Name: Half a War (Shattered Sea, Book 3)
ISBN: 9780007550272

Joe Abercrombie

A classic coming-of-age tale set in a vivid and richly-imagined world from Sunday Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie. ‘Joe Abercrombie is doing some terrific work’ GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

Half a War (Shattered Sea, Book 3)

"New York Times "bestselling author Joe Abercrombie delivers the stunning conclusion to the epic fantasy trilogy that began with "Half a King, "praised by George R. R. Martin as "a fast-paced tale of betrayal and revenge that grabbed me from page 1 and refused to let go." "Words are weapons." Princess Skara has seen all she loved made blood and ashes. She is left with only words. But the right words can be as deadly as any blade. If she is to reclaim her birthright, she must conquer her fears and sharpen her wits to a lethal edge. "Only half a war is fought with swords." The deeply cunning Father Yarvi has walked a long road from crippled slave to king's minister. He has made allies of old foes and stitched together an uneasy peace. But now the ruthless Grandmother Wexen has raised the greatest army since the elves made war on God, and put Bright Yilling at its head--a man who worships only Death. "Sometimes one must fight evil with evil." Some--like Thorn Bathu and the sword-bearer Raith--are born to fight, perhaps to die. Others--like Brand the smith and Koll the wood-carver--would rather stand in the light. But when Mother War spreads her irons wings, she may cast the whole Shattered Sea into darkness. Praise for Joe Abercrombie's "Half a King" "A fast-paced tale of betrayal and revenge that grabbed me from page 1 and refused to let go."--George R. R. Martin "Tremendously entertaining . . . lightning-fast and filled with a wonderful collection of rogues, villains and two-faced bastards . . . From the first chapter [Abercrombie] wastes no time as the reader is swept up in a gripping tale of betrayal and revenge."--"SciFi Now" "Once this plot has its teeth in you, it will not let go. . . . Abercrombie's masterly storytelling means that everything, from the characters you come to love and despise to the sprawling world that is explored, is enthralling."--"Fantasy Book Review" "Half the World" " " "An excellent page-turner . . . full of drama and energy."--New York "Daily News" " " "Another entertaining burst of battle, magic and political machinations from the always reliable Joe Abercrombie . . . a thoroughgoing blast, a violent, beautiful rabbit hole of craft that is well worth disappearing into.""--Shelf Awareness" "Compelling . . . [Thorn] makes Katniss Everdeen look like Dorothy Gale."--"Chicago Tribune"

Half a War

Anyaconda

** spoiler alert **
           I didn't care much for Skara or Raith. We were constantly told how she's do good at talking and politics and awesome at this and that, but she was really lame in my opinion. Raith was also very one-dimensional. I saw the end coming, but there was too much left unexplained and open. What's with the elf weapons, the sailors who died of this sickness didn't blame anyone? Whom is she going to marry? Quite unsatisfying really.

"New York Times "bestselling author Joe Abercrombie delivers the stunning conclusion to the epic fantasy trilogy that began with "Half a King, "praised by George R. R. Martin as a fast-paced tale of betrayal and revenge that grabbed me from page 1 and refused to let go. "Words are weapons." Princess Skara has seen all she loved made blood and ashes. She is left with only words. But the right words can be as deadly as any blade. If she is to reclaim her birthright, she must conquer her fears and sharpen her wits to a lethal edge. "Only half a war is fought with swords." The deeply cunning Father Yarvi has walked a long road from crippled slave to king s minister. He has made allies of old foes and stitched together an uneasy peace. But now the ruthless Grandmother Wexen has raised the greatest army since the elves made war on God, and put Bright Yilling at its head a man who worships only Death. "Sometimes one must fight evil with evil." Some like Thorn Bathu and the sword-bearer Raith are born to fight, perhaps to die. Others like Brand the smith and Koll the wood-carver would rather stand in the light. But when Mother War spreads her irons wings, she may cast the whole Shattered Sea into darkness. Praise for "Half a War" "" Filled with swift battles, quick plot twists and witty dialogue. New York Daily News A fantasy for all ages, and all times that] rends the soul as compulsively as anything Abercrombie has written to date . . . "Half a War" is a success in every way, putting a stupendous capstone on the entire Shattered Sea Trilogy. "Tor.com" There s all the sword-swinging and Machiavellian machinations you could ask for in this tale of a final battle between countries and kings. Fredericksburg" Free Lance Star" Engaging, mesmerising and jaw-dropping. "SciFi Now" Abercrombie piles on shocking betrayals and charges his characters a high price for vengeance in this powerful and fitting final volume. "Publishers Weekly" Praise for Joe Abercrombie s "Half a King" A fast-paced tale of betrayal and revenge that grabbed me from page 1 and refused to let go. George R. R. Martin Once this plot has its teeth in you, it will not let go. . . . Abercrombie s masterly storytelling means that everything, from the characters you come to love and despise to the sprawling world that is explored, is enthralling. "Fantasy Book Review" "Half the World" "" Another entertaining burst of battle, magic and political machinations from the always reliable Joe Abercrombie . . . a thoroughgoing blast, a violent, beautiful rabbit hole of craft that is well worth disappearing into. " Shelf Awareness" Compelling . . . Thorn] makes Katniss Everdeen look like Dorothy Gale. "Chicago Tribune""

Siya S

★★★★★★★★★★ 5 Stars is not enough. 
What the actual fuck just happened!!?!?! 


