunky romance parts but hope the author doesn't feel the need to put this in the final book of the trilogy.

This is a nice book, but far from great. The blurbs on the back cover promise a tremendous book. I think this approach, of billing one's book as better than it is, constitutes a mistake. It sets the author up to miss expectations.
That said, I enjoyed some elements of the book. The writing is good, the story has a few novel twists, and the action is depicted well. The characters are straight forward, but not one-dimentional. They are, one-and-a-half-dimensional, not that well distinguished from stock characters, but acceptable.
Shortcomings are the anticlmax of the story. There were several points where the book could have ended, maybe should have ended, which was off-putting. Also, the chapter breaks were oddly chosen. My main objection was the heavy reliance on the "hero's journey" or monomyth. As a writer myself, I have been told to use this formula, but I have rejected it as a crutch. Why rely on a formulaic plot? Is giving the reader what they want justification for so doing? I do not clam to know, but I honor inovation and originality over pattern-writing.
Still, this is a good book, just not a great one. I do recommend it, but advise the one not to read the back cover laurels beforehand.

I've been a fan of Mr. Abercrombie since I first read his debut novel The Blade Itself. There is a gritty, dark, no frills writing here. Characters suffer through a lot. Some will compare his writing to George R.R. Martin and while there are similarities, to me they are completely different styles.

Martin seeks to pad many of his scenes and characters with sometimes unnecessary descriptions, dialog, etc. Writing just to write more, doesn't always equate to a great read. On the other side Abercrombie, every line he writes, every minute detail matters. His prose reaches out of the page and dares you to put the book down. Just when you feel like you are coming to a natural stopping point he flips the script and does something else.

With that said, while the writing in this book is on par with his other stuff, there seems to be an odd pacing to the book where it slows down and almost become ordinary. Ordinary for some writers is ok, and maybe this is my own personal bias and how high I hold Abercrombie in my pantheon of writers, but I don't expect ordinary from him.

Make no mistake, this is still a quality novel and certainly a good read, I was just expecting a little more from this one and in the end it just didn't measure up to some of his earlier stuff in my opinion. Still a very worthwhile read though.

This book deserves a 5. While it's not the best of the Joe Abercrombie stable if compared to the general population its a top quality read.

I have had trouble with Joe's books lately, his unremitting gloomy theme and the uninspiring nature of his protagonists have really left me struggling. This books different. Not only does Joe pick two new protagonists to continue the Shattered Sea story but they aren't his usual crippled (in various ways) compliment. Its still Joe but its almost light hearted (for him). The storyline is perhaps a bit familiar, female struggling in a mans world, young man trying to find his place, but its well done. I really enjoyed the limitations placed on the girl in terms of her strength, i felt that added a significant amount of realism. One other review mentions that the protagonists are too talented. I don't think so. It would be a poor story following an average joe. These two are exceptional but within the realm of the possible.

My one gripe was the wildly naive romance. Its just a bit ott and a little out of character for the time and the maturity of the characters.

Overall this is a lighter, quicker, more fun Joe, but its still Joe so the fighting is well done and the world is complete, warts and all.

This wasn't bad by any means, but it was a disappointment after Half a King. "Half the World" is much more obviously a juvenile with simplified relationships, a veneer of cynicism, and relatively shallow characters.

Yarvi, the protaganist of the first book returns, but this time in an opaque supporting role as a sort of grey eminence, the story shifts to a new generation who are much more conventional teenagers, Thorn is tough girl who wants to fight as a warrior and Brand who is not so sure is her handsome and well meaning comrade and live interest. There is a sort of feminist touch as well but it felt weak and unconvincing and there were moments where the gender relations reminded me of Robert Jordan, and the comparison didn't really favor Abercrombie.

The world, some sort of post apocalyptic Scandinavia and now with the addition of Constantinople felt the furthest thing from fresh. The politics too familiar and truly uninspired. The world building is just not there this time.

But at the same time it is a fast read, and not bad at all. The action is exciting and the battle scenes are asgood as it gets. From a lesser writer I would be pretty happy, though not overawed, but I would probably prefer to read an adult book.

I was very excited for this book, so much so that I pre-ordered it and not-so patently waited for it to come out. I was not disappointed. This follow up to Half A King was a little bit of a surprise in the total shift in protagonist. I was expecting Yarvi to be a larger part of the story. This I thought was going to be a big disappointment, I had grown rather found of the deep cunning Yarvi. As it turns out the new characters are awesome and Yarvi is still around to root for. Thorn and Brand are the new kids in this book. Their stories intertwine in a variety of twist and turns. Thorn and her story are at the forefront. She is a brutal warrior in a brutal world. As with the first book the story telling is top notch, Characters are intriguing and you get invested. The world is a wonderfully brutal viking paradise, the way I like them. This book seems a little more gritty than the first book, and for me that is a plus. Overall a great offering by Mr. Abercrombie. I think a slight step above the first book. I am very excited for the next book Half A War, and I am very glad the wait is so short for it to come out.

Another amazing book by Joe Abercrombie.

With just as many twists and turns as the first book in this trilogy, Half the World kept me riveted from start to finish. I love the characters, the writing, and the speed at which the story unfolds. The only thing about this book that was disappointing was that it had to end.

Thank goodness the third book is already out and I don’t have to wait for what I’m sure will be the next amazing book in this trilogy.

With well-rounded, strong characters, an exciting plot and detailed world-building, Joe Abercrombie has cemented his place as one of my favorite fantasy authors with this second installment in the Shattered Sea trilogy.

Things started off a little slowly for me because it had been a while since I had read the first book, Half a King. It took a little bit for me to get my bearings and remember who's who and where they are. It also threw me a little that this book does not center on Yarvi, but rather on two other characters, Thorn and Bran. Yarvi is now Father Yarvi and is the minister to his uncle, now the King. He is just as cunning as ever and everything he does has an underlying motivation. Thorn and Bran are young people training to become warriors. Through various circumstances they end up following Yarvi across the world while he's trying to gain allies for his country in what looks to be the coming war with the High King.

Thorn is a seriously bad-ass chick. Everything she has she gets by hard work. She's a flawed character who sometimes jumps to conclusions and makes bad decisions, but you can't help but cheer for her. She's impetuous and acts without thinking. She gains some serious fighting skills. Bran is the opposite. He's the strong, silent type. He's more slow and thoughtful and aims to "do good" above all else. Both characters are well-written and complex. The supporting characters are a mix of new and familiar faces from Half a King. They round out the cast well and even offer some comic relief.

We learn a little more about this world and there are more details peppered throughout that hint that this may be set in the far-future and we, the reader, might be these elves they speak of with such reverence. It's an interesting concept. The setting are described in enough detail that you can visualize them but not so much that you're bogged down.

This book really shines in it's action scenes. This book would translate really well to the screen and I could absolutely "see" all of the battle scenes while reading. They were completely enthralling and I couldn't pull my eyes away.

Overall, while it started out slow, this book quickly built to a fast-paced, exciting read with strong characters and settings. I am very eagerly awaiting the third book in this trilogy. This book has definite crossover appeal and adult fans of fantasy would enjoy as well as YA readers. Highly recommended.

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Left dangling with anticipation in “Half a King,” many readers will be delighted that Joe Abercrombie’s soon-to-be-released 384 page hardback, “Half the Word” is about to see the light of day. In this new work the author picks up a few old friends who are drawn into perilous adventures with new oar-mates, forged together by sweat, fear, fighting and savagery, into a family of sorts. Their exploits take them through half the world, creating much needed, but unlooked for, alliances for Gettland, while overcoming obstructions, conflicts, and vows for revenge.
“Half the World” revolves around a young teenage girl, Thorn Bathu, who has vowed to one day kill Grom-gil-Gorm, the Breaker of Swords and Maker of Orphans, and the killer of her father. The determination runs deep in her blood, and drives her every waking and sleeping moment. She trains in Master Hunnan’s school with this ambition in mind, only to be set up for failure, and through an accident in the sparring ring, finding herself declared a murderer. From here the making of a warrior in all of her the storeian intensity begins in earnest as Father Yarvi, now the King’s minister, takes her under his wing on his extended journey to the First of Cities, which is half a world away. Thorn is trained by a skilled fighting woman, Skifr, throughout the long voyage, strengthening her muscles, sharpening her skills, and stiffening her resolve. Thorn’s finely fashioned fighting abilities will pay off in winning the heart of the new, young and inexperienced Empress Vialine. Thorn’s daring in defending the Empress, almost singlehandedly, against seven warriors and the sinister Duke Mikedas, will shape an unlooked for alliance between the Empress, her Empire and Gettland.
The expedition sails aboard the South Winds, with a rugged and ruthless crew that includes Rulf the helmsman who had travelled with Father Yarvi in the previous book. But the crew also includes Brand, one of Thorn’s fellow students from Master Hunnan’s school. Brand, orphaned young, has found himself betrayed for his honesty, and similarly pulled into Father Yarvi’s cunning agenda. The adolescent dynamic between Brand and Thorn is stiff but tolerable at first, and then turns icy cold on the return trip from the First of Cities, only to melt into heated embraces in the last third of the book. Both Thorn and Brand develop from the uneasiness of their youth into more mature individuals who find something of their place and purpose in the world. There are wonderful turns and twists through most of “Half the World” that will keep a reader on their bookish toes, turning pages, and biting their nails.
Yet, the wheels of “Half the World” begin to deflate in the last third of the book, where the storyline becomes tired and trudges along. One wonders if the plot becomes more plodding because the author starts imposing steamy love scenes between Thorn and Brand that add nothing to the story, or did the author sense the narrative sagging and so brings in the intrusive sexual trysts to spice things up? There is a shorter, similar scene between Father Yarvi and Sumael. Though none of them are outright pornographic, the scenes are distracting, disappointing and downright unnecessary. Maybe I should have expected that something like this might come about, since earlier in the book I was taken aback by the immodest description of Thorn’s discomforting moment of menstruation that I imagine would bring a blush to many young women’s cheeks. As a father of girls who have grown to womanhood, I know from experience that they would rather the whole business be kept private and not displayed for all to see. In the end, none of these episodes add any value to the plotline, but instead cheapen what was a great story.
“Half the World” began with promises of being just as good, if not better, than “Half a King”. But it ended up sagging its way into being only half the book it promised to be. Sadly, I find it difficult to recommend.
My thanks to Random House Publishing and Net Galley for the temporary e-copy of this book used for this review.

