Half way into "Half The World", it struck me that this book reminds me of "Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers" with Eowen's story folded into it. With bodily functions.
Not that I hadn't noticed the Eowen theme since page 34, if not before, when she meets her equivalent of the Lord of the Nazgul. The "no living man..." meme or trope was repeated rather too many times, and if I hadn't enjoyed the "thusness" and complexity of "Half A King" (Shattered Sea #1), I might have set the book aside, assuming that I knew the ending. I'm glad I kept reading.
From the set up, I half expected that eventually the warrior heroine Thorn Bathu would fight the very formidable Grom-Gil-Gorn (a Gilgamesh-like figure, who built the walls of Uruk... what fun to play word associations!) like Legolas fighting the Oliphaunt, on a smaller scale.
By the way, Mariah Huehner's "'I Am No Man' Doesn't Cut It" is an excellent commentary on the difference between the Eowen of the book and the Eowen of the movie. http://www.themarysue.com/the-story-of-eowyn/ I looked it up after reaching my own conclusions, and was very taken by analysis.
Bottom line, if you loved Eowen, you'll probably like Thorn Bathu. Thorn begins her journey by fighting three boys (and being judged to have not only failed the unequal test, but sentenced to death when her battle is most unpleasantly interrupted), and she progressively fights more and more men simultaneously. To fight one invincible warrior seems almost an anticlimax after some of her adventures.
The backstory of the elves is built upon in this middle book in the series, with elf relics playing a bigger role. What kind of elves, though, toted shotguns? I have to read "Half A War" to find out if I'm right. I also want to know how Yarvi gets to kill Grandmother Wexen. As with a Romance, which this is not although there are romantic elements, the greatest interest is the How, not the What or the Why.
The bad faith diplomacy and cut-throat intrigue of the courts of the various high and low Kings, Queens, and of the Empress of the South is highly entertaining. Father Yarvi, the Minister is very like the Queen (or Grand Vizier) in a game of chess, and his uncle, King Uthil (who was "Nobody" in the first book in the Shattered Sea series) is a surprisingly limited mover... like Theoden. In this book, Yarvi seems older, and nicer, but of course, he is mostly seen through the narration of his two pawns, Thorn Bathu and the muscular and morally courageous Brand, and one must remember that Yarvi is "a deep-cunning man." In a complex and complicated series such as this, one should never underestimate the unreliability of a young and unsophisticated POV narrator, especially when it is a virtuous teenager.
All the same, I think that Brand will have to be killed off in the next book. He knows too much. Father Yarvi tells him too much.
All the best,
Rowena Cherry
Showing posts with label Joe Abercrombie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Abercrombie. Show all posts
Saturday, May 28, 2016
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Review: HALF A KING by Joe Abercrombie
Joe Abercrombie was one of the panelists... one of the best and most interesting panelists... at a Science Fiction and Fantasy convention that I attended this year. After hearing him, I bought HALF A KING, and finally it got to the top of my TBR pile on August 1st, so I took it by train to California where I read it on the outward trip, and --although I had read it-- I brought it back. It's a keeper.
HALF A KING is a page turner, expertly crafted, with a story arc that comes a full circle except that the plot thickens with every degree of curvature. Meanwhile, there are so many reviews that it is not easy to say something original about HALF A KING.
One of its qualities is the amazing, incredibly satisfying, utterly enjoyable "thusness" of the book. That's something a reader may not notice until the very end, which is as it should be. It would be a spoiler to say more, so I won't.
It is a intelligently written book, with nuances that may or may not have been intended to intrigue the thoughtful reader. For instance....
Joe Abercrombie mentions Angulf Clovenfoot three times in "Half A King" by my count. First, from Yarvi's POV during a funeral--a dark moment and a turning point in his life of which he had no control--, second from Yarvi's POV during another dark passage, and finally at a turning point that he discerns and seizes upon, and through the voice of Yarvi's treacherous uncle Odem when Yarvi's ragtag army is massively outnumbered and a turning point is imminent.
Why "Clovenfoot"? Could it be that deformity runs in the family? Is Yarvi's birth defect a congenital abnormality.... perhaps hypophalangism (the congenital absence of one or more phalanges of a digit) ?
If kings in this Viking-like world were respected for winning in hand-to-hand combat, I infer that Angulf could fight very well with "half a foot", but his great grandson could not wield two-handed weapons with "half a hand" and that made all the difference.
It's grossly unfair, of course.
Additionally, as a reader of every word, I was never irritated by repetition. Most authors repeat themselves too much, because they are writing for readers with feeble attention spans, I suspect. I've mentioned that Angulf Clovenfoot was mentioned approximately three times. Another important ingredient in Yarvi's arsenal is mentioned three times, and no more (as I recollect) and I almost missed the second mention.
Why "Clovenfoot"? Could it be that deformity runs in the family? Is Yarvi's birth defect a congenital abnormality.... perhaps hypophalangism (the congenital absence of one or more phalanges of a digit) ?
It's grossly unfair, of course.
But, which family? Perhaps his mother's? Joe builds his worlds with a masterfully light touch, but it is suggested that first-cousin marriage is not uncommon in this royal family, and other forms of consanguinuity also, so either or both families may harbor a recessive gene.
Interesting link about consanguinuity
Moreover, if the genes are awry in one manifestation, why not in another, such as in defective reasoning? It's a very convenient explanation for pathological behavior... and thus a seeming hero can become a villain, a friend can become a mortal enemy.
Is this an "Underdog" plot? I wonder. Certainly, the hardships and difficulties and rank unfairnesses are piled on to the young and physically handicapped principle character at every stage of his saga and his journey. For those who enjoy categorizing other authors' works (grinning), I recommend Ronald Tobias's "Master Plots" book.
Finally, since I am an admirer of Survivorman, Les Stroud, and also of the Fat Guys In The Woods.... and wrote a survival-inspired novel of my own (Insufficient Mating Material)... I particularly enjoyed the winter wildeness survival chapter.
Highly recommended: HALF A KING by Joe Abercrombie.
Rowena Cherry
Or half a king, at least. ... tall beside that of Yarvi's uncle Uthil, swallowed in a storm, and his grandfather Brevaer, and his great-grandfather Angulf Clovenfoot.
SPACE SNARK™ http://www.spacesnark.com/
Online references:
Joe Abercrombie | An Extract from Half a King
Joe Abercrombie
Half a King(41) .... longer within sight of the howes of my brothers Uthrik and Uthil
Читать онлайн Half a King автора Аберкромби Джо - RuLit - Страница 17. ... He sang of Angulf Clovenfoot, Hammer of the Vanstermen, and did not mention ...p100 that the man was his great grandfather.
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