Half a War by Joe Abercrombie
Half a War is the finale to The Shattered Series by author Joe Abercrombie with Half a King and Half a World making up the first two books in the series. It is Joe’s foray into the YA market and so was always going to be a different sort of story to the traditional Grimdark that he is notorious for.
It’s a very unique series in terms of structure. The protagonist we are gifted is the first book is magical a the story of Yarvi’s survival in Half a King is heart wrenching, inspiring and devilishly clever. It was a surprise then to see him take a back seat in Half a World and be relegated to an advisors capacity so the author could dutily address the more romance and love related themes that a YA book must.. Why this required two new characters instead of weaving some sort of love interest into Yarvi’s plot I didn’t quite gather. The familiarity that I always hope to feel with a second book was not quite there and by the time I got to the final book, Half a War, and was introduced to a raft of new characters, I was feeling a little aggrieved at having that warm cuddly feeling I’d worked for over two books being denied me.
My other issues was I didn’t connect with any of the characters more than Yarvi. Some were admirable, some were feisty, some were finding their place in the world in a unique and interesting way but none leapt off the page at me and so the introduction of each new one felt like a move further from what I liked about the first book. I really got behind Yarvi in the first book but by the end he had been simply diluted to the traditional morally grey character that populates Joe’s universes. Obviously Thorn was a hoot but where was the band of women that she went to train and fight at the end of the second book, where were the consequences of that massive book ending event in terms of the progression of the society or an increase in fighting roles for women by the time we get to Half a World?
I found most joy in the individual moments of extreme heroism or sacrifice great fight scenes and there are some good ones here. Large scale battles, filthy intimate skirmishes and indivudla duels are a consant pleasure to get caught up in but in the end this is Joe but not the Joe we know. It bears a lot of his trademark commentary on the nature of right and wrong and man’s role in the world, gritty characters and inspiring moments of weaponluck but lacks the teeth and free flowing style of his previous books. It is tempered by it’s YA style and ends up being a good version of both it and grimdark but not a great version of either.
