nikolastotiev's review
4.0
If I had to sum up the feeling of the story in one sentence it would be Fellowship of the Ring gone dark, CSI: Medieval and Conan and friends. It's really interesting how these 3 things blend in a really good way.
There are two major problems I had so far with The First Law series.
First of all, until I finished half of this book, I could not answer the question "what's this book about?". To answer this very question, we have to agree that there are 3 main stories. Glokta's, Bayaz' and West's and then explain their purpose in the world of Abercrombie. I will not get into details, so that this review is spoiler free.
Second of all, until I finished 3/4s of the book I had no idea why Bayaz wanted to go to the edge of the world. It was all vague and it felt as everyone was scared to ask which didn't feel natural. Only Ferro actually asked plain and simple why she should follow Bayaz. The rest pretty much agreed without a big enough reason. There is SO much build up since Book 1, The Blade Itself, that it gets kind of irritating and I personally like a good build up.
With these concerns out of the way I daresay that I have never read a book that blends politics, war and personal quests so expertly. I love Glokta. I love Jezal and Logen. I feel for West and I especially love the bond between the Northmen. Ferro isn't my cup of tea but I cannot deny that she is a very interesting character. Fuck Bayaz though, there is not a single point in the book in which I rooted for him.
The writing is good, even though I'd prefer less details about the environment, the characters are amazing, even though I'd prefer if they weren't shielded that much by the plot and the story has some nice plot twists. I ll definetely read the final book. But I sincerely hope it's worth it cause we had a lot of build up until now.
There are two major problems I had so far with The First Law series.
First of all, until I finished half of this book, I could not answer the question "what's this book about?". To answer this very question, we have to agree that there are 3 main stories. Glokta's, Bayaz' and West's and then explain their purpose in the world of Abercrombie. I will not get into details, so that this review is spoiler free.
Second of all, until I finished 3/4s of the book I had no idea why Bayaz wanted to go to the edge of the world. It was all vague and it felt as everyone was scared to ask which didn't feel natural. Only Ferro actually asked plain and simple why she should follow Bayaz. The rest pretty much agreed without a big enough reason. There is SO much build up since Book 1, The Blade Itself, that it gets kind of irritating and I personally like a good build up.
With these concerns out of the way I daresay that I have never read a book that blends politics, war and personal quests so expertly. I love Glokta. I love Jezal and Logen. I feel for West and I especially love the bond between the Northmen. Ferro isn't my cup of tea but I cannot deny that she is a very interesting character. Fuck Bayaz though, there is not a single point in the book in which I rooted for him.
The writing is good, even though I'd prefer less details about the environment, the characters are amazing, even though I'd prefer if they weren't shielded that much by the plot and the story has some nice plot twists. I ll definetely read the final book. But I sincerely hope it's worth it cause we had a lot of build up until now.
etcamila's review
4.0
Me gustó más que el primero, me encantan los personajes, cómo van creciendo y las relaciones que se han ido formando.
Hay cosas del final que me quedaron debiendo, pero espero que en el próximo libro paguen.
Queda debiendo también la representación femenina pero a eso ya estoy acostumbrada.
Hay cosas del final que me quedaron debiendo, pero espero que en el próximo libro paguen.
Queda debiendo también la representación femenina pero a eso ya estoy acostumbrada.
veldonreads's review against another edition
5.0
Man this book was amazing,
This is now my second time reading something from Joe Abercrombie and I can definitely see him becoming my favorite author, or at least in my top 3
Before they are Hanged continues the story of the Blade itself and it really feels like both books are simply the continuation of each other, compared to 2 separate books.
As with the Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie uses the amazing characters he's created and makes them live through hardships and war and adventures and corruption.
I love the way the story is developing so far, still very mysterious and slim on the details, the story follows the characters and the readers simply have to follow and read what happens next, without knowing what that next step will be. I love this about the First Law trilogy, just as I loved this in the Stormlight Archives. Being able to dive in a book, without knowing the whole plot makes the books much more grounded and makes me relate to the characters even more.
I am extremely excited to see what happens next in this world. Everything has been amazing, some of these characters are now some of my favorites in fantasy. The writing style is even better than in the first book. The characters voices are even more distinguishable and very much relatable.
This is an excellent read, go read it now!
This is now my second time reading something from Joe Abercrombie and I can definitely see him becoming my favorite author, or at least in my top 3
Before they are Hanged continues the story of the Blade itself and it really feels like both books are simply the continuation of each other, compared to 2 separate books.
As with the Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie uses the amazing characters he's created and makes them live through hardships and war and adventures and corruption.
