The Blade Itself

, #1

eBook, 422 pages

English language

Published June 18, 2009 by Gollancz.

ISBN:
978-0-575-07979-3
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(3 reviews)

Logen Ninefingers, infamous barbarian, has finally run out of luck. Caught in one feud too many, he’s on the verge of becoming a dead barbarian – leaving nothing behind him but bad songs, dead friends, and a lot of happy enemies.

Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long …

3 editions

reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

A par force expedition across half a continent and several loosely coupled storylines

Good writing, about a thoroughly decadent society and extremely ambiguous characters set in it with a sprinkle of religion and history added. It's completely unclear where the story is going after having read the first book, so I'm curious how it culminates and ends up.

reviewed The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (The First Law, #1)

Enjoyable but feels too much like setup

The First Law series has been recommended to me for a long time, and I finally decided to dive in. Abercrombie's reputation as a great character writer is well deserved, but the first book in the series is a bit light on plot. I will continue with the rest of the series, as I've heard that the plot gets better after the first entry.

Subjects

  • Fantasy
  • Fantasy - Epic
  • Fiction - Fantasy
  • Science Fiction & Fantasy Fiction
  • Fantasy fiction