Fantastic second installment. Abercrombie departs from Father Yarvi as the lead character. While he still plays a major role, especially in the second half of the book, this is Thorn and Brand's book. She a teenage warrior beyond compare, and he is a teen who has not only great strength, but also great strength of character. This volume primarily deals with Yarvi and company's travels hither and yon trying to enlist allies for coming confrontation with the High King. Abercrombie is a riveting storyteller, and I look forward to reading Half A War, the concluding volume in the triology. Highly recommended.

5 Stars!

This book was simply amazing! I was completely enchanted by this story from the first page until the very last word. I was so excited to get my hands on an early copy of this book because I absolutely loved the first book in this series, Half a King. I had really high expectations when I started this book and I was a little fearful that this book wouldn't be able to compare to the first book in the series. This book is just as awesome as the first in the series.

"Fools boast of what they will do. Heroes do it"

I believe that this story is best experienced as the story is being read so I am not going to give any of the plot away in this review. Joe Abercrombie has created one of the most likable, fierce, and kick ass female characters that I have encountered. Thorn has been kissed by Mother War and is more a warrior than most men that hold that position. She fights for a chance to do what she feels in her blood but is met with resistance. After a few twists of fate, she finds herself serving Father Yarvi. Brand is another main character in this story who I loved Brand just as much as I loved Thorn. Brand is a quiet man who is willing to do the right thing despite what it may cost him.

"A fool doesn't fear. A warrior stands in spite of his fear. You stood."

The writing in this story was excellent. I felt for all of the characters. I experienced their anger, their fear, and their joy. I cheered for them when things went well and my heart broke a little when things didn't go so well. The fact that I felt of these emotions while reading this story is really a credit to the author. I loved the world that this story is set in and some of the visual images that come to mind from this world are just amazing. The pacing of the story was perfect with enough building of characters between the action scenes. I even found myself being completely amused by some of the dialog between the characters. Everything is this book is perfectly balanced.

"Your trouble is you make everyone's trouble your trouble."

I do think that this book could be read as a stand alone novel as the story contained in this book is complete. On second thought though, the first book is absolutely incredible so I don't know why anyone would want to skip it so I would recommend that readers read this story in order. Many of the characters from the first book are back in the sequel as fans of the series will be happy to note. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. I think that everyone really should give this series a try - it really is that good. This is only the second book by Joe Abercrombie that I have read and both books have been amazing. I plan to read much more by this author in the future.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group via Net Galley.

This is the middle volume of The Shattered Sea Trilogy that continues two years after the end of Half a King. The story now has two narrators – Brand and Thorn. Father Yarvi is a background supporting character in this story, and his tale continues as small anecdotes related by other others that are interspersed in the story.

Thorn is a young woman who wants to be a warrior in the footsteps of her father, but woman are seldom chosen for training. The master- at-arms, sabotages Thorn’s sword during her final test, but intervenes and places her on one of his ships. But, Thorn quickly realizes that she is a pawn in a dangerous political game.

The High King is dissatisfied the new King of Gettland, to whom Father Yarvi is the main counselor. When Yarvi hears that the High King is raising troops to overthrow the upstart Gettland King. Thorn and Brand (a young male warrior) are the two sides of a Janus coin. Thorn is touched by Mother War, while Brand is touched by Father Peace. Thorn is the outgoing short trigger, and Brand is the introverted archetype ‘quiet’ big man.

They sail off on Yarvi’s ship looking for allies in a projected war against the High King. Of course it turns out to be much more difficult than anyone expected. Though Thorn and Brand are opposites, of course they develop a close friendship and their attraction grows as the story goes on. The exploration of gender ‘norms’ is one of the strongest part of the character development. Though in the humor of the story, Abercrombie show he hasn’t left out his standard ‘light handed’ touch.

As always, Abercrombie is deft at his use of action and battle versus times when everyone sits around pontificating. We learn a lot more about the “Shattered Sea” world, with hints that it is the result of a major apocalypse in the distant past.

The last book of the trilogy, “Half a War” is due this July (2015).

Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com

Half the World picks up where Half a King finished up, but Yarvi has become a secondary character in his own tale. The new main characters are Thorn and Brand. Abercrombie is a little heavy handed with Thorn’s name, as she is a thorn in everyone’s side.

Brand and Thorn are teenagers trying to become warriors for Gettland. Due to a series of connected circumstances, they fail at passing their tests and become part of a crew on a ship with Father Yarvi. Yarvi is trying to find allies for Gettland against the High King.

I enjoyed Half the World but not quite as much as Half a King. It’s one long set up for the climax. A misunderstanding keeps two lovers apart for longer than was believable. I expected to see more of King Uthil, and he is a minor and ineffective character. I hope he returns in glory in the third book.

Abercrombie is a gritty, realistic writer, which I like most of the time although he seems a little obsessed with snot. (There are multiple references to people picking their noses or expelling snot.) Thorn’s inconvenient menstruation is a plot point early in the book – refreshing to find in a fantasy novel - but it never comes up again.

Thorn is not as sympathetic a character as Yarvi and definitely not as likeable. Brand is much more so but the focus is on Thorn. Yarvi is clever, a man of deep cunning, and a master manipulator in a complicated relationship with his fascinating mother the Queen. I would have liked to have seen inside their heads more.

I like Abercrombie’s world and his way with words. I like that he has strong female characters and thoughtful male characters. Brand and his sister have lived in poverty and struggled to survive for many years. When he returns from his long voyage with his pay, he finds that his sister has become a swordsmith and now lives in a fine house.

“Gods,” whispered Brand. “I was going to change your life. You did it by yourself.” (p. 231 of the advance reader copy)

This entry in the series feels less original than the first, but it’s packaged in an entertaining way. There are many echoes of Tolkien (including a warrior who says “it has been foreseen that no man can kill me”), but that’s not a bad thing.

If you enjoy gritty high fantasy with well developed characters that is thoughtful about the “glory” of war, I recommend Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea series.

I read an advance reader copy from netgalley.com.

After reading Joe Abercrombie's first YA novel, Half a King, a strong beginning to his "Shattered Seas" trilogy, I recognized a writer who not only appreciates but revels in the virtue of a flawed character. My impressions were substantiated when I read his "First Law" trilogy. Abercrombie can bring to life characters that are insufferable and deceitful and should be unlikeable but, strangely enough, the reader devours them.

He can also write mean fight scene.

In his first journey into YA, Abercrombie introduced us to the world of the Shattered Seas and it's contentious countries ruled by the cruel High King. The young Yarvi, a political victim of palace subterfuge within his own country of Gettland is forced to take a journey as prince-turned-king-turned-slave-turned-hero. It is an odyssey of self-discovery that ends with his rightful position as Father Yarvi, right hand and Minister to the new king of Gettland.

Half the World takes place shortly after the end of that superb first novel. While Father Yarvi is still a driving force to the story, this book mostly focuses on Brand and Thorn, two teenagers training to be warriors in the King's army. A horrific accident during a training exercise lands Thorn in prison; her death sentence, if carried out, is equally horrific. When Brand speaks up for her, he unwittingly changes their lives and launches their own odyssey.

Father Yarvi must travel half the world looking for allies to fight against the High King. His crew includes Brand and Thorn, as well as his former shipmate Rulf from Half a King. The journey is brutal but it bonds the shipmates like a family, and is full of surprises. Thorn trains daily as a fighter with the cunning, foul-smelling, unpredictable, and completely entertaining Skifr, a highly skilled warrior herself who is not afraid to pick her nose in public. During their year of travel, Brand, a boy from the slums who dreamed of becoming a warrior quickly grows into a young man who prefers the way of Mother Peace and chooses to see the light in everything. Thorn, however, becomes a strutting fighter, a daughter of Father War, who revels in the battle. And Yarvi, constantly referred to as a man of "deep-cunning", who is bound to forsake the ways of Father War and must follow the ways of Mother Peace is definitely a bastard son of both. His strategies from the beginning to the end show a man of deep cunning who will sacrifice others to achieve his goals.

As Half a King was recognizable as a YA novel with it's short chapters and shorter story, Abercrombie-Light to be sure, Half the World is more evolved and complex. While Thorn was angry and cocky, almost repelling at times, she had moments that defined her as more than just a fighter. She is also pretty good at spitting and hucking snot rockets. Brand may have seemed rather Mary-Sue-ish to some, but his loyalty to friends and family, and his unwavering integrity, especially in the end, made him a true warrior in my eyes. And, unlike the first book, I was able to recognize that this medieval world is definitely a futuristic remnant of what was once a world ruled by "elves" with their "magic" lights and tall buildings and factories.

Abercrombie's books are some of the grittiest, and smelliest, fantasy novels but he thankfully also maintains a sense of humor throughout that helps alleviate what would otherwise be a bleak story. While he can write some of the best fight scenes, he is also able to expose the absolute horror of war: bloody and unfair and cruel and sickening. His major characters are never black and white, many are quite prickly, but they are enjoyable and memorable.

I cannot wait for the next book.

Highly recommended for fantasy nuts, YA enthusiasts, and Joe Abercrombie disciples.

In 2014, the first book in Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea trilogy, HALF A KING, was one of my favorite books of the year. I’m two months into 2015 and I already know the second book, HALF THE WORLD, will be one of my favorites for this year.

Some awesome things about HALF THE WORLD:

♥ It’s the second book in a trilogy, but you DO NOT need to be familiar with book one. I recommend you read HALF A KING because Yarvi’s story is fantastic. But if you skip it, you won’t be confused. The author fills you in on what you need to know.

♥ If you like kick butt, prickly, determined, stubborn female main characters, you’ll probably love Thorn Bathu. Thorn’s my kind of girl -- she wants to be a warrior, the first female warrior to stand in the shield wall. But everyone’s against her, and when her trainer names her a murderer, she almost loses her life. Father Yarvi rescues her from death, but is his rescue really a rescue? If you read HALF A KING, you’ll know Yarvi plays his own game, and even if you haven’t, his actions show his character in HALF THE WORLD. The short version? Thorn comes out even stronger in the end of the book than she was in the beginning, but it’s a bumpy ride. Even worse than hauling a ship overland.

♥ As the title implies, HALF THE WORLD shows a great deal of the world of the Shattered Sea. The characters do journey over half the world trying to find support for their country. As much as I like the Viking feel of Gettland, it was cool to see other cultures and peoples. HALF THE WORLD feels epic in scope without clocking in at 700+ pages. I love big fat fantasies, but sometimes it’s nice to read something that’s less than 400 pages and still get the same feeling.

♥ This is quite unusual for me, but I actually liked the romance in HALF THE WORLD. It’s not a big part of the book, but it is there. At first, I rolled my eyes when I saw that Thorn and Brand were attracted to each other, because I didn’t want the book to be full of them making eyes at each other and falling in loooove right away. It’s not. Anyway, Thorn and Brand have some missteps, and spend a good portion of the book mad at each other for reasons a lot of people will recognize. I thought the romance bit was a lot more realistic than you usually see, which is why I liked it.

In case you can’t tell, I thought HALF THE WORLD was fantastic. I think I liked it even more than HALF A KING! I cannot wait to see how everything ties up in the last book, HALF A WAR, due out later this year. I need my Yarvi and Thorn fix!

The timing of the publication date is just perfect, after I finished reading Half a King, the first novel of the series. So everything is still fresh in my mind.

I started reading this novel with high hope, to continue the misadventure of Yarvi, or now Father Yarvi. Unfortunately he is taken off from the center stage, just being a supporting role. The leading characters now are (typical) two teenagers, Thorn, a female fighter, and Brand, a big and handsome young boy. Somehow I always imagine Brand as Samwise Gamgee in LoTR or Samwell Tarly in GoT. For Thorn, a younger version of Angelina Jolie, perhaps.

And so, the story continues. Gettland is on the brink of war, and it is in desperate need of allies. Father Yarvi is on the mission. And accidentally he met these two outcast youngsters, and took them under his wings (one on each side, perhaps). It is supposed to be an interesting adventure, but somehow it is below par if you compare it with the previous Yarvi's adventure. It is a typical coming-of-age adventure, without the wit, cynicism, and struggle like Yarvi's. It does not differ much from any typical YA fantasy. Yes, of course, Abercrombie writes much better than a typical YA author, but still, it is below his standard form. Well, I miss Yarvi on the center stage, and those two teenagers definitely cannot replace him.

The plot is above average, you have many unpredictable twist, which is fun. Some small details are added, to be wrapped up beautifully in the end, with a fine knot. This is typical Abercrombie that I like. Unfortunately the plot still cannot save the weakness in the characters (Thorn and Brand). No matter how interesting is the plot, it feels like it still lacks some ingredients. In conclusion, this novel needs a major overhaul in the next installment, if Abercrombie wants to keep his throne as one of the best fantasy writer.

PS: Most likely, I can measure how much I like a book by listing how many memorable quotes from the book. And from this one, not many.
And I can create a quote which is better than Abercrombie's too:

"Where can you find allies if half of the world is against you?"
"The other half, where else?"

(Original quote: “Where do we find allies?”
Father Yarvi smiled. “Among our enemies, where else?”)

Without ruining anything about the story, Abercrombie once again creates morally compromised characters you cannot stop yourself rooting for. Except for one. There is one who isn't compromised. You find you like that one best and the fear rises all through the story. Will he/she stay honest? Will morality s/him? Don't get too attached this Abercrombie's world!

Half the World is the second book in the Shattered Sea series. It's a fun, fairly straightforward and formulaic fantasy novel. I definitely think it will appeal more to young adult readers than it did to me. The simplicity of the plot, the parallels between the male and female teen protagonist, and the very predictable romance were things I would have appreciated very much back when I was in middle school, but 20-some years later, they fall flat.

The two main characters, Thorn and Brand, don't seem to be nearly as fleshed out or interesting as Yarvi, the protagonist in the first book in the series. They come across as background characters; they develop little and they seem to viewing the major, interesting plot points from a distance. Yarvi was present throughout much of this book, but I wanted to see things from his perspective; he was the character doing the plotting and scheming, which was only briefly touched upon in Thorn and Brand's points-of-view. The book covers a full year, but it was written in such a vague fashion that the passage of time doesn't seem real. Everything could have just as easily happened in a month as a year.

Despite these issues, I was entertained by Half the World, and I'll probably read the next book in the series. If you're looking for dependable, somewhat creative fantasy and don't require literary excellence, you'll probably get some enjoyment out of this book.

Half the World, the second installment of the Shattered Sea trilogy, is arguably better than the series opener which is an extremely rare occurrence in the book world. Abercrombie's trilogy was, if I recall correctly, billed as a Young Adult trilogy. It certainly is dialed down from his usual far grittier, more violent fare. Don't take this to mean that the meat of the story is lacking, though. The Shattered Sea trilogy is shaping up to pack just as much of a punch as his full-fledged "adult" fantasy novels.

With Half the World, we pick up pretty much where the first novel left off with our hero Yarvi now safely ensconced as Minister of Gettland. While Yarvi continues to play a large role in the story, Abercrombie plays a neat trick and introduces us to a couple of new protagonists: Thorn, a young female warrior out to prove everything to world and Brand, a hero in the making. A say it's a neat trick because the characters we loved in the previous novel are still there but we learn to love the new protagonists, too. Ah, slick move. I loved it. And of course, we have a new adventure....and I thought it was even better than the last one.

If anything, Half the World seals the deal for me. I liked the first novel, I *loved* this novel. This is going to be an amazing trilogy. If you haven't started it yet, now is the time. Go get both of the novels and start reading.

Thorn's a girl touched by mother war who fights every day to become a warrior. She finds herself bruised, bloodied, and named a murderer by her teacher. Thorn becomes indebted and oath bound to serve Father Yarvi as he schemes to find allies against the High King. She crosses half the world in search of allies for Gettland while making some of her own like Brand a warrior who wants to do good more than anything.

Half the World is a strong sequel to Half a King. Half the World has politics, conflict, and battle galore.

While being a sequel and seeing many familiar characters such as Father Yarvi, Queen Laithlin, and King Uthil, the story changes it's point of view. Instead of having one point of view character in Yarvi we get two point of view characters in Thorn and Brand. This change strengthens the story and the mystery because Thorn and Brand are young and don't know much of what's happening at any given time unlike Father Yarvi who's pulling many of the strings.

I really enjoy the characters particularly Father Yarvi, Thorn, and Brand. I must admit that I miss the younger Yarvi from Half A King. Father Yarvi is a harder man who isn't afraid to do what's necessary for the greater good of Gettland. This Yarvi is a deep cunning man who seems like the type who rarely jokes or even smiles. He's a man that's seen too much of the darkness in the world and will never be the same because of it. Father Yarvi is a stronger more determined man than Yarvi from Half a King.

Thorn is interesting because of her personality. Thorn starts out as a fiery young woman who has trained with the young men her entire life. She is fierce and stubborn while being quite capable in battle against the young men of her age. She goes from being an arrogantly proud annoyance who thinks too highly of herself and her skills to a fairly humble woman who has skills worth bragging about. It's also interesting that despite being a warrior woman Abercrombie gave her some insecurities. It's good to see heroes and heroines who are far from perfect. Thorn's vulnerability made her more relatable.

Brand is interesting because of his convictions. Brand desires to be warrior like the ones in the songs. He wants a band of brothers to stand shield to shield with while earning glory and riches. Above all Brand believes he desires, he wants to do good. Brand is constantly striving to do good throughout the book despite the consequences. Brand is the character I find myself relating to the most.

The biggest surprise to me was to see Abercrombie put together a love story in the midst of all the conflict. The author captured perfectly that awkward excitement of being a teenager in love. The characters uncertainty, desire, and misunderstandings mixed into a quite familiar feeling of being a teenager who has developed romantic feelings for someone. I have to say it even had me remembering my own awkward teenage infatuations.

Joe Abercrombie truly captures the futility of war. His characters talk of the songs sung, the scars earned, and the reputations won all the while showing how different the truth is from a song. He doesn't make it seem glorious, but rather haunting.

