Half a War cover art

Half a War

Shattered Sea, Book 3

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Half a War

By: Joe Abercrombie
Narrated by: Ben Elliot
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

A classic coming-of-age tale set in a vivid and richly-imagined world from Sunday Times bestselling author Joe Abercrombie.

‘Joe Abercrombie is doing some terrific work’ GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

WORDS ARE WEAPONS
Princess Skara has seen all she loved made blood and ashes. She is left with only words. But the right words can be as deadly as any blade. She must conquer her fears and sharpen her wits to a lethal edge if she is to reclaim her birthright.

ONLY HALF A WAR IS FOUGHT WITH SWORDS
The deep-cunning Father Yarvi has walked a long road from crippled slave to king’s minister. He has made allies of old foes and stitched together an uneasy peace. But now the ruthless Grandmother Wexen has raised the greatest army since the elves made war on God, and put Bright Yilling at its head – a man who worships only Death.

SOMETIMES ONE MUST FIGHT EVIL WITH EVIL
Some – like Thorn Bathu and the sword-bearer Raith – are born to fight, perhaps to die. Others – like Brand the smith and Koll the wood-carver – would rather stand in the light. But when Mother War spreads her iron wings, she may cast the whole Shattered Sea into darkness . . .

©2015 Joe Abercrombie (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Classics Coming of Age Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Military War & Military Royalty War Thought-Provoking Scary

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Codex of Her Scars (Sorcerers' Isle, Book 1) cover art
Artemis cover art
Dead Irish cover art
Forsworn: A Powder Mage Novella cover art
The Way of Renegades cover art
Elantris (2 of 3) [Dramatized Adaptation] cover art
Winter's Reach cover art
The Sea-Stone Sword cover art
The Darkness That Comes Before cover art
Many Are the Dead cover art
Demon in the Wood cover art
The Collapsing Empire cover art
The Heart of Stone cover art
Forging Hephaestus cover art
The Cycle of Arawn cover art
Lancelot cover art

Critic reviews

‘Like GAME OF THRONES on an adrenaline drip. A full-throated war cry of a novel’ Daily Mail

‘The perfect end to an outstanding trilogy’ SFX

‘Grabbed me and refused to let go’ George R.R. Martin

'Grips like a bear hug, warms like a bear skin' Daily Mail

‘My favorite Abercrombie book yet’ Patrick Rothfuss

‘Enthralling. An up-all-night read’ Robin Hobb

‘Joe Abercrombie is doing some terrific work’ GEORGE R.R. MARTIN

‘Abercrombie writes fantasy like no one else’ Guardian

‘Another great tale from a master’ Sun

‘Joe Abercrombie is fast becoming my favourite writer.’ DEREK LANDY

‘A magnificent, captivating world.’ James Dashner of MAZE RUNNER
All stars
Most relevant  

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes all of his books tbh

Who was your favorite character and why?

mother scare , reminds me of the wife

What does Ben Elliot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

good charachters and accents

Any additional comments?

if carlsberg did real people in fantasy world ...

as good as first law series

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love his writing, excellent characters. I am looking forward to some new stories by him.

sad when it ended

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If anyone needs lessons in the effects of ministers and kings it is here. Judged well for young to old adults the conclusion the The Shattered Sea Trilogy bites deep into emotion and blood lust. All is balanced, all is changable, much is based on words only. I even found myself welling up at one point near the end, a rarely known experience for me. The story is firsteate and the narration very good, although sometimes the text demand young voices to sound vibrant and commanding rather than thin and weak, but overall the telling is well done.

Superb tale of poliotics and death

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this audiobook. Taking a third perspective worked really well and gave me a distinctly different view of some famous characters.

Abercrombe writes a brilliant story and although you may try to guess what will happen is never as you plan.

Enjoy!

A great ending to the trilogy

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Yarvi vengeance could have ended in book one, it felt a little dragged on, for a father and brother who didn't love him. And I kinda knew how his character would be from the first chapter. Sad 😣😭. I felt sorry for thron and run, no vengeance for them.

Vengeance gets you nowhere

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thoroughly enjoyed this usual fantastic characterisation good story with a fantastic setting and quite a few unexpected twists in the story

Very satisfying conclusion to the story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Acceptable plot spoiled by heavy handed activism.

I wish at least one, literally one, character’s “likeability” wasn’t entirely predictable and based on his/her gender, age, ambition level.

Recipe:
Women are more virtuous than men.
Young and passionate are more moral than cunning oldies. Ambition leads to corruption. Few romantic events. Few diplomatic events. Few military events. Reversal of archetypes (pantheon: “caring” male gods, “dynamic” female goddesses). And that’s it.

Something less predictable, please.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Okay but that's it. I was expecting more and whilst new characters are always welcome I felt the foundation of the main few eroded through this book unlike the first law where they grow and morph in unpredictable ways.

Predictable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
it was an ok read , but I'd recommend it mostly for 14 -16 year olds

quite childish

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
...who change character voices and accents between books to the detriment of the story.

Mother War save us from narrators...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews