If I were to name my author of the year 2023, it would without a doubt be Joe Abercrombie. Not only did I read his whole First Law series (10 books in total), but I also squeezed in his Viking trilogy The Shattered Sea.

The first book, Half a King, is a fast paced viking adventure full of twists and lovable yet morally gray side characters. I was thoroughly entertained all the way through, especially because the action did not revolve around fighting.

The other two books feel very different from the first one. They expand the world introduced to us in Half a King, but I yearned for the fast-paced plot and the cast of side characters, and was not too pleased when the focus of the story shifted to warfare. We do get a romance and multiple POVs as “compensation”, but something was missing.

I ended up giving Half a King 4 stars, Half the World 3,5 stars and Half a War 3 stars. I wasn’t hugely disappointed though, because my partner had already read these and had a similar experience. Based on his comments I was actually expecting to hate the last book, but despite everything, it was interesting. And I don’t think I’ve ever read any Viking culture inspired fantasy before The Shattered Sea, which added to the experience overall.