Review: Chalk

Chalk by Paul Cornell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Paul Cornell plumbs the depths of magic and despair in Chalk, a brutal exploration of bullying in 80s England.

Andrew Waggoner has always hung around with his fellow losers at school, desperately hoping each day that the school bullies, led by Drake, will pass him by in search of other prey. But one day they force him into the woods, and the bullying escalates into something more; something unforgivable; something unthinkable.

Broken, both physically and emotionally, something dies in Waggoner, and something else is born in its place.

In the hills of the West Country a chalk horse stands vigil over a site of ancient power, and there Waggoner finds in himself a reflection of rage and vengeance, a power and persona to topple those who would bring him low.

From Tom Brown's School Days to Carrie via Lord of the Flies children casually inflicting horrors on each other has been a mainstay of literature for a long, long, time. Chalk takes this and weave a gripping tale of magic and vengeance. Our protagonist is Andrew Waggoner, one of those kids destined to be seen as a punching bag by the school's bullies, who after a particularly terrible attack leaves him disfigured finds he can't go to the ineffective adults of the story... after all snitches get stitches as the saying goes.

In pain, fear, and desperation Waggoner calls out to a much older, darker power who surprisingly answers. It's from here that Chalk really hits its stride.

The calm, almost matter of fact way Johnathan Broadbent narrates the story only makes Cornell's horror the more riveting. For me it was this dry, emotionless delivery that really made the story hit home. This isn't a mile a minute kind of story so when the action does ramp up and get a bit frenetic it makes it all the more effective. Anyway I'm finding it tough to put into words exactly what I liked about this so I'll wrap up. Read this book, better yet get the audio version like I did and have a man with a mellow Wiltshire accent tell you one of the most horrific stories I've ever heard.

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Review: Half a War

Half a War by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Half a War is the final instalment of the Shattered Sea trilogy.

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 no god but 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.

Abercrombie follows his established method for the Shattered Sea and introduces us to new point of view characters for this third volume. To my mind this time they're not quite as strong as in previous entries. The almost caricatured naivety of Skara is just plain annoying but she does develop thankfully. This is only exacerbated by the the stereotypes that are Raith (cock sure warrior) and Koll (cocky minister in training). Again they do receive development but for me it was too late as I'd already made my decision on them. Maybe I'm being unfair to Abercrombie and these characters because the protagonists in the other books were, and are, so strong but hey-ho.

Right, on to the story, as the title and synopsis say "only half a war is fought with swords". The other half is fought with politics, so much politics, all the politics. Don't misunderstand it wasn't boring, there was just so much of it. Mind you there was enough fighting for even the most blood thirsty reader to get their fill.

I particularly enjoyed that the grey rather than black and white morality was explored more in this book. Decisions were made and outcomes were unexpected to both the reader and the characters. Plans are made that do not go as expected, outcomes once seen as a win become more dubious as time goes on. There's a quite a bit of talk about the greater good (and by extension the lesser evil) in this book and you just know anyone who talks like that is in for a world of pain when the dust settles.

I think this is probably the weakest of the three novels in the trilogy but it is by no means a bad book. Over all I would say it's the best ending any of the characters could expect even if it's not what they deserve. Read the whole trilogy you won't be disappointed.

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Review: Half the World

Half the World by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Half the World is volume two of the Shattered Sea trilogy.

Sometimes a girl is touched by mother war

Thorn is such a girl. Desperate to avenge her dead father, she lives to fight. But she has been named murderer by the very man who trained her to kill.

Sometimes a woman becomes a warrior

Fate traps her in the schemes – and on the ship – of the deep-cunning minister Father Yarvi. Crossing half the world to find allies against the ruthless High King, she learns harsh lessons of blood and deceit.

Sometimes a warrior becomes a weapon

Beside her on her gruelling journey is Brand, a young warrior who hates to kill. A failure in his eyes and hers, he has one chance at redemption.

And weapons are made for one purpose

Will Thorn forever be a tool in the hands of the powerful or can she carve her own path? Is there a place beyond legend for a woman with a blade?

Continuing on from where Half a King left off Half a World, but not really, introduces us to two new point of view characters, Thorn Bathu, a woman born to fight who but is denied, and Brand, a young warrior who hates to kill. I think you cold probably jump straight into this book without ever reading Half a King but what kind of crazy person would deny themselves reading the works of Joe Abercrombie, Lord Grimdark himself.

I enjoyed this book a lot, the characters and story were again detailed and interesting with Abercrombie's usual unpredictability, savagery and humour helping to instil a feeling they were real. While I did enjoy the story it was a little, not much just the tiniest bit, jarring to have brand new point of view character take the lead (or in this case two characters) bur overall I think it worked, mainly due to their likeability.

Beyond giving this book my highest recommendation there's not a great deal left to say here so I'll let you go find a copy and read it yourself.

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Review: Half a King

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Half a King is volume one of the Shattered Sea trilogy.

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 his path may end as it began—in twists, and traps, and tragedy.

Often described at Joe Abercrombie's attempt to bring the grim-dark he's famous for to a young adult audience Half a King is ultimately the story of a young man with a disfigured and almost useless hand thrust in to a world he's neither ready nor fit for. Yarvi's disability makes him singularly unfit for the role fate has decreed for him, the warrior king of a savage country. As such he must use such gifts as he has, a formidable mind, to achieve his goals.

I've read Some of Abercrombie's other books, most notably his First Law series, and this story doesn't feel like it's aimed at a younger, less mature, audience it reads like his other works. I liked the story and found it to be engaging and fun, I'd like to say unputdownable but I'm not sure that's a real word. I found the characters to be believable and more than the two dimensional caricatures we sometimes see in YA fiction (side note to authors: kids aren't stupid my dude, they can see right through lazy writing). The settings in the Shattered Sea are breathtakingly described with each country and region having a life of its own. While the plot is pretty standard "dispossessed prince must regain kingdom" fare it's handled in a way that doesn't feel old and the surprise twist worked very well.

As I'm reviewing the Audible edition of this book I should say something about Ben Elliot's narration. I found that his understated, almost quiet storytelling style worked very well for this story and I'm pleased to see he's the narrator of the other books in the trilogy. Elliot does very well in voicing the characters in the book also, each one is distinct and needs no indicators other than his voice acting to tell who's speaking.

All together I would recommend this book to any fan of Abercrombie's or indeed grim-dark fantasy. Additionally I would say this is a great introduction volume to them too.

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