One of my favorite parts of reading Half the World and all of Joe Abercrombie's work is his powerful quotes. Joe Abercrombie is one of the most quotable authors in fantasy today. One of my favorite quotes from Half the World was, “Those with bad luck should at least attempt to balance it with good sense.” Another quote I particularly like was this one on relationships, “I always thought of being together as the end of the work. Turns out it's where the work starts.” 

Half the World isn't exactly what I expected in a sequel, it's even better. The new characters Thorn and Brand carry the story in a way I never expected and that made it a memorable sequel. I excitedly look forward to the trilogy's conclusion.

4 out of 5 stars

An advanced read copy was provided.

My new favorite author. I can’t put his books down. I picked up Half A King from the gym and now I read Half the World in one day. What a great author who builds great characters and keeps you guessing until the end. Anything but predictable. Can wait to read the sequel!

“Thorn’s father always said the moment you pause will be the moment you die, and she’d lived her life, for better, and mostly worse, by that advice.”

And so we are introduced to the foremost if several engaging characters newly introduced to Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered World Trilogy. Thorn is a young girl who has adopted a name that aptly suits her personality. She is the angry daughter of a proud and highly regarded warrior who died at the hands of Grom-gil-Gorm, the warrior king of Vansterland, Gettland’s enemy since longer than anybody can remember. Now the pommel of her father’s sword, and scores of others, adorn Grom’s neck in a necklace strung from the swords of the fallen, for he is The Breaker of Swords, the champion that no man can kill.

Thorn wants nothing more than to become a warrior but she is a girl and a girl’s place is at home wielding a needle, not swinging a sword on the training square. Standing in her way is Brand, who, orphaned young and raised in the midden heaps, wants nothing more than to go raiding with the others so he can bring back riches enough to provide a home for his sister and himself.

But hopes are easily dashed in Gettland and Father Peace and Mother War have different plans for Thorn and Brand. Soon they find themselves at sea, manning the back oars of a galley captained and helmed by characters that will be familiar to those who have read the Half a King, first book in the Shattered Sea Trilogy. Yarvi and Rulf, last seen trying to recapture the throne of Gettland after having spent time chained to oars of their own, are scrambling to build an alliance that can save them from defeat at the hands of the High King and every other country on the shores of the Shattered Sea.

What follows is an adventure at least as entertaining as Half a King. As is the case with its predecessor, Half a World, while part of a trilogy, can still be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel. What really impressed me is Joe Abercrombie’s ability to avoid the curse faced by most second volumes of a trilogy. While most such books are more focused on getting the reader from book one to book three, Abercrombie has avoided this slump and penned an adventure that stands on its own merits as a delight to read.

Bottom line: I love this trilogy and am really glad it is being written by Joe Abercrombie and not George RR Martin as I don’t want to wait a decade for the final volume.

*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review book was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.

I'm a huge fan of Abercrombie's. The first book in this series seemed a sort of Abercrombie-lite, it was just one plot line following one character. However, by the end of that book, and certainly with this one, Abercrombie delivers his usual great character creation and fantastic fight scenes, combined with bits of wit when you don't expect it. The main character from the first book plays a pivotal role in this one, though there are two other main characters that really start to give this series more depth.

The search for allies becomes difficult when the Empress of the South dies. An assassination attempt on the young heiress to the throne becomes an opportunity to forge a new allegiance. One more duel, with a surprising ending, will produce a dramatic result. A good series continues.

I enjoyed this book immensely. While I was so critical about the first book, something about this one worked for me. Of course the depth of the story is what you would expect from a YA book; it's not a long read by any means. I didn't care for the "does he/she like me?" in the middle of the book. Perhaps it's because I'm a jaded adult *shrugs*. The battles were great, especially the final deciding battle and it's outcome. I have become eager to see how the story concludes in the third volume.

"Half the World" is the second installment in the "Shattered Sea" epic fantasy series and the sequel to "Half a King."

Three years after the death of his father and brother, and his own betrayal by his uncle who did not think a young man with a deformed hand is fit to be King of Gettland, Yarvi is setting sail to travel to the south on a diplomatic mission to win allies against the High King of Skekenhouse, who's been inciting Gettland's enemies to invade the small but wealthy kingdom that stands in his path to greater power.

Among Yarvi's handpicked ragtag crew are paid mercenaries and two outcasts only a few years younger than him -- Thorn, a teenage girl who aspires and has the talent to be a great warrior like her late father; and Brand, a teenage boy who lost his parents at a very young age and has had to fend for himself and his younger sister and thought that being a warrior holds a lot of promise for "doing good," and "doing good" is something his late mother had always taught him to strive for.

Thorn and Brand have been training under Master Hunnan, who gets to decide what arbitrary tests they need to pass in order to win "honored" spots in Gettland's King's Guards. Both failed to win Hunnan's capricious favor. Thorn was judged too hot-headed and when she accidentally killed one of the male trainees Hunnan set against her in an unjust 3-against-1 duel, Hunnan charged her with murder, which called for death by stoning as punishment. Brand was the only one among those who witnessed what actually happened who came forward to Yarvi to defend Thorn against the unjust charge, and for this, Hunnan took reprisal against him by denying him a spot in the King's Guards.

Known for his deep cunning, Yarvi decides he has use for both Thorn and Brand. He takes both with him in his ship to serve as oarmates with others, and for Thorn, he hires the best teacher to help her achieve her potential as a great female warrior to serve his secret purposes and goals.

During the ship's long journey, we get to witness Thorn's and Brand's coming of age and their differing tastes for war and all that war entails such as killing for killing's sake, with Brand having more qualms than Thorn about the sense of it all, and how well Yarvi's carefully crafted plans and instincts about Thorn and Brand pan out. We also get to see whether Yarvi's plans have been foresighted enough.

Similar to what happened at the conclusion of this novel's predecessor, "Half a King," revelations about the extent of Yarvi's planning and the reasoning behind each component of his plans are made at the end of this novel. Whereas the revelations made in "Half a King" surprised and left me in awe of Yarvi's ability to connect the dots in figuring out who participated in his betrayal and for what reasons, the revelations in this novel were less surprising, partly because the first novel in the series had primed me to look for plot elements that seem to have more significance to them than initially meets the eye, but also partly because the author did call attention to some of those plot elements. Having said that, however, the revelations do not leave any doubt that Yarvi is a cunning man who is willing to do whatever is necessary (e.g., take a life, use others, etc.) to try to attain his goals and achieve what he perceives to be the greater good.

While the plot in both novels may strike readers as starting out seemingly straightforward with normal-appearing twists and turns, as mentioned above, the highly revelatory endings made me realize the author had me for a cunning ride in both novels and convinced me of the craftiness of the plots, more so with the first than this second novel, but the latter possesses some pluses lacking in the former. There is more and better character development -- and, therefore, the characters have more depth -- in the second than the first novel. Also, in my opinion, character growth is handled more convincingly here than in the first novel, and Brand's wanting to do good adds a level of complexity to the series especially when played off against Yarvi's more machiavellian leanings. Finally, there is more detailed world-building as Yarvi's travels outside of Gettland afford readers an opportunity to learn more about the habitats and cultures of characters who may have potentially interesting roles to play in the future.

Although this second novel reads fine as a standalone, I think reading both novels in sequence could result in a better experience, as reading about the sum of experiences that has driven Yarvi to make the choices he has made and turned him into the man he has become can help inform you better about Yarvi's machiavellian leanings.

This is the middle volume of The Shattered Sea Trilogy that continues two years after the end of Half a King. The story now has two narrators – Brand and Thorn. Father Yarvi is a background supporting character in this story, and his tale continues as small anecdotes related by other others that are interspersed in the story.

Thorn is a young woman who wants to be a warrior in the footsteps of her father, but woman are seldom chosen for training. The master- at-arms, sabotages Thorn’s sword during her final test, but intervenes and places her on one of his ships. But, Thorn quickly realizes that she is a pawn in a dangerous political game.

The High King is dissatisfied the new King of Gettland, to whom Father Yarvi is the main counselor. When Yarvi hears that the High King is raising troops to overthrow the upstart Gettland King. Thorn and Brand (a young male warrior) are the two sides of a Janus coin. Thorn is touched by Mother War, while Brand is touched by Father Peace. Thorn is the outgoing short trigger, and Brand is the introverted archetype ‘quiet’ big man.

They sail off on Yarvi’s ship looking for allies in a projected war against the High King. Of course it turns out to be much more difficult than anyone expected. Though Thorn and Brand are opposites, of course they develop a close friendship and their attraction grows as the story goes on. The exploration of gender ‘norms’ is one of the strongest part of the character development. Though in the humor of the story, Abercrombie show he hasn’t left out his standard ‘light handed’ touch.

As always, Abercrombie is deft at his use of action and battle versus times when everyone sits around pontificating. We learn a lot more about the “Shattered Sea” world, with hints that it is the result of a major apocalypse in the distant past.

The last book of the trilogy, “Half a War” is due this July (2015).

Zeb Kantrowitz zworstblog.blogspot.com

Half the World picks up where Half a King finished up, but Yarvi has become a secondary character in his own tale. The new main characters are Thorn and Brand. Abercrombie is a little heavy handed with Thorn’s name, as she is a thorn in everyone’s side.

Brand and Thorn are teenagers trying to become warriors for Gettland. Due to a series of connected circumstances, they fail at passing their tests and become part of a crew on a ship with Father Yarvi. Yarvi is trying to find allies for Gettland against the High King.

