Half the World

How it reads

Half the World is fantasy (epic fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is dark. It goes to difficult places and doesn't look away. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in an invented world, in no single period, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are coming of age, war and love. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It's a later book in a series — you'll usually want to start earlier. The ending is bittersweet: it resolves, but at a price. At 498 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.