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4.48 AVERAGE
4.48 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Si può immaginare la Compagnia dell'Anello guidata da Saruman al posto di Gandalf? Con un Azzurro come Re degli uomini, al posto del virtuoso e inflessibile Aragorn?
Abercrombie ci ha un po' provato, e in gran parte anche riuscito. I suoi protagonisti sono insopportabili quando va male, positivi ma avviati per una brutta brutta china quando va bene. Non mi hanno fatta sentire al codazzo di una compagnia di eroi, o di "simpatici fuorilegge dal cuore tenero", rilassata e convinta che avrebbero vinto alla fine. Nel senso che non ero proprio sicura di volere che vincessero...
Insomma, se volete un fantasy vecchio stile dovreste guardare altrove, perché questo per alcuni versi non lascia soddisfatti. Però ho cercato immediatamente se ci fossero dei seguiti ambientati nello stesso mondo, perché voglio sapere, perdinci, soprattutto per alcuni di loro, voglio sapere!
Il più grosso difetto che ascrivo al libro è la scrittura a volte ripetitiva, che, in un'edizione comprensiva dell'intera trilogia, con ben 1100 pagine da macinare, si è fatta sentire in diversi punti. Alcuni personaggi hanno dei siparietti fissi (Glotka e le sue "scale maledetteh!") che vengono riproposti pressoché uguali ogni volta, a volte ho distintamente percepito frasi che avrebbero potuto essere tagliate con grande tranquillità senza alterare minimamente l'andamento della storia, combattimenti troppo dettagliati senza essere davvero emozionanti (quante volte una spada può "mancarti di un soffio", o un alleato salvarti all'ultimo minuto dal nemico con la mannaia che già si abbassa su di te?).
Possibile che leggendo i libri separatamente i difetti si percepiscano di meno, ma in un'epoca un cui un fantasy non può non essere una trilogia-mattone, mi piacerebbe non avere l'impressione che l'autore venga pagato a parola come ai tempi di Dickens.
Il linguaggio scurrile è in alcuni punti un po' gratuito, con nobili che potrebbero far sfigurare gli scaricatori di porto, anche lì ho avuto l'impressione che fosse fatto apposta per "distinguersi da solito fantasy" e dimostrare che "siamo nel mondo di Mainaggioia, mica la Terra di Mezzo".
Ecco, lo consiglio, ma non mettetelo in mano ai più giovani, fatevelo dire da una che di traumi da letture precoci ne ha avuti tanti.
Letto per le sfide
1. Scaffali traboccanti 2021: (8/20)
2. Randomly 2021: (8/10)
3. Alphabet 2021 per Un libro il cui titolo inizi per P
4. Esimio sconosciuto 2021: (3/20)
5. Extra-Large 2021: modalità difficile (1/9) - #1152 pagine
Abercrombie ci ha un po' provato, e in gran parte anche riuscito. I suoi protagonisti sono insopportabili quando va male, positivi ma avviati per una brutta brutta china quando va bene. Non mi hanno fatta sentire al codazzo di una compagnia di eroi, o di "simpatici fuorilegge dal cuore tenero", rilassata e convinta che avrebbero vinto alla fine. Nel senso che non ero proprio sicura di volere che vincessero...
Insomma, se volete un fantasy vecchio stile dovreste guardare altrove, perché questo per alcuni versi non lascia soddisfatti. Però ho cercato immediatamente se ci fossero dei seguiti ambientati nello stesso mondo, perché voglio sapere, perdinci, soprattutto per alcuni di loro, voglio sapere!