I enjoyed Half the World but not quite as much as Half a King. It’s one long set up for the climax. A misunderstanding keeps two lovers apart for longer than was believable. I expected to see more of King Uthil, and he is a minor and ineffective character. I hope he returns in glory in the third book.

Abercrombie is a gritty, realistic writer, which I like most of the time although he seems a little obsessed with snot. (There are multiple references to people picking their noses or expelling snot.) Thorn’s inconvenient menstruation is a plot point early in the book – refreshing to find in a fantasy novel - but it never comes up again.

Thorn is not as sympathetic a character as Yarvi and definitely not as likeable. Brand is much more so but the focus is on Thorn. Yarvi is clever, a man of deep cunning, and a master manipulator in a complicated relationship with his fascinating mother the Queen. I would have liked to have seen inside their heads more.

I like Abercrombie’s world and his way with words. I like that he has strong female characters and thoughtful male characters. Brand and his sister have lived in poverty and struggled to survive for many years. When he returns from his long voyage with his pay, he finds that his sister has become a swordsmith and now lives in a fine house.

“Gods,” whispered Brand. “I was going to change your life. You did it by yourself.” (p. 231 of the advance reader copy)

This entry in the series feels less original than the first, but it’s packaged in an entertaining way. There are many echoes of Tolkien (including a warrior who says “it has been foreseen that no man can kill me”), but that’s not a bad thing.

If you enjoy gritty high fantasy with well developed characters that is thoughtful about the “glory” of war, I recommend Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea series.

I read an advance reader copy from netgalley.com.

After reading Joe Abercrombie's first YA novel, Half a King, a strong beginning to his "Shattered Seas" trilogy, I recognized a writer who not only appreciates but revels in the virtue of a flawed character. My impressions were substantiated when I read his "First Law" trilogy. Abercrombie can bring to life characters that are insufferable and deceitful and should be unlikeable but, strangely enough, the reader devours them.

He can also write mean fight scene.

In his first journey into YA, Abercrombie introduced us to the world of the Shattered Seas and it's contentious countries ruled by the cruel High King. The young Yarvi, a political victim of palace subterfuge within his own country of Gettland is forced to take a journey as prince-turned-king-turned-slave-turned-hero. It is an odyssey of self-discovery that ends with his rightful position as Father Yarvi, right hand and Minister to the new king of Gettland.

Half the World takes place shortly after the end of that superb first novel. While Father Yarvi is still a driving force to the story, this book mostly focuses on Brand and Thorn, two teenagers training to be warriors in the King's army. A horrific accident during a training exercise lands Thorn in prison; her death sentence, if carried out, is equally horrific. When Brand speaks up for her, he unwittingly changes their lives and launches their own odyssey.

Father Yarvi must travel half the world looking for allies to fight against the High King. His crew includes Brand and Thorn, as well as his former shipmate Rulf from Half a King. The journey is brutal but it bonds the shipmates like a family, and is full of surprises. Thorn trains daily as a fighter with the cunning, foul-smelling, unpredictable, and completely entertaining Skifr, a highly skilled warrior herself who is not afraid to pick her nose in public. During their year of travel, Brand, a boy from the slums who dreamed of becoming a warrior quickly grows into a young man who prefers the way of Mother Peace and chooses to see the light in everything. Thorn, however, becomes a strutting fighter, a daughter of Father War, who revels in the battle. And Yarvi, constantly referred to as a man of "deep-cunning", who is bound to forsake the ways of Father War and must follow the ways of Mother Peace is definitely a bastard son of both. His strategies from the beginning to the end show a man of deep cunning who will sacrifice others to achieve his goals.

As Half a King was recognizable as a YA novel with it's short chapters and shorter story, Abercrombie-Light to be sure, Half the World is more evolved and complex. While Thorn was angry and cocky, almost repelling at times, she had moments that defined her as more than just a fighter. She is also pretty good at spitting and hucking snot rockets. Brand may have seemed rather Mary-Sue-ish to some, but his loyalty to friends and family, and his unwavering integrity, especially in the end, made him a true warrior in my eyes. And, unlike the first book, I was able to recognize that this medieval world is definitely a futuristic remnant of what was once a world ruled by "elves" with their "magic" lights and tall buildings and factories.

Abercrombie's books are some of the grittiest, and smelliest, fantasy novels but he thankfully also maintains a sense of humor throughout that helps alleviate what would otherwise be a bleak story. While he can write some of the best fight scenes, he is also able to expose the absolute horror of war: bloody and unfair and cruel and sickening. His major characters are never black and white, many are quite prickly, but they are enjoyable and memorable.

I cannot wait for the next book.

Highly recommended for fantasy nuts, YA enthusiasts, and Joe Abercrombie disciples.

In 2014, the first book in Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea trilogy, HALF A KING, was one of my favorite books of the year. I’m two months into 2015 and I already know the second book, HALF THE WORLD, will be one of my favorites for this year.

Some awesome things about HALF THE WORLD:

♥ It’s the second book in a trilogy, but you DO NOT need to be familiar with book one. I recommend you read HALF A KING because Yarvi’s story is fantastic. But if you skip it, you won’t be confused. The author fills you in on what you need to know.

♥ If you like kick butt, prickly, determined, stubborn female main characters, you’ll probably love Thorn Bathu. Thorn’s my kind of girl -- she wants to be a warrior, the first female warrior to stand in the shield wall. But everyone’s against her, and when her trainer names her a murderer, she almost loses her life. Father Yarvi rescues her from death, but is his rescue really a rescue? If you read HALF A KING, you’ll know Yarvi plays his own game, and even if you haven’t, his actions show his character in HALF THE WORLD. The short version? Thorn comes out even stronger in the end of the book than she was in the beginning, but it’s a bumpy ride. Even worse than hauling a ship overland.

♥ As the title implies, HALF THE WORLD shows a great deal of the world of the Shattered Sea. The characters do journey over half the world trying to find support for their country. As much as I like the Viking feel of Gettland, it was cool to see other cultures and peoples. HALF THE WORLD feels epic in scope without clocking in at 700+ pages. I love big fat fantasies, but sometimes it’s nice to read something that’s less than 400 pages and still get the same feeling.

♥ This is quite unusual for me, but I actually liked the romance in HALF THE WORLD. It’s not a big part of the book, but it is there. At first, I rolled my eyes when I saw that Thorn and Brand were attracted to each other, because I didn’t want the book to be full of them making eyes at each other and falling in loooove right away. It’s not. Anyway, Thorn and Brand have some missteps, and spend a good portion of the book mad at each other for reasons a lot of people will recognize. I thought the romance bit was a lot more realistic than you usually see, which is why I liked it.

In case you can’t tell, I thought HALF THE WORLD was fantastic. I think I liked it even more than HALF A KING! I cannot wait to see how everything ties up in the last book, HALF A WAR, due out later this year. I need my Yarvi and Thorn fix!

The timing of the publication date is just perfect, after I finished reading Half a King, the first novel of the series. So everything is still fresh in my mind.

I started reading this novel with high hope, to continue the misadventure of Yarvi, or now Father Yarvi. Unfortunately he is taken off from the center stage, just being a supporting role. The leading characters now are (typical) two teenagers, Thorn, a female fighter, and Brand, a big and handsome young boy. Somehow I always imagine Brand as Samwise Gamgee in LoTR or Samwell Tarly in GoT. For Thorn, a younger version of Angelina Jolie, perhaps.

And so, the story continues. Gettland is on the brink of war, and it is in desperate need of allies. Father Yarvi is on the mission. And accidentally he met these two outcast youngsters, and took them under his wings (one on each side, perhaps). It is supposed to be an interesting adventure, but somehow it is below par if you compare it with the previous Yarvi's adventure. It is a typical coming-of-age adventure, without the wit, cynicism, and struggle like Yarvi's. It does not differ much from any typical YA fantasy. Yes, of course, Abercrombie writes much better than a typical YA author, but still, it is below his standard form. Well, I miss Yarvi on the center stage, and those two teenagers definitely cannot replace him.

The plot is above average, you have many unpredictable twist, which is fun. Some small details are added, to be wrapped up beautifully in the end, with a fine knot. This is typical Abercrombie that I like. Unfortunately the plot still cannot save the weakness in the characters (Thorn and Brand). No matter how interesting is the plot, it feels like it still lacks some ingredients. In conclusion, this novel needs a major overhaul in the next installment, if Abercrombie wants to keep his throne as one of the best fantasy writer.

PS: Most likely, I can measure how much I like a book by listing how many memorable quotes from the book. And from this one, not many.
And I can create a quote which is better than Abercrombie's too:

"Where can you find allies if half of the world is against you?"
"The other half, where else?"

(Original quote: “Where do we find allies?”
Father Yarvi smiled. “Among our enemies, where else?”)

I expected another book about Yarvi... I was pleasantly surprised to see other characters developed so nicely. I have found a new author that I like.... if you have not read the first book of the series.... stop now and read it first.

Without ruining anything about the story, Abercrombie once again creates morally compromised characters you cannot stop yourself rooting for. Except for one. There is one who isn't compromised. You find you like that one best and the fear rises all through the story. Will he/she stay honest? Will morality s/him? Don't get too attached this Abercrombie's world!

Half the World is the second book in the Shattered Sea series. It's a fun, fairly straightforward and formulaic fantasy novel. I definitely think it will appeal more to young adult readers than it did to me. The simplicity of the plot, the parallels between the male and female teen protagonist, and the very predictable romance were things I would have appreciated very much back when I was in middle school, but 20-some years later, they fall flat.