  “Every hero is someone’s villain.”


That quote pretty much sums this book. Joe Abercrombie has just skipped the queues to be at the front row of my all-time favorite authors ever. This book gave me chills, man. It gives me all kinds of emotions throughout. WHAT.THE.FUCK. 






OK. This is the last of the series, and things got WILD. Like, it turned out the story's in the future and not in the past kinda wild. Expect elf relics. Lots and lots of elf relics. I know I'm not making so much sense, but I don't want to give anything away. This book will make you love this whole series to no end, I promise. 

Character development is over the roof. I love Skara to bits - what a strong character. And Yarvi, oh man (I kept picturing Timothee Chalamet as Yarvi, but that's just me). YARVI is the series' best creation. He's cunning as fuck, and SCARY. We don't get to hear much about Thorn Bathu anymore, but she's still around being such a fucking badass that she was. 

The twists (plural) left my jaw dropped 16 miles underneath the ground level. I love this series so damn much!

Jenna T.

(view spoiler)[
  
    DAMN IT YARVI!!!!!! I KNEW YOU WERE GONNA PULL THIS SHIT, I JUST KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE SIGNS WERE ALL THERE AND I IGNORED THEM LIKE A DAMN FOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
 (hide spoiler)]
*Ahem.* Right.
Well, Abercrombie didn't come for my heart, soul, and lunch money this time, but I am still left somewhat gutted and torn over this ending. Probably safer to just leave the rest of this review under the spoiler tag just in case.
(view spoiler)[Ugh... I'm still conflicted, as I was over the ending of The First Law trilogy. Horrible things happened—no, that's irresponsible of me, to put it like that. People did horrible things. Yarvi did horrible things. People died gruesomely. People went out for revenge and got it. More people died gruesomely. And yes, we've been with Yarvi since the beginning of his journey, we know why he made the choices he made, why he did the things he did... and yet, I find myself only half convinced. Abercrombie wanted so badly for Yarvi to play the bad guy here, and I guess he did show us all of the steps that led to that. But the oath. The oath did not convince me. I don't think it even convinced Yarvi himself, to be honest. Yarvi swore that oath at the beginning of book one, and everything since has been leading to its full conclusion. But Yarvi himself was never evil enough to stoop to the lows he stooped to here, from the start. He had a merciless streak in him, a little ruthlessness, a little cold calculus to each decision he made, but I think it would have taken something bigger than an oath to his dead father and brother—whom, he freely admitted to us in book one, he had never loved to begin with.
But maybe that's the point Abercrombie was trying to make. It was about the oath on the surface, but more than that, it was about power. It was about Yarvi trying to gain the power he hadn't ever had, the power that kept getting snatched away from him or used against him. And the oath was maybe never what had fueled that desire for power, only the mask he put on it in a feeble attempt to convince himself. Maybe Abercrombie is saying that the ends never justify the means, whether they seem to or not.
Even though I feel betrayed, myself, by what happened, I feel like it's a good message, for its bleakness, and I feel it was communicated well. I didn't like the ending to The First Law because I couldn't find the message. Everything is terrible and there's nothing you can do to stop it? There are no good people in the world? At least here, the blind rage I felt as Yarvi's plot unraveled was useful; it explained that Yarvi overreached for reasons that were not large enough to justify the actions, and it implies that there could never have existed any reasons for him to have done what he did. Nothing could justify what he had done. So watch yourself, watch your actions, watch the actions of others, and beware any attempts to justify them. Sometimes evil is evil, and you must stop yourself before you try to talk it around into a justifiable action. Whereas in The First Law, I couldn't find the point where someone fucked up or otherwise failed to stop what was going on, so it felt more like there was no answer to combat evil.
I'm glad that Skara learned the truth and set herself up as a foil to Yarvi; I'm glad that there seemed to still be a shred of humanity and goodness in him at the end, maybe not enough to save him from himself, but enough to keep him from sinking any lower. His power desperately needed a check, and I'm glad Skara could give that to him. I'm also deliriously happy for Rin and Koll, and also, in a sadder way, for Thorn and Raith. There were happy endings in among the tragedies, which was something I was not expecting from this one.
And to bring this rambling to a close, I was shocked by all the insane worldbuilding I missed in the first two. I stumbled across a thread comparing the map of the Shattered Sea to that of the real-world Baltic Sea, and then I finally started noticing all of the connections to our world: the references to the ancient "elf" civilization, the buildings, the relics... I honestly thought it was magic in the first two books, and now I am bowled over by the revelation that Skifr is a witch whose only spell is "Bullet". Very cleverly seeded in, and I applaud it.
Anyway, I'm glad I gave Joe Abercrombie another shot; this was still a bit bleak for my tastes, but it's really solidified his sheer talent for the plot twist, the character arc, the art of worldbuilding, and the art of drawing a theme together seamlessly with plot. I'm just glad that this time the message was a tiny bit less bitter and cold. (hide spoiler)]

Luke Kanies

Terribly fun genre book. I particularly enjoyed how it's post-apocalyptic without being dystopian.

Joe creates solid characters with fun stories, and doesn't mind people being a bit more complex than pure good or bad.