Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Blade Itself

This book was something of an adventure for me as well as the characters.

Having seen some reviews depicting Abercrombie's characterization as one dimensional and stereotypical, I must admit that when first reading the book I began to wonder much the same myself. It seemed initially to be a bunch of base archetypes just doing stuff without much regard to plot. But being someone who is loathe to not finish a story once started, I continued on and feel now that these choices may be more intentional than they appear at first glance.

Abercrombie's stories seem to idle slowly, reveling in simply living within the world without unnecessary rushing of time lines for the sake of plot points or story length. I feel the story is offering a slow burn for the sake of realistic stakes and a more in depth character arc through a fuller experience of their various starting points.

It's refreshing to see characters dealing with more aspects of a personal reality if im honest. One of our main protagonists being an aging war monger trying to be better yet still fighting is all the more believable, in my eyes, when he fights more than one person and actually gets injured. His bloody transgressions in his youth not only haunt the fringes of his mind, but actively form his decision processes and, as shown later, are not entirely gone and are genuinely terrible to behold both for himself and the audience.

There's a subtle play on nuance throughout that I find interesting. Shifting situations just enough to subvert expectations for the genre without beating you over the head with the idea that that's what he's doing. Characters developing slowly and with caution as information is presented or withheld, experience had, and while their initial bases feel like archetypes, they are developing more like people than like characters. Even with the mysterious nature surrounding the interweaving of our characters, allowing it to just be left in mystery, while some may find it frustrating, feels to me to be angling a better build for a better payoff down the line.

So while one might argue that this entire book would be the composition of another book's building toward action, I'm glad to have somethin to work toward. Abercrombie's style may not be for everyone, but I enjoy it and can't wait to dig in further to see if my ideas are correct in that this is a story we'll earned rather than a story simply told.

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tweedlesmart's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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ripxw's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

4.25

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nerdkitten's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lashette's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was better than good but not amazing? I am intrigued to see where this is going. No one is really likeable, but everyone is either relatable or understandable. I was into the story from the beginning though we are dropped right in, no explanation whatsoever. Following seemingly random people for no reason. But each character is written in a compelling way. I'm not burning with the uncontrolled desire to know what happens next but I am interested to know. Also, boy is this violent. Mind the trigger and content warnings. Some of it is towards the main characters and some of it by them. All are morally grey at least. Definitely could've done without all the fatphobia.

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loganjana's review

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adventurous dark slow-paced

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

4.0

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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lenteja_virtual's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

A very interesting start for this triology. Altohugh not many things happens, the construction of the world, magic, religion and the presentation of the characters is very interesting. Can’t wait for the nex one.

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cgrays's review

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4.5

Vividly written, with an interesting world and characters. It's not for the faint of heart, however, and I think the harsh and pessimistic setting is too much to thoroughly recommend it to everyone. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I could ever read it again.

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