The two main characters, Thorn and Brand, don't seem to be nearly as fleshed out or interesting as Yarvi, the protagonist in the first book in the series. They come across as background characters; they develop little and they seem to viewing the major, interesting plot points from a distance. Yarvi was present throughout much of this book, but I wanted to see things from his perspective; he was the character doing the plotting and scheming, which was only briefly touched upon in Thorn and Brand's points-of-view. The book covers a full year, but it was written in such a vague fashion that the passage of time doesn't seem real. Everything could have just as easily happened in a month as a year.

Despite these issues, I was entertained by Half the World, and I'll probably read the next book in the series. If you're looking for dependable, somewhat creative fantasy and don't require literary excellence, you'll probably get some enjoyment out of this book.

Half the World, the second installment of the Shattered Sea trilogy, is arguably better than the series opener which is an extremely rare occurrence in the book world. Abercrombie's trilogy was, if I recall correctly, billed as a Young Adult trilogy. It certainly is dialed down from his usual far grittier, more violent fare. Don't take this to mean that the meat of the story is lacking, though. The Shattered Sea trilogy is shaping up to pack just as much of a punch as his full-fledged "adult" fantasy novels.

With Half the World, we pick up pretty much where the first novel left off with our hero Yarvi now safely ensconced as Minister of Gettland. While Yarvi continues to play a large role in the story, Abercrombie plays a neat trick and introduces us to a couple of new protagonists: Thorn, a young female warrior out to prove everything to world and Brand, a hero in the making. A say it's a neat trick because the characters we loved in the previous novel are still there but we learn to love the new protagonists, too. Ah, slick move. I loved it. And of course, we have a new adventure....and I thought it was even better than the last one.

If anything, Half the World seals the deal for me. I liked the first novel, I *loved* this novel. This is going to be an amazing trilogy. If you haven't started it yet, now is the time. Go get both of the novels and start reading.

Thorn's a girl touched by mother war who fights every day to become a warrior. She finds herself bruised, bloodied, and named a murderer by her teacher. Thorn becomes indebted and oath bound to serve Father Yarvi as he schemes to find allies against the High King. She crosses half the world in search of allies for Gettland while making some of her own like Brand a warrior who wants to do good more than anything.

Half the World is a strong sequel to Half a King. Half the World has politics, conflict, and battle galore.

While being a sequel and seeing many familiar characters such as Father Yarvi, Queen Laithlin, and King Uthil, the story changes it's point of view. Instead of having one point of view character in Yarvi we get two point of view characters in Thorn and Brand. This change strengthens the story and the mystery because Thorn and Brand are young and don't know much of what's happening at any given time unlike Father Yarvi who's pulling many of the strings.

I really enjoy the characters particularly Father Yarvi, Thorn, and Brand. I must admit that I miss the younger Yarvi from Half A King. Father Yarvi is a harder man who isn't afraid to do what's necessary for the greater good of Gettland. This Yarvi is a deep cunning man who seems like the type who rarely jokes or even smiles. He's a man that's seen too much of the darkness in the world and will never be the same because of it. Father Yarvi is a stronger more determined man than Yarvi from Half a King.

Thorn is interesting because of her personality. Thorn starts out as a fiery young woman who has trained with the young men her entire life. She is fierce and stubborn while being quite capable in battle against the young men of her age. She goes from being an arrogantly proud annoyance who thinks too highly of herself and her skills to a fairly humble woman who has skills worth bragging about. It's also interesting that despite being a warrior woman Abercrombie gave her some insecurities. It's good to see heroes and heroines who are far from perfect. Thorn's vulnerability made her more relatable.

Brand is interesting because of his convictions. Brand desires to be warrior like the ones in the songs. He wants a band of brothers to stand shield to shield with while earning glory and riches. Above all Brand believes he desires, he wants to do good. Brand is constantly striving to do good throughout the book despite the consequences. Brand is the character I find myself relating to the most.

The biggest surprise to me was to see Abercrombie put together a love story in the midst of all the conflict. The author captured perfectly that awkward excitement of being a teenager in love. The characters uncertainty, desire, and misunderstandings mixed into a quite familiar feeling of being a teenager who has developed romantic feelings for someone. I have to say it even had me remembering my own awkward teenage infatuations.

Joe Abercrombie truly captures the futility of war. His characters talk of the songs sung, the scars earned, and the reputations won all the while showing how different the truth is from a song. He doesn't make it seem glorious, but rather haunting.

One of my favorite parts of reading Half the World and all of Joe Abercrombie's work is his powerful quotes. Joe Abercrombie is one of the most quotable authors in fantasy today. One of my favorite quotes from Half the World was, “Those with bad luck should at least attempt to balance it with good sense.” Another quote I particularly like was this one on relationships, “I always thought of being together as the end of the work. Turns out it's where the work starts.” 

Half the World isn't exactly what I expected in a sequel, it's even better. The new characters Thorn and Brand carry the story in a way I never expected and that made it a memorable sequel. I excitedly look forward to the trilogy's conclusion.

4 out of 5 stars

An advanced read copy was provided.

My new favorite author. I can’t put his books down. I picked up Half A King from the gym and now I read Half the World in one day. What a great author who builds great characters and keeps you guessing until the end. Anything but predictable. Can wait to read the sequel!

“Thorn’s father always said the moment you pause will be the moment you die, and she’d lived her life, for better, and mostly worse, by that advice.”

And so we are introduced to the foremost if several engaging characters newly introduced to Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered World Trilogy. Thorn is a young girl who has adopted a name that aptly suits her personality. She is the angry daughter of a proud and highly regarded warrior who died at the hands of Grom-gil-Gorm, the warrior king of Vansterland, Gettland’s enemy since longer than anybody can remember. Now the pommel of her father’s sword, and scores of others, adorn Grom’s neck in a necklace strung from the swords of the fallen, for he is The Breaker of Swords, the champion that no man can kill.

Thorn wants nothing more than to become a warrior but she is a girl and a girl’s place is at home wielding a needle, not swinging a sword on the training square. Standing in her way is Brand, who, orphaned young and raised in the midden heaps, wants nothing more than to go raiding with the others so he can bring back riches enough to provide a home for his sister and himself.

But hopes are easily dashed in Gettland and Father Peace and Mother War have different plans for Thorn and Brand. Soon they find themselves at sea, manning the back oars of a galley captained and helmed by characters that will be familiar to those who have read the Half a King, first book in the Shattered Sea Trilogy. Yarvi and Rulf, last seen trying to recapture the throne of Gettland after having spent time chained to oars of their own, are scrambling to build an alliance that can save them from defeat at the hands of the High King and every other country on the shores of the Shattered Sea.

What follows is an adventure at least as entertaining as Half a King. As is the case with its predecessor, Half a World, while part of a trilogy, can still be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel. What really impressed me is Joe Abercrombie’s ability to avoid the curse faced by most second volumes of a trilogy. While most such books are more focused on getting the reader from book one to book three, Abercrombie has avoided this slump and penned an adventure that stands on its own merits as a delight to read.

Bottom line: I love this trilogy and am really glad it is being written by Joe Abercrombie and not George RR Martin as I don’t want to wait a decade for the final volume.

*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review book was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.

I's been several months since I read the first book so it took me a while to remember that Yarvi is older and a minister working for his mother. Once I caught on to that the book was excellent. This is your basic adventure tale with a interesting cast of characters. Thorn and Brand are training to become warriors when a bad set of circumstances put in prison to be put to death for murder. Before the book is over these kids will travel half the world with Yarvi in the lead. Lovable screwball characters.

I'm a huge fan of Abercrombie's. The first book in this series seemed a sort of Abercrombie-lite, it was just one plot line following one character. However, by the end of that book, and certainly with this one, Abercrombie delivers his usual great character creation and fantastic fight scenes, combined with bits of wit when you don't expect it. The main character from the first book plays a pivotal role in this one, though there are two other main characters that really start to give this series more depth.

The search for allies becomes difficult when the Empress of the South dies. An assassination attempt on the young heiress to the throne becomes an opportunity to forge a new allegiance. One more duel, with a surprising ending, will produce a dramatic result. A good series continues.

I enjoyed this book immensely. While I was so critical about the first book, something about this one worked for me. Of course the depth of the story is what you would expect from a YA book; it's not a long read by any means. I didn't care for the "does he/she like me?" in the middle of the book. Perhaps it's because I'm a jaded adult *shrugs*. The battles were great, especially the final deciding battle and it's outcome. I have become eager to see how the story concludes in the third volume.

"Half the World" is the second installment in the "Shattered Sea" epic fantasy series and the sequel to "Half a King."

Three years after the death of his father and brother, and his own betrayal by his uncle who did not think a young man with a deformed hand is fit to be King of Gettland, Yarvi is setting sail to travel to the south on a diplomatic mission to win allies against the High King of Skekenhouse, who's been inciting Gettland's enemies to invade the small but wealthy kingdom that stands in his path to greater power.

Among Yarvi's handpicked ragtag crew are paid mercenaries and two outcasts only a few years younger than him -- Thorn, a teenage girl who aspires and has the talent to be a great warrior like her late father; and Brand, a teenage boy who lost his parents at a very young age and has had to fend for himself and his younger sister and thought that being a warrior holds a lot of promise for "doing good," and "doing good" is something his late mother had always taught him to strive for.

