• Half a War

  • Shattered Sea, Book 3
  • By: Joe Abercrombie
  • Narrated by: Ben Elliot
  • Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (138 ratings)

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Half a War  By  cover art

Half a War

By: Joe Abercrombie
Narrated by: Ben Elliot
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Publisher's summary

A classic coming-of-age tale set in a vivid and richly imagined world from Sunday Times best-selling author Joe Abercrombie.

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. She must conquer her fears and sharpen her wits to a lethal edge if she is to reclaim her birthright.

Only half a war is fought with swords.

The deep-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 iron wings, she may cast the whole Shattered Sea into darkness....

©2015 Joe Abercrombie (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Abercrombie writes fantasy like no one else." ( Guardian)
"This is my favourite Abercrombie book yet." (Patrick Rothfuss)
"Joe Abercrombie is fast becoming my favourite writer. Half a King is a remarkable achievement - thrilling, enthralling, and relentless. The action is frenetic, the characters are as sharp as the blades they wield, and the humour is biting. It's sure to garner him a whole new legion of fans." (Derek Landy)
"Enthralling. An up-all-night read." (Robin Hobb)

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Great conclusion for a great trilogy

Joe Abercrombie deliveres once again. I'm a huge fan, probably my favourite author of late so I might be biased.
Shattered Sea was added to my library only after listening to the First Law, Standalones and Age of Madness audiobooks, so I was a bit worried I might not enjoy it as much, given being the first, the setting and voice actor are different.
Well, I was wrong.
Ben Elliot delivered a great and consinstant performace throughout the serie and most certainly I will check out more of his work. The range of voices is surprising, given there are a Lot of characters. Comparison with Stephen Pacey is inevitable but Mr. Elliot surpassed my expectation greatly.
Storywise, the conclusion is fitting to Joe's other books (or perhaps the other way round). If you are familiar with First Law you'll know what I mean. Just finished the book and my mind is surging, drawing my own conclusions and generally super exited for the whole journey.
Character work is superb. The cast is interesting, complex, well written and never boring.
Each book has interesting people to care about. In the latest entry, Skara amongst my favourites.
Cannot reccomend it enough.

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