Il più grosso difetto che ascrivo al libro è la scrittura a volte ripetitiva, che, in un'edizione comprensiva dell'intera trilogia, con ben 1100 pagine da macinare, si è fatta sentire in diversi punti. Alcuni personaggi hanno dei siparietti fissi (Glotka e le sue "scale maledetteh!") che vengono riproposti pressoché uguali ogni volta, a volte ho distintamente percepito frasi che avrebbero potuto essere tagliate con grande tranquillità senza alterare minimamente l'andamento della storia, combattimenti troppo dettagliati senza essere davvero emozionanti (quante volte una spada può "mancarti di un soffio", o un alleato salvarti all'ultimo minuto dal nemico con la mannaia che già si abbassa su di te?).
Possibile che leggendo i libri separatamente i difetti si percepiscano di meno, ma in un'epoca un cui un fantasy non può non essere una trilogia-mattone, mi piacerebbe non avere l'impressione che l'autore venga pagato a parola come ai tempi di Dickens.
Il linguaggio scurrile è in alcuni punti un po' gratuito, con nobili che potrebbero far sfigurare gli scaricatori di porto, anche lì ho avuto l'impressione che fosse fatto apposta per "distinguersi da solito fantasy" e dimostrare che "siamo nel mondo di Mainaggioia, mica la Terra di Mezzo".
Ecco, lo consiglio, ma non mettetelo in mano ai più giovani, fatevelo dire da una che di traumi da letture precoci ne ha avuti tanti.
Letto per le sfide
1. Scaffali traboccanti 2021: (8/20)
2. Randomly 2021: (8/10)
3. Alphabet 2021 per Un libro il cui titolo inizi per P
4. Esimio sconosciuto 2021: (3/20)
5. Extra-Large 2021: modalità difficile (1/9) - #1152 pagine
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Yes, I admit it. I am one of the many that started reading the first law trilogy trying to divert my mind from the eternal waiting for The Winds of Winter release. And got trapped into this amazing world. Amazing yes, but not in a fully positive way. Actually this world amazes you for its cruelty and darkness. And for its characters.
Why?
I will answer through a quote from the Dogman, one of the few characters in this series that I would venture as far as to define "good":
Why?
I will answer through a quote from the Dogman, one of the few characters in this series that I would venture as far as to define "good":
"He took a long breath of the cold, wet air, and frowned down at the earth over Grim's grave. He wondered if he'd know a good man from an evil, any more. He wondered what the difference was".
-The Dogman (Last Argument of Kings - Ch. Good Men, Evil Men)
And that's it. That's the main ingredient of the magic.
When you first begin to read The Blade Itself you are unintentionally marking every character: Luthar is an idiot, Bayaz is good and wise, Glokta is wicked, Khalul is evil... But then, slowly, as you read on, piece by piece all these certainties fade away.
And Luthar grows wiser, Bayaz looks like an old man craving for power and interested only in settling his own scores, we start to sympathize for Glokta as we begin to discover his thoughts, and after all we are not sure anymore that Khalul and his eaters stand on the wrong side. And after all, is there such a thing as the wrong side?
When you first begin to read The Blade Itself you are unintentionally marking every character: Luthar is an idiot, Bayaz is good and wise, Glokta is wicked, Khalul is evil... But then, slowly, as you read on, piece by piece all these certainties fade away.
And Luthar grows wiser, Bayaz looks like an old man craving for power and interested only in settling his own scores, we start to sympathize for Glokta as we begin to discover his thoughts, and after all we are not sure anymore that Khalul and his eaters stand on the wrong side. And after all, is there such a thing as the wrong side?
"It is hard sometimes, to know what is... the truth." The eater lifted up his bloody right hand and frowned at it. "It is fitting that a righteous man should have... doubts."
-An Eater (Last Argument of Kings - Ch. Reckonings)
In the first law there seems to be no such a thing as good or evil, there are only characters and the choices they are confronted with, and very often we see how deeds and personality of the characters clash together. To say it with Sand dan Glokta:
"Why do I do this? Why?"
