In spite of being cast as "young adult", I would whole-heartedly recommend this for anyone who enjoys traditional fantasy. It's an adventure story with all the heart , intrigue, and thrills that one would hope for.

Yarvi's life has been bitter so far. Although the youngest son of the king, he was born with a deformed left hand so was considered weak and useless. He was ignored or condescended to his whole life. Then when he was older, he was sent as an apprentice to the Magistrate and found his calling. He was about to take the test to give his life to the service when his uncle burst in with news. Yarvi's father and brother had been killed in a battle and Yarvi was now the king.

But that isn't an option and soon Yarvi finds himself at the head of the army, off to get revenge for his father's death. But instead of victory, he finds betrayal and soon finds himself a slave, condemned to row on a trading ship full of vicious overseers, doomed to do that until he is used up and dies.

But maybe not. Yarvi finds a way to escape with a group of others. There are the two men who rowed with him, the ship's store master who took Yarvi's place on the oars, the woman who was the ship's navigator and a slave who had spent a decade scrubbing the ship's deck with a brick. Can this group outrun those determined to hunt them down and can they find a way to get Yarvi's kingdom back?

This is the first novel in the Shattered Seas series and my first novel by Joe Abercrombie. It is one of my favorite fantasy tropes, that of a group of ruffians and ne'er do wells who band together and become like family. Yarvi does a lot of growing up and the reader will be on his side all the way. There are other interesting characters and lots of twists and turns that make this a fantasy classic. This book is recommended for fantasy fans.

Not my favorite by Joe Abercrombie, but still a solid YA fantasy with intriguing politics, fascinating world building and some conflicts that kept me hooked.

I associated Joe Abercrombie with some of the darkest, most cynical versions of grimdark. Half a King is certainly dark, but as another reader put it, it isn't bleak like some of his others. As we saw in the First Law series, a hope or a dream can be turned on its head to still be true but to be empty of all that made it so desirable. We see a little of that here, but it's balanced with some genuinely satisfying moments. And it's a standalone! Highly recommended if you like Abercrombie's other work.

This novel had pretty much everything I enjoy about Abercrombie's writing. The characters all had their own depth to them. There was more going on with each of them than the main character was necessarily able to see. And at least one revelation about a particular character, Ankran, really caught me off guard in a way that was heart-wrenchingly poignant. He may have been my favorite. The point is, don't presume everyone is what they seem!

This book proceeded at a crawling pace and turned me off in the first few pages.

"The wise wait for their moment, but never let it pass."

Overall, this is a pretty intriguing book.

It's fast paced and full of witty comebacks and large fights. It sort of read like a very toned down, YA version of Game of Thrones. Yarvi is an admirable main character as we follow him on his journey to fulfill his oath.

While the story was well written, it was also fairly predictable.

It's a good introductory book and a fast-paced story.