Half a King

It's been a while since I last listened to an audio book on physical media. I started out listening to books-on-tape, but lately it's all been audio downloads. Which is why I had to scramble to find a CD player for this book. I wound up listening to most of it my car.

A couple of weeks before I received the audio book I met author Joe Abercrombie at Jean Cocteau Theater in Santa Fe, NM, where he was reading and signing with Cherie Priest, at an event hosted by George R.R. Martin. He's an amusing speaker, embracing his grimdarkness with a wink and a smile. He read a chapter from “Half a King”, providing a nice preview for the recorded book.

The audio book is narrated by John Keating, speaking with a wide variety of voices and accents, all of them sounding very British, but well-suited to Abercrombie's tale.

Young Yarvi, second son of the king, has been groomed for the ministry because he has a withered hand. He can't fight with sword and shield, but he's learned all his other lessons well, even though he isn't aware of his skills at the story's beginning. When his father and brother are ambushed and killed, he must take the throne. He rashly swears an oath to avenge his family and embarks on a journey of betrayal, suffering, and self-discovery. He survives by accepting his fate and learning from it.

In a sense, this is a coming-of-age novel, set in a harsh and occasionally bloody landscape. That's to be expected from Abercrombie, whose other books follow squarely in the grim footsteps of Martin's “Song of Ice and Fire” saga, but “Half a King” steers clear of sex and excessive violence, offering a more thoughtful narrative that focuses on the people Yarvi meets, how he learns from them, and learns about himself. I found this aspect of the book compelling, all the way through to the end.

There are more books to come in this world. Yarvi's story has just begun. I think it will be worth the effort to keep reading.

This audio book has 8 compact discs, 9.25 hours of audio, and tracks every 3 minutes for easy bookmarking.