A review by waxingquixotic
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
4.0
What an incredible start to the First Law series! This is a series I’ve heard so much about and finally reading for the first time. Clocking in at around 500 pages and 22 audiobook hours, I blazed through this story in essentially two days, reading about 75% of it on a lazy Sunday.
This first entry into the First Law trilogy, series, world, whatever is all about setting the stage. There’s a little bit of action sprinkled in, but this book is more concerned with introducing its motley crew of POVs and supporting cast, all of them fully-developed and intriguing, all of them with their own mysterious backstory that’s slowly revealed over time. There are barbarians, magi, inquisitors, commanders, kings, and unions. The map is full of vast locations to explore, including the ominous Northmen and the Gurkish of the South.
By keeping the chapters pretty short and bouncing around multiple POVs, it’s easy to keep reading to revisit a new storyline and perspective. It was great to follow the adventures of multiple characters at the beginning and then watch them converge into the same storylines later. The audiobook narrator is also a one of the best I’ve heard, creating unique voices for each character so you never lost track of who’s talking or what’s happening.
This is also a darker fantasy tale, what the kids these days often refer to as “grimdark”. There can be some comparisons made to A Song of Ice and Fire, sure, but this story also stands on its own with very unique characters in an expertly-crafted world. It is definitely very dark and visceral at times , but it’s also lighter in tone and has a nice sense of humor about it at other times as well.
Even though this book is setting the table for the rest of the series, it had me locked in from the beginning, and I’m anxious to continue to the next book to find out what happens next. There is so much foreshadowing in The Blade Itself that leave plenty of questions to be answered. I’m glad I finally took the plunge and picked this one up. I will absolutely continue on to the next book very soon!
This first entry into the First Law trilogy, series, world, whatever is all about setting the stage. There’s a little bit of action sprinkled in, but this book is more concerned with introducing its motley crew of POVs and supporting cast, all of them fully-developed and intriguing, all of them with their own mysterious backstory that’s slowly revealed over time. There are barbarians, magi, inquisitors, commanders, kings, and unions. The map is full of vast locations to explore, including the ominous Northmen and the Gurkish of the South.
By keeping the chapters pretty short and bouncing around multiple POVs, it’s easy to keep reading to revisit a new storyline and perspective. It was great to follow the adventures of multiple characters at the beginning and then watch them converge into the same storylines later. The audiobook narrator is also a one of the best I’ve heard, creating unique voices for each character so you never lost track of who’s talking or what’s happening.
This is also a darker fantasy tale, what the kids these days often refer to as “grimdark”. There can be some comparisons made to A Song of Ice and Fire, sure, but this story also stands on its own with very unique characters in an expertly-crafted world. It is definitely very dark and visceral at times , but it’s also lighter in tone and has a nice sense of humor about it at other times as well.
Even though this book is setting the table for the rest of the series, it had me locked in from the beginning, and I’m anxious to continue to the next book to find out what happens next. There is so much foreshadowing in The Blade Itself that leave plenty of questions to be answered. I’m glad I finally took the plunge and picked this one up. I will absolutely continue on to the next book very soon!