Half a king and less of a story…

As ‘Og’s readers may have noticed, I have very much appreciated Joe Abercombie’s novels and style so far, having read and reviewed all of his books. Hence, I was expecting something altogether different out of Half a King, his latest novel… Compared with the books written so far, this one feels too light, too easy-going, too much of a one-shot read, too linear and too predictable, with none of the shadows and shortcomings and other moral ambiguities crossing everyone and all in the novel. And making Abercrombie such a special author. The main character Yari is not very enticing and the way he gets out of dramatic situations is not particularly convincing. Nor particularly on the moral high ground (not surprising, this, considering Abercrombie’s style!) But it sounds as if this remains justified as lesser evil against greater evil… The final stages of the story are just too impossible to believe. So this book is a real disappointment. After reading the book in a few hours in Bristol, a few miles from the author who lives in Bath, I went hunting for reactions on the Internet and found out that this was a young adult novel, which may explain for the lack of depth and of moral ambiguity. I wish this had been spelled out more clearly before I had bought the book! (As an aside I wonder why Abercrombie has this fascination with maimed hands throughout his novels. From The Ninefinger in the early novel to this half king with only two fingers on his right hand.)