First, if you haven’t read Joe Abercrombie before, I highly recommend checking out his First Law trilogy. It’s a great exploration/takedown of classic fantasy tropes with some great and very memorable characters. It’s probably most representative of his writing style and the things he likes to write about.
But if you don’t feel like reading three rather large books as an intro to an author, Half a King would do nicely as well. Keep in mind, however, this is technically YA, although it’s unlike any YA I’ve ever read, and basically the only reason for that categorization given by the story is that the protagonist is young. Honestly, if nobody had told me it was YA going in, I wouldn’t have known. Abercrombie certainly tames down his language and violence, but again, if I’d never read Abercombie I wouldn’t have known that, because toned down Abercrombie is still pretty profane and violent, and the way he writes his characters is adult in pretty much every sense of the word. Anyway, fuck things being categorized as YA. This is just a rip-roaring good yarn, and both of its two sequels are being published next year, so practically no waiting!
As for the plot, Half a King follows Yarvi, the youngest son of a King who has always been seen by his father as a weakling due to his studious nature and small stature, and more importantly, to a disabled hand he’s had since birth. When Yarvi’s father and older brother are killed unexpectedly, he is forced to become King, a position exactly no one expects him to succeed in. And then some other stuff happens I’m not going to tell you about because this book is too much fun to spoil, but basically it’s not going to go where you think it’s going to go.
What I will say: I love the characters, particularly one called ‘Nothing.’ The way Abercrombie treats Yarvi’s disability is also really fascinating. The book is by turns horrifying, moving, and even funny; and by the time several ending events have hit you, you realize how tightly the book was put together, and it forms this gorgeous whole. I read it practically in one sitting, and I enjoyed myself quite thoroughly. If you like fantasy at all, you pretty much need to read this. Maybe you won’t like it as much as I did, but I’m pretty sure you’ll like it a lot.
