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13octopus's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexism, Torture, and Xenophobia
Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Excrement, Infidelity, Rape, and Trafficking
tinyelfarcanist's review
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I found myself oddly engrossed by this book where nothing happens.
Well-developed characters kept me wanting to read, but for the most part I wasn't sure where the story was going. ("spoilers": Nowhere.)
The main POVs are by these characters:
Logen Ninefingers has just lost everything. He doesn't have time to mourn, just to survive.He didn't mourn even when he finally has some time to rest and it bothered me that his loss might just be a cheap tool.
Sand dan Glokta is a horrible human being. He has suffered enough to still inspire some sympathy.
Jezal dan Luthar is an arrogant and narcissist noble. His story was the one I found the most engaging.I guess I've got a soft-spot for assholes in love
It fails the Bechdel test as the only two (relevant) female characters never meet. One of them was my favorite and I can't wait to read more about her.
I loved and loved to hate the characters. This book is just the setting up of the world and characters, but I'm definitely invested in The First Law world.
The Blade Itself is, as the inquisitors would say:
'Excellent,' said Glokta brightly.
'Excellent,' said Severard.
'Etherer,' said Practical Frost.
Well-developed characters kept me wanting to read, but for the most part I wasn't sure where the story was going. ("spoilers": Nowhere.)
The main POVs are by these characters:
Logen Ninefingers has just lost everything. He doesn't have time to mourn, just to survive.
Sand dan Glokta is a horrible human being. He has suffered enough to still inspire some sympathy.
Jezal dan Luthar is an arrogant and narcissist noble. His story was the one I found the most engaging.
It fails the Bechdel test as the only two (relevant) female characters never meet. One of them was my favorite and I can't wait to read more about her.
I loved and loved to hate the characters. This book is just the setting up of the world and characters, but I'm definitely invested in The First Law world.
The Blade Itself is, as the inquisitors would say:
'Excellent,' said Glokta brightly.
'Excellent,' said Severard.
'Etherer,' said Practical Frost.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Slavery
Minor: Cannibalism and Vomit
blakethebookeater's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is nasty and brilliant and I loved it.
The perfect example of how to do a grim dark fantasy novel: dark and also funny as hell.
The Blade Itself follows three main POVs (with some other minor ones sprinkled throughout): Logen, Jezal, and Glotka.
Logen is a warrior who formerly fought for the newly declared King of the North, Bethod. Now he’s on the run from Bethod’s men and dealing with the creatures encroaching on the North known as the Shanka. As he finds himself wandering, he’s drawn to the First of the Magi...the mysterious man known as Bayaz.
Jezal is a pretentious prick. And everyone knows it except for him. He is a fencing prodigy and is training for the big tournament where he’s expected to win for the Union. His balance is thrown off however, when his good friends Major West’s sister Ardee arrives and begins to challenge everything he thought he knew.
Glotka is an Inquisitor. And he’s very good at asking questions. Having survived his own torture as a prisoner of war, Glotka is familiar with how to make someone talk...with the right instruments of course. When he’s tasked with uncovering a mystery in the Union, Glotka and his two Practicals must follow the clues to its bloody end, no matter how many twisted bodies they have to leave in their wake.
Joe Abercrombie is absolutely masterful with his character work. Each character has such a distinct voice (this was helped by the stellar audiobook whose narrator literally crafted a unique voice for *every* character), and this was one of the few books where almost every character on the page felt fully fleshed out and realized. I felt like I had truly stepped into a fully formed world and was excited with every single chapter that I read.
This is primarily a character-driven book, but that doesn’t mean it has a plot. The plot unfolds slowly and steadily; there wasn’t a single moment where I wasn’t invested in what was going to happen next. I would go on long drives just to fit in another chapter, or two, or three.
And yes this book is obviously setting the stage for what is to come in the next two books but the setup was enjoyable as hell. I’m so impressed with this book and so invested in these characters and this story. These characters are all pretty much various shades of awful, terrible people...but they are so relentlessly entertaining to read about that I was rooting for them even so. I cannot wait to see where Abercrombie takes these characters and their stories next!
