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anomaeus 's review for:
Before They Are Hanged
by Joe Abercrombie
This is what I look for in a sequel, especially when I had some uncertainties with the first book. I really, really enjoyed this follow-up to the Blade Itself. Much like a Song of Ice and Fire, our characters all start to intersect and some POV chapters are now combined into one big POV, and I absolutely love the interactions we get to see. It is so much fun to see these characters play off of each other, and especially the characters that you may or may not have a high opinion of. There's a lot of growth here. Everyone is sort of taken out of their comfort zones and thrown into impossible scenarios. Seeing them navigate these new situations is excellent, and we're meeting even more characters who become instant standouts.
I would say this improves on every single shortcoming from the first book. Characters that I didn't care for are now becoming the ones I most look forward to. There wasn't a single POV chapter that I didn't enjoy to some capacity. Their motivations are constantly evolving now, and the narrative with it. We have all of our players and now we're afforded the chance to see them make moves, grow, and in some cases regress. This very much feels more like a journey than the first entry did. We get to learn so much more about the history of the world, see a lot more of the magic on display, and new potentially world-changing consequences are established.
Each character is much more defined now, and it feels like Joe Abercrombie has grown as an author. All of it is just so much fun. Whereas I took my time with the Blade Itself, even took an extended break before finishing it -- Before They Are Hanged captivated me from beginning to end and it was my sole purpose to finish this book and didn't get distracted by any others.
I feel like this was just such a solid entry and to my understanding, it only gets better. I thankfully have its sequel already lined up, and I plan to start immediately.
I would say this improves on every single shortcoming from the first book. Characters that I didn't care for are now becoming the ones I most look forward to. There wasn't a single POV chapter that I didn't enjoy to some capacity. Their motivations are constantly evolving now, and the narrative with it. We have all of our players and now we're afforded the chance to see them make moves, grow, and in some cases regress. This very much feels more like a journey than the first entry did. We get to learn so much more about the history of the world, see a lot more of the magic on display, and new potentially world-changing consequences are established.
Each character is much more defined now, and it feels like Joe Abercrombie has grown as an author. All of it is just so much fun. Whereas I took my time with the Blade Itself, even took an extended break before finishing it -- Before They Are Hanged captivated me from beginning to end and it was my sole purpose to finish this book and didn't get distracted by any others.
I feel like this was just such a solid entry and to my understanding, it only gets better. I thankfully have its sequel already lined up, and I plan to start immediately.