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jataagravar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
twoheadedluke's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
harlando's review
3.0
3.5, but I'm rounding down.
I can't decide if the romance in this book is too awful to bear, or a good capture of the angsty-awfulness of teen love. I lean towards the former and think Abercrombie stretched the awkward phase of this relationship out way, way too long.
Swordswomen make good heroines. Red Sonja is a classic of the type. I found the development of Thorn, the heroine, from tough-girl brawler to badass Viking super-ninja a little off. She gets a crash course in killer swordswoman skills for a few hours per day while also rowing/dragging a longboat on a 6 month journey to the distant south. She mostly spars with the same guy she beat as a little girl, and somehow manages to far surpass him and nearly everyone else in speed and skill. It was a good enough story, just a little off. She has an incredible mysterious wise swordswoman mentor and does spar with some other experienced Viking type opponents. I don't find it hard to believe that intense practice would make her an amazing fighter, just that she could only learn so much by fighting the same very small pool of opponents. And, while her love-interest and main sparring partner gets a bit better, he does not seem all that much further along than where he started despite similar hardships.
What does it say about YA fantasy that his it characterized by an abundance of violence and a thin flowering of childishly stunted personal and romantic relationships?
I can't decide if the romance in this book is too awful to bear, or a good capture of the angsty-awfulness of teen love. I lean towards the former and think Abercrombie stretched the awkward phase of this relationship out way, way too long.
Swordswomen make good heroines. Red Sonja is a classic of the type. I found the development of Thorn, the heroine, from tough-girl brawler to badass Viking super-ninja a little off. She gets a crash course in killer swordswoman skills for a few hours per day while also rowing/dragging a longboat on a 6 month journey to the distant south. She mostly spars with the same guy she beat as a little girl, and somehow manages to far surpass him and nearly everyone else in speed and skill. It was a good enough story, just a little off. She has an incredible mysterious wise swordswoman mentor and does spar with some other experienced Viking type opponents. I don't find it hard to believe that intense practice would make her an amazing fighter, just that she could only learn so much by fighting the same very small pool of opponents. And, while her love-interest and main sparring partner gets a bit better, he does not seem all that much further along than where he started despite similar hardships.
What does it say about YA fantasy that his it characterized by an abundance of violence and a thin flowering of childishly stunted personal and romantic relationships?
topdragon's review
4.0
Often it seems the middle book of a trilogy is the least enjoyable. Usually, it serves as the “bridge” book between the setup and the conclusion and many times they can resort to filler material. Authors, of course, are conscious of this but can still find difficulty in producing a good middle book.
Joe Abercrombie has found a good way to deal with this phenomenon. He advances the time a bit and introduces two new main characters and it is through their eyes that we follow the plot. Thorn is a girl trained for battle but accused of murder. Brand is also a warrior but hates to kill. Their perspective brings a certain freshness to the entire story so that it doesn’t seem like you are reading a trilogy at all. The protagonist from book one, Yarvi, is back but he is now known as Father Yarvi, and it is his cunning that pushes the other characters into place and towards their destinies.
This is a “journey” book, following Thorn and Brand as they seek to gather allies in the coming war. Journey books aren’t my favorite and it may be this that knocked my rating down a notch. Certainly the characters, particularly Thorn, are compelling and absolutely not cut from any cookie-cutter mold. Some excellent one-on-one fighting scenes are included and it was fun to see the growth of the characters as they made their journey.
I have an ARC of the third novel so will get to that pronto to see how or if it concludes.
Joe Abercrombie has found a good way to deal with this phenomenon. He advances the time a bit and introduces two new main characters and it is through their eyes that we follow the plot. Thorn is a girl trained for battle but accused of murder. Brand is also a warrior but hates to kill. Their perspective brings a certain freshness to the entire story so that it doesn’t seem like you are reading a trilogy at all. The protagonist from book one, Yarvi, is back but he is now known as Father Yarvi, and it is his cunning that pushes the other characters into place and towards their destinies.
This is a “journey” book, following Thorn and Brand as they seek to gather allies in the coming war. Journey books aren’t my favorite and it may be this that knocked my rating down a notch. Certainly the characters, particularly Thorn, are compelling and absolutely not cut from any cookie-cutter mold. Some excellent one-on-one fighting scenes are included and it was fun to see the growth of the characters as they made their journey.
I have an ARC of the third novel so will get to that pronto to see how or if it concludes.
debchan's review
4.0
as someone with black calder as one of my fav abercrombie characters, father yarvi was everything to me
i had my doubts about half a king, but ofc i shouldn't've been worried. tbh, these two books could combine into one 600 page book (maybe even the 3rd book idk) but the split allowed us to see the change from the end of the 1st book and how the 2nd book progresses.
we really hit the ground running with this one. what i felt was a bit lacking in book 1 did not at all translate here. it was fast-paced, full of action and intrigue, and had me hooked at every page. abercrombie writes the BEST characters hands down somehow even in a YA setting they're so fleshed out and esp yarvi i loved them.
