September Book of the Month: Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

chaos

chaos

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I've actually never read a Joe Abercrombie book so I'm excited. Reading officially begins tomorrow, please cover up spoilers until the 7th.

I still don't have a theme for next month so if anyone has any suggestions or ideas please let me know. The following month is most likely going to be a runners up month with the past 5 second place finishers as choices. And as always, any complaints, suggestions, whatever, please let me know.

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Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

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Prince Yarvi has vowed to regain a throne he never wanted. But first he must survive cruelty, chains, and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea. And he must do it all with only one good hand. The deceived will become the deceiver. Born a weakling in the eyes of his father, Yarvi is alone in a world where a strong arm and a cold heart rule. He cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he must sharpen his mind to a deadly edge. The betrayed will become the betrayer. Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast and the lost, he finds they can do more to help him become the man he needs to be than any court of nobles could. Will the usurped become the usurper? But even with loyal friends at his side, Yarvi finds that his path may end as it began-in twists, and traps, and tragedy
 
Grimmlokk

Grimmlokk

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Started last night, already interested in the main characters.

So in the previous trilogy
the big throne was an old electric chair. In this book I'm like 6 chapters in and they've given a lot of detail on the big black metal throne and I'm wracking my brain to figure out what the fuck it is.

But I don't want any spoilers on it, just something I noticed.
 
Void

Void

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Grimmlokk_sl said:
So in the previous trilogy
the big throne was an old electric chair.
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Wait. Are we talking the First Law trilogy here? I don't remember reading that anywhere, how did I miss this?

Already read this book, so I'll wait to talk about it in any way.
 
Grimmlokk

Grimmlokk

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Vvoid_sl said:
Wait. Are we talking the First Law trilogy here? I don't remember reading that anywhere, how did I miss this?

Already read this book, so I'll wait to talk about it in any way.
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You missed nothing, I smushed up the Prince of Thorns world with Half a King in my head=P Oops.

Finished this in 2 sittings, really enjoyed the latter half of it especially. First third is really dry. But once
he hits the slave ship it picks up and there's more interesting characters and interactions.

Also how many people were waiting for Nothing to reveal he was missing a finger? =P
 
Zyke

Zyke

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Oh shit I've been waiting for a new Abercrombie book. I was hoping for another in the First Law setting but this'll do.
 
Grimmlokk

Grimmlokk

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BTW his plan was to have the whole trilogy out within about a year. 6 month gaps. And apparently he's up doing well with the schedule. This is talking about the 3rd book.

Anyway, this year's big clutch of events is behind me, and though I've got a couple of much smaller commitments, the next three months are largely clear to get a full first draft ofHalf a Wartogether, so I can spend December doing the heavy lifting of rewriting the first half of the book and have a decent, coherent second draft by the end of the year. That should leave ample time to get the book out by its planned publication in July 2015. Such is the hope, anyway.
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Lusiphur

Lusiphur

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Read it before the book club vote started. It was ok, although with the YA part of it just being no sex I rolled my eyes pretty hard.
 
Agraza

Agraza

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Typical Abercrombie. Archetype gets revenge on archetype gets revenge on archetype gets revenge on archetype. He does it well though.
 
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Ko Dokomo_sl

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The font size was pretty large for a hardback. Makes the size of the book deceptive. He killed characters with a vengeance just as I was getting to like them and wanted to see them develop more sadly. Ending was damn good because it sorta defied convention yet also wasn't overly heroic or tragic. I am excited for the rest of the trilogy because it is so well crafted, and viking style fantasy hasn't gotten much literary treatment.
 
Grimmlokk

Grimmlokk

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Ko Dokomo_sl said:
viking style fantasy hasn't gotten much literary treatment.
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Reminds me, I have a book on my shelf I've been meaning to get to for months.Swords of Good Menby a genuine Nordic motherfucker. Dude's name is Snorri Kristjansson for Christ's sake, that's viking as fuck. It's supposed to be pretty good too. Maybe I'll read that after my current book,Prince of Foolsby Mark Lawrence. Which features a Viking badass named Snorri=P
 
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Neph_sl

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Finished this yesterday via Audible and thought it was pretty good. The only thing though was since I listened to it vice reading it, I have no idea how to spell any of the character's names (sans Yarvi from above).
 
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