4.5 StarsI really enjoyed this. As I said in my review for book one, I really love Abercrombie's writing style. It's just so...easily digestible and the pages fly by without you even realizing it. This book also offered an experience I found quite novel: Book one is basically wholly told from the POV of Yarvi. We see everything through Yarvi's eyes and witness all of Yarvi's inner thoughts and fears. THIS book is told from the POVs of Thorn and Brand and we get to see formerly first person Yarvi...

Awesome book, and one of the best cover images ever. The tidal wave of war approaches. In this 2nd volume of the SHATTERED SEA series we focus on a new pair of main characters: Thorn, an angry and violent but extremely martially-gifted 16 year old girl, and her counterpart Brand, a young man who's not so enthused about fighting but really wants to do what's right. They're both in disgrace in their society, and still-young Father Yarvi (main character from the first book, Half a King) plucks them...

Joe Abercrombie's Half the World is half again better than Half a King which got less than half the attention it deserved.

“Where do we find allies?”Father Yarvi smiled. “Among our enemies, where else?” This series is really good.It was by accident that I stumbled across Half a King last year and decided to take my chances on it. I’m not a huge fan of traditional fantasy because it tends to be wordy, 1000-pages long and dense so I approach the genre with some hesitation... but it was so easy to read, fast-paced and entertaining. A little dark - just the right amount, in fact - but a whole lot of fun too.And this

An excellent book. It continues the tale begun in Half a King. sort of. That is, we shift to totally different point of view characters who offer us a radically different view of what is happening in this world. I feel the reader could jump right into this book without having read book 1 (Half a King) and still have a very enjoyable read. Buy why do that when reading them in order greatly increases the depth and meaning of the tale.I greatly enjoyed the characters, the dilemmas they faced, the d...

Half the World by Joe Abercrombie was half good. I loved the addition of Thorn Barthu as a new protagonist; she is one tough bitch, and one this series desperately needed. However, I found Brand to be nothing but bland and boring. Also, there wasn’t enough of Farther Yarvi in this book. At points he felt like furniture, despite the fact that he was the mastermind behind the whole adventure. Without the addition of the hostile, bad tempered and brutal fighting Thorn Barthu, I may have stopped rea...

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads4.5 starsLast 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 r...

2/17/15: Now Available!This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.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

4.5 stars "I'm no warrior.""Yes y'are.""A warrior doesn't fear.""A fool doesn't fear. A warrior stand in spite of his fear. You stood."Brand plucked at his damp trousers. "I stood and pissed myself.""You won't be the only one.""The hero never pisses himself in the songs.""Aye, well." Rulf gave his shoulder a parting squeeze, and stood."That's why those are songs, and this is life." Yarvi & his crew are back, and just as awesome as ever.Although, Half the World doesn't focus on Yarvi. Instead,

I enjoyed Half the World more than I enjoyed Half a King. I'm not sure if that is because it was a better book or if it is just because I'm now more familiar with Abercrombie's writing style and with what to expect from his stories. The big change in this second instalment instalment of the Shattered Sea series was the change in POV. The first book was told entirely from Yarvi's POV while this second instalment bounces between the POV's of Brand and Thorn. I felt like this was a smart choice by

It was ok but it's definitively weakest Abercrombie's book. Like previous book it lacked that bloody edge First law book seem to have but I found book 1 overall much more interesting. Here pace is too slow and book dragged on despite being short, more things happen in 100 pages of average First law book than in entire Half the Worlds.Three stars isn't low rating and this book wasn't bad especially for YA standards but my expectations from Abercrombie are the highest and I recently finished his R...

Fools boast of what they will do. Heroes do it.Reading this book made me think of the song "Holding out for a Hero" and Joe Abercrombie delivers with a punch. Thorn wants nothing more than vengeance for her father's death. She is in training as a warrior to serve the king. Right before she can take the oath she accidentally kills one of the 3 sparring partners her teacher has placed her against. So he labels her a killer, she is to be stoned to death. Father Yarvi learns the truth of what ha

4.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum http://bibliosanctum.com/2015/02/07/y...You gotta hand it to Joe Abercrombie. Knocking it out of the park on his first venture into Young Adult territory could be seen as a fluke, but when he nails it again for a second time, it’s clearly a testament to his writing skills and versatility. This author is a master when it comes to storytelling, whether he’s writing for teens or adults.Half the World is the follow-up-but-not-really-a-direct-sequel to Half a King,...

6 Deep Cunning StarsBuddy Read with Athena (Shardbearer), , Steven, Michelle, Kristen and Jessica playing along.I thought I loved Half a King...and I did but only half as much a Half the World.Since I can't drop Half a King to 2.5 stars because that would be ridiculous and I can't give Half the World 9 stars because 5 is the highest I guess I'll settle for 6 Deep Cunning StarsJoe Abercrombie has a great way with characters. He is one of those fantasy writers that aren’t afraid of flawed people,

Half the world takes us on quite a journey albeit not as entertaining as the one offered by the first instalment of the Shattered Sea trilogy. One thing I discovered (hell yes, Captain Obvious!) that the Shattered Seais in fact Baltic Seaafter an apocalyptic event that "shattered" our civilisation. In this sense Abercrombie's world is very akin to Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire.But in my reading, I didn’t pitch Abercrombie against Lawrence (or any other fantasy or YA author for that matter), I pi...

★★★☆☆½Here we have the 2nd book in yet another YA trilogy. Apparently, the days of the standalone story are coming to an end. But who can blame the folks pushing this trend, when the sheer number of things pulling at a kid’s attention nowadays is approaching critical mass? Considering we’ve entered into the Golden Age of Television, with bigger and badder movies by the season, plus all the amazing console games, and nonstop distractions from social media, texting, and mobile apps. Then you someh...

4.5 Stars "Fools boast of what they will do. Heroes do it" Falling in line with the previous book in this series, Half the World takes you on an intense journey, full of twist and turns. While Father Yarvi, plays an important role, helping 'push' characters into place, this story isn't told from his POV. Instead we get Thorn, she young and surly, a woman in a world dominated by men, she is training to be a warrior. While Thorn is a little rough around the edges, I loved her character. And Bran...

MY VIDEO REVIEW OF THIS SWEET AWESOME BOOK IS NOW LIVE!!!!Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB5k5...Transcript:Guys, it can't get any more Viking than this.If Half the King was awesome, Half the World was twice as that. If Half the King blew my mind away, Half the World exploded it to smithereens. I'm not sure how Joe Abercrombie did it, and honestly, I'm kinda scared to know, but somehow, he managed to make the second book of this amazing series even better than the first. Who

If Half a King was Abercrombie attempting YA with mixed success this is Abercrombie transcending the genre. The nuance of the characterisation, the immersive nature of the setting and the intelligence, subtlety and depth of this story puts most adult fantasy books, nevermind YA, to shame. One aspect that diverged from Abercrombie's usual fare was the setting. I've always considered world-building to be Abercrombie's Achilles Heel (The Union/Renaissance Europe, The Wild West in Red Country and Gu...

The second book in the Shattered Sea Trilogy but no middle book syndrome showing here at all. Abercrombie brings back some of the best characters from the first book and introduces new favourites as well.One of this author’s greatest talents is writing characters, good and bad, warts and all. His females are always rough and tough and in this book the main character’s name, Thorn, says it all. Father Yarvi is back from book one and is still totally delightful and just as untrustworthy as ever. B...