thorn bathu: i loved being in her head. why? she's so 16, she's so angry, she's so dumb, somehow abercrombie captured the teenage girl experience even if she's in a diff world under insane circumstances. usually authors overcompensate trying to make their female mc too badass and cool or softhearted and genuinely kind. but thorn joked, sulked, was a child, fought with her whole heart, and never ever gave up. she was grumpy but she knew exactly how awful she could be and stumbled through life unapologetically anyways. and then she has the grace to apologize when she's wrong! i said i knew a chunk of Best Served Cold's plot bc it was like word-for-word scene-for-scene so similar to scenes in Sons of Darkness|. here, we get another comparison!the eowyn "i am no man" and "he cannot be killed by any man" and it's like yeah! we all know LOTR! we know macbeth! it means a c-section or even that this great warrior will be killed by a woman. but unfortunately satya came close and failed. so i kinda had the feeling thorn would fail and she did. which is valid bc gorm is like a crazy warrior and she's still a kid.
brand: abercrombie has done the dominant, mad as hell, sword wielding woman getting with the fumbling, nervous, loser man a million times and it never gets boring. i'm ngl everytime we were in his head i was just tapping my foot waiting to get back to thorn. but he's loyal, he's confused by himself, he wants to do the right thing without even knowing what that is. he's headstrong and leaps into danger without thinking about the danger as long as he can help and protect his friends.
father yarvi: black calder dupe or prototype? a man with cunning who makes plans in advance really hits all my boxes. he's seen through thorn and brand as cold and calculating and unknowable and it's gut-wrenching bc we know his past and we know what he's really like. he still holds his oath. he and sumael were so sweet. also i'm obsessed with his mom like thorn is so real i also would follow her to death.
if i found myself waiting for the It Factor in half a king, i def got it here. the new characters were so fun and our old friends were good to read about as well. the fight scenes were typically immersive and bloody and i'm glad abercrombie didn't hold back even in YA. whatever happens i'm backing yarvi i hope he gets everything he wants he deserves it. (obv love that the traditional male role is taken by thorn and the traditional female role is taken by yarvi. breaking gender roles as usual i see!!)
i had my doubts about half a king, but ofc i shouldn't've been worried. tbh, these two books could combine into one 600 page book (maybe even the 3rd book idk) but the split allowed us to see the change from the end of the 1st book and how the 2nd book progresses.
we really hit the ground running with this one. what i felt was a bit lacking in book 1 did not at all translate here. it was fast-paced, full of action and intrigue, and had me hooked at every page. abercrombie writes the BEST characters hands down somehow even in a YA setting they're so fleshed out and esp yarvi i loved them.
thorn bathu: i loved being in her head. why? she's so 16, she's so angry, she's so dumb, somehow abercrombie captured the teenage girl experience even if she's in a diff world under insane circumstances. usually authors overcompensate trying to make their female mc too badass and cool or softhearted and genuinely kind. but thorn joked, sulked, was a child, fought with her whole heart, and never ever gave up. she was grumpy but she knew exactly how awful she could be and stumbled through life unapologetically anyways. and then she has the grace to apologize when she's wrong! i said i knew a chunk of Best Served Cold's plot bc it was like word-for-word scene-for-scene so similar to scenes in Sons of Darkness|. here, we get another comparison!
brand: abercrombie has done the dominant, mad as hell, sword wielding woman getting with the fumbling, nervous, loser man a million times and it never gets boring. i'm ngl everytime we were in his head i was just tapping my foot waiting to get back to thorn. but he's loyal, he's confused by himself, he wants to do the right thing without even knowing what that is. he's headstrong and leaps into danger without thinking about the danger as long as he can help and protect his friends.
father yarvi: black calder dupe or prototype? a man with cunning who makes plans in advance really hits all my boxes. he's seen through thorn and brand as cold and calculating and unknowable and it's gut-wrenching bc we know his past and we know what he's really like. he still holds his oath. he and sumael were so sweet. also i'm obsessed with his mom like thorn is so real i also would follow her to death.
if i found myself waiting for the It Factor in half a king, i def got it here. the new characters were so fun and our old friends were good to read about as well. the fight scenes were typically immersive and bloody and i'm glad abercrombie didn't hold back even in YA. whatever happens i'm backing yarvi i hope he gets everything he wants he deserves it. (obv love that the traditional male role is taken by thorn and the traditional female role is taken by yarvi. breaking gender roles as usual i see!!)
littleredd's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sergeus's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
4.0
It's been a long time since I read book 1, so I only partially remember Yarvi. Thorn and Brand's story is a great one though.
I did enjoy the name of the book appearing a few times throughout, and it always felt natural.
Abercrombie always does a great job with worlds and characters that are cruel and when things go badly. There are definitely cruelties and unfortunate events in this story, but maybe less than I've come to expect. That's not a bad thing though. And I was rooting for Thorn and Brand throughout!
I'll definitely read the next one!
I did enjoy the name of the book appearing a few times throughout, and it always felt natural.
Abercrombie always does a great job with worlds and characters that are cruel and when things go badly. There are definitely cruelties and unfortunate events in this story, but maybe less than I've come to expect. That's not a bad thing though. And I was rooting for Thorn and Brand throughout!
I'll definitely read the next one!