You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Scan barcode
the_one_krissy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Okay, now I can finally scratch "read an Abercrombie book" off my bucket list. Did I like the book? Yes. Did I still have issues with it? Oh yes. Do I now get what all the fuss is about? Not really, not yet. Do I intend to continue with this series? Definitely, but I'm not in any particular rush to do so.
The feeling I got from this book was that it was setting up the scene for something bigger, and that was pretty much it, although the audiobook seemed to last forever and a day (the narrator did an excellent job, though, so I can't say I minded all that much). It introduced the main characters, but didn't give them a whole lot to do (yet, I'm guessing). It did some world-building but still left me rather confused as to what's where and what it has got to do with anything. As a matter of fact, if the writing and dialogue hadn't been so engaging, I'd probably have been bored to tears at some point.
Fortunately, the prose was very good and I loved the dialogue. The characters... Glokta grew on me against my better judgment and Bayaz is interesting, but at this point Jezal is a whiny brat who deserves to get his ass kicked, Ferro is just plain crazy, and I'm indifferent about Logen. They're all pretty interesting folk, though, and I'm hopeful I'll grow to enjoy them more in the sequels.
Where was the female representation, though? Ardee and Ferro were the only women of any consequence in this book, and that is not saying a lot, because one of them is relegated to the role of Jezal's manipulative love interest only, and the other does not have anything else than fighting and revenge in her life. I'm hoping to see some improvement on this front, too.
Another thing that I wasn't all that enthused about were the fight scenes. Some people hate reading romance - I tend to space out and doze off when presented by a blow-by-blow account of a fight. I do not care, please just get on with it.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I believe that the series gets better like I've been told. I can see there's potential, plus I really did love the dialogue and Glokta's seething sarcasm.
The feeling I got from this book was that it was setting up the scene for something bigger, and that was pretty much it, although the audiobook seemed to last forever and a day (the narrator did an excellent job, though, so I can't say I minded all that much). It introduced the main characters, but didn't give them a whole lot to do (yet, I'm guessing). It did some world-building but still left me rather confused as to what's where and what it has got to do with anything. As a matter of fact, if the writing and dialogue hadn't been so engaging, I'd probably have been bored to tears at some point.
Fortunately, the prose was very good and I loved the dialogue. The characters... Glokta grew on me against my better judgment and Bayaz is interesting, but at this point Jezal is a whiny brat who deserves to get his ass kicked, Ferro is just plain crazy, and I'm indifferent about Logen. They're all pretty interesting folk, though, and I'm hopeful I'll grow to enjoy them more in the sequels.
Where was the female representation, though? Ardee and Ferro were the only women of any consequence in this book, and that is not saying a lot, because one of them is relegated to the role of Jezal's manipulative love interest only, and the other does not have anything else than fighting and revenge in her life. I'm hoping to see some improvement on this front, too.
Another thing that I wasn't all that enthused about were the fight scenes. Some people hate reading romance - I tend to space out and doze off when presented by a blow-by-blow account of a fight. I do not care, please just get on with it.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I believe that the series gets better like I've been told. I can see there's potential, plus I really did love the dialogue and Glokta's seething sarcasm.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture and Violence
Minor: Misogyny and Cannibalism
coulro's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, and War
kylieqrada's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-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
4.5
4.5 ⭐s. I know, I know. Everyone's on a First Law kick rn. But mention a character-driven fantasy series with morally gray leads to me and I am THERE. This first installment did not disappoint. I can see epic re-read potential for these books. And while I do love Glokta as much as the next guy, I'm kind of a Logen Ninefingers gal myself??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, and Slavery
Minor: Rape, Vomit, and Cannibalism
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: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Infidelity, Rape, Excrement, Trafficking, Cannibalism, and Death of parent
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: Child death, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Ableism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Slavery
Minor: Vomit and Cannibalism
bibliophilicwitch's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder
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: Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Fatphobia, Slavery, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Racial slurs, Vomit, Cannibalism, and Religious bigotry
podanotherjessi's review
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is not nearly as devoid of plot as so many claim, which is definitely a point in the book's favor. But it's still primarily character driven for the first 2/3 or more of the book, so when you don't really latch onto the characters, it's hard to be invested. There was really only one plot line that kept me interested, so until the rest of the stories started converging with that one, I was really uncertain how I felt. Now that I've finished, I know I liked it, but I'm not sure of much beyond that. I will definitely be continuing the series though because I am very curious to see where it all leads.
Characters: 8
Plot: 6
Setting: 7
General Appeal: 7
Writing Style: 9
Originality: 8
Ending: 7
Characters: 8
Plot: 6
Setting: 7
General Appeal: 7
Writing Style: 9
Originality: 8
Ending: 7
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Cannibalism
shadereads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fatphobia, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and Classism
Minor: Rape, Dementia, Cannibalism, and War
More...