15 hidden gems SFF readers need to dig up and read

Cover to Half a King by Joe Abercrombie. Image: Del Rey

Half a King – Joe Abercrombie

Joe Abercrombie is best known for writing The First Law trilogy, but his Shattered Sea series gets significantly less attention in the SFF community. Beginning with Half a King, the series offers readers the same types of multifaceted characters and intense politics as his other books—though the world the series is set in definitely diverges from that of The First Law.

Half a King begins when its main character, Prince Yarvi, is betrayed by his family and forced to flee his kingdom for his life. He falls into the hands of slavers, finding himself chained and at sea with no one to help him. During his time in captivity, Yarvi begins to recognize the flaws in his kingdom and in himself. He’ll be forced to deal with both if he ever hopes to be free again.

Still, Yarvi vows to return to his kingdom and take his rightful place on the throne, even if it’s a fate he never necessarily wanted for himself. Half a King chronicles Yarvi’s acceptance of his destiny, and it follows him as he gathers a band of outcasts to escape slavery and retake his throne.

Full of twists and turns, Half a King is a must-read for fans of political fantasies that showcase court betrayals and familial feuds for power. Much like The Lies of Locke Lamora, Half a King isn’t always an easy read, but the gritty moments are definitely worth sitting through, if only to get to the end result—and the ending is shocking and satisfying, even if it isn’t truly the end of the entire story.