*quick note as to why I gave this 4.5 stars instead of a full 5: so because these characters are bad people, and we’re in their heads for their POV chapters, it can be uncomfortable at times. Something that I did notice happen quite a number of times was the way that fat characters were described. It made me very uncomfortable to see these characters all be shamed for their weight, how much they ate, and other terrible stereotypes about fat people. Now I believe this is because of the CHARACTERS’ prejudices and their descriptions and NOT the author’s. But it happened enough times to make me uncomfortable. I really hope that in the rest of the series there might be other POVs that aren’t so harsh in their judgment of these characters and it will be able to reinforce that it was just these few characters’ prejudices and not the author’s.*
The perfect example of how to do a grim dark fantasy novel: dark and also funny as hell.
The Blade Itself follows three main POVs (with some other minor ones sprinkled throughout): Logen, Jezal, and Glotka.
Logen is a warrior who formerly fought for the newly declared King of the North, Bethod. Now he’s on the run from Bethod’s men and dealing with the creatures encroaching on the North known as the Shanka. As he finds himself wandering, he’s drawn to the First of the Magi...the mysterious man known as Bayaz.
Jezal is a pretentious prick. And everyone knows it except for him. He is a fencing prodigy and is training for the big tournament where he’s expected to win for the Union. His balance is thrown off however, when his good friends Major West’s sister Ardee arrives and begins to challenge everything he thought he knew.
Glotka is an Inquisitor. And he’s very good at asking questions. Having survived his own torture as a prisoner of war, Glotka is familiar with how to make someone talk...with the right instruments of course. When he’s tasked with uncovering a mystery in the Union, Glotka and his two Practicals must follow the clues to its bloody end, no matter how many twisted bodies they have to leave in their wake.
Joe Abercrombie is absolutely masterful with his character work. Each character has such a distinct voice (this was helped by the stellar audiobook whose narrator literally crafted a unique voice for *every* character), and this was one of the few books where almost every character on the page felt fully fleshed out and realized. I felt like I had truly stepped into a fully formed world and was excited with every single chapter that I read.
This is primarily a character-driven book, but that doesn’t mean it has a plot. The plot unfolds slowly and steadily; there wasn’t a single moment where I wasn’t invested in what was going to happen next. I would go on long drives just to fit in another chapter, or two, or three.
And yes this book is obviously setting the stage for what is to come in the next two books but the setup was enjoyable as hell. I’m so impressed with this book and so invested in these characters and this story. These characters are all pretty much various shades of awful, terrible people...but they are so relentlessly entertaining to read about that I was rooting for them even so. I cannot wait to see where Abercrombie takes these characters and their stories next!
*quick note as to why I gave this 4.5 stars instead of a full 5: so because these characters are bad people, and we’re in their heads for their POV chapters, it can be uncomfortable at times. Something that I did notice happen quite a number of times was the way that fat characters were described. It made me very uncomfortable to see these characters all be shamed for their weight, how much they ate, and other terrible stereotypes about fat people. Now I believe this is because of the CHARACTERS’ prejudices and their descriptions and NOT the author’s. But it happened enough times to make me uncomfortable. I really hope that in the rest of the series there might be other POVs that aren’t so harsh in their judgment of these characters and it will be able to reinforce that it was just these few characters’ prejudices and not the author’s.*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia, Slavery, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Ableism, Cannibalism, Child death, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Vomit
maiagaia's review
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
(There’s a tl;dr at the bottom of the review, if you are so inclined.)
“History is littered with dead, good men.”
Characters
As many before me have said, and as many after me will doubtless say as well, Joe Abercrombie’s handling of character in this book is flawless. Every character, from the biggest to the smallest, is as complex and well-wrought as other authors hope their main character might be.
The main characters are not loveable thieves or charismatic cads. They are murderers and torturers and painfully human. (Except for Jezal, who is an insufferable twit, but even he has flashes of being a real human with real emotions.) One character in particular, who will remain nameless for the sake of possible spoilers, lulled me into believing that I had found The One Truly Good Character, and that illusion was shattered in a terrible way.