I love the way the story is developing so far, still very mysterious and slim on the details, the story follows the characters and the readers simply have to follow and read what happens next, without knowing what that next step will be. I love this about the First Law trilogy, just as I loved this in the Stormlight Archives. Being able to dive in a book, without knowing the whole plot makes the books much more grounded and makes me relate to the characters even more.
I am extremely excited to see what happens next in this world. Everything has been amazing, some of these characters are now some of my favorites in fantasy. The writing style is even better than in the first book. The characters voices are even more distinguishable and very much relatable.
This is an excellent read, go read it now!
mattsmi16's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
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
4.75
austra_pro's review against another edition
5.0
Ja dzīvē iet labi, tad priecājies un baudi, jo tas nav uz ilgu. Tā varētu būt šīs grāmatas esence. Slikti te iet gandrīz visiem un lielāko daļu laika. Bet ne tādā moderno laiku “uzrakstīsim kādu depresīvu romānu par 21. gadsimta cilvēka bezcerīgo mentālo stāvokli un vientulību pūlī, kazi - kādu godājamu balvu dabūsim” stilā. Šeit vienkārši ir tādi laiki un tāda pasaule, kur izdzīvo stiprākais vai viltīgākais, bet pārējie mirst un cieš. Lai gan cieš arī tie stiprie un viltīgie. Un kaut kad arī mirst. Bet eksistenciāliem cepieniem un depresijām baigi daudz laika nav. Kādam jau šajā pasaulē ir arī ērta un laba dzīve, bet ne par viņiem autors grib stāstīt, un ne nu mēs gribam lasīt. Un lai arī šim stāstam, manuprāt, nedaudz trūkst apgriezienu, proti, tas nav pilns nepārtrauktiem spraigiem notikumiem un pagriezieniem, to visu kompensē autora sarkasms, kas ļauj lielāko daļu laika smīkņāt vai ierēkt. Viņš pasaka (uzraksta) visu, ko lasītājs pie sevis ir tā melni un ironiski nodomājis. Un tāds stils ir ļoti patīkami lasāms un baudāms.
Šīs grāmatas varoņi ir tik burvīgi uzrakstīti, ka visi man ir jau sirdij ļoti tuvi, par spīti tam, ka neviens no viņiem nav ne īsti normāls, ne jauks. Un brīžos, kad es biju ieaijāta ne pārāk spraigo notikumu maldinošā mieriņā, ka nu jau man viss ir skaidrs par gaidāmo, autors pamanījās mani pārsteigt ar īstiem WTF momentiņiem. Tā ka ar nepacietību gaidu, kas ir sarūpēts turpinājumā. Gan jau vēl vairāk problēmu un nepatikšanu. Un līķu.
“A man who doesn't want opinions should keep his own mouth shut.”
Šīs grāmatas varoņi ir tik burvīgi uzrakstīti, ka visi man ir jau sirdij ļoti tuvi, par spīti tam, ka neviens no viņiem nav ne īsti normāls, ne jauks. Un brīžos, kad es biju ieaijāta ne pārāk spraigo notikumu maldinošā mieriņā, ka nu jau man viss ir skaidrs par gaidāmo, autors pamanījās mani pārsteigt ar īstiem WTF momentiņiem. Tā ka ar nepacietību gaidu, kas ir sarūpēts turpinājumā. Gan jau vēl vairāk problēmu un nepatikšanu. Un līķu.
“A man who doesn't want opinions should keep his own mouth shut.”
alexanderwatling's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
tbloehrlein's review
4.0
I actually enjoyed this book more than the first. I thought the characters were much more intriguing because the depth of side characters was built upon. In addition, the world and it’s history began to be fleshed out more than the 1st book.
sp00324's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-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
4.75
I really enjoyed this second book in the First Law Trilogy - not quite as much as the first book but still quite a damn lot
It was slower than the first one in my opinion but I know a lot of people think the first book is slower. It just took me a little more time to get into in and I found some of the points of view less interesting than others. Whereas in the first one I enjoyed all the POVs equally
Glokta is still my favourite but I actually really enjoyed Ferro in this book too. I wasn't mad fussed on her before but she's growing on me. Dogman was also up there
4.75/5 is still a really high rating and I can't wait to read the next one
It was slower than the first one in my opinion but I know a lot of people think the first book is slower. It just took me a little more time to get into in and I found some of the points of view less interesting than others. Whereas in the first one I enjoyed all the POVs equally
Glokta is still my favourite but I actually really enjoyed Ferro in this book too. I wasn't mad fussed on her before but she's growing on me. Dogman was also up there
4.75/5 is still a really high rating and I can't wait to read the next one