Half a War (Shattered Sea, Book 3) cover art

Half a War (Shattered Sea, Book 3)

Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
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.

Half a War (Shattered Sea, Book 3)

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

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

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

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

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 . . .

Action & Adventure Dark Fantasy Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Historical Classics Royalty War 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 (1 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
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.

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

I fully understand it is a book aimed at young adults, but with the rather 'choice' language used Mr Abercrombie is setting the age appropriate bar rather high. I felt the story in the first two books justified this but here it seemed to run out of steam. I really enjoyed the fact that Father Yarvi had was not the main character, allowing him to go off and do his dark deeds but, sadly thought it ended with a whimper not a bang.

Would you be willing to try another book from Joe Abercrombie? Why or why not?

Yes! I have loved all his books bar this one.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Ben Elliot?

Steven Pacey, no brainer.....

Any additional comments?

The Hunger Games needed no swearing....

A tad disappointed

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

Again another good book by this author,clearly thought out,full of imperfect people,and strong characters

An other good book

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.

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.

See more reviews