Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Blade Itself

As a standalone, this book is nothing but a character study, and the characters don't have much growth considering it's five hundred pages long. Five hundred pages of exposition for a story I am frankly not overly interested in continuing. Logen is this book's saving grace, as is the juxtaposition between him and Glokta. I am perhaps giving it the benefit of the doubt with rating, assuming it's all worth it down the line. Given all that, is a fascinating exercise in character- and (arguably) world-building. Unfortunately, I could write an essay on the seeming afterthought of the relatively flat female character(s). Again, I've been told this gets better. We'll see.

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josiah17's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense 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

5.0

Edit 8/10/24: I've gone back and forth with rating this 4.5 or 5 stars, but I'm firmly leaving it at 5 stars this time. I think about First Law too much. I love it, and this book is fantastic even though there's hardly a plot.

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This was great. The prose is wonderfully readable and fluid. The book starts very character focused with extremely well realized characters. Every POV is engaging. The plot is not the most captivating, but that doesn't matter when you write characters and dialogue like Abercrombie can. However, the plot does pick up near the end and there's a sense of direction for where this story is headed. And I'm very intrigued.

I also love the world Abercrombie has crafted here. It subtlety mysterious, and it feels vast and grand in scope, which is always something I want to feel when immersed in a fantasy world.

I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of Abercrombie's works in the First Law universe. He's instantly a new favorite author.

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foxmulders's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

3.75

i had fun but i am not super into trilogies that dont have much pay off within each book… this whole book felt like a lengthy exposition. love logen and bayaz tho.

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amir_hamza's review against another edition

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dark funny slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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lindseythelibrarian's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

5.0

I highly recommend reading the intro in the hardcover edition discussing Abercrombie‘s feelings towards the book. It released some rap what iPhone to be true in the book regarding tone, understanding, inspiration, etc. this is definitely a grim fantasy and I found myself a very attached the characters within the first 50 to 60% and not caring watch about the plot. However, once we got to the 70 to 75% marker I was fully engrossed in the plot and the characters! I usually don’t read books like this, and have a big book phobia cola, but I will definitely read the rest of the series!

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