Thorn and Brand have been training under Master Hunnan, who gets to decide what arbitrary tests they need to pass in order to win "honored" spots in Gettland's King's Guards. Both failed to win Hunnan's capricious favor. Thorn was judged too hot-headed and when she accidentally killed one of the male trainees Hunnan set against her in an unjust 3-against-1 duel, Hunnan charged her with murder, which called for death by stoning as punishment. Brand was the only one among those who witnessed what actually happened who came forward to Yarvi to defend Thorn against the unjust charge, and for this, Hunnan took reprisal against him by denying him a spot in the King's Guards.

Known for his deep cunning, Yarvi decides he has use for both Thorn and Brand. He takes both with him in his ship to serve as oarmates with others, and for Thorn, he hires the best teacher to help her achieve her potential as a great female warrior to serve his secret purposes and goals.

During the ship's long journey, we get to witness Thorn's and Brand's coming of age and their differing tastes for war and all that war entails such as killing for killing's sake, with Brand having more qualms than Thorn about the sense of it all, and how well Yarvi's carefully crafted plans and instincts about Thorn and Brand pan out. We also get to see whether Yarvi's plans have been foresighted enough.

Similar to what happened at the conclusion of this novel's predecessor, "Half a King," revelations about the extent of Yarvi's planning and the reasoning behind each component of his plans are made at the end of this novel. Whereas the revelations made in "Half a King" surprised and left me in awe of Yarvi's ability to connect the dots in figuring out who participated in his betrayal and for what reasons, the revelations in this novel were less surprising, partly because the first novel in the series had primed me to look for plot elements that seem to have more significance to them than initially meets the eye, but also partly because the author did call attention to some of those plot elements. Having said that, however, the revelations do not leave any doubt that Yarvi is a cunning man who is willing to do whatever is necessary (e.g., take a life, use others, etc.) to try to attain his goals and achieve what he perceives to be the greater good.

While the plot in both novels may strike readers as starting out seemingly straightforward with normal-appearing twists and turns, as mentioned above, the highly revelatory endings made me realize the author had me for a cunning ride in both novels and convinced me of the craftiness of the plots, more so with the first than this second novel, but the latter possesses some pluses lacking in the former. There is more and better character development -- and, therefore, the characters have more depth -- in the second than the first novel. Also, in my opinion, character growth is handled more convincingly here than in the first novel, and Brand's wanting to do good adds a level of complexity to the series especially when played off against Yarvi's more machiavellian leanings. Finally, there is more detailed world-building as Yarvi's travels outside of Gettland afford readers an opportunity to learn more about the habitats and cultures of characters who may have potentially interesting roles to play in the future.

Although this second novel reads fine as a standalone, I think reading both novels in sequence could result in a better experience, as reading about the sum of experiences that has driven Yarvi to make the choices he has made and turned him into the man he has become can help inform you better about Yarvi's machiavellian leanings.

A pretty good fantasy novel with a Viking type world that was basically ruined by the writer's attempt to insert some romance between two of the main characters, Thorn and Brand.
While Joe Abercrombie can write a decent fantasy/adventure novel, writing romance is not one of his strong suits.
The romance between Thorn and Brand is not only poorly written, it ranks up there with some of the worst YA type romance novels in awkward posturing and obsessive thinking by the characters.
I was actually getting into the story up until the point when the awkwardly written romance reared it's ugly head, and I could read no more after that, as it permeated the story almost to the exclusion of anything else.

If you don't mind some gag worthy romance in a story, you might like this adventure, but if you have a weak stomach, skip this one.

Not recommend

As sequel to Half A King, Half the World doesn't quite measure up but still is a good read. This story has two main characters - Thorn and Brand. Both fail to pass their warrior's test and are recruited by Father Yarvi to join him on a journey seeking allies that will help Gettland take on the high king. They face many obstacles and do a lot of growing up in the process. Looking forward to the final book in the trilogy.

He's a genius. What a great book. What makes this guy so great is his ability to write a brilliant books in so many different ways. This book being no exception. He's able to use different formulas practically each time and still produces a captivating story. This book features 2 completely different characters that weren't in half a king, yet it continues the trilogy, and it does it really, really well.

4.5 stars and eagerly awaiting the final book in the trilogy.

Although I did not read the first book prior to picking this up, I didn't feel lost at any time as the author does a great job of making this a stand alone story. From other reviews I've seen, this may even be a good thing, as I'm not comparing the book to the first and then getting let down.

Abercrombie paints a rich and tough world and inhabits it by well developed characters that propels the reader to continue on.

The second book in Joe Abercrombie's Shattered Sea trilogy lacks the fast-paced charm of the first, but it's still a solid adventure story in the now-familiar line of gritty epic fantasy. Yarvi, protagonist of the first book, is a supporting character here, and the focus is on Thorn and Brand, two young would-be warriors of Gettland. An incident near the end of their training guarantees that neither one will have quite the heroic future they anticipate, but Yarvi's intervention sets then on an even more perilous journey. With an extra protagonist and an extra hundred pages, Half the World lacks the taut directness of Half a King, and bogs down slightly around its midpoint. The added length also makes more glaring the predictability of certain plot developments, and reduces the potency of Abercrombie's typical dark-edged banter and thematic asides. Nonetheless, the book will appeal to readers who (like me) enjoy the occasional escape into a world that reflects the moral complexities of our own, but in an atmosphere of heightened drama.

This book keeps you enthralled by pulling you in with the characters emotions. Thorn is at first an unlikely heroine but the author keeps you interested and invested in her growth as a warrior by his own skills as a writer. I look forward to the next installment of this series.

Half the World was an even better look into this world than Half a King with a couple new POVs that really sold it. Yarvi is still present and central to the story, but nothing is done from his POV. It's actually much better we don't see things from his angle. Thorn is the standout character and quite the young lady that has shades of what Monza from Best Served Cold becomes. I can't wait for the final act.

HALF THE WORLD by Joe Ambercrombie

If there is a better writer of epics than Joe Abercrombie, I would like to read his books, but I doubt that there is such a writer. I will not compare, because such a comparison would be only of my opinion. However, every book by Abercrombie amazes me with its depth of plot and character, the absolute brilliance of the book' combat, and the taut and economical prose.
Without wasting words, people and locations come alive, emotions are laid bare and thoughts are captured.

This is the second volume of the trilogy and I know that the third will be a great as the other two.

Recommendation: buy it, read it: the book will waste neither your time nor your money.

Note: combat is with edged weapons, so expect blood and gore. A very little bit of sexual love.
A bit of wizardry, and reference to elves, but this book is about human conflict in a world resembling our medieval one.

High Fantasy, 363pgs.

It's hard to talk about what I enjoyed of this book without talking about what bothered me. So, I hope I don't muck it up. I liked the characters but it was really confusing trying to keep all the kings and courts straight. Who hated who; I couldn't keep that straight much either. The author's writing style is similar to Stephen King, in that they both love, love, love to take chapters to describe things. And, man does he love his metaphors. Reigning in a little would have made the reading easier for sure. There were many times where I had to read paragraphs over again once or twice to try and figure out what was going on. I doubt I would ever read anything more of this series or this author. Not bad, but not great either with the struggle.

It was just ok. I found it hard to relate to the self loathing characters. I realize everyone has doubts about themselves from time to time but the characters in this book seem to delve a little deep into the oh poor me bag. The story was ok if somewhat predictable though.

Book 2 is a will written SI-FI thriller with well developed interesting characters. The adventure flows from beginning too the end of book. The action is like you are there. Everything ties together too be continued in the 3rd book in the series. I would recommend this series too anyone who enjoys adventure series that are will written. Enjoy reading

I usually give fantasy novels a wide berth as they take themselves far too seriously but having read and enjoyed Half a King, I got struck straight into this novel. Enjoyed this tale as well. Still got the humour and Yarvi of the first novel plus two interesting new characters, Brand and Thorn.

Great fun. Great story. Buy it!

Ray Smillie

Meh. I had a hard time getting through this one. I am a big fan of Abercrombie's and have read all of his books, which is why I gifted a 3 star review on what was quite honestly probably a 2 star book. Without going into a glorified book report that so many reviewers are fond of writing here, I have really tried to articulate what the strengths and weaknesses of this book are.
PROS:The writing is enjoyable and Abercrombie has a great way of expressing things in a unique and often funny way. I love the fact that Father Yarvi is so much smarter than everyone (Tyrion Lannister, anyone?) and that he is so manipulative. The book is easy to read and fast-paced enough to keep the reader's attention.
CONS: Much of the story is utterly transparent and unimaginative. I almost wonder if Abercrombie's editors really changed his plots because the first book was much less formulaic. The new protagonist Thorn (who is basically Shy South) is the cliche' angsty teenager who is struggling to make it as a fierce warrior even though she is a woman. She is the best, but faces constant ridicule and set back because of her gender. Okay G.I Jane...I get it.
Perhaps the most unforgivable aspect of this book is the love affair between Thorn and Brand. Ugh, that just went on and on and on. The constant whining of "She hates me...or does she" and "I like him, but don't know how to show it" really gets old quick. It was like reading a fantasy version of the Hunger Games. And it is pervasive through 3/4 of the book. I almost put the book down over that.
Brand is equally frustrating to read about, with his constant self-loathing and cowardice. He is big and strong on the outside, but a gentle giant who only wants to "do good". Been there, done that. I feel like Abercrombie really wanted to flesh out his characters so they would seem more rounded, but ended up falling into clichés. Unfortunate.
While I respect Abercrombie's attempt to change the narrative of the book by adding additional POV characters, I just feel it made the book worse.

