Reviews - Before They Are Hanged

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5.06k reviews for:

Before They Are Hanged

Joe Abercrombie

4.3 AVERAGE

ahmadrezamree's review against another edition

2.0

اگه صوتی گوش نمی‌دادم، هرگز تمومش نمی‌کردم
بنظرم 2.5 ستاره،با تخفیف 3 :(

tapleycronier's review against another edition

4.0

VERY solid 4.5 stars here. Addressed a lot of my issues with the first book and it’s “lack of plot” and gave each of the storylines we follow here clear distinct missions to follow. Very much a middle of the journey adventure, which felt a lot like parts of Lord of the Rings where everyone is just walking to their destination. Even had a Bill the Pony moment where they had to leave the horses behind and one of the characters suggested setting it free and hoping it is ok…followed immediately by another character decapitating it and saying they need the food. Not sure what else I expected from an author who has been dubbed “Lord Grimdark” but oh well. Anyways, really solid character development in this book and I’m excited to see where everything goes. I wasn’t FULLY emotionally invested which is the only thing keeping this from a 5, but I’m predicting that the last book in this trilogy will have me eating my words. Say one thing about Tapley Cronier, say he’s a sucker for good conclusions.

petatron's review against another edition

5.0

Yeah this was good. Guess I've got to grab a copy of the next book now?

jacksonmillion's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

“I pity you. You are a dog trying to understand the argument of scholars, and hearing nothing but barking.”

The ball is fuckin rollin now baby yeaaaahahahha! Say one thing about the first law trilogy, say it’s peak.

jaime_godino's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

etandeman's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-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

jai_sedai's review against another edition

4.75

4.75/5.00

Say one thing for Logan Ninefingers...

"I would have thought that your pain would give you empathy".

"Empathy? What's that?" Glokta winced as he rubbed at his aching leg. "It's a sad fact, but pain only makes you sorry for yourself".

Before They Are Hanged is beyond awesome. The humor, the characters, the dialogue, the action, the story and the theme of this book all blend to form a fantastic book. Joe Abercrombie has carved out his space in the genre of epic fantasy. His approach of writing military epic fantasy stories set in an uncompromising and gritty world filled with humor and fantastic characters is unique and genre-defining. How does he make me care for these despicable human beings ? These broken and horrible people who are astonishingly human. How does he write a story that is so perfectly paced and thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end ? How does he write such vivid action and large scale battles!

Make way for Lord GrimDark! His eminence will bless with more of these stories. The First Law Trilogy has already claimed #5 in my top 10 fantasy/sci-fi series. Where will it end up after book 3?

"No one here", he muttured to himself.
"Just as well", hissed Ferro's voice, not more than a stride or two behind. "You got a new way of scouting, pink. Make so much noise that they come to you".

Characters -> Jezel > Glokta > Ferro > Logan > West. Jezel Dan Luthar is the reason why this series so endearing. His character arc is so unique, a blend of redemption and coming of age, done to perfection. Glokta's redemption arc has kicked off, Logan's good humor is priceless and enjoyable in every page. The unexpected romance in the book is fantastically done. So much fun!!Some of West's moments are amazing as well. The struggle between patriotism, anger-issues and responsibility is so good. That moment when West Spoiler reflects on how sees himself as a failure and a coward at being unable to protect the Lord Marshall from Three trees while beating up his sister... holy hell! .

Plot -> The epic battles, the political maneuvering, the intimate character moments, the quest, the horror of war and all the humans in the middle. Before They are Hanged presents an excellent plot. Truly everything we need from this book. There were many things I did not see coming! Twists and turns, its awesome. The only issue here is that the simplicity of the first law world introduces a ceiling to how awesome the plot can be. Compare this trilogy to Mistborn Era 1, where the prose and character arcs are not as good, but the scope of the story has so much room. The world building creates a lot of intricacy to the story of Mistborn. But First Law will never as complex and hence there is a ceiling.

World Building -> I am loving the north men culture, the Gurkish, the pseudo British Union culture. There is nothing more to it. There could be a bit more.. this leaves me a little wanting, but I am okay. The point of this story is not about the world.

Prose -> Joe Abercrombie is the Lord of Character voice. You don't him to tell you whose POV you're reading. It is just that obvious. His description of action and battles is among the finest of fantasy. He is hilarious and competing with the likes of Terry Pratchett in writing humorously. I do hope he leans more into the humorous element of the story.