A review by surdiablo
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

4.0

After a slow month without much reading, I finally decided to bite the bullet and give the First Law series a try, since I heard so much about how amazing the characters are. I was a bit skeptical however since I am someone who usually values the story more than anything and I also heard that the first book doesn't have much of a plot, it's more of a setup. After finishing it now, I think there's definitely merit to that criticism since the book does end on a 'to be continued' way with no big payoff and I can see people finding it anti-climactic, even disappointing perhaps. When I think of the overall plot, there isn't much to remember at all either, especially considering the length of the book.

With all that said, I have come to realize something very much to my surprise. Say one thing about SurDiablo, say he didn't give a damn about the bloody plot! It's a book where nothing mind-blowing happens for the most part and I still really enjoyed it from top to bottom. I loved pretty much all of the characters in this and even those I didn't love, like Ferro, I still really really enjoyed their pov. I loved being in their shoes, their dialogue, their interactions with each other, the mystery, and the ever-present bleakness, combined with the dry humor. This is one of those rare books where I never felt bored at any point whatsoever and was always so tempted to get back to reading immediately. The descriptions never overstayed their welcome and I found the overall story more than interesting enough, but what mainly drove my interest was obviously the characters themselves. I found myself wanting to continue reading just to see what would happen to them, not concerned about story advancement at all. Heck, I can confidently say that I could read Glokta playing chess with his practicals and talking about random stuff for 3 hours and I wouldn't be bored at all. Suffice to say he's also my favorite character, closely followed by Logen the 'Bloody' Ninefingers. I have never felt so invested in characters like this before, except in Wheel of Time but that was a 14-book series, while this is a trilogy where I have read only one book so far.  

Another thing that caught me off-guard is how damn funny it was, regardless of being known as a major grimdark novel. It made me laugh several times, while not taking away the suspense or emotional impact. I cringed whenever
Glokta tortured someone or felt pain climbing stairs, I seethed when the gang lost Forley, I found my heart sinking and pretty much needed a break after reading West's chapter where he abused Ardee.
All these characters had been or continue to be assholes and their internal thoughts and external dialogue seamlessly blend together. They are flawed people with questionable morality and I still find myself being fascinated by them, even loving some of them, which is a testament to the author's amazing, realistic characterization. If this was a cinematic universe, I would say the closest comparison would be a Tarantino movie, with engrossing dialogue and raw violence. If this was the 'weakest' book in the series, I am really hyped to read the rest of them and I would recommend this series to those who love grey characters. :)
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