-Sand dan Glokta (more or less always)
And after all isn't it so in real life? Is there really such a thing as "evil"? Or are there only people with their opinions and beliefs? Maybe there is such a thing as evil, but more often what we find is just a flow of events, and people trapped in them:
"He looked down at his hands, pink and clean on the stone. “There are few men with more blood on their hands than me. None, that I know of. The Bloody-Nine they call me, my enemies, and there’s a lot of ’em. Always more enemies, and fewer friends. Blood gets you nothing but more blood. It follows me now, always, like my shadow, and like my shadow I can never be free of it. I should never be free of it. I’ve earned it. I’ve deserved it. I’ve sought it out. Such is my punishment.” "
-Logen Ninefingers (The Blade Itself - Ch. The King of the Northmen)
Is it a five stars? In my opinion no. After all:
"You have to be realistic about these things"
-Logen Ninefingers (more or less always)
The female characters are a bit underdeveloped and shallow when compared to the male counterparts.
You enjoy the characters, for sure, but you spend literally the whole first book (which I did not like much) wondering what is actually the story about. The second book, while enormously enjoyable, contains many events that at the end of the day one finds out to be utterly useless for the story. Of course, these can be regarded as well as fresh and good plot choices, after all real stories happen in the middle of a lot of irrelevant events. But to me the plot feels here and there somewhat lacking.
For the new reader: you might be tempted to drop the reading after the first book, which, in my opinion, is the worst of the three: well written but on the whole it does not take the story many steps further. My advice? Keep on reading at least till half of the second book, that is where I really started getting into the story.
Joe Abercrombie is one of those authors that spent far too much time on my to-read list. I was never really sure where to start, unsure of which of his trilogies I wanted to read, but in the end the choice was made for me. My friend gave me a collection of his books, included were the first three books from the First Law world. So it was, I knew where I was to start with Abercrombie’s work.
I wasn’t overly fond of the first book. In my opinion, it took too long to truly start. The character development was wonderful, yet it seemed to overshadow the story. In essence, I felt as though the first book didn’t really move at all. The second book changed that. I really enjoyed the second one. The third book was also great. It wasn’t quite as good as the second book, but so much happened that left a smile on my face. Overall, the trilogy took a while to get started but once it was moving it was a lot of fun.
A great trilogy for any fan of fantasy, although it will never be my number one choice in the genre.
I wasn’t overly fond of the first book. In my opinion, it took too long to truly start. The character development was wonderful, yet it seemed to overshadow the story. In essence, I felt as though the first book didn’t really move at all. The second book changed that. I really enjoyed the second one. The third book was also great. It wasn’t quite as good as the second book, but so much happened that left a smile on my face. Overall, the trilogy took a while to get started but once it was moving it was a lot of fun.
A great trilogy for any fan of fantasy, although it will never be my number one choice in the genre.
adventurous
dark
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
The character work is brilliant as per the other books in this series. I found the fight scenes quite tricky to follow so I got bored quickly during them, and there were a lot of fight scenes throughout the book!
A good trilogy, but the female characters were flat and poorly realised.
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Amazing. I can't believe I've waited this long to read this series. And I even got to see Abercrombie in person at the Gollancz book festival last year!
I loved everything about this series. The characters, the way Abercrombie takes standard tropes and turns them on their head. In a way, they probably quite realistic as people being racist and having teeth falling out and not really knowing much beyond their own borders is what it would have been like in the Dark Ages/Middle Ages. Similar to GRRM I suppose. The story itself is great, the typical quest, the fight, the 'standard' characters. Brilliant.
I loved these so much that I've already started reading the stand alones!!
Can't recommend enough.
I loved everything about this series. The characters, the way Abercrombie takes standard tropes and turns them on their head. In a way, they probably quite realistic as people being racist and having teeth falling out and not really knowing much beyond their own borders is what it would have been like in the Dark Ages/Middle Ages. Similar to GRRM I suppose. The story itself is great, the typical quest, the fight, the 'standard' characters. Brilliant.
I loved these so much that I've already started reading the stand alones!!
Can't recommend enough.