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venerate's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
ahaddad24's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
haroldtheboogie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
richardstud's review against another edition
5.0
Abercrombie has this way of making excellent grey characters. In this one, he does just that then puts them in an epic three day battle against each other full of action, intrigue, and what I can only consider to be the realistic nature of war. Needless to say, it was great.
debchan's review against another edition
3.75
not that it was bad at all, but it was too much war and fighting and arguing for my liking. i like a little more politics and less men clubbing each other to death.
in actuality, the style reminded me so much of House of Open Wounds in that we are in the battle camp and we jump around the heads of the individuals on both sides. it's just like in the blade itself, how i hated the chapters with the dogman and co bc they were so unfounded back then. i didn't know them and i didn't care for violent men arguing and fighting when they could just take a deep breath and calm tf down.
but choosing to structure it as is, in 3 parts with 3 days was genius. each had its own climatic battle and it really felt like years stuck in this horrible war rather than 3 days. abercrombie does bloody battle well and does not hesitate to show atrocity after atrocity or kill characters we know and "love."
i'm so glad there's MAPS before each part too to show who's advancing and what progress or loss has been made at the end of each day. plus a cast of characters! this is what i've wanted for the first law trilogy.
bremer dan gorst: glokta is that you. the italics with his thoughts again and his thoughts are just as self-deprecating and miserable and sarcastic as glokta which was great. i needed some type of humor amid the bloodshed. didn't think he'd have quite such a large role after the first law but he's quite a character. he is literally the definition of jilted lover, like oh boy here's another toxic yaoi with him and jezal. and just when he's got everything he ever wanted this entire book, he feels emptier than ever. abercrombie really makes his characters fight so hard just for it to mean nothing at the end and basically lose everything, i love it.
tunny: he's literally just a guy. he's survived everything like a cockroach. and he has a bunch of young men to take care of who are absolutely clueless and were mostly hilarious. this was but one chapter in his many battles to come, with the ending showing that they're set to fight monza next.
finree dan brock: marriage is just a contract in which you aim to climb up the ladder. now i'm sure she feels affection for hal and everything, but the way she was just like yeah he's mostly a work in progress. i appreciate her ambition and her tongue to snap at men, bc she really is smarter than anyone else and deserves all her hard work at the end. i think you could blame the way she views other women and herself as "not like other girls" on abercrombie or you could say that's her flaw that she really does think she's better than everyone else and so do a lot of the women bc they're isolated from each other and forced to hate/compete with each other rather than band together against the Men. but i liked her concern for aliz as much as she tried.
curnden craw: sorry but as a union supporter, i wasn't his biggest fan. ofc i liked his little band of followers and their code of "honor" though it may be false. he's a man who keeps his word, though, a good man? idk. are any here good men? honorable at times, definitely, and better than most of his fellow northmen.
prince calder: a cowardly rat who i was so sure i could predict his character arc and then abercrombie drops that ending on me. he's a coward and a sneaky little rat and basically useless but i do love me those types of characters. who sow seeds with their words and use their brains rather than their fists. i was dreading what i thought would be a turn of heart and a leaf turned but surprisingly i was very appreciative of it.he wanted power so bad like so so bad and he was so close and he could've just as easily killed his brother. his stupid idiot brother. and it would've been so easy. but for once in his life he found he cared for something beyond himself. and in the end he couldn't kill scale. even in all the anger and rage and violence, there's this gut-wrenching moment which genuinely made me change my 3 to a 3.75
beck: i'm sorry i cared not for his chapters nor his POV. what i will recognize is that he was just a teenager. he wanted to go to war, he wanted to prove himself, even stand up for his country. but just 3 days later (what felt like years to him), he returns home a changed man. just three days! but he's changed, scarred, and doesn't war do that to everyone...
caul shivers: um girl what happened! i still remember (bc i read it just yesterday lol) a shivers who wanted nothing more than to escape monza's scehemes and become a better man. lo and behold, here's a terrifying man who has an even worse reputation. known as black dow's dog, he's an engine for killing. in fact! he reminds me of logen, the king's right hand man who we know wanted to be better but also has a dark murderous side. it may be too late for him but i hope he finds some peace somewhere.that moment when gorst recognizes him from that scene in best served cold, my jaw dropped. why did i forget that they somewhat knew each other? that shivers (and co) were the reason gorst is out here longing for jezal to welcome him back. anyways. i guess that's why abercrombie's the author and i'm just a reader bc i totally forgot about that connection.
infuriating how we don't know whether logen is alive or dead. 🙄 give me answers pls!
bayaz: you know, i never thought much of him until last argument of kings. and now i think he's my fav character in this world (besides glokta). why you say? he's a maniac and he's a puppeteer and he ruins everything! probably why, after finishing succession season 1 (i haven't watched the other seasons so this may change) i found myself becoming a logan roy stan. i like characters who know their power and wield it. i like characters who easily manipulate people like it's blinking. i like that bayaz is so invested in the stability and longevity of the union bc that's where my faves live (jezal and glokta). i like that he's a little loopy in the head. i like that he has absolutely no regard for human lives so long as it gets him what he wants. so i'm definitely rooting for him all the way.
