4.5 Stars

"Say one thing about Joe Abercrombie, say that he is an excellent character writer."

There is nothing more than i desire a book like this for a character focused reader.

Reading The First Law trilogy is something that i was planning for more than a year and i was waiting for the right time to come through for that. Now that i have read the first book, i am waiting for starting the next one as soon as possible.

I started this book with so much hope and ready to enjoy the "well praised" series but i was really really bored for the first 30% of the book. There were no plot but only things happening and there is no connection either. I even started doubting that "Is this the book everyone loved so much or am i reading a wrong book?". Then i read some of the non spoiler review of this book that this one doesn't have a plot and only character study. So i switched off that part of my brain who looks for a plot and continued reading the book and thats when i understood why this book is a greatness.

With just one book read, now Joe Abercrombie sits on one of the top positions in my Favourite Authors ever list. ( )

Really disappointing given the reviews. I thought the story was long and boring and found the book a real slog to get through. I can't recommend this one at all. ( )

The blade itself is one of the better fantasy books I've read recently - and I am pleased that it is part of a trilogy, so there is more to come.

The characters are well drawn, none of them fall into the categories "too good to be true" or "absolutely evil villain" - they come in various shades of grey. The author does a good job to describe the characters, their motives, aims and problems. We have a barbarian who lost almost everything and just wants the fighting to end, an inquisitor who used to be a champion until he was caught and tortured by the enemy, an arrogant, selfish and inexperienced noble - it would take too long to describe them all in detail here. None of them would qualify as prince charming, as a person I would choose to become a friend in real life - but I got to like them over the course of the book, even (or especially) those behaving in a morally questionable way. One of the downsides is the total lack of interesting female characters. The only women here are a former slave trying to hate and distrust the whole world and the sister of an army officer, the love interest of our previously mentioned noble.

The setting is much darker, much more realistic than some of the older fantasy settings. Fights are dirty and bloody, the politic situation is unstable at best with barbarians threatening from the north and old enemies raising again in the south, many different factions try to gain advantages over the others - some are successful, others die trying.

The author manages to create a good mixture of setting describtion (not too much, just enough to make the world become a vivid place), character interaction, dirty action scenes and humorous elements. I found myself laughing out loud or grinning quite often over the course of the book. The writing style is lacking a bit - but this is a first work, I think the author has great potential. ( )

The Blade Itself will undoubtedly become classic fantasy. I found it engrossing, and one of the best examples of the "darker" epic fantasies, with protagonists lacking in traditional heroic qualities and quests that are less than selfless. I liked the way the story was constructed, primarily following three main characters, with a fourth was added partway through the book. I was fairly certain they would intersect at some point, so part of the interest in the story is seeing how their individual tales will intertwine. The stories of each are mostly linear, with some appropriate flashbacks, but never done so choppily that one can't tell primary time frame. I can't tell you what a relief this is; I've been reading too many deconstructionist sort of fantasies lately where narrative skill is dropped for the ease of disjointed four-page scenes. Does everyone have narrative ADD? However, I digress.

Abercrombie has a gift for clear storytelling without simplicity. While I had heard this was a "dark fantasy," with unlikeable characters, I would wholeheartedly disagree, at least within the confines of this book. Perhaps on the surface our three main characters are unlikeable--one a 'barbarian' with a very bloody past, Logen Ninefingers; one a vain and talented peacock, Captain Jezel; and the last a maimed and internally tortured torturer, Inquisitor Glokta--but they are imbued with a humanity that makes them likeable despite themselves. Frequently we are privy to their decision-making process, and it becomes evident that their motives are more complex than simple bloodthirst, vanity or hate. Ninefingers is undergoing a shift in his feelings on fighting and war, after losing everything he has loved. It's lovely seeing how the entitled noble Jezel finds himself attracted to someone very different than he, and the stages he goes through as he realizes his love. Glokta's interactions with the Arch Lector are stunning; we quickly develop the sense of the long term and unethical mechaniations of the Arch Lector and develop further sympathy for the poor torturer. It was a brilliant way to help readers understand the political ramifications of the actions we've been witnessing without a lot of dreary exposition or monologues.

A portentous and sinister air developes through the book. There is the larger issue of the Union and it's surrounding countries preparing for war, and the local issue of a power vacuum around king's throne, and competing interests. The evil characters are frightening-the Northmen have a sorceress working with them, and the Emperor of Gurkhul uses monsters called "Eaters" as enforcers. Nonetheless, there are light moments, and moments of redemption, even in beginning chapters, such as when Logen decides to rescue someone, even if it should mean his death. It's an astonishing level of complexity, but Abercrombie handles it well.

I've already got the second book on my shelf waiting to be read.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2012/12/27/the-blade-itself-by-joe-abercrombie/ ( )

I ATE THIS BOOK. 3 days and i'm done. I loved it. Perfectly paced , every character feels real given the circumstances. Sure the writing is not so elegant as the other big names in Fantasy genre. But this has something that hooks you and doesn't let go. It is grim and cruel ,but refreshingly so. Not the "lets hold our hands together and dance around" kind of book. It just feels right. Cannot wait for the evening to come so that I can grab part 2 of this series. Joe I bow my head to you. ( )