Joe Abercrombie is the reason why I have started reading fantasy novels again. I stumbled into his Shattered Sea series and now find myself at the whimsy Father Yarvi and the embattled people of Gettland. It is a works populated with salted characters and in this one we are treated to Heroine's journey. However, it is not so simple or straight forward. It yes full of espionage and intrigue. Even though it is lite on the bloodletting, it more than makes up for it when fighting breaks out and the moments in-between are more than worth it. Spoilers ahead! 
 Father Yarvi knows that the High King And Grandmother Wexon are trying to provoke a war between Gettland and Vesterland. This would weaken the last two major that's too her control and severely diminish Gettland's control over the shipping and trade. So, Father Yarvi takes a trip to find some new alliances. Along the way, he hopes to train Thorn Bathu into an assassin and hopefully gain the trust of the Empress of the South. They make some friends, pull a boat between two tickets over several miles of land, kill some enemies and make new alliances. By the end of it all, Father Yarvi has his femme fatal a grand alliance to begin a war, and Thorn Bathu gets to become a warrior in song with a new sword, axe and two blades