World-building
Abercrombie’s world-building is a distant second to his characterization. He throws around country and city names, mythic and historical figures, and geographic information that I’m sure will become relevant in later books in the trilogy, but on a first read-through, they were mostly meaningless.
As for the uniqueness of the world, that is also a bust. This is another medieval Europe-inspired fantasy world with “Northmen” who live in tribes, love fighting and violence, and are viewed as savages by citizens of “The Union.” (Vikings, they’re Vikings.) There’s a country called “Angland,” for god’s sake.
As harsh as that might sound, I really didn’t mind it. It was clear to me within the first quarter of the book that this was going to be about the characters and little else. That doesn’t bother me, but it might bother other readers. I wasn’t thrilled by the world, but that’s not a deal-breaker for me. If you are looking for a unique or fleshed-out world, this is neither of those things.
Plot
This is setup for the rest of the trilogy, and as such, it’s a lot of getting characters where they need to be for the next book. While reading, I had someone ask me what the book was about, and I honestly couldn’t tell them because there is very little in the way of plot. If you are a reader who needs a cogent plot, this is probably not the book for you.
Writing Style
Abercrombie’s style is nothing to write home about. It is economical and to-the-point. It makes for a relatively quick read, considering the book taps out at 501 pages (in my edition). Despite that, I still found myself dog-earing and underlining quite a few lines and passages.
He doesn’t use simplicity as a cop-out. Rather, his style allows certain lines to pack even more of a punch because they stand out against the straight-forwardness of the prose. He uses this in a couple of ways.
Repetition is the first one I noticed. Each character has certain things, mantras almost, which they repeat to themselves. The first time you read these thoughts, they reveal something about the character. By the end of the book, those phrases were breaking my heart on sight. Of course, they are used judiciously, so don’t worry about them becoming TOO repetitive.
The other way Abercrombie utilizes his prose to its fullest extent is including only a few flowery descriptions. It makes those descriptions pack more of a punch because you’re not expecting a break from the more straight-foward style. The best example I can give is near the end of the book. Early in the chapter, an action is described as being “slow as the sun rising,” and then at the end of that chapter, which is very eventful, another action is described as being “slow as the light fading at sunset.” I’m not kidding when I say that brought tears to my eyes. The simplicity of his prose allowed me to find that connection, which in the context of the events of the chapter, ratcheted up my feelings and my investment in what happened. And all it took was a handful of extra words.
Another bonus: I have the sense of humor of a dry sponge, but Abercrombie was able to pull a few laughs from me, which is more than most authors can say.
Conclusion
All in all, this was a great read for me. I enjoyed it all the way through, and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone who is interested in grimdark character-driven fantasy. The closest (and most obvious) comparison I can make is to George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. If you liked one, I imagine you’ll like the other. Keep in mind that this is a grimdark series, so please tread carefully and take note of trigger warnings if you are at all concerned about that sort of thing.
“The sort of place that might make a man nervous, if he was prone to nervousness. He might imagine unpleasant things in these chambers, just beyond the lamplight, and horrible acts taking place in the darkness… But we are not prone to nervousness. Perhaps we are the unpleasant things. Perhaps the acts are ours.”
TL;DR
Character: Some of the best I’ve ever read. Full fleshed out. Morally gray in the truest sense of the term.
World-building: Unoriginal and sparse but functional. Not something that bothered me because the characters make up for it.
Plot: Very little going on. This is set-up for the rest of trilogy, so we mostly follow characters to where they will need to be for the second book. Once again, it didn't bother me because the characters carry it.
Writing style: Simple and straightforward but still packs a punch emotionally.
In short, a great read if you’re looking for more character-driven stories and don’t need a rigid magic system or wholly unique world. Warning: do not take the grimdark label lightly. I’ll include trigger warnings below. Be careful.
Reread #1: This is even stronger on a reread probably because it's not plot-focused. The characters I thought were suspicious by the end of my first read were even more suspicious this time around. The characters my heart broke for broke my heart again.
Reread #1: This is even stronger on a reread probably because it's not plot-focused. The characters I thought were suspicious by the end of my first read were even more suspicious this time around. The characters my heart broke for broke my heart again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, and Dementia
Minor: Misogyny, Rape, and Vomit
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