anyway, this had a lot of good things to say about war and every time i read an abercrombie book i'm like huh this is so relevant like 10+ years later. duels and fights were fun (and terrible at the same time). women like finree and wonderful got to have their moments even if they were on the frontlines of a man's game. i got my humor from gorst's constant complaining and calder's little schemes. and i got bayaz controlling everything in the shadows. except not really in the shadows, more like in plain sight and there's nothing anyone can do about that. i still like the first law trilogy better than the standalones, but i'm glad i did read them just for a little background for the next trilogy.
in actuality, the style reminded me so much of House of Open Wounds in that we are in the battle camp and we jump around the heads of the individuals on both sides. it's just like in the blade itself, how i hated the chapters with the dogman and co bc they were so unfounded back then. i didn't know them and i didn't care for violent men arguing and fighting when they could just take a deep breath and calm tf down.
but choosing to structure it as is, in 3 parts with 3 days was genius. each had its own climatic battle and it really felt like years stuck in this horrible war rather than 3 days. abercrombie does bloody battle well and does not hesitate to show atrocity after atrocity or kill characters we know and "love."
i'm so glad there's MAPS before each part too to show who's advancing and what progress or loss has been made at the end of each day. plus a cast of characters! this is what i've wanted for the first law trilogy.
bremer dan gorst: glokta is that you. the italics with his thoughts again and his thoughts are just as self-deprecating and miserable and sarcastic as glokta which was great. i needed some type of humor amid the bloodshed. didn't think he'd have quite such a large role after the first law but he's quite a character. he is literally the definition of jilted lover, like oh boy here's another toxic yaoi with him and jezal. and just when he's got everything he ever wanted this entire book, he feels emptier than ever. abercrombie really makes his characters fight so hard just for it to mean nothing at the end and basically lose everything, i love it.
tunny: he's literally just a guy. he's survived everything like a cockroach. and he has a bunch of young men to take care of who are absolutely clueless and were mostly hilarious. this was but one chapter in his many battles to come, with the ending showing that they're set to fight monza next.
finree dan brock: marriage is just a contract in which you aim to climb up the ladder. now i'm sure she feels affection for hal and everything, but the way she was just like yeah he's mostly a work in progress. i appreciate her ambition and her tongue to snap at men, bc she really is smarter than anyone else and deserves all her hard work at the end. i think you could blame the way she views other women and herself as "not like other girls" on abercrombie or you could say that's her flaw that she really does think she's better than everyone else and so do a lot of the women bc they're isolated from each other and forced to hate/compete with each other rather than band together against the Men. but i liked her concern for aliz as much as she tried.
curnden craw: sorry but as a union supporter, i wasn't his biggest fan. ofc i liked his little band of followers and their code of "honor" though it may be false. he's a man who keeps his word, though, a good man? idk. are any here good men? honorable at times, definitely, and better than most of his fellow northmen.
prince calder: a cowardly rat who i was so sure i could predict his character arc and then abercrombie drops that ending on me. he's a coward and a sneaky little rat and basically useless but i do love me those types of characters. who sow seeds with their words and use their brains rather than their fists. i was dreading what i thought would be a turn of heart and a leaf turned but surprisingly i was very appreciative of it.
beck: i'm sorry i cared not for his chapters nor his POV. what i will recognize is that he was just a teenager. he wanted to go to war, he wanted to prove himself, even stand up for his country. but just 3 days later (what felt like years to him), he returns home a changed man. just three days! but he's changed, scarred, and doesn't war do that to everyone...
caul shivers: um girl what happened! i still remember (bc i read it just yesterday lol) a shivers who wanted nothing more than to escape monza's scehemes and become a better man. lo and behold, here's a terrifying man who has an even worse reputation. known as black dow's dog, he's an engine for killing. in fact! he reminds me of logen, the king's right hand man who we know wanted to be better but also has a dark murderous side. it may be too late for him but i hope he finds some peace somewhere.
infuriating how we don't know whether logen is alive or dead. 🙄 give me answers pls!
bayaz: you know, i never thought much of him until last argument of kings. and now i think he's my fav character in this world (besides glokta). why you say? he's a maniac and he's a puppeteer and he ruins everything! probably why, after finishing succession season 1 (i haven't watched the other seasons so this may change) i found myself becoming a logan roy stan. i like characters who know their power and wield it. i like characters who easily manipulate people like it's blinking. i like that bayaz is so invested in the stability and longevity of the union bc that's where my faves live (jezal and glokta). i like that he's a little loopy in the head. i like that he has absolutely no regard for human lives so long as it gets him what he wants. so i'm definitely rooting for him all the way.
anyway, this had a lot of good things to say about war and every time i read an abercrombie book i'm like huh this is so relevant like 10+ years later. duels and fights were fun (and terrible at the same time). women like finree and wonderful got to have their moments even if they were on the frontlines of a man's game. i got my humor from gorst's constant complaining and calder's little schemes. and i got bayaz controlling everything in the shadows. except not really in the shadows, more like in plain sight and there's nothing anyone can do about that. i still like the first law trilogy better than the standalones, but i'm glad i did read them just for a little background for the next trilogy.
malphassador's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tuukkahu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I never thought I'd enjoy a war book this much. The characterization is excellent and there are funny and surprising moments.
neiman's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
screamweaver's review against another edition
3.0
The first half of this book is so boring and it's hard to get into, imo. But, it really picks up in that second half. If it had been that good all the way through, this would be up there with the rest for me. But it wasn't quite there for me. Still worth a read, and obviously it sets up quite a lot.