I guess I'm done beating up on the book. The book was okay, but far below the standards I expect from Abercrombie. I will still buy the third book when it comes out because this is the only disappointing book I've read of his. I just hope he really takes his time and sticks with what has been working for him in all his other books.

This trilogy is Abercrombie's best so far. The characters are well developed and the story has some good twists. Each character, no matter how minor has some story to them that makes you want to know more.

I feel like the growth of Thorn is one of the most believable character transformations I've read in a long, long time. I could sense the passing of time (the book takes place over a year), and actually believed the changes she showed. For that alone, I'm giving five stars. Excellent read, looking forward to the third.

This book is a tale about a group of Vikings, in particular a young woman and young man growing up in a warrior world. Thorn is the angry daughter of a slain Viking father. She has a chip on her shoulder a mile wide, with little or no social skills, she doesn’t make friends easily.

Brand is the young male character, a man born of peace not war, who’s having a little trouble not only with Thorn, but fitting into the violent world he lives in. Brand saves Thorn from being stoned to death and the two of them take off together on an adventure that leads them to foreign lands-an adventure that forges the two into adults, friends and something more.

I found the book a great Fantasy read, well plotted with characters you can relate to. I’m glad I discovered Joe Ambercrombie’s work. I hope to read more of his books soon.

This fantasy book was one of the best I've read in years. I've read Peter Brett, Brent Weeks, and Patrick Rothfuss recent books (and can't wait for Scott Lynch's new book) and feel this Abercrombie outing is on par with them, and harkens back to Abercrombie's earlier trilogy in terms of quality. There is lots of humor, no shortage of action, and lots of Game-of Thrones shenanigans in this book. The pacing is lightning quick, and the story leaves me hungry to read the next book in the series. I don't think new readers will need to read the first book to enjoy this book, but they will definitely want to go back after finishing this to see what they missed.

Highly recommended!

Before I retired after 30 years of military service, and preparing to go on another "campaign", I picked up a Joe Abercrombie book and after about 30 pages, immediately ran back grabbed up several more including Shattered Sea Book 1. They kept me entertained when things we did on a "campaign" slowed down enough to allow a good read. Now That I'm retired, I have managed to have all his novels placed in a kindle which travels with me on more relaxing trips. Shattered Sea 2 has violence which it must have for this story, but not too gory, some sex, but there is a unique relationship, thus it needs it and not overpowering in the book. He's that good Shipmates !!!!

The Heroes is very good, but I'd argue this is actually a better book. Everything just works. Thorn is obviously the star, but still Brand refuses to be over-shadowed. His character-arch is just as satisfying. By far the best of the Shattered Sea trilogy.

The story was powerful, and the heroine's transformation was satisfying. It was kind of hard in the opening chapters to see her suffer at the hands of the established patriarchy, but the payoff is worth it. I would recommend it as an unique take on the genre.

This is a review of Half the World in audible/audiobook form.

For starters, John Keating is a poor narrator. He emphasizes odd (off) points of sentences, stumbles over dialogue, fails to bring characters to life, and has poor modularity/pitch. Coming from Steven Pacey's otherworldly performances reading the First Law Trilogy this is like going from Disney World to a County Fair

In terms of content it's uninspiring. Half a King had some good suspense and compelling characters. Half a World never really invites you in to feel for Thorn and Brand (like I did for Yarvi's and Nothing's plight).

I may pick it back up in paperback form as at one point as I just couldn't take the narration any longer. Too bad.

4.5 Stars A great sequel to Half a King, this novel has all the key ingredients that made the first book such a good read: a daunting and adventurous journey, excellent world-building (similar to Vikings), cool fight scenes, and some well-written and interesting characters. A few characters come back for this installment, but some new ones are the focal point. For older YA and adults. Read the first book in the series before this one.

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Another book worth buying in hardback from an author climbing the ranks in my list of fantasy authors. His gritty twisted tales keep me up too late reading and this is no acception. This series, while possibly not as gloriously bloody and dark as Best Served Cold (my fave) is an easy 5 stars by the second installment and the place to start your Abercrombie addiction.

This book was very well written. So much happens to the characters and they are almost set up to fail. But somehow the author manages to make them stronger without it being cliche and doesn't let them turn whiney.

I'll base this rating on my firm belief that anything Joe Abercrombie writes is worth something, but after my disappointment with its predecessor and the reviews here, I think I'll spare myself the disappointment of reading this one and just go read the Blade trilogy and Heros again. My those were heady days! I yearn for their return and have hope JA will some day be able to write like that again. Or should I say, chooses to write like that again, as it occurs to me that those earlier works were more adult oriented and it looks like these newer titles are definitely targeting a younger audience. I'll continue keeping an eye on Mr. abercrombie's offerings. The First Law Trilogy, Red Country, Best Served Cold and Heros were full of such wonderful writing and story telling that i devoured and relished them all completely. My advice, if you haven't already, read them first.

I was disappointed in Half a King, it was just missing something. Abercrombie is one of my favorite authors and he just reinforced that with Half the World. An engaging story with his main characters scratching their way out of the muck right off the bat. I liked Father Yarvi much more in his conniving role as minister.

Half the World is a coming of age tale, with two main protagonists, Thorn and Brand. Father Yarvi returns from Half a King, but he's a prominent supporting character rather than the main focus. Thorn and Brand both want to be warriors, but the King's Master at Arms, Hunnan, rejects them both. Thorn because she's a girl, and Brand because he speaks up against unjust treatment of Thorn. Not because he has any particular soft spot for Thorn, or because he feels girls should be allowed to be fighters, but because what Hunnan does in the course of pushing Thorn out is pretty vile.

Just as in Half a King, the High King is still plotting against Gettland, and Father Yarvi forms an expedition to gather allies, and he decides to bring both main characters along. This book is primarily about that voyage across, well, half the world, and its consequences. Yarvi's decision to bring them is not an arbitrary one, but the details of why don't come out until late in the book.

Abercrombie continues to bring a gritty and realistic view of common fantasy themes. Thorn isn't nearly as good a fighter as she thinks she is, and at one point he delves into how ugly petty little border raids really are. Thorn's a rather unpleasant person despite being one of two primary characters. I never warmed to her, even though it's clear that we're expected to. This would be a difficult book to read if Brand weren't far more likable, even if he usually doesn't know what to say. Brand rather stands out considering the author, since Abercrombie usually writes people who are more ethically gray than Brand. Yarvi definitely has "one shoulder in the shadow," as the book puts it.

The "Shattered Sea" books have a distinct Scandinavian flavor to them, as if they were written about an alternate Norway with frequent Viking raids a part of the landscape, but they're clearly post-post apocalypse. So long after the fall of civilization as we know it that the people can't read pre-fall writing and see the remnants of technology as unfathomable magic, even if there are clues that are obvious to us. Yet this is deep background for the stories, since they're not at all about understanding the past, and "elf artifacts" are rare and baffling treasures. You could take out the references to elves without altering the story a bit - it's not clear if Abercrombie will make this important in a future novel, but so far he hasn't.

While Half a King and Half a World are parts of a series, one the Abercrombie clearly intends to continue, both are reasonable standalone novels. Both have a definite beginning and end, the absence of which is a common problem with series books. I've enjoyed both of them, and I look forward to additional stories.

Half The World is a much better book than its predecessor Half A King, as it shifts the focus from Yarvi to Thorn and Brand. These 2 young warriors will be honed by Yarvi in his attempt to get back his crown. I wasn't a fan Joe Abercrombie's first book but this sequel has nicely brought me round to this trilogy as I can't wait to read the trilogy ender Half A War to see how brutally this Nordic saga ends

This is a fine YA novel, but it could have been better. There's a lot that we've read before in other books. However, the author gives us a good sound plot and enjoyable characters. I do feel there was a bit too much effort expended in making this a YA novel. Even so, this will no doubt be a continuing series. It's readable and enjoyable, but again, a bit over familiar.

There might not be a better writer of gritty battles and characters on fantasy that Abercrombie. Everything to love about his writing is present in book two of the shattered sea trilogy. Get it and devour it.

While this one starts off with some interesting stuff, I found myself muttering "Who? What? Where? How? Why?" And "Did I miss a book somewhere?" "What happened to Yarvi - he was a good ambidextrous swordsman in Book One - between books, while I wasn't looking?" "Where are all the characters from _Half A King_, darn it?" If we're going to leap ahead through (evidently) several deaths and plot-changing events that the author chooses not to delineate in full, could he kindly give us a little heads-up at the beginning? Sort of like the old serials - "When last we saw Yarvi, he was a young Captain in the King's Guard. Since those halcyon days, X years have passed. (Blank) and (Blank) have passed on to the Tall Gods through the treachery of the evil (Blank). The throne has been occupied by (Blank), and Yarvi has become his Minister." See, that wasn't so difficult, Mr. Abercrombie - saves all sorts of labor for you AND relieves your readers' confusion in one short paragraph.

Great book. Abercrombie keeps getting better and better. While I miss Logan and the previous world Joe created prior to the Shattered Sea trilogy this is a welcome read with complex characters and plenty of action. Can't wait to read the conclusion to this series.

I had trouble with Half a King because I did not really find any characters I wanted to root for. That was not the case with Half the World. I really enjoyed the two main POV characters of Half the World. Neither was perfect, but their talents and shortcomings made them a formidable team. I am excited for the conclusion.

I find it very irritating when a publisher pumps up a short book by upping the type size to child large which has been done with this.
So don't be fooled by the page count. This is NOT a long book.
Having said that however, Joe just gets better and better IMO.
I loved this book and as usual can't wait for the next one.