Half a King Audiobook By Joe Abercrombie cover art

Half a King

Shattered Sea, Book 1

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Half a King

By: Joe Abercrombie
Narrated by: Ben Elliot
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $26.13

Buy for $26.13

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

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

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 itself. And he must do it all with only one good hand.

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.

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.

But even with loyal friends at his side, Yarvi’s path may end as it began – in twists, and traps and tragedy…

©2014 Joe Abercrombie (P)2014 HarperCollinsHarperCollins Audio FictionHarperFiction - Fiction Audio - Digital Fantasy Fiction Heartfelt Royalty

Editorial reviews

Sunday Times best-selling author Joe Abercrombie has created a richly detailed fantasy epic in Half a King, Book One of the phenomenal Shattered Sea audiobook series, unabridged and narrated by American actor Ben Elliot. Young Prince Yarvi is an embarrassment to his father. He is small and intelligent, a far cry from the muscled thugs in the kingdom. It is in exile that he finds friends who accept him for who he is and together they form an army. Setting out to reclaim his right to the throne, Yarvi can use only his mind as the ultimate weapon. Available now from Audible.

Critic reviews

‘Abercrombie writes fantasy like no one else’ Guardian

‘This is my favourite Abercrombie book yet’ PATRICK ROTHFUSS

‘Joe Abercrombie is fast becoming my favourite writer. HALF A KING is a remarkable achievement — thrilling, enthralling, and relentless. The action is frenetic, the characters are as sharp as the blades they wield, and the humour is biting. It's sure to garner him a whole new legion of fans’ DEREK LANDY

‘Enthralling. An up-all-night read’ ROBIN HOBB

‘HALF A KING can be summed up in a single word: Masterpiece’ MYKE COLE

‘With eye-popping plot twists and rollicking good action, HALF A KING is definitely a full adventure’ RICK RIORDAN

‘A magnificent, captivating world.’ James Dashner of MAZE RUNNER
Solid Storyline • Self-contained Story • Great Work • Fantastic Characters • Dark Fantasy • Engaging Adventure
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
I came from The First Law. Probably had to high expectations. Start was boring, almost stopped listening. On the ship, was ok. After... meh.

Meh

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A solid, self contained story, short enough you remember enough of the setup when it matters.

Solid story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fantastic. Loved it. Abercrombie does it again. Great work by Ben Eliott aswell. 5/5 stars.

Superb

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I have no doubt the book is good since I've read most of the authors books. Sadly I couldent stand the narrator. A voice that shall haunt my mind for all time.

horrible narrative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What did you love best about Half a King?

The setting. Abercrombie have created a world that seem slightly more inspired by norse culture and nordic history than the average fantasy book. There are for example hints of parallels to the centralization of power which happened in Scandinavia during the Viking age. Not by any means to the extent of giving anyone a lesson in history, but it makes the book more enjoyable to those who already have an interest in norse history I think.

What did you like best about this story?

The ending. It might be argued that this is a much lighter read than what Abercrombie usually serves and the characters are not quite as strong or memorable as some of the others he have created, but as establishing a new world with new characters for a new series I think it works well.

I gave an extra star for giving the book an ending that creates anticipation of what comes next without making a cliffhanger. Reading George R.R. Martin have given me a deep aversion of cliffhangers.

Any additional comments?

Bloody good entertainment.

Enjoyable start to a new series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Abercrombie doesn't disappoint. Good story, if a bit rudimentary. The speak is not great. But ok.

Great story. Mediocre reader.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was a good story, and i would like hear the rest of the shattered see novels. Yes time well spent!

Would you be willing to try another one of Ben Elliot’s performances?

Not really, i thought he was dead pan and missed some of Joe Abercrombies humor

Good Story, OKish performance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great book. I was hungering for Viking fantasy with a twist, and by God, it delivered.

Loved it!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Just love his books. Hope Joe will continue write his dark fantasy with all his fantastic characters from that evil world he has created

Perfect

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Was a pleasant read. Not too long and not too short. Requires a little bit of an attention span, if english isn't your 1st